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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 http://archive.org/details/hebrewmelodies02byro 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 T. DAVISON, Lombard-street, 
 Whitefriars, London. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 BY LORD BYRON. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. 
 
 1815. 
 
■R.A 
 
 S ^ C H 
 
 m 
 
 The subsequent poems were written at the re- 
 quest of the author's friend, the Hon. D. Kinnaird, 
 for a Selection of Hebrew Melodies, and have 
 been published, with the music, arranged, by 
 Mr, Braham and Mr. Nathan. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Pa»e 
 
 She walks in beauty ........ 3 
 
 The harp the monarch minstrel swept ...... 5 
 
 If that high world , . 7 
 
 The wild gazelle 9 
 
 Oh ! weep for those . . . ... 11 
 
 On Jordan's banks . . ... . 12 
 
 Jephtha's daughter 13 
 
 Oh ! snatched away in beauty's bloom . . ., . . 15 
 
 My soul is dark ... 17 
 
 I saw thee weep . .19 
 
 Thy days are done , 21 
 
 It is the hour 23 
 
 Song of Saul before his last battle ...... 24 
 
 Saul 26 
 
 " All is vanity, saith the preacher" 28 
 
 When coldness wraps .30 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Vision of Belshazzar . . . . . 
 
 Sun of the sleepless ! . . . . . . 
 
 Were my bosom as false as thou deemst it to be 
 Herod's lament for Mariamne .... 
 
 On the day of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus 
 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept 
 The destruction of Semnacherib .... 
 
 From Job . 
 
 33 
 37 
 38 
 40 
 42 
 44 
 46 
 49 
 
 Lines on Sir Peter Parker 
 
 51 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY. 
 
 I. 
 
 She walks in beauty, like the night 
 Of cloudless climes and starry skies • 
 
 And all that's best of dark and bright 
 Meet in her aspect and her eyes : 
 
 Thus mellow 'd to that tender light 
 Which heaven to gaudy day denies. 
 
 b a 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 II. 
 
 One shade the more, one ray the less, 
 Had half impair'd the nameless grace 
 
 Which waves in every raven tress, 
 Or softly lightens o'er her face ; 
 
 Where thoughts serenely sweet express 
 How pure, how dear their dwelling place, 
 
 III. 
 
 And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, 
 
 So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, 
 The smiles that win, the tints that glow, 
 
 But tell of days in goodness spent, 
 A mind at peace with all below, 
 
 A heart whose love is innocent ! 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 THE HARP THE MONARCH MINSTREL 
 SWEPT. 
 
 a L 
 
 The harp the monarch minstrel swept, 
 
 The King of men, the loved of Heaven, 
 
 Which Music hallowed while she wept 
 
 O'er tones her heart of hearts had given, 
 
 Redoubled be her tears, its chords are riven! 
 It softened men of iron mould, 
 
 It gave them virtues not their own ; 
 No ear so dull, no soul so cold, 
 ,That felt not, fired not to the tone, 
 
 Till David's Lyre grew mightier than his throne ! 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 II. 
 
 It told the triumphs of our King, 
 
 It wafted glory to our God ; 
 It made our gladdened vallies ring, 
 
 The cedars bow, the mountains nod ; 
 Its sound aspired to Heaven and there abode! 
 Since then, though heard on earth no more, 
 
 Devotion and her daughter Love 
 Still bid the bursting spirit soar 
 
 To sounds that seem as from above, 
 In dreams that day's broad light can not remove. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 IF THAT HIGH WORLD. 
 
 I. 
 
 If that high world, which lies beyond 
 
 Our own, surviving Love endears ; 
 If there the cherish'd heart be fond, 
 
 The eye the same, except in tears — 
 How welcome those untrodden spheres ! 
 
 How sweet this very hour to die ! 
 To soar from earth and find all fears 
 
 Lost in thy light — Eternity ! 
 
 II. 
 
 It must be so : 'tis not for self 
 
 That we so tremble on the brink ; 
 
 And striving to o'erleap the gulph, 
 Yet cling to Being's severing link. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 Oh ! in that future let us think 
 
 To hold each heart the heart that shares, 
 With them the immortal waters drink, 
 
 And soul in soul grow deathless theirs ! 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 I. 
 
 The wild gazelle on Judah's hills 
 
 Exulting yet may bound, 
 And drink from all the living rills 
 
 That gush on holy ground ; 
 Its airy step and glorious eye 
 May glance in tameless transport by :- 
 
 II. 
 
