what
Seemed everlasting; but oh! thou true Sun!
The burning oracle of all that live,
As fountain of all life, and symbol of
Him who bestows it, wherefore dost thou limit
Thy lore unto calamity? Why not
Unfold the rise of days more worthy thine
All-glorious burst from ocean? why not dart 20
A beam of hope athwart the future years,
As of wrath to its days? Hear me! oh, hear me!
I am thy worshipper, thy priest, thy servant--
I have gazed on thee at thy rise and fall,
And bowed my head beneath thy mid-day beams,
When my eye dared not meet thee. I have watched
For thee, and after thee, and prayed to thee,
And sacrificed to thee, and read, and feared thee,
And asked of thee, and thou hast answered--but
Only to thus much: while I speak, he sinks-- 30
Is gone--and leaves his beauty, not his knowledge,
To the delighted West, which revels in
Its hues of dying glory. Yet what is
Death, so it be but glorious? 'Tis a sunset;
And mortals may be happy to resemble
The Gods but in decay.

_Enter_ ARBACES _by an inner door_.

_Arb._ Beleses, why
So wrapt in thy devotions? Dost thou stand
Gazing to trace thy disappearing God
Into some realm of undiscovered day?
Our business is with night--'tis come.

_Bel._ But not 40
Gone.

_Arb._ Let it roll on--we are ready.

_Bel._ Yes.
Would it were over!

_Arb._ Does the prophet doubt,
To whom the very stars shine Victory?

_Bel._ I do not doubt of Victory--but the Victor.

_Arb._ Well, let thy science settle that. Meantime
I have prepared as many glittering spears
As will out-sparkle our allies--your planets.
There is no more to thwart us. The she-king,
That less than woman, is even now upon
The waters with his female mates. The order 50
Is issued for the feast in the pavilion.
The first cup which he drains will be the last
Quaffed by the line of Nimrod.

_Bel._ 'Twas a brave one.

_Arb._ And is a weak one--'tis worn out--we'll mend it.

_Bel._ Art sure of that?

_Arb._ Its founder was a hunter--
I am a soldier--what is there to fe