Page:Trivia (John Gay) to which is added London (Samuel Johnson) (1809).djvu/70

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Mov'd by the mother's streaming eyes and pray'rs,
The helpless infant through the flame he bears,366
With no less virtue than through hostile fire
The Dardan hero bore his aged sire.
See forceful engines spout their levell'd streams,
To quench the blaze that runs along the beams: 370
The grappling hook plucks rafters from the walls,
And heaps on heaps the smoky ruin falls.
Blown by strong winds, the fiery tempest roars,
Bears down new walls, and pours along the floors;
The heav'ns are all ablaze, the face of Night375
Is cover'd with a sanguine dreadful light:
'T was such a light involv'd thy tow'rs, O Rome!
The dire presage of mighty Cæsar's doom;
When the sun veil'd in rust his mourning head,
And frightful prodigies the skies o'erspread. . . .380
Hark! the drum thunders! far, ye crowds, retire:
Behold! the ready match is tipt with fire.
The nitrous store is laid; the smutty train,
With running blaze, awakes the barrell'd grain;
Flames sudden wrap the walls; with sullen sound,385
The shatter'd pile sinks on the smoky ground. . . . .