“Traffic as ye will
In the amber-ore that opulent Sardes sends,
And Indian gold.”
So also, “golden Babylon,” below; which will recall to the Christian reader the famous words, “Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased!”—Isaiah xiv. 4. In the same way Xerxes is called “the god-like son of a golden race,” in the choral hymn which immediately follows the present introductory chaunt. Southey, the most learned of our poets, has not forgotten this orientalism when he says—
“Hark! at the golden palaces
The Brahmin strikes the hour.”
—Curse of Kehama V.
where see the note.
“The well-poised dart.”