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They saw a late bombarded town,
Its streets still warm with blood ran down;
Still smoked each burning rafter;
And hideously, 'midst rape and sack,
The murderer's laughter answered back
His prey's convulsive laughter.
Its streets still warm with blood ran down;
Still smoked each burning rafter;
And hideously, 'midst rape and sack,
The murderer's laughter answered back
His prey's convulsive laughter.
They saw the captive eye the dead,
With envy of his gory bed,—
Death's quick reward of bravery:
They heard the clank of chains, and then
Saw thirty thousand bleeding men
Dragged manacled to slavery.
With envy of his gory bed,—
Death's quick reward of bravery:
They heard the clank of chains, and then
Saw thirty thousand bleeding men
Dragged manacled to slavery.
"Fie! fie!" the younger heavenly spark
Exclaimed:—"we must have missed our mark,
And entered hell's own portals:
Earth can't be stained with crimes so black;
Nay, sure, we've got among a pack
Of fiends, and not of mortals."
Exclaimed:—"we must have missed our mark,
And entered hell's own portals:
Earth can't be stained with crimes so black;
Nay, sure, we've got among a pack
Of fiends, and not of mortals."
"No," said the elder; "no such thing:
Fiends are not fools enough to wring
The necks of one another:—
They know their interests too well:
Men fight; but every devil in hell
Lives friendly with his brother.
Fiends are not fools enough to wring
The necks of one another:—
They know their interests too well:
Men fight; but every devil in hell
Lives friendly with his brother.
And I could point you out some fellows,
On this ill-fated planet Tellus,
In royal power that revel;
Who, at the opening of the book
Of judgment, may have cause to look
With envy at the devil."
On this ill-fated planet Tellus,
In royal power that revel;
Who, at the opening of the book
Of judgment, may have cause to look
With envy at the devil."
