Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1848-12-22
POETRY.
FIR he Enquirer
Address TO a mummy!

And thou hast walked about. chow strange siory!)
In Th-be-'s streets, three thousand ,earsago,
When the Memnonium was In all IT'S eioryj
And time had moi pegun 10 overthrow
Those temples, palaces, and piles sinpendous,
or which The very ruins are Tremendous
speak-for thou Ion, enough hast acted dummy;
Thou hast tongu.--cnme, let us hear It's tone;
Thou standing thy legs, above ground, Mummy
RevisiIing the smpses Of the noon
Not like thin ghosts or disemhodled creatures,
Blu, with thy bones and flesh, and limbs ana features
Tellus-for doubtless thou can'st rscollec,-
To WHOM should assign the Sphin1's iahe'
Was Cheops or Cephrenrs architect
OF either Pyramid that bears ms hane
Is Pomp-v's Pillar really misnoInerf
Had Th.b-s a hundred gates, as sung by Homer!
Perhaps thou wert Mason, and forbidden,
b. oath, To tell the mysteries ot my tradei
Then saw what secret melody was hdheh .
In Mrmnon,s statue, which AT sunrise piaseo'
Perhaps thou vert Il Prie>t-ifso -, my stIuseies
Are VAIN, for pr-stctait never OWNS lie JnsseS'
pr,haos thar very hand now pinioned fiat,
fla. hnb.a. ob'd with Pharaoh, glass To glass;
Or drnpprd a halt penny IN Honier's mas
Or dof,i Thy own to let Queen DIDO pass
Or held by solomon : own invitation,
A torch at the great Temple dedication.
In-ed @, ask thee il that hand. when armed,
Ha. any Roman soldier maul'd ana Rnuoh
For thon wer't dead aud buried, and ehiua''u ~
Er, Rom,lus aud Rrmus nad been uuckieoi-
Antiquity appears {" nave oesa"
Long alter Thy primeval race "as iu"
Thou could ST d-selcp-, u that "h"eiou 'os o.n.
Might tell US what those sien,iess "ros nave sos'
po Inc world look ed when it fresh and young
And The great d-uge sriii mad left II green;
Or was Il then so oio that History pages
Contained no record OF It's early ages!
Still silent incommuncative elf!
Ar sworn 10 s-cresy then keep thy vows
But prythee tell us something of thyseit-
Reveal The secrets ofthy prison house:
Since ~ the world ot spirits tnou hast slunoeieo'
What hast thou seen !-whal strange adventures NUM-
bereds
s,nc. A -, tbv form was In this box extended,
we have, above ground, seen some strange Ha'"
The Ro,,.n Empire ha, begun and ended
New worlds have Tisrn-w- have lost ola NATIONS
And countless kings have into dust been hnmoied'
Wn,le not fragment OF Thy flesh has crumbleo'
dds, thou not hear the poiher Ger tiny hrao,
When the great Persian couqnrIor, Canhysrs,
Ma,cn-d armies '-r my tomb with laundering Tread
U'erthrew OSIRIS, ones. Apis, ISIS
A nd shook the Pyramids with tear ana "nhoeI'
When The gigantic Memnon fell asunuef!
If the tomb's secrets may not be confessed,
The nature Of Thy private lie unioid;
heart has lhrobo' beneath that ieathern breast,
And tears adown that ua>ty cheek have roliu
Have children clImb'd those knees, ana kisseu 'na'
face? $3.50,
What was thy name, and station, age, and racer
Statue Of lesh-immnrlll Of the dead!
tmperishabr ty,r oi eranescence!
Po.lhumous man, who quipst Thy narrow peo,
and standesl undecsyed WITHIN our presence,
Thou viii hear nothing I'LL the Jndemenl morning,
When the great trump shali lnfh' tnee VIZ" ~
Ing
WHY should this worthless tegument endure,
fits underlying quest be lost forever!
o. let us keep the soul emhalnrd ana pure
In living virtue, that, when both must sever,
Aitho' corruption may our frame Consume,
TIL Immortal spirit IN The skies may bloom.
Grace GREENWOOD, oy Va.
Mil VIgw, December Isis.