| Joseph Friedlander, comp. The Standard Book of Jewish Verse. 1917. | | | | Belshazzar | | By Bryan Waller Proctor (Barry Cornwall) |
| | | BELSHAZZAR is king! Belshazzar is Lord! | |
| And a thousand dark nobles all bend at his board; | |
| Fruits glisten, flowers blossom, meats steam, and a flood | |
| Of wine that man loveth runs redder than blood; | |
| Wild dancers are there, and a riot of mirth, | 5 |
| And the beauty that maddens the passions of earth; | |
| And the crowds all shout, till the vast roofs ring— | |
| “All praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the king!” | |
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| “Bring forth,” cries the monarch, “the vessels of gold, | |
| Which my father tore down from the temples of old; | 10 |
| Bring forth!” and before him the vessels all shine, | |
| And he bows unto Baal, and he drinks the dark wine, | |
| While the trumpets bray and the cymbals ring,— | |
| “Praise, praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the king!” | |
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| Now what! cometh—look, look!—without menace or call? | 15 |
| Who writes with the lightning’s bright hand on the wall? | |
| What pierceth the king like the point of a dart? | |
| What drives the bold blood from his cheek to his heart? | |
| “Chaldeans! Magicians! the letters expound!” | |
| They are read,—and Belshazzar is dead on the ground! | 20 |
| Hark!—The Persian is come on a conqueror’s wing; | |
| And a Mede’s on the throne of Belshazzar the king. | | | | |
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