Classic Poem

SCENE V .

Lo, through full twenty gates came charioteers,
Laden with spoil and treasure for the king,
With horses belled and cinctured in rare silk,
Escorted by fierce bowmen mailed in iron,
With maces on their backs and blinding shields,
And adroit slingers to protect the wealth;
For there was onyx, and much amethyst
From out the land of Belad, and they brought
Chalcedony and alabaster, too,
With ebony and jasper from Tabit,
And lapis-lazuli from Kedin town,
Likewise from Karid and from walled Anat,
Gifts for the king, who, lavish with his gold,
Would place them in his lapidaries' palms
And bid them rub and polish till the stones
Were worthy of the king, Bel-shar-uzzur.