fear the fainting mother press'd

infant to her venom'd breast;

babe, unconscious of his fate,

Their po

Those Prochin

Where, a

greedy joy the baneful treat :

ain beneath the citron shade

ft passion to the list'ning maid,
son hung on ev'ry breath,

uasive sigh was charg'd with death.

stition with the Fiend conspir'd,

conquests, and his fury fir'd;

he cried, "with patient boldness wait edestin'd laws of rigid fate;

's just vengeance to oppose presume, vith silent rev'rence meet his doom."

nk with conquest, larger still he grew,

d tenfold fury as he flew :

the shafts of fate, in ireful mood

Euphrates' far-resounding flood;

And shook with savage pride his purpled crest:

The scorching sands of Afric gave him birth,

Thence sprang the Fiend, and scourg'd th' afflicted

earth :

Fiend fierce as this ne'er saw astonish'd time

Creep from old Nilus' monster-teeming slime;

Each vale now felt the deadly tyrant's force,
Nor tears nor vows could stop his destin'd course:
In vain was sung the mighty Prophet's name,
To Mecca's hallow'd walls the Monster came;
E'en in the sacred temple's inmost cell,

Check'd in mid pray'r, the pious pilgrim fell;
Nor could Medina's fabled tomb withstand

The baleful vengeance of his death-fraught hand.
Those balmy gales that whilom could dispense
A thousand odours to the ravish'd sense,
With fragrant coolness pleasing now no more,
Spread through the tainted sky their deadly store :

With anxious fear the fainting mother press'd
The smiling infant to her venom❜d breast;
The smiling babe, unconscious of his fate,
Imbib'd with greedy joy the baneful treat :
Oft as the swain beneath the citron shade

Pour'd his soft passion to the list'ning maid,
Infection's poison hung on ev'ry breath,

And each persuasive sigh was charg'd with death.
Blind Superstition with the Fiend conspir'd,
Increas'd his conquests, and his fury fir'd;

"My sons," she cried, " with patient boldness wait "The fix'd predestin'd laws of rigid fate;

"Nor Heav'n's just vengeance to oppose presume, "But each with silent rev'rence meet his doom."

Thus, drunk with conquest, larger still he grew, And gather'd tenfold fury as he flew:

Arm'd with the shafts of fate, in ireful mood
He pass'd Euphrates' far-resounding flood;

From Schiraz' walls to snow-clad Taurus' height

Desponding Persia groan'd beneath his weight

In vain to Heav'n her sacred flames ascend,

On with resistless fury rush'd the Fiend;

In vain was Mithraz call'd his wrath to 'suage,

The blazing God increas'd the Monster's rage.
As when his empire sultry Cancer gains
The scorching whirlwinds scour along the plains,
The stately tamarisk and graceful pine
Shrink from the blast, and all their charms resign,

The bright anana's gaudy bloom is fled,]

The sick'ning orange bows her languid head;
So spread destruction at the Tyrant's nod,
And beauty's blossom wither'd where he trod :
The God of Love in silent anguish broke

His blunted arrows and his useless yoke;
Aside for grief he flung his loosen'd bow,
And trembling fled before th' impetuous foe.