II.

I looked for thy temple, I looked for my home,

And forgot for a moment my bondage to come;
I beheld but the death-fire that fed on thy fane,
And the fast-fettered hands that made vengeance in

vain.

III.

On many an eve, the high spot whence I gazed Had reflected the last beam of day as it blazed; While I stood on the height, and beheld the decline

Of the rays from the mountain that shone on thy shrine.

IV.

And now on that mountain I stood on that day, But I marked not the twilight beam melting away; Oh! would that the lightning had glared in its stead, And the thunderbolt burst on the conqueror's head!

V.

But the Gods of the Pagan shall never profane The shrine where Jehovah disdained not to reign; And scattered and scorned as thy people may be,

Our worship, oh Father! is only for thee.

BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON WE SAT

DOWN AND WEPT.

I.

WE sate down and wept by the waters

Of Babel, and thought of the day

When our foe, in the hue of his slaughters,
Made Salem's high places his prey;

And ye, oh her desolate daughters!

Were scattered all weeping away.

II.

While sadly we gazed on the river

Which rolled on in freedom below,

They demanded the song; but, oh never That triumph the stranger shall know! May this right hand be withered for ever, Ere it string our high harp for the foe!

III.

On the willow that harp is suspended,

Oh Salem! its sound should be free;

And the hour when thy glories were ended But left me that token of thee:

And ne'er shall its soft tones be blended

With the voice of the spoiler by me!

THE DESTRUCTION OF SEMNACHERIB.

I.

THE Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.