Hallowed Earth! with indignation
Mark, oh mark, the murderous deed.
Radiant eye of wide creation,
Watch th' accursed infanticide!
Yet, ere Colchia's rugged daughter
Perpetrate the dire design,
And consign to kindred slaughter
Children of the golden line!
Shall mortal hand, with murder gory,
Cause immortal blood to flow!
Sun of Heaven!--array'd in glory
Rise, forbid, avert the blow!
In the vales of placid gladness
Let no rueful maniac range;
Chase afar the fiend of Madness,
Wrest the dagger from Revenge!
Say, hast thou, with kind protection,
Reared thy smiling race in vain;
Fostering Nature's fond affection,
Tender cares, and pleasing pain?
Hast thou, on the troubled ocean,
Braved the tempest loud and strong,
Where the waves, in wild commotion,
Roar Cyanean rocks among?
Didst thou roam the paths of danger,
Hymenean joys to prove?
Spare, O sanguinary stranger,
Pledges of thy sacred love!
Ask not Heaven's commiseration,
After thou hast done the deed;
Mercy, pardon, expiation,
Perish when thy victims bleed"