We, to whom indulgent skies
Plenty, health, and peace impart.
Bid in fragrant offerings rise
Incense from the grateful heart.
THE RIVAL KINGS OF MOHEGAN,
CONTRASTED WITH
THE RIVAL BROTHERS OF PERSIA.
Crowns are beset with thorns,
And who can tell what woes their hollow orb
Binds on the temples!—Yet to taste that wo,
Ambition toils,—Pride strives,—Affection dies
'Neath Hatred's frown. Thus stood the red-brow'd kings,
Brothers and rivals. On their father's throne
Each strove to sit. Justly the nation gave
The sovereignty, where Nature's voice decreed
The birthright. So the eldest rose to rule
His brethren of the forest. In their cares,
Pursuits and dangers, with true heart he shared
An equal part. The hunter's toil he loved,
Like him, the patriarch's favourite son, who bore
The cheering perfume of the scented field
Within his garments. But the younger prince
Adher'd to that pale race, who on his lands,
Encroaching silently, like Rachel, sought
By arts, and counterfeited tones to wrest
The sceptre from him. He, with flattering words
Still sooth'd their avarice,—sparing not to vow
That o'er these mountains, and uncultured vales,
Tall crested woods, and streams which they desired
Their sway should reach.
