Sabaris. Hath blindness smitten thee?

Arioch.

I know not;

But all things swim around me in a darkness
That dazzles

Sabaris.

See, his shuddering joints are loosened,

And his knees smite each other: such a face
Is seen in tombs:
:- what means it?

What art thou - thus upon my palace wall
Gliding in shadowy, slow, gigantic blackness?
Lo! fiery letters, where it moves, break out:

'tis there again

'Tis there 'tis gone:
no, nought
But those strange characters of flame, that burn
Upon the unkindled wall: - I cannot read them
Can ye?

I see your quivering lips, that speak not-
Sabaris - Arioch- captains elders - all
As pale and horror-stricken as myself!

Are there no wiser ? Call ye forth the dreamers,
And those that read the stars, and every priest,
And he that shall interpret best shall wear
The scarlet robe and chain of gold, and sit

Third ruler of my realm. Away! No-leave me not
To gaze alone
alone on those pale signs

Of destiny - the unextinguishable,

The indelible. Strew, strew my couch where best

I may behold what sears my burning eyeballs

To gaze on

and the cold blood round

To stand, like snow. No-ache mine eyes, and quiver
My palsied limbs — I cannot turn away

Here am I bound as by thrice-linked brass,

Here, till the burden of mine ignorance

Be from my loaded soul taken off, in silence
Deep as the midnight round a place of tombs.

LESSON LXXVI.

The Same, concluded. IDEM.

The Hall of Banquet, with the Fiery Letters on the Wall

Arioch. HATH the king spoken?

Sabaris.

Not a word as now,

He hath sat, with eyes that strive to grow familiar
With those red characters of fire; but still

The agony of terror hath not passed
From his chill frame. But if a word, a step,
A motion, from those multitudes reclined
Down each long festal board, the bursting string
Of some shrill instrument, or even the wind,
Whispering amid the plumes and shaking lamps,
Disturb him, by some mute, imperious gesture,
Or by his brow's stern anger, he commands

When his hand fell upon the all-ruling sceptre,

The bitter and self-mocking laugh that passed

O'er his pale cheek?

Sabaris.

All still again

His lips move, but he speaks not !

the priests and seers; Their snowy garments sweep the hall.

Arioch. They are here

Sabaris.

Behold!

He motions them to advance and to retreat

At-once

and pants, yet shudders, to demand

Their answer.

Belshazzar. O Chaldea's worshipped sages, O men of wisdom, that have passed your years Your long and quiet, solitary years —

In tracing the dim sources of th' events
That agitate this world of man
O ye
That in the tongues of every clime discourse;
Ye that hold converse with the eternal stars,
And in their calm, prophetic courses, read
The destinies of empires; ye whose dreams
Are thronged with the predestined images
Of things that are to be; to whom the Fates
Unfold their secret councils; to whose sight
The darkness of Futurity withdraws,

And one vast Present fills all time,· behold

Yon burning characters! and read, and say
Why the dark Destinies have hung their sentence
Thus visible to the sight, but to the mind

Unsearchable. Ye have heard the rich reward;

And I but wait to see whose neck shall wear

The chain of glory

Voiceless! and each upon the other turns

Ha! each pale, fallen lip

Spurn them forth!

His wan and questioning looks.

Ye wise! ye learned! ye with Fate's mysteries
Intrusted! Spurn, I say, and trample on them!
Let them be outcast to the scorn of slaves!
Let children pluck their beards, and every voice
Hoot at them as they pass!

Ye hosts of slaves,

Behold your king! the lord of Babylon! —

Speak not

for he that speaks, in other words

But to expound these fiery characters,

Shall ne'er speak more !

Nitocris, (entering.) As thou didst give command, My son, I'm here to see the all-glorious feast

That shames the earth, and copes with heaven!

Is't thus? O, look not with that mute reproach,
More terrible than anger, on thy mother!
O, pardon my rash taunts!

Great powers!

My son! my son !
Thou art but now the beauteous, smiling child,
By whom I've passed so many sleepless nights

In deeper joy than slumber e'er could give!
The sole refreshment of my weary spirit

To gaze on thee! - Alas! 'twas all my crime:—

I gave to thy young lips the mantling cup

Of luxury and pride: I taught thee first

That the wide earth was made for thee, and man
Born for thy uses!

Belshazzar.

Find me who will read it,

And thou wilt give me, then, a life more precious
Than that I once received of thee.

Nitocris.

'Twas he;

I saw him as I passed along the courts
The Hebrew, that, when visions of the night
Shook the imperial soul of Nabonassar,
Like one to whom the dimly-peopled realms

Of sleep were clear as the bright noontide heavens,
Spake

Belshazzar. With the speed of lightning call him hither. No more, my mother till he comes, no more.

Arioch. King of the world, he's here.

Belshazzar.

Not yet! not yet!

Delay him! hold him back! — My soul's not strung
To the dire knowledge.

Up the voiceless hall

He moves, nor doth the white and ashen fear,
That paints all faces, change one line of his.
Audacious slave! walks he erect and firm,
When kings are grovelling on the earth?
- Give place!
Why do ye crowd around him? Back! I say.
Is your king heard — or hath he ceased to rule?

Nitocris. Alas! my son, fear levels kings and slaves. Belshazzar. Art thou that Daniel of the Hebrew race, In whom the excellence of wisdom dwells

As in the gods? I have heard thy fame; - behold

Yon mystic letters, flaming on the wall,

That, in the darkness of their fateful import,
Baffle the wisest of Chaldea's sages!
Read, and interpret; and the satrap robe
Of scarlet shall invest thy limbs; the chain
Of gold adorn thy neck; and all the world
Own thee third ruler of Chaldea's realm!
Daniel. Belshazzar, be thy gifts unto thyself,
And thy rewards to others. I, the servant
Of God, will read God's writing to the king.
The Lord of Hosts to thy great ancestor,
To Nabonassar, gave the all-ruling sceptre
O'er all the nations, kingdoms, languages;
Lord paramount of life and death, he slew
Where'er he willed; and where he willed, men lived;
His word exalted, and his word debased;

--

And so his heart swelled up; and, in its pride,
Arose to heaven! But then the lord of earth
Became an outcast from the sons of men
Companion of the browsing beasts! the dews
Of night fell cold upon his crownless brow.
And the wild asses of the desert fed