of his action, stared at him with a sort of amazed and angry
fascination.. "To arms, Zephoranim! ... To arms! ... take up thy
sword and shield.. get thee forth and fight with fire! Fire! ...
How shall the King quench it? ... how shall the mighty monarch
defend his people against it? See you not how it fills the air
with red devouring tongues of flame! ... the thick smoke reeks of
blood! ... Al-Kyris the Magnificent, the pleasant city of sin, the
idolatrous city, is broken in pieces and is become a waste of
ashes! Who will join with me in a lament for Al-Kyris? I will call
upon the desert of the sea to hear my voice, . . I will pour forth
my sorrows on the wind, and it shall carry the burden of grief to
the four quarters of the earth,--all nations shall shudder and be
astonished at the direful end of Al-Kyris, the city beautiful, the
empress of kingdoms! Woe unto Al-Kyris, for she hath suffered
herself to be led astray by her rulers! ... she hath drunken deep
of the innocent blood and hath followed after idols, . . her
abominations are manifold and the hearts of her young men and
maidens are full of evil! Therefore because Al-Kyris delighteth in
pride and despiseth repentance, so shall destruction descend
furiously upon her, even as a sudden tempest in the mid-watches of
the night,--she shall be swept away from the surface of the earth,
... wolves shall make their lair in her pleasant gardens, and the
generations of men shall remember her no more! Oh ye kings,
princes, and warriors!--Weep, weep for the doom of Al-Kyris!" and
now his wild voice sank by degrees into a piteous plaintiveness--
"Weep!--for never again on earth shall be found a fairer dwelling-
place for the lovers of joy! ... never again shall be builded a
grander city for the glory and wealth of a people! Al-Kyris! Al-
Kyris! Thou that boastest of ancient days and long lineage! ...
thou art become a forgotten heap of ruin! ... the sands of the