 A step as fleet, an eye more bright, 
 Hath Judah witness'd there ; 
 
 And o'er her scenes of lost delight 
 Inhabitants more fair. 
 
 The cedars wave on Lebanon, 
 
 But Judah's statelier maids are gone ! 
 
10 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 III. 
 
 More blest each palm that shades those plains 
 
 Than Israel's scattered race ; 
 For, taking root, it there remains 
 
 In solitary grace : 
 It cannot quit its place of birth, 
 It will not live in other earth. 
 
 IV. 
 
 But we must wander withering!}', 
 
 In other lands to die ; 
 And where our fathers' ashes be, 
 
 Our own may never lie : 
 Our temple hath not left a stone, 
 And Mockery sits on Salem's throne. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. H 
 
 OH ! WEEP FOR THOSE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Oh! weep foe those that wept by Babel's stream, 
 Whose shrines are desolate, whose land a dream ; 
 Weep for the harp of Judah's broken shell ; 
 Mourn — where their God hath dwelt the Godless dwell! 
 
 II. 
 
 And where shall Israel lave her bleeding feet ? 
 And when shall Zion's songs again seem sweet ? 
 And Judah's melody once more rejoice 
 The hearts that leap'd before its heavenly voice ? 
 
 III. 
 
 Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, 
 How shall ye flee away and be at rest ! 
 The wild-dove hath her nest, the fox his cave, 
 Mankind their Country — Israel but the grave ! 
 
12 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 ON JORDAN'S BANKS. 
 
 I. 
 
 On Jordan's banks the Arabs' camels stray, 
 
 On Sion's hill the False One's votaries pray, 
 
 The Baal-adorer bows on Sinai's steep — 
 
 Yet there — even there — Oh God ! thy thunders sleep 
 
 II. 
 
 There — where thy finger scorch 'd the tablet stone! 
 There — where thy shadow to thy people shone ! 
 Thy glory shrouded in its garb of fire : 
 Thyself — none living see and not expire ! 
 
 III. 
 
 Oh ! in the lightning let thy glance appear ! 
 Sweep from his shiver 'd hand the oppressor's spear : 
 How long by tyrants shall thy land be trod ! 
 How long thy temple worshipless, Oh God ! 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 13 
 
 JEPHTHA'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 I. 
 
 Since our Country, our God — Oh, my Sire! 
 Demand that thy Daughter expire ; 
 Since thy triumph was bought by thy vow — 
 Strike the bosom that's bared for thee now ! 
 
 II. 
 
 And the voice of my mourning is o'er, 
 And the mountains behold me no more : 
 If the hand that I love lay me low, 
 There cannot be pain in the blow ! 
 
 III. 
 
 And of this, oh, my Father ! be sure — 
 That the blood of thy child is as pure 
 As the blessing I beg ere it flow, 
 And the last thought that soothes me below. 
 
14 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Though the virgins of Salem lament, 
 Be the judge and the hero unbent! 
 I have won the great battle for thee, 
 And my Father and Country are free ! 
 
 V. 
 
 When this blood of thy giving hath gush'd, 
 When the voice that thou lovest is hush'd, 
 Let my memory still be thy pride, 
 And forget not I smiled as I died ! 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 15 
 
 OH! SNATCHED AWAY IN BEAUTY'S 
 BLOOM. 
 
 I. 
 
 Oh! snatched away in beauty's bloom, 
 On thee shall press no ponderous tomb ; 
 But on thy turf shall roses rear 
 Their leaves, the earliest of the year ; 
 And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom : 
 
 II. 
 
 And oft by yon blue gushiug stream 
 Shall Sorrow lean her drooping head, 
 
 And feed deep thought with many a dream, 
 And lingering pause and lightly tread; 
 Fond wretch ! as if her step disturb'd the dead ! 
 
16 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 III. 
 
 Away ; we know that tears are vain, 
 That death nor heeds nor hears distress 
 
 Will this unteach us to complain? 
 Or make one mourner weep the less ? 
 
 And thou — who tell'st me to forget, 
 Thy looks are wan, thine eyes are wet. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 17 
 
 MY SOUL IS DARK. 
 
 I. 
 
 My soul is dark — Oh ! quickly string 
 
 The harp I yet can brook to hear ; 
 And let thy gentle fingers fling 
 
 Its melting murmurs o'er mine ear. 
 If in this heart a hope be dear, 
 
 That sound shall charm it forth again ; 
 If in these eyes there lurk a tear, 
 
 'Twill flow, and cease to burn my brain : 
 
 II. 
 
