Page:Betelguese, a trip through hell.djvu/52

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44
BETELGUESE

Affrighted at the raving horde

That crash thro' leprous filth and light—

Disastrous sights of men gone mad!

And pyramidal wall of rock

Are battle-grounds for waging lust:

A clashing lance spun vypers round

The gyrus rind where helots clad

Each Thaumaturgist in a frock,

The sign of which spake added trust

Unto each ghoul-king's able hound.

Crafty Lords of militant mien,

Led vanquished to the slaughter-pen;

Thumb-screws and bastinados work

Both Devils' pomp and Soldans' joy;

And tantrums coarse in cesspools teem

As women sob for dying men:

The wracks that djinnee fear and shirk,

Are Torture's friend—A Monster's toy!


The rayless styes that guard the bones

Of fall'n kings and grizzled hordes,