The king declares that his own idea, his sole ambition, has been to unite Idolatry and Vanity, and then suddenly becomes absorbed in thought while fondly regarding his wives; to their questions as to the cause of his suspense he answers that, fired by their beauty, he wishes to relate the wondrous story of his conquests. Wonderful indeed is the story which follows, extending, in the original, through three hundred and fifty uninterrupted lines. In the introduction the king relates the strange fate of his father, Nabuchodonosor, whose worthy successor he declares himself to be, and describes his vaulting ambition, which will not be satisfied until he is the sole ruler over all the region of Senaar, which beheld the building of the Tower of Babel; this leads to an account of the Deluge, so poetical and characteristic that we give its finest portion here:[56] “First began a dew as soft As those tears the golden sunrise Kisseth from Aurora’s lids; Then a gentle rain, as dulcet As those showers the green earth drinks In the early days of summer; From the clouds then water-lances, Darting at the mountains, struck them; In the clouds their sharp points shimmer’d, On the mountains rang their but-ends; Then the rivulets were loosened, Roused to madness, ran their currents, Rose to rushing rivers, then Swelled to seas of seas. O Summit Of all wisdom! thou alone Knowest how thy hand can punish! … Then a mighty sea-storm rushed Through the rents and rocky ruptures, By whose mouths the great earth yawns, When its breath resounds and rumbles From internal caves. The air … Roared confined, the palpitation Of its fierce internal pulses Making the great hills to shake, And the mighty rocks to tremble. The strong bridle of the sand, Which the furious onset curbeth Of the white horse of the sea With its foam-face silver fronted, Loosened every curbing rein, So that the great steed, exulting, Rushed upon the prostrate shore, With loud neighing to o’errun it.” The ark alone is saved, and Nimrod resolves to anticipate a second Deluge, and erect a more ambitious refuge. The building of the Tower of Babel and the Confusion of Tongues then follow, and the king closes his long monologue with the determination to rebuild Nimrod’s tower, urged to the task by the opportune conjunction of Idolatry and Vanity. These express their gratification at this lofty scheme, and offer to perpetuate the fame of his great deeds. The king, exulting, exclaims: “Who shall break this bond?” Daniel, advancing, “The hand of God!” and returns the same answer to the king’s angry question, “What can save thee from my power or defend thee?” Baltassar is profoundly moved, but spares Daniel because Vanity loathes the captive and Idolatry disdains his religion.