Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Africa: Vol. XXIV. 1876–79. | | | | The Barbary States: Carthage | | Hannibal’s Oath | | Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) |
| | | AND the night was dark and calm, | |
| There was not a breath of air, | |
| The leaves of the grove were still, | |
| As the presence of death were there; | |
| |
| Only a moaning sound | 5 |
| Came from the distant sea, | |
| It was as if, like life, | |
| It had no tranquillity. | |
| |
| A warrior and a child | |
| Passed through the sacred wood, | 10 |
| Which, like a mystery, | |
| Around the temple stood. | |
| |
| The warrior’s brow was worn | |
| With the weight of casque and plume; | |
| And sunburnt was his cheek, | 15 |
| And his eye and brow were gloom. | |
| |
| The child was young and fair, | |
| But the forehead large and high, | |
| And the dark eyes’ flashing light | |
| Seemed to feel their destiny. | 20 |
| |
| They entered in to the temple, | |
| And stood before the shrine, | |
| It streamed with the victim’s blood, | |
| With incense and with wine. | |
| |
| The ground rocked beneath their feet, | 25 |
| The thunder shook the dome, | |
| But the boy stood firm and swore | |
| Eternal hate to Rome. | |
| |
| There ’s a page in history | |
| O’er which tears of blood were wept, | 30 |
| And that page is the record | |
| How that oath of hate was kept. | | | | |
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