Extract from Miriam, a Dramatic Sketch.
PRAYER.
(FROM MIRIAM.)
THRASENO.
WHERE wouldst thou seek for peace or quietness, If not beside the altar of thy God? MIRIAM.
Within these mighty walls of sceptred Rome A thousand temples rise unto her gods, Bearing their lofty domes unto the skies, Graced with the proudest pomp of earth; their shrines Glittering with gems, their stately colonnades, Their dreams of genius wrought into bright forms, Instinct with grace and godlike majesty, Their ever-smoking altars, white-robed priests, And all the pride of gorgeous sacrifice. And yet these things are naught. Rome's prayers ascend To greet th' unconscious skies, in the blue void