Page:Livingstone in Africa.djvu/99

Nay, some still pay them tribute of a prayer;
Offer their very little ones to soothe
And sate bestial malign divinities!
These have their priest, temple, and sacrifice,
Or priestess, with observances impure:
So have green serpents, tongued with flickering fire,
Whose stealthy glide flames out in torturing hells. . .
. . Are these dark aberrations of the soul
Terrible legacies bequeathed to men
By some forefather of Egyptian race,
Who bore the ritual of his ancient realm
To these far wilds of Ethiopia?—
Bringing his cast of feature, and the modes
Of intricate hairbraids involved with bark;
Manners of tilling earth and harvesting,
Spindles, and ways of weaving warp with weft.—
Or was it some primæval ancestor,
Common to all, whom so the Lord made wise,
And whom in turn the Enemy beguiled?
But still, upon broad shoulders of strong men,
A sacred ark is borne at the full moon