Page:Queen Moo's talisman; the fall of the Maya empire (IA queenmoostalisma00leplrich).djvu/32

 Heart sang with Nature's harmonies its best,

Like warbling bird within a downy nest.

But soon 'mong roseate tints more sombre thought

Unto youth's bubbling spring dark ripples brought.

An aged man, divine love in his face,

Led Princess Móo within a sacred place

And there relating many a tale of old,

Of years to come would something too unfold.

Faint echos even now reverberate

What he then told about the awful fate

Of Mu, imperial mistress of the seas,

Renowned for power and wealth thro' centuries.

"O'erwhelmed was she in one appalling night

When Homen, raging in his fearful might,

Threw lofty peaks that lesser mountains crushed,

And every life was into silence hushed.

The rended mountains sent aloft their fire

To meet the lightning's dart and then expire.

From earth and sky incessant thunder broke;

The bursting clouds forced back ascending smoke;

Soon over all the seething billows swept:

Death's lullaby the waters purled, and crept.

Then towering seas that gleamed as with snowcap,

Tossed ships on land, while into Ocean's lap

The land convulsed, her haughty mansions heaved.

Waves onward dashed, as roaring flames they cleaved.