class="x-ebookmaker-pageno" title="p. 15" id="pgepubid00060"/>King Nimæra.

A SATIRE.

INTRODUCTION.

In the following Poem, the purpose of the Author shall be to shew that man is born to vicissitudes, and to censure the lewdness and frivolities to which he
stoops.

To personate characters, time is represented by King Nimæra; birth, life, and death respectively by Kalim, Weemus, and Sero; while mankind is represented by Nimæra’s subjects, and the world by his kingdom, heaven by “The Land of Bliss,” and hell by “The Pit of Terrors.”

KING NIMÆRA.

     Honor from the many nations,
Honor from the scattered people,
Honor much had King Nimæra.
King Nimæra on his throne sat
In his ancient power and greatness,
In his modern pomp and splendor,
With adornments full about him,
With musicians ever by him,
With advisers sitting round him,
Till he needed of their wisdom;
They were counted by the thousands,
By the hundreds and the thousands.
Sage-like was this King Nimæra;
Furrowed was his brow with seasons;
Hoary were his locks and silvery,
Ran the sportive breezes through them,
Tossed them up in endless frolic.
Mutely sat the aged monarch
Mid the many lights and shadows,
Mid the many scenes and changes
Which for ever came around him,

Casting cursive glances on them,
Smiling now at some adroitness,
Frowning then at deeds of folly;
And a mystic manner had he,
Deep, and hidden, and mysterious,
That the people could not fathom
What he purposed for the future;
Yet he loved this people fondly,
And they fondly loved their monarch.
In their sorrow he beheld them,
And would comfort sometimes offer,
As, in joy and mirth elated,
He would sometimes bring them sadness.
These were dealings mystic to them,
Yet they were for good intended.
     Springtime saw him calm and gentle,
Sweet and pleasing in his manner;
In the Summer he was joyful,
Light and gay as some fair maiden
In the time she seeks a wooer.
These were seasons of rejoicing,
And he called musicians forward,
Skilled in every art of music,
That the songs of night and morning,
And the blooming of the daytime,
Came from every hill and valley;

Every wind and zephyr laden
With melodious floods of music.
And in Autumn he came freely,
With a hand in bounty flowing,
Filling all the stores and garners
With rich heaps of fruit the choicest,
And with wine, and corn, and spices,
That the heart of every subject
Poured its thankful blessings on him.
But in Winter he was gloomy,
Dark, and dismal, and uncheerful,
And sat brooding as in anger,
Robed in garments dull and heavy;
All gay vesture now forsaken,
And all music now forbidden.
Then the Winter turned and vanished
As it came, unsought, uncherished,
Now unmourned and unregretted;
And the Spring again came dancing,
Casting charms around profusely
By the lanes, and woods, and waters,
And brought music, mirth, and gladness,
That the monarch heard the gay notes,
And removed his sombre garments,
And his frowns and dismal broodings,
Donning in their stead right gladly

His accustomed festal garments,
And his manner bright and cheerful.
     Three great princes had Nimæra,
Who held each a post of honor
In the ruling of the kingdom,
In the keeping of the subjects.
Wisdom had they, and were vested
Much in favor, much in honor;
And a spirit moved within them,
Guiding and directing always.
’Twas a spirit high and sacred,
From the Maker of the kingdom,
Who in pow’r set King Nimæra,
And who watched for ever on it
With an eye of keen discerning,
To behold if Justice guarded
Every action of the rulers.
     Kalim was a prince the foremost,
Who brought people to the kingdom,
Made them of a wondrous matter,
Moulded, fashioned, and designed them,
Limbs and bodies full of senses,
Some with beauties and attractions,
Comely in their forms and graces,
Others wanting and imperfect,
And repulsive in appearance.

He conveyed them unto Weemus,
Left them in his care for training,
Heeding not how that was ordered,
But returned without delaying,
Backward to his own seclusion,
Homeward to his mystic working;
For his only thoughts resided,
And his only glory rested,
In the numbers he created,
In their beauty of formation,
Which in secret depths he fashioned.
     Weemus was a prince the second,
Great among the princely chieftains;
He was keeper of the subjects,
Took them from the hands of Kalim
Young and tender as a blossom,
Fed the spirit in their bosom,
Cared and kept them out of danger,
Framed them unto firmer being,
Led them unto good or evil,
Led them on to pomp and glory,
Rising out of great achievements,
By these ways to wealth and grandeur,
Scattered on their footpaths wisdom—
Wisdom, knowledge, and discretion,
Evils, vices, lust, and anger,

As a sower scatters corn-seed;
Let them gather as they listed
Of the good or of the evil.
They had powers of true discernment,
To direct them as they gathered
Which were good and which were evil,
Written and engraved on records,
Words of endless power and meaning;
And a few the good selected,
Gathered from a wise discretion;
But the crowds were blind and heedless,
Minded not the laws and records,
Gathered freely of the evil,
Wandered on in lusts and vices,
Wandered on to spoil and plunder,
Wandered on to want and sorrow,
Misery, and pain, and anguish.
     Strange his dealings were and hidden;
Oft would take the greatest boaster,
Mighty in his own beholding,
Who in pomp and riches loitered,
In high seats of veneration,
And would draw him downward, downward,
Rob him of his pomp and splendor,
Of