Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1839-10-10
@oetie &etess.
THE SEVENTH PLAGUE OF EGYPT.

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE OF EGYPT.
BY REV. GEORGE cRoLY.
Twas morn-the rising splendor roll'd
On marble towers and roofs of gold;
Hall, court and gallery below,
Were crowded with living flow;
Egyptian, Arab. Nubian there,
The bearers of the bow and spear;
The hoary priest, the Chaldee sage,
The slave. the gemm'd and lglitte.1ng page
Helm, turban aud tiara, shone
A dazzling ring round Pharoah's throne.
There came man-the human tide
Shrank backN ard from his stately stride;
His cheek with storm and time was tann'd;
A shepherds staff was in his hand:
A shudder OF instructive fear
Told the dark king what step was near.
On through the host the stranger came,
1t parted round his form like fame.
He stoop'd not at the footstoo stone,
He clasp'd not sandal, kiss'd not throne;
Erect he stood amid the ring,
His only words" Be just, o King"
On Pharaohs cheek the blood flush d high,
A fire was in his sullen eye;
Yet on the Chief of Israel
No arrow of his thousands fell;
All mute and mcveless as the grave
Stood cold the satrap and the slave.
Thou'rtcome." at length tile monarch spoke :
Haughty and high the words outbroke:
Is Israel weary of his lair,
The forehead peel'd the shoulder bare?
Take back the answer to your band:
Go, reap the wind; go, plough the sand;
Go, viIest of the living vile.
To build the never-ending pile,
Fill. darkest of the nameless dead,
The vulmre of their heshis fed.
What better asks the bowling slave
Than the base life our bounty gave 7"
Shouted in pride the tl,rban'd peers;
UpcIash'd 10 heaven the golden spears.
King thou and thine are doon'dl Be-
holdn
The prophet spoke. Tile thunder roll'd;
Along the pathway of the sun
Said vapoury mountains, wild and dun.
Yet there is time," the prophet said
He raised his stafT-the storm was stay'd.
King be the word offreedom given:
| What art thou, man, to war with heaven 2"
There came no word. The thunder broke!
Like huge city's final smoke;
Thick, lurid sitting, mix'd with fame,
Through court and hall the vapours came.
Loose as the stubble in the field,
Wide few the men of spear and shield;
Scatter'd like foam along the wave,
Flew the prond pageant, prince and slave:
Or, in the chains ofterror bound,
Lay, corpse-ike, on the smouIdering ground.
Speak. King the wrath is but begun.
Still dumb Then, heaven, thy will be
doneM
Echoed from earth hollow roar,
Like ocean on the midnight shore;
A sheet of lightning DER them wheel'd,
The solid ground beneath them reel'd;
In dust sank roof and battlement;
Like webs the giant walls were rent;
Red, broad. before his startled gaze,
The monarch saw his Egypt blaze.
| Gill .,rh1ltd tbo mo ora,p Ia
Burst from the clouds the charge of hail;
With arrUwy keenness, iron weight,
Down pru d the ministers of fate;
Til man aud cattle, crushed. congeal'd,
Cover'd with death the boundless field.
Still swell'd the plague-uprose the blast
The avenger. fiji TO be the last;
On ocean, river, forest vale,
Thuuder'd at once the mighty gale.
Before the whirwind roar''i the sea;
A thousand ships were oh the wave
Where are they1 Ask that foamlng grave!
Down 20 the hope, the pride Of years,
Down 60 the myriad mariners;
The riches of Earths richest zone,
Gone like q fash oflightning, gone!
And, 10! that first fierce triumph DER,
Swels Ocean on the shrinking shore;
Still, onward, onward. dark and wide,
| Engulfs the land the furious tide.
Then bow'd thy spirit, stubborn king,
Thou serpent, reft offang and sting;
Humbled, before the prophet'sknee,
He ground, BE injured Israel free"
To heaven the sage upraised the wand;
Back roll'd the deluge from the land;
Back TO it's caverns sank the gale;
Fled from the moon the vapours pale;
Broad burn'd again the joyous sun:
The hour Of wrath and death was DONE
Friends, like wine, require 10 be kept
-G..