In his hand, it was so gross and thick. Then came

The last dread plague—the death of the first-born.

’Twas midnight,

And a startling shriek rose from each palace,

Home and hut of Egypt, save the blood-besprinkled homes

Of Goshen; the midnight seemed to shiver with a sense

Of dread, as if the mystic angels wing

Had chilled the very air with horror.

Death! Death! was everywhere—in every home

A corpse—in every heart a bitter woe.