The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-08 00:00:00

The Walpurgis Dance at Washington,

WRITTEN FOR THE " NEW YORK DAILY NEWS" BY

44

[lt is hardly necessary to hint that " Ithuriel"
is no other for the nonce than Dr. Charles Mackay,
the Imes' Correspondent.]

The night was heavy and mirk,
The moon shone dusky red,
The air had an odour of sulphurous smoke
And of corpses newly dead.
And I saw in fact, or dream,
Or both confused in one,
A dance and a revel and maniac rout
Too hideous for the sun ;
And out of it came a cry :
" Blood ! blood ! blood !
" Let the witches' caldron boil
" With a nation's tears for water I
" Blood ! blood ! blood
" Slabby and thick as mud,
• "To sprinkle the hungry soil
" For tho oarraivol of oloushter I"

Beneath the caldron cracked
A pool and whirl of flame,
Around the caldron ganibord and howl'd

A crowd without a name;
Fierce war zealots and preachers,
Buffoons, contractors, thieves,
Liars, blasphemers, and parasites
As thick as the Summer leaves,
And still they claimed and shouted,
" Blood ! blood ! blood !
" Let the hell-broth sputter and boil
"Kith a nation's tears for water I
" Blood ! blood ! blood !
" Stubby and thick as mud,
" To sprinkle the hungry soil
" For the carnival of slaughter I"

Naked, obscene and cruel,
They screamed and jibed and roar'd,
They knew their God was the Devil,
Their King and Chief and Lord;
And they worshipped at his tootslool,

And said, "Thy kingdom come,
16 When the world shill be to the strongest

"And be ruled by beat of drum,
"Drum beat and flesh of cannon I
" Blood ! Blood ! Blood !
" Let the witches' caldron boil
" With a nation's tears for water I
" Blood ! Blood ! Blood !
" Slabby and thick as mud,
" To sprinkle the hungry soil
" For the carnival of slaughter I"

TV.
One tall, and bony and lank
Stood forward from the rest,
And told a ribald story

With a leer to give it zest,
And said, "Our fire burns feebly,

" We must pile it up anew;
" Tell me the fuel to feed it with
" Ye friends and comrades true I "
And they shouted with mad rejoicing,
" Blood ! blood ! blood !
"Let the witches' caldron boil
"With a nation's tears for water!
" Blood! Blood! Blood!
" Slabby and thick as mud,
" To sprinkle the hungry soil
"For the carnival of slaughter I "

He cut down the Constitution
Thai grew so fair and well,
And chopped the gracious tree to logs
To feed his fire of hell.
He threw in the crackling caldron
With a satisfied "Ha I ha 1"
Reason and Honor and Justice,
Liberty, Right, and Law ;
While his greedy comrades shouted,
" Blood ! blood ! blood !
'. Let the witches' caldron boil
" With a nat'on's tears for water I
" Blood I Blood! Blood!
" Slabby and thick as mud,
" To sprinkle the hungry soil
" For the carnival of slaughter 1"

VI.
I Let the old men dio in their beds,

Let the children grow and thrive,
We crave the blood of the young and strong
' To keep our dance alive.
We crave it, and will have it,
Though the wives bewail and mourn,
And the mothers sob in anguish
• O'er the graves of their early born,
''Tis the afterbirth of a nation 1'
" Blood ! blood ! blood !
" Let tho hell-broth sputter and boil
" With a nation's tears for water I
" Blood ! blood ! blood !
" Slabby and thick as mud,
" To sprinkle the hungry soil
" For the carnival of slaughter

VII.
What more they did and said
New times may render plain,
But if Retribution come not,
Gibbet and rope are vain I
Gibbet and rope and dungeon,
Or the whip in honest hand,
To lash such coward dregs and scum
Affrighted through the land.
Meanwhile the streets re-echo
Their furious cry for blood!

And the witches' caldron boils
With a nation's tear for water I
I, Blood I Blood! Blood!
Slabby and thick as mud,
And debts and troubles and toils,
Aud the carnival of slaughter.