 But bid the strain be wild and deep, 
 Nor let thy notes of joy be first : 
 
 I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep, 
 Or else this heavy heart will burst ; 
 
 o 
 
IS HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 For it hath been by sorrow nurst, 
 And ach'd in sleepless silence long ; 
 
 And now 'tis doom'd to know the worst, 
 And break at once — or yield to song. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 19 
 
 I SAW THEE WEEP. 
 
 I. 
 
 I saw thee weep — the big bright tear 
 
 Came o'er that eye of blue ; 
 And then methought it did appear 
 
 A violet dropping dew : 
 I saw thee smile — the sapphire's blaze 
 
 Beside thee ceased to shine ; 
 It could not match the living rays 
 
 That fill'd that glance of thine. 
 
 II. 
 
 As clouds from yonder sun receive 
 
 A deep and mellow dye, 
 Which scarce the shade of corning eve 
 
 Can banish from the sky, 
 
 c2 
 
20 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 Those smiles unto the moodiest mind 
 Their own pure joy impart ; 
 
 Their sunshine leaves a glow behind 
 That lightens o'er the heart. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 21 
 
 THY DAYS ARE DONE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Thy days are done, thy fame begun ; 
 
 Thy country's strains record 
 The triumphs of her chosen Son, 
 
 The slaughters of his sword ! 
 The deeds he did, the fields he won, 
 
 The freedom he restored ! 
 
 II. 
 
 Though thou art fall'n, while we are free 
 Thou shalt not taste of death ! 
 
 The generous blood that flowed from thet 
 Disdain'd to sink beneath : 
 
 Within our veins its currents be, 
 Thy spirit on our breath ! 
 
22 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 III. 
 
 Thy name, our charging hosts along, 
 
 Shall be the battle-word ! 
 Thy fall, the theme of choral song 
 
 From virgin voices poured ! 
 To weep would do thy glory wrong ; 
 
 Thou shalt not be deplored. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 23 
 
 IT IS THE HOUR. 
 
 It is the hour when from the boughs 
 The nightingale's high note is heard ; 
 
 It is the hour when lovers' vows 
 
 Seem sweet in every whispered word ; 
 
 And gentle winds and waters near 
 
 Make music to the lonely ear. 
 
 Each flower the dews have lightly wet, 
 
 And in the sky the stars are met ; 
 
 And on the wave is deeper blue, 
 
 And on the leaf a browner hue ; 
 
 And in the Heaven that clear obscure, 
 
 So softly dark, and darkly pure, 
 
 That follows the decline of day 
 
 As twilight melts beneath the moon away. 
 
24 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 SONG OF SAUL BEFORE HIS LAST 
 BATTLE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Warriors and Chiefs! should the shaft or the sword 
 Pierce me in leading the host of the Lord, 
 Heed not the corse, though a king's, in your path : 
 Bury your steel in the bosoms of Gath ! 
 
 II. 
 
 Thou who art bearing my buckler and bow, 
 Should the soldiers of Saul look away from the foe, 
 Stretch me that moment in blood at thy feet ! 
 Mine be the doom which they dared not to meet. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 25 
 
 III. 
 
 Farewell to others, but never we part, 
 Heir to my royalty, son of my heart ! 
 Bright is the diadem, boundless the sway, 
 Or kingly the death, which awaits us to-day ! 
 
26 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 SAUL. 
 
 I. 
 
 Thou whose spell can raise the dead, 
 
 Bid the prophet's form appear. 
 
 " Samuel, raise thy buried head ! 
 
 " King, behold the phantom seer !" 
 
 Earth yawn'd ; he stood the centre of a cloud : 
 
 Light changed its hue, retiring from his shroud. 
 
 Death stood all glassy in his fixed eye ; 
 
 His hand was withered, and his veins were dry ; 
 
 His foot, in bony whiteness, glittered there, 
 
 Shrunken and sinewless, and ghastly bare : 
 
 From lips that moved not and unbreathing frame, 
 
 Like cavern'd winds, the hollow accents came. 
 
 Saul saw, and fell to earth, as falls the oak, 
 
 At once, and blasted by the thunder-stroke. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 27 
 
 II. 
 
 " Why is my sleep disquieted ? 
 
 " Who is he that calls the dead ? 
 
