Snatch'd the food from her, trod it on the ground, And mock'd her. MIRIAM. But thou didst not smite her, father? SIMON. No! we were wiser than to bless with death A wretch like her. Fountain of Siloa-Night-An approaching Storm. MIRIAM. Javan, while I tread The path of duty I am following him, And loving whom I ought to love, love him. JAVAN. If thou couldst save or succour-if this night Were not the last MIRIAM. Oh, dearest, think awhile! It matters little at what hour o' the day The righteous fall asleep, death cannot come To him untimely who is fit to die: The less of this cold world, the more of heaven, The briefer life, the earlier immortality. But every moment to the man of guilt And bloodshed, one like—ah me! like my father, Each instant rescued from the grasp of death, May be a blessed chosen opportunity For the everlasting mercy-Think what 'tis An infidel's death, a murderer's JAVAN. Go! go, dearest ! If I were dying, I would have thee go- TITUS, PLACIDUS, TERENTIUS, SOLDIERS, SIMON. TITUS. Save, save the Temple! Placidus, Terentius, Haste, bid the legions cease to slay; and quench Who's this, that stands unmoved Mid slaughter, flame, and wreck, nor deigns to bow Before the Conqueror of Jerusalem ? What art thou? SIMON. Titus, dost thou think that Rome Shall quench the fire that burns within yon Temple ? Ay, when your countless and victorious cohorts, TITUS. Madman, Speak! what art thou ? SIMON. The uncircumcis'd have known me heretofore, PLACIDUs. It is he The bloody Captain of the Rebels, Simon, The Chief Assassin. Seize him, round his limbs Bind straight your heaviest chains. An unhop'd pageant For Cæsar's high ovation. We'll not slay him, SIMON. Knit them close, See that ye rivet well their galling links. (Holding up the chains.) And ye've no finer flax to gyve me with ? TERENTIUS. Burst these, and we will forge thee stronger then. SIMON. Fool, 'tis not yet the hour. TITUS. Hark! hark! the shrieks Of those that perish in the flames. I came to spare, it wraps the fabric round. Fate, Fate, I feel thou'rt mightier than Cæsar, He cannot save what thou hast doom'd! Back, Romans, Withdraw your angry cohorts, and give place It is thine own, and Cæsar yields it to thee. MIRIAM. There are men around us! JAVAN. They are friends, Bound here to meet me, and behold the last Of our devoted city. Look, oh Christians ! And wears its ruins with a majesty Peculiar and divine. Still, still it stands, All one wide fire, and yet no stone hath fallen. The feeble cry of an expiring nation. Hark-hark! The awe-struck shout of the unboasting conqueror Hark-hark! It breaks-it severs-it is on the earth. The smother'd fires are quench'd in their own ruins : And it is now no more, Nor ever shall be to the end of time, The Temple of Jerusalem !-Fall down, My brethren, on the dust, and worship here Even so shall perish, In its own ashes, a more glorious Temple, behold, Earth, Earth, Earth, And in that judgment look upon thine own! The Climbing Boy. MILMAN. One summers day, near Sutton's Park, As gazing from a hill, I saw a thing minute and dark Drink at the cooling rill. And, wondering much, pursued my way, When lo! a harmless wight That scares poor children all the day, And wicked men by night. |