Page 108 - Third Book of Reading Lessons

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READING LESSONS. 107
The monarch saw and shook,
And bade no more rejoice;
11 bloodless wax'd his look, And tremulous his voice.
" Ye men of lore, appear,
The wisest of the earth,
Expound the words of fear,
Which mar our royal mirth."
Chaldea's seers are good,
But here they have no skill;
The mystic letters stood
Untold and awful still.
And Babel's men of age
Are wise and deep in lore;
But now they were not sage,
They saw-but knew no more.
captive in the land.
stranger and a youth,
Ie heard the king's command,
He saw that writing's truth.
The lamps around were bright, The prophecy in view;
He read it on that night-
The morrow proved it true.
"Baltassar's grave is made,
His kingdom pass'd away,
He, in the balance weigh'd,
Is light and worthless clay.
The shroud, his robe of state,
His canopy the stone ;
The :Mede is at his gate!
The Persian on bis throne!"
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BYRON.