FIRST PRIEST.

Recitative.

But, hush! See, foremost of the captive choir,

The master-prophet grasps his full-toned lyre.

Mark where he sits, with executing art,

Feels for each tone, and speeds it to the heart.

See how prophetic rapture fills his form,

Awful as clouds that nurse the growing storm;

And now his voice, accordant to the string,

Prepares our monarch's victories to sing.