Montezuma; An Epic on the Origin and Fate of the Aztec Nation (Paperback)

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1885. Excerpt: ... A camp in Central India, 'neath the palms, And where the lap of nature is so full, That all the world may beggar it of alms And drink of its repletion; a mere tool Of hungry Kingdoms, thirsty Dynasties-- The finger-tips of Alexander's arm-- The plethorite of the Augustan age-- The gilt that margins all the tapestries Down through middle ages; and the charm That lends a mellow fragrance to the page Of her, the Island Queen, whose arm meets arm In the embrace of earth, her borders refuge from avenging harm. A journey into Egypt, with their flocks before, And peaceful conquests back, an opening door To vast historic truths, a Niobe Moaning her children's travail in advance, A restless nomad people, like the sea, Stirred by involuntary force, whose billows dance To music of the spheres, stern Autocrat, and yet a slave to its own mastery. SOJOURN IN EGYPT. O Egypt how shall we approach thy face? How steal from thy dumb lips one scrap of song? Thou stand'st alone, and sendest from thy place One word, that human lips have shaped for thee, To seal thy mighty arch with "mystery." Time calls his children 'round him, and they each Give answer to their names; gray Troy and Greece Pour out the lesson their dumb lips would teach, Carthage, Phoenicia, Parthia and Rome Clothe death with all the eloquence of speech; And each form linklets of an unbroke chain. But they are youthful; in perspective dim As if unmoved with either joy or pain. With arms enfolded, and with eye all fixed, A silent portal in the track of time. In the rough surge of nations still unmixed, Where the great fathers left thee in the Sphinx, And heaped the sands upon thy broken links, Thou dost look down the ages to defy Tradition, inspiration, and all future progeny. She sleeps as they advance; their lowing kine And noisy herds...