 " Is it thou, Oh King ? Behold 
 
 <( Bloodless are these limbs, and cold : 
 
 " Such are mine: and such shall be 
 
 " Thine, to-morrow, when with me : 
 
 " Ere the coming day is done, 
 
 " Such shalt thou be, such thy son. 
 
 " Fare thee well, but for a clay ; 
 
 " Then we mix our mouldering clay. 
 
 " Thou, thy race, lie pale and low, 
 
 " Pierced by shafts of many a bow ; 
 
 " And the falchion by thy side, 
 
 " To thy heart, thy hand shall guide: 
 
 " Crownless, breathless, headless fall, 
 
 u Son and sire, the house of Saul !" 
 
28 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 ALL IS VANITY, SAITH THE 
 PREACHER." 
 
 I. 
 
 Fame, wisdom, love, and power were mine, 
 And health and youth possess'd me ; 
 
 My goblets blush'd from every vine, 
 And lovely forms caress'd me ; 
 
 I sunn'd my heart in beauty's eyes, 
 And felt my soul grow tender ; 
 
 All earth can give, or mortal prize, 
 Was mine of regal splendour. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 29 
 
 II. 
 
 I strive to number o'er what days 
 Remembrance can discover, 
 
 Which all that life or earth displays 
 Would lure me to live over. 
 
 There rose no day, there roll'd no hour 
 
 Of pleasure unembittered ; 
 And not a trapping deck'd my power 
 
 That gall'd not while it glittered. 
 
 III. 
 
 The serpent of the field, by art 
 And spells, is won from harming ; 
 
 But that which coils around the heart, 
 Oh! who hath power of charming ? 
 
 It will not list to wisdom's lore, 
 Nor music's voice can lure it ; 
 
 But there it stings for evermore 
 The soul that must endure it. 
 
30 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 WHEN COLDNESS WRAPS THIS 
 SUFFERING CLAY. 
 
 I. 
 
 When coldness wraps this suffering clay, 
 
 Ah, whither strays the immortal mind ? 
 It cannot die, it cannot stay, 
 
 But leaves its darken'd dust behind. 
 Then, unembodied, doth it trace 
 
 By steps each planet's heavenly way ? 
 Or fill at once the realms of space, 
 
 A thing of eyes, that all survey ? 
 
 II. 
 
 Eternal, boundless, undecay'd, 
 
 A thought unseen, but seeing all, 
 All, all in earth, or skies display'd > 
 
 Shall it survey, shall it recal: 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 81 
 
 Each fainter trace that memory holds 
 
 So darkly of departed years, 
 In one broad glance the soul beholds, 
 
 And all, that was, at once appears. 
 
 III. 
 
 Before Creation peopled earth, 
 
 Its eye shall roll through chaos back ; 
 And where the furthest heaven had birth, 
 
 The spirit trace its rising track. 
 And where the future mars or makes, 
 
 Its glance dilate o'er all to be, 
 While sun is quench'd or system breaks, 
 
 Fix'd in its own eternity. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Above or Love, Hope, Hate, or Fear, 
 
 It lives all passionless and pure : 
 An age shall fleet like earthly year ; 
 
 Its years as moments shall endure. 
 
32 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 Away, away, without a wing, 
 
 O'er all, through all, its thought shall fly ; 
 A nameless and eternal thing, 
 
 Forgetting what it was to die. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 VISION OF BELSHAZZAR. 
 
 I. 
 
 The King was on his throne, 
 
 The Satraps throng'd the hall 
 A thousand bright lamps shone 
 
 O'er that high festival. 
 A thousand cups of gold, 
 
 In Judah deem'd divine- 
 Jehovah's vessels hold 
 
 The godless Heathen's wine ! 
 
34 HEBREW MELODIES 
 
 II. 
 
 In that same hour and hall, 
 
 The fingers of a hand 
 Came forth against the wall, 
 
 And wrote as if on sand : 
 The fingers of a man; — 
 
 A solitary hand 
 Along the letters ran, 
 
 And traced them like a wand. 
 
 III. 
 
 The monarch saw, and shook, 
 
 And bade no more rejoice ; 
 All bloodless wax'd his look, 
 
 And tremulous his voice. 
 " Let the men of lore appear, 
 
 M The wisest of the earth, 
 " And expound the words of fear, 
 
 " Which mar our royal mirth." 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Chaldea's seers are good, 
 
 But here they have no skill ; 
 And the unknown letters stood 
 
 Untold and awful still. 
 And Babel's men of age 
 
 Are wise and deep in lore ; 
 But now they were not sage, 
 
 They saw — but knew no mor< 
 
 V. 
 
 A captive in the land, 
 
 A stranger and a youth, 
 He heard the king's command, 
 
 He saw that writing's truth. 
 The lamps around were bright, 
 
 The prophecy in view ; 
 He read it on that night, — 
 
 The morrow proved it true. 
 
 -3J 
 
 D '2 
 
3C HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 VI. 
 
 " Belshazzar's grave is made^ 
 
 <f His kingdom pass'd away, 
 " He in the balance weighed, 
 
 lt Is light and worthless clay. 
 " The shroud, his robe of state, 
 
 " His canopy, the stone ; 
 " The Mede is at his gate ! 
 
 " The Persian on his throne!" 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 37 
 
 SUN OF THE SLEEPLESS ! 
 
 Sun of the sleepless ! melancholy star ! 
 Whose tearful beam glows tremulously far, 
 That show'st the darkness thou canst not dispel, 
 How like art thou to joy remembered well ! 
 So gleams the past, the light of other days, 
 Which shines, but warms not with its powerless rays ; 
 A night-beam Sorrow watcheth to behold, 
 Distinct, but distant — clear — but, oh how cold ! 
 
38 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 WERE MY BOSOM AS FALSE AS THOU 
 DEEM'ST IT TO BE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Were my bosom as false as thou deem'st it 
 
 to be, 
 I need not have wandered from far Galilee ; 
 It was but abjuring my creed to efface 
 The curse which, thou say'st, is the crime of my race. 
 
 II. 
 
 If the bad never triumph, then God is with thee ! 
 If the slave only sin, thou art spotless and free ! 
 If the Exile on earth is an Outcast on high, 
 Live on in thy faith, but in mine I will die. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 39 
 
 III. 
 
 I have lost for that faith more than thou canst bestow, 
 As the God who permits thee to prosper doth know ; 
 In his hand is my heart and my hope — and in thine 
 The land and the life which for him I resign. 
 
40 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 HEROD'S LAMENT FOR MARIAMNE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Oh, Marianme ! now for thee 
 
 The heart for which thou bled'st is bleeding ; 
 Revenge is lost in agony, 
 
 And wild remorse to rage succeeding. 
 Oh, Mariamne ! where art thou ? 
 
 Thou canst not hear my bitter pleading : 
 Ah, could'st thou — thou would'st pardon now, 
 
 Though heaven were to my prayer unheeding. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 41 
 
 II. 
 
 And is she dead ? — and did they dare 
 
 Obey my phrensy's jealous raving ? 
 My wrath but doom'd ray own despair : 
 
 The sword that smote her 's o'er me waving. — 
 But thou art cold, my murdered love ! 
 
 And this dark heart is vainly craving 
 For her who soars alone above, 
 
 And leaves my soul unworthy saving. 
 
 III. 
 
 She's gone, who shared my diadem ; 
 
 She sunk, with her my joys entombing; 
 I swept that flower from Judah's stem 
 
 Whose leaves for me alone were blooming. 
 And mine's the guilt, and mine the hell, 
 
 This bosom's desolation dooming; 
 And I have earn'd those tortures well, 
 
 Which unconsumed are still consuming ! 
 
42 H E B HE W M ELO DIES . 
 
 ON THE DAY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF 
 JERUSALEM BY TITUS. 
 
 I. 
 
 From the last hill that looks on thy once holy dome 
 I beheld thee, Oh Sion ! when rendered to Rome : 
 'Twas thy last sun went down, and the flames of thy fall 
 Flash'd back on the last glance I gave to thy wall. 
 
 II. 
 
 I look'd for thy temple, I look'd for my home, 
 
 And forgot for a moment my bondage to come ; 
 
 I beheld but the death-fire that fed on thy fane, 
 
 And the fast-fettered hands that made vengeance in vain. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 43 
 
 III. 
 
 On many an eve, the high spot whence I gazed 
 Had reflected the last beam of day as it blazed ; 
 While I stood on the height, and beheld the decline 
 Of the rays from the mountain that shone on thy shrine. 
 
 IV. 
 
 And now on that mountain I stood on that day, 
 But I marked not the twilight beam melting away ; 
 Oh ! would that the lightning had glared in its stead, 
 And the thunderbolt burst on the conqueror's head ! 
 
 V. 
 
 But the Gods of the Pagan shall never profane 
 The shrine where Jehovah disdain'd not to reign ; 
 And scattered and scorn'd as thy people may be, 
 Our worship, oh Father! is only for thee. 
 
44 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON WE SAT 
 
 DOWN AND WEPT. 
 
 • 
 
 I. 
 
 We sate down and wept by the waters 
 
 Of Babel, and thought of the day 
 When our foe, in the hue of his slaughters, 
 
 Made Salem's high places his prey ; 
 And ye, oh her desolate daughters ! 
 
 Were scattered all weeping away. 
 
 II. 
 
 While sadly we gazed on the river 
 
 Which roll'd on in freedom below, 
 They demanded the song; but, oh never 
 
 That triumph the stranger shall know ! 
 May this right hand be withered for ever, 
 
 Ere it string our high harp for the foe ! 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 45 
 
 III. 
 
 On the willow that harp is suspended, 
 
 Oh Salem ! its sound should be free ; 
 And the hour when thy glories were ended 
 
 But left me that token of thee : 
 And ne'er shall its soft tones be blended 
 
 With the voice of the spoiler by me ! 
 
46 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 THE DESTRUCTION OF SEMNACHERIB. 
 
 I. 
 
 The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, 
 And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold ; 
 And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, 
 When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. 
 
 II. 
 
 Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, 
 That host with their banners at sunset were seen : 
 Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, 
 That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 47 
 
 III. 
 
 For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, 
 And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd ; 
 And the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill, 
 And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still ! 
 
 IV. 
 
 And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, 
 But through it there roll'd not the breath of his pride : 
 And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, 
 And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. 
 
 V. 
 
 And there lay the rider distorted and pale, 
 With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail ; 
 And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, 
 The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown. 
 
48 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 VI. 
 
 And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, 
 And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal ; 
 And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, 
 Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord ! 
 
HEBREW MELODIES. 49 
 
 FROM JOB. 
 
 I. 
 
 A spirit pass'd before me: 1 beheld 
 
 The face of Immortality unveil'd — 
 
 Deep sleep came down on ev'ry eye save mine 
 
 And there it stood, — all formless — but divine : 
 Along my bones the creeping flesh did quake; 
 And as my damp hair stiffen'd, thus it spake: 
 
50 HEBREW MELODIES. 
 
 II. 
 
 " Is man more just than God ? Is man more purs 
 Than he who deems even Seraphs insecure ? 
 Creatures of clay — vain dwellers in the dust ! 
 The moth survives you, and are ye more just ? 
 Things of a day ! you wither ere the night, 
 Heedless and blind to Wisdom's wasted light !" 
 
ON THE DEATH 
 
 SIR PETER PARKER, BART. 
 
 There is a tear for all that die, 
 A mourner o'er the humblest grave ; 
 
 But nations swell the funeral cry, 
 And Triumph weeps above the brave. 
 
 For them is Sorrow's purest sigh 
 O'er Ocean's heaving bosom sent : 
 
 In vain their bones uaburied lie, 
 All earth becomes their monument ! 
 
 E 2 
 
52 <>N THE DEATH OF 
 
 A tomb is theirs on every page, 
 An epitaph on every tongue : 
 
 The present hours, the future age, 
 For them bewail, to them belong. 
 
 For them the voice of festal mirth 
 
 Grows hushed, their name the only sound ; 
 While deep Remembrance pours to Worth 
 
 The goblet's tributary round. 
 
 A theme to crowds that knew them not, 
 
 Lamented by admiring foes, 
 Who would not share their glorious lot ? 
 
 Who would not die the death they chose ? 
 
 And, gallant Parker \ thus enshrined 
 Thy life, thy fall, thy t^ e shall be ; 
 
 And early valour, glowing, find 
 A model in thy memory. 
 
SIR PETER PARKER, BART. 5,3 
 
 But there are breasts that bleed with thee 
 
 In woe, that glory cannot quell ; 
 And shuddering hear of victory, 
 
 Where one so dear, so dauntless, fell. 
 
 Where shall they turn to mourn thee less ? 
 
 When cease to hear thy cherished name i 
 Time cannot teach forgetfulness, 
 
 While Grief's full heart is fed by Fame. 
 
 Alas ! for them r though not for thee, 
 
 They cannot choose but weep the more ; 
 
 Deep for the dead the grief must be 
 Who ne'er gave cause to mourn before. 
 
 THE END. 
 
PRINTED FOR JOHN MURRAY. 
 
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