Reads: Mene,—Mene,—Tekel—Upharsin![1]
Where have I heard, where have I seen these words?
So let me think! Think? Woe! I cannot think;
[With the utmost horror.]
My brain is dizzed by agony of dread,
As stands that igneous ball above my head,
While swinging round that hurricane engirds
The dazzling centre with its black-red skirts.
And now from that corona 'mid the skies
A thousand fingers point,—a thousand eyes
Glare down at me, mute, yet how eloquent!
But what is that?—round me the earth is rent
By unseen hand—ah! it has come,—no doubt,—
The earthquake Elsie Bradburn spoke about,—
The ground below me shakes — it opes — I gaze.
Oh, horror! deep into a fiery blaze,—
Its flames lick up, [he holds his arm above him., as if to shield him,] and now from overhead
A quivering flash—I sink—I fall—[With a death-like gurgle:] Dead—dead!
[He falls from the couch. Duque and Prado run to his assistance., and raise him to a sitting position. His eyes stare from their sockets, his cheeks are ghastly pale.]
Prado.
<poem>Awake, Your Excellency! 't was but?. dream!
- ↑ Daniel V. 25.
