"Of our father and our king Let his grateful children sing. What eye of living thing may brook On his blazing brow to look? What might of living thing may stand Against the strength of his right hand? First he led his armies forth Against the Mammoths of the north, What time they wasted in their pride Pasture and vineyard far and wide. Then the White River's icy flood Was thawed with fire and dyed with blood, And heard for many a league the sound Of the pine forests blazing round, And the death-howl and trampling din Of the gigantic herd within. From the surging sea of flame Forth the tortured monsters came; As of breakers on the shore Was their onset and their roar; As the cedar-trees of God Stood the stately ranks of Nod. One long night and one short day The sword was lifted up to slay. Then marched the firstborn and his sons O'er the white ashes of the wood, And counted of that savage brood Nine times nine thousand skeletons. "On the snow with carnage red The wood is piled, the skins are spread. A thousand fires illume the sky; Round each a hundred warriors lie. But, long ere half the night was spent, Forth thundered from the golden tent The rousing voice of Cain. A thousand trumps in answer rang And fast to arms the warriors sprang O'er all the frozen plain. A herald from the wealthy bay Hath come with tidings of dismay. From the western ocean's coast Seth hath led a countless host, And vows to slay with fire and sword All who call not on the Lord. His archers hold the mountain forts; His light armed ships blockade the ports; His horsemen tread the harvest down. On twelve proud bridges he hath passed The river dark with many a mast, And pitched his mighty camp at last Before the imperial town. "On the south and on the west, Closely was the city prest. Before us lay the hostile powers. The breach was wide between the towers. Pulse and meal within were sold For a double weight of gold. Our mighty father had gone forth Two hundred marches to the north. Yet in that extreme of ill We stoutly kept his city still; And swore beneath his royal wall, Like his true sons to fight and fall.