Tremble, thou vice-polluted breast,
Blasphemers, all be dumb.
The tempest gathers all around,
On Babylon it lies;
Down with her! down-down to the ground
She sinks, she groans, she dies.
Down with her, Lord, to lick the dust,
Ere yonder setting sun;
Serve her as she has served the just!
"Tis fix'd-it shall be done.
FIRST PRIEST.-Recitative.
No more! when slaves thus insolent presume,
The king himself shall judge, and fix their doom.
Unthinking wretches! have not you and all
Beheld our power in Zedekiah's fall?
To yonder gloomy dungeon turn your eyes;
See where dethroned your captive monarch lies--
Deprived of sight and rankling in his chain,
See where he mourns his friends and children slain:
Yet know, ye slaves, that still remain behind
More ponderous chains, and dungeons more confined.
CHORUS OF ALL.
Arise, all-potent Ruler, rise,
And vindicate thy people's cause;
Till every tongue in every land.
Shall offer up unfeign'd applause.
FIRST PRIEST.-Recitative.
Yes, my companions, Heaven's decrees are pass'd,
And our fix'd empire shall for ever last.
In vain the madd'ning prophet threatens wo-
In vain rebellion aims her secret blow;
Still shall our name and growing power be spread,
And still our vengeance crush the guilty head.
Coeval with man
Our empire began,
And never shall fall,
Till ruin shakes all.
When ruin shakes all,
Then shall Babylon fall.
FIRST PROPHET.-Recitative.
"Tis thus that pride triumphant rears the head— A little while, and all her power is fled;
But, ah! what means yon sadly plaintive train
That this way slowly bends along the plain?
And now, methinks, a pallid corse they bear
To yonder bank, and rest the body there.
Alas! too well mine eyes observant trace
The last remains of Judah's royal race:
Fall'n is our king, and all our fears are o'er,
Unhappy Zedekiah is no more.
Ye wretches who by fortune's hate
In want and sorrow groan,
Come, ponder his severer fate,
And learn to bless your own.
Ye sons, from fortune's lap supplied,
Awhile the bliss suspend;
Like yours, his life began in pride,
Like his, your lives shall end.
SECOND PROPHET.-Recitative.
Behold his wretched corse with sorrow worn,
His squalid limbs with ponderous fetters torn;
Those eyeless orbs that shock with ghastly glare,
Those unbecoming rags-that matted hair!
And shall not Heaven for this avenge the foe,
Grasp the red bolt, and lay the guilty low?
How long, how long, Almighty Lord of all,
Shall wrath vindictive threaten ere it fall!
As panting flies the hunted hind,
Where brooks refreshing stray;
And rivers through the valley wind,
That stop the hunter's way:
Thus we, O Lord, alike distress'd,
For streams of mercy long-
Those streams which cheer the sore oppress'd,
And overwhelm the strong.
FIRST PROPHET.-Recitative.
But whence that shout? Good Heavens! amazement all!
See yonder tower just nodding to the fall:
Behold, an army covers all the ground,
Saps the strong wall, and pours destruction round!
The ruin smokes, destruction pours along,
How low the great, how feeble are the strong!
The foe prevails, the lofty walls recline-
O God of hosts, the victory is thine!
Down with them, Lord, to lick the dust!
Thy vengeance be begun:
Serve them as they have served the just,
And let thy will be done.
FIRST PRIEST.-Recitative.
All, all is lost. The Syrian army fails;
Cyrus, the conqueror of the world, prevails!
Save us, O Lord! to Thee, though late, we pray,
And give repentance but an hour's delay.
FIRST AND SECOND PRIESTS.
Thrice happy, who in happy hour
To Heaven their praise bestow,
And own his all-consuming power
Before they feel the blow!
FIRST PROPHET.-
-Recitative.
Now, now's our time! ye wretches bold and blind,
Brave but to God, and cowards to mankind,
Ye seek in vain the Lord unsought before-
Your wealth, your pride, your kingdom are no more!
Where toads shall pant, and vultures prey!
FIRST PROPHET.-Recitative.
Such be her fate! But hark! how from afar
The clarion's note proclaims the finish'd war!
Our great restorer, Cyrus, is at hand,
And this way leads his formidable band.
Give, give your songs of Zion to the wind,
And hail the benefactor of mankind:
He comes, pursuant to divine decree,
To chain the strong, and set the captive free.
CHORUS OF YOUTHS.
Rise to raptures past expressing,
Sweeter from remember'd woes;
Cyrus comes, our wrongs redressing—
Comes to give the world repose.
CHORUS OF VIRGINS.
Cyrus comes, the world redressing,
Love and pleasure in his train;
Comes to heighten every blessing-
Comes to soften every pain.
Hail to him with mercy reigning,
Skill'd in every peaceful art,
Who, from bonds our limbs unchaining,
Only binds the willing heart.
But chief to Thee, our God, defender, friend,
Let praise be given to all eternity;
O Thou, without beginning, without end,
Let us, and all, begin and end in Thee.
THE DOUBLE TRANSFORMATION.
Secluded from domestic strife,
Jack Book-worm led a college life;
A fellowship at twenty-five
Made him the happiest man alive;
He drank his glass, and crack'd his joke,
And freshmen wonder'd as he spoke.
Such pleasures unalloy'd with care,
Could any accident impair?
Could Cupid's shaft at length transfix
Our swain, arrived at thirty-six ?
Oh, had the archer ne'er come down
To ravage in a country town,
Or Flavia been content to stop
At triumphs in a Fleet-street shop!
Oh had her eyes forgot to blaze,
Or Jack had wanted eyes to gaze!
Oh!- but let exclamation cease;
Her presence banish'd all his peace:
This and the following Poem were published by Dr Goldsmith, in his Volume of Essays, which appeared in 1765.
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