Old Beelzebub rose, as the monster came in,
And stood for a moment in dread,
For they look'd like each other enough to be kin,
Save that one had whole feet and a light-colour'd skin,
And the other had horns on his head.
'Whence art thou?' said Beelzebub; 'stranger, proclaim,
For if Satan can rightly divine,
Thou art surely some hero of throat-cutting fame,
For ne'er to these regions a spirit there came,
With figure so hellish as thine.'
'No throats have I cut,' the lank goblin replied,
With voice that was hollow and shrill;
'I have cheated, and bullied, and swindled, and lied,
Sedition and falsehood I've spread far and wide,
And in mischief I never was still.
'My name is —— ——;' no sooner said he,
Than Beelzebub rose with a grin;
He embrac'd the foul monster, who also display'd
His joy at the meeting; and both of them made
All Hell echo round with their din.
Ordeal, I-157, Mar. 11, 1809, Boston.
A Song. Altered from a German air, in the opera of "Dizauberlote." Gleaner, I-374, Apr. 1809, Lancaster (Penn.).
[Also in Mo. Anthology and Boston Rev., III-591, Nov. 1806, Boston.]
TO CHLOE.
From the German of Gesner.