(AIR.--NOVELLO.)
"War against Babylon!" shout we around,
Be our banners through earth unfurled;
Rise up, ye nations, ye kings, at the sound--
"War against Babylon!" shout thro' the world!
Oh thou, that dwellest on many waters,[1]
Thy day of pride is ended now;
And the dark curse of Israel's daughters
Breaks like a thundercloud over thy brow!
War, war, war against Babylon!
Make bright the arrows, and gather the shields,[2]
Set the standard of God on high;
Swarm we, like locusts, o'er all her fields.
"Zion" our watchword, and "vengeance" our cry!
Woe! woe!--the time of thy visitation[3]
Is come, proud land, thy doom is cast--
And the black surge of desolation
Sweeps o'er thy guilty head, at last!
War, war, war against Babylon!
[1] "Oh thou that dwellest upon many waters...thine end is
come."--_Jer_. li. 13.
[2] "Make bright the arrows; gather the shields...set up the standard upon
the walls of Babylon"--_Jer_. li. 11, 12.
[3] "Woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their
visitation!"--_Jer_. l. 27.