THE King was on his throne, The Satraps throng'd the hall; A thousand bright lamps shone O'er that high festival. A thousand cups of gold, In Judah deem'd divine -- Jehovah's vessels hold The godless Heathen's wine! In that same hour and hall, The fingers of a hand Came forth against the wall, And wrote as if on sand: The fingers of a man; -- A solitary hand Along the letters ran, And traced them like a wand. The monarch saw, and shook, And bade no more rejoice; All bloodless wax'd his look, And tremulous his voice. 'Let the men of lore appear, The wisest of the earth, And expound the words of fear, Which mar our royal mirth.' Chaldea's seers are good, But here they have no skill; And the unknown letters stood Untold and awful still. And Babel's men of age Are wise and deep in lore; But now they were not sage, They saw -- but knew no more. A captive in the land, A stranger and a youth, He heard the king's command, He saw that writing's truth. The lamps around were bright, The prophecy in view; He read it on that night, -- The morrow proved it true. 'Belshazzar's grave is made, His kingdom pass'd away, He, in the balance weigh'd, Is light and worthless clay; The shroud, his robe of state, His canopy the stone: The Mede is at his gate! The Persian on his throne!' | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NOCTURNE IN A MINOR KEY by CONRAD AIKEN PORTRAIT OF A BABY by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET THE CHANGED WOMAN by LOUISE BOGAN ODE TO THE BROWN PAPER BAG by JAMES GALVIN THREE SONNETS by RICHARD WILBUR THE JOBHOLDER by DAVID IGNATOW |