LESSON 54 THE VISION OF BELSHAZZAR [1]

THE VISION OF BELSHAZZAR [1]

L ORD B YRON (1788-1824) was one of the greatest of English poets.

The king was on his throne,

The satraps [2] thronged the hall;

A thousand bright lamps shone

O'er that high festival.

A thousand cups of gold,

In Judah [3] deemed divine—

Jehovah's vessels [4] hold

The godless heathen's wine!

In that same hour and hall,

The fingers of a hand

Came forth against the wall,

And wrote as if on sand;

The fingers of a man,

A solitary hand,

Along the letters ran,

And traced them like a wand!

The monarch saw, and shook,

And bade no more rejoice;

All bloodless waxed his look,

And tremulous his voice:

Let the men of lore [5] appear, The wisest of the earth, And expound [6] the words of fear, Which mar [7] our royal mirth.

Chaldea's [8] seers [9] are good,

But here they have no skill;

And the unknown letters stood

Untold and awful still.

And Babel's [10] men of age

Are wise and deep in lore;

But now they were not sage [11] —

They saw—but knew no more.

A captive [12] in the land,

A stranger, and a youth,

He heard the king's command,

He saw that writing's [13] truth.

The lamps around were bright,

The prophecy [14] in view;

He read it on that night—

The morrow proved it true:

Belshazzar 's grave is made, His kingdom passed away; He, in the balance weighed, Is light and worthless clay; The shroud his robe of state, His canopy [15] the stone; The Mede [16] is at his gate! The Persian on his throne!

—LORD BYRON (1788-1824)

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[1] Belshazzar: The last king of the Chaldees at Babylon.

[2] satraps: Governors of provinces.

[3] Judah: The southernmost part of Palestine.

[4] Jehovah's vessels: The king and his courtiers drank out of the sacred vessels taken from the temple at Jerusalem.

[5] men of lore: Wise men.

[6] expound: Explain.

[7] mar: Spoil.

[8] Chaldea: The country of which Babylon was the capital.

[9] seer: One who foretells the future.

[10] Babel: Babylon.

[11] sage: Wise.

[12] captive: Daniel, the prophet.

[13] the writing: The words were "mene, mene, tekel upharsin"-"Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting. Thy days are numbered."

[14] prophecy: Something foretold.

[15] canopy: Curtains, roof.

[16] Mede: Inhabitant of Media, an ancient kingdom south of the Caspian Sea.