That stood in vases round the room disposed;
Shuddering and trembling to her couch she crept,—
Soft oped the door and quick again was closed,
And thro' the pale grey moon-light Meles stept.
LXV.
But ere he yet, in haste, could throw aside
His broidered belt and sandals—dread to [illegible]
Eager he sprang—he sought to clasp his bride—
He stopt—a groan was heard—he gasped and fell
LXVI.
Low by the couch of her who widowed lay
Her ivory hands convulsive clasped in prayer,
But lacking power to move; and when 'twas day,
A cold black corse was all of Meles, there.
END OF THE FIRST CANTO.
NOTES.
(1) Wandered malignant o'er the erring earth.
This passage and, indeed the whole poem, is founded on a belief, prevalent in the earlier ages of christianity, that all nations, except the descendents of Abraham, were abandoned by the Almighty, and subjected to the power of daemons or evil spirits. Fontenelle in his "Histoire des Oracles" makes the following extract from the works of the Pagan philosopher Porphyry.
"Auguste deja vieux and songeant a se choisir un successeur, alla consulter l'oracle de Delphes. L'oracle ne repondoit point, quiqu 'Auguste n'epargnat pas de sacrifices. A la fin, cependant, il en tira cette reponse. L'enfant Hebreu a qui tous les Dieux obeissent, me chasse d'ici, and me ronvoie dans les Enfers. Sors de ce temple sans parler."