Page:Redemption, a Poem.djvu/174

 168 REDEMPTION.

Traverse those sandy seas, by camels plough'd

In caravans, freighted with Persia's stores;

Cross Hindoostanie, whose rich soil, perfumed,

Voluptuous winds fan, breathing th' odors sweet

Of aromatic plants, spice, rosewood, teak,

And that pure oil which yields its weight in gold;

Where sabadars and rajahs, high enthroned

On ivory and pearl, with gems thick strown,

And richest stuffs of India inwrought,

Bedizzen'd gleam in palaces of gold,

Which emulate the glories of the sun ;

True Ophir deem'd, whence Israel's third King drew

His wealth, not from Taprobana's fair isle,

Though scarce less famed, and long for Ophir held.

View Ethiop's golden sands, and Afric's coasts,

In ivory and precious ores replete,

From where Gerisa rules and Thebes, to plains

Where Sofala sits queen in regal state,

By Mocaranga, Manic, Mosambique;

Wealth kept secluded from the sway of Rome,

Reserved for thine acceptance, now by me

Reveal'd, and freely offer'd to thy need.

Nor less Europa let thy vision lure,

By Rome's imperial eagles oversway'd,

In arms renown'd, in letters not remiss;

Magnificent in temples, statues, shrines,

With domes and proud triumphal arcs imbow'd,

With monumental aqueducts and baths,

Trophies of cunning art, and boundless wealth,

By merchant princes generous bestow'd,

Or wrought through conquest o'er barbaric foes,

Holding the world in tribute to their greed.

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