Vainly warrest thou with God!
Moveless, at thy palace portals,
Moses waits, with lifted rod!
O! thou poor barbarian, Xerxes!
Vainly o'er the Pontic main
Flingest thou, to curb its utterance,
Scourge or chain!
For, the cry that led from Egypt,
Over desert wilds of Edom,
Speaks alike through Greek and Hebrew;