Page:Thalaba the Destroyer 1809 Vol 1 - Southey.djvu/35

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I. 17

“Three years no rain had fallen;
“The wholesome herb was dry,
“The corn matur’d not for the food of man,
“The wells and fountains fail’d.
“O hard of heart, in whom the punishment
“Awoke no sense of guilt!
“Headstrong to ruin, obstinately blind,
“We to our Idols still applied for aid;
“Sakia we invok’d for rain,
“We called on Razeka for food..
“They did not hear our prayers, they could not hear!
“No cloud appear’d in Heaven,
“No nightly dews came down.

“Then to the place of concourse messengers
“Were sent, to Mecca, where the nations came,
“Round the Red Hillock kneeling, to implore
“God in his favour’d place.
“We sent to call on God;
“Ah fools! unthinking that from all the earth
“The heart ascends to him.
“We sent to call on God;
“Ah fools! to think the Lord