Chorus of Astrologers A Dramatic Poem)
Our great wisdom time defies,
For we read the starry skies
Like a scroll,
And we know the secrets vast
Of the future, of the past,
And the soul!
King Bel-shar-uzzur consults
Our wide knowledge, and exults
When we read,
For we prophesied his reign
Would know famine not, nor pain,
And no need.
We are old and very wise;
There is water in our eyes
When we work;
But the gods, whom all adore,
When we yield our precious store,
In us lurk.
We are not like bearded priests,
Who are warm with lust like beasts;
We are pure!
In the temple's vaults we dwell,
Of the love of mighty Bel
We are sure.
We have cut on deathless stone
All the wonders we have known
In our lives,
And have praised our peerless king
When he deigns to drink and sing
With his wives!
Bearded Persians dot the plain,
But they strive and strive in vain
For our fall;
Their vile bodies Nergal saves
To make green and fat our graves
When we call!
For we read the starry skies,
Without blunder or surprise,
Like a scroll,
And we know the secrets vast
Of the future, of the past,
And the soul!
Then suddenly, from nothing, came a H AND
And wrote strange words of fire upon the wall!
" The joints of the king's loins were loosed with fright, "
And tottering on his throne he cried aloud:
" Hark! whosoever shall this writing read,
And show the interpretation unto me,
He shall be clothed with scarlet, and a chain
Of gold shall be upon his neck, and he
Shall be third ruler of this chosen realm! "
And as he spake, the palsied courtiers cried
In moaning tones that reached the very stars:
" Strike for us, Bin! in thy majesty invulnerable!
Slay the proud god who in lines of flame sends challenge to thee!
Breathe on the words and obliterate them wonderfully!
Crush into naught the insulting, unknown spoliator!
See! our sweet king faints in terror and is stricken by the
Sight! Oh, ye gods! will ye leave him thus to perish in the
Pangs of despair, when your voices, blended gloriously,
Now can avert this calamity and guard us from it?
Oh, perfect El! in thy matchless mercy gaze upon us!
Call in thy wrath for thine angel-host, and mercilessly
Smite with thy dart this assaulting god that terrifies us!
Hurl to the sea, where he spawned in gloom, his insolences!
Oh, god of light! come in storms and fire majestically!
Pass, with fierce winds all the fiery lines obliterating! "
And Daniel came and stood before the king
To read the words of fire, and thus he spake:
" Now that thy grave astrologers make blunder,
Thou callst me, king, to interpret here this wonder,
These lines of fire that came with storm and thunder.
" It is the writing of the Lord Eternal,
Jehovah! whom I praise in prayer diurnal,
The Master of thy impious gods infernal!
" It is a great, imperishable warning,
It is the punishment for all thy scorning,
It is, that thou shalt die before the morning!
" Thy cheeks grow white, Bel-shar-uzzur! I tell thee
That my high God, ere dawn breaks, will compel thee
To humbly bow before Him and then fell thee!
" Thy winged deities lie maimed and wingless;
Thy soldiers' arrows hurled at God are stingless;
This haughty town to-morrow will be kingless!
" Thy god of light, thy circle god, thy Shamas,
With all the hosts Assyrian, can not tame us;
We Jews belong to God! Thou canst not claim us!
" Call on thy Vul, thy Abitur in panic!
Invoke Kalassan's secrets talismanic!
They can not now avert God's wrath volcanic!
" Death comes upon thee, obstinate, rapacious!
Thine empire falls by rites and deeds salacious;
The vaults of hell await thee, dark and spacious!
" Weighed in the balance, thou art wanting greatly;
Thy crimes atrocious have grown fouler lately;
Yea! in this very palace grand and stately
" Of Israel's daughters thou hast caged the fairest;
Thy couch revolting with stained souls thou sharest;
Upon thy brow the scorn of men thou bearest!
" Bel-shar-uzzur! See in that fire a token:
To-morrow thy proud empire shall be broken!
Bel-shar-uzzur, oh monarch! I have spoken! "
And as the dreadful tidings found swift way
Through all the marveling town, the affrighted priests
Rushed to their altars, calling to the gods:
For we read the starry skies
Like a scroll,
And we know the secrets vast
Of the future, of the past,
And the soul!
King Bel-shar-uzzur consults
Our wide knowledge, and exults
When we read,
For we prophesied his reign
Would know famine not, nor pain,
And no need.
We are old and very wise;
There is water in our eyes
When we work;
But the gods, whom all adore,
When we yield our precious store,
In us lurk.
We are not like bearded priests,
Who are warm with lust like beasts;
We are pure!
In the temple's vaults we dwell,
Of the love of mighty Bel
We are sure.
We have cut on deathless stone
All the wonders we have known
In our lives,
And have praised our peerless king
When he deigns to drink and sing
With his wives!
Bearded Persians dot the plain,
But they strive and strive in vain
For our fall;
Their vile bodies Nergal saves
To make green and fat our graves
When we call!
For we read the starry skies,
Without blunder or surprise,
Like a scroll,
And we know the secrets vast
Of the future, of the past,
And the soul!
Then suddenly, from nothing, came a H AND
And wrote strange words of fire upon the wall!
" The joints of the king's loins were loosed with fright, "
And tottering on his throne he cried aloud:
" Hark! whosoever shall this writing read,
And show the interpretation unto me,
He shall be clothed with scarlet, and a chain
Of gold shall be upon his neck, and he
Shall be third ruler of this chosen realm! "
And as he spake, the palsied courtiers cried
In moaning tones that reached the very stars:
" Strike for us, Bin! in thy majesty invulnerable!
Slay the proud god who in lines of flame sends challenge to thee!
Breathe on the words and obliterate them wonderfully!
Crush into naught the insulting, unknown spoliator!
See! our sweet king faints in terror and is stricken by the
Sight! Oh, ye gods! will ye leave him thus to perish in the
Pangs of despair, when your voices, blended gloriously,
Now can avert this calamity and guard us from it?
Oh, perfect El! in thy matchless mercy gaze upon us!
Call in thy wrath for thine angel-host, and mercilessly
Smite with thy dart this assaulting god that terrifies us!
Hurl to the sea, where he spawned in gloom, his insolences!
Oh, god of light! come in storms and fire majestically!
Pass, with fierce winds all the fiery lines obliterating! "
And Daniel came and stood before the king
To read the words of fire, and thus he spake:
" Now that thy grave astrologers make blunder,
Thou callst me, king, to interpret here this wonder,
These lines of fire that came with storm and thunder.
" It is the writing of the Lord Eternal,
Jehovah! whom I praise in prayer diurnal,
The Master of thy impious gods infernal!
" It is a great, imperishable warning,
It is the punishment for all thy scorning,
It is, that thou shalt die before the morning!
" Thy cheeks grow white, Bel-shar-uzzur! I tell thee
That my high God, ere dawn breaks, will compel thee
To humbly bow before Him and then fell thee!
" Thy winged deities lie maimed and wingless;
Thy soldiers' arrows hurled at God are stingless;
This haughty town to-morrow will be kingless!
" Thy god of light, thy circle god, thy Shamas,
With all the hosts Assyrian, can not tame us;
We Jews belong to God! Thou canst not claim us!
" Call on thy Vul, thy Abitur in panic!
Invoke Kalassan's secrets talismanic!
They can not now avert God's wrath volcanic!
" Death comes upon thee, obstinate, rapacious!
Thine empire falls by rites and deeds salacious;
The vaults of hell await thee, dark and spacious!
" Weighed in the balance, thou art wanting greatly;
Thy crimes atrocious have grown fouler lately;
Yea! in this very palace grand and stately
" Of Israel's daughters thou hast caged the fairest;
Thy couch revolting with stained souls thou sharest;
Upon thy brow the scorn of men thou bearest!
" Bel-shar-uzzur! See in that fire a token:
To-morrow thy proud empire shall be broken!
Bel-shar-uzzur, oh monarch! I have spoken! "
And as the dreadful tidings found swift way
Through all the marveling town, the affrighted priests
Rushed to their altars, calling to the gods:
Translation:
Language:
Reviews
No reviews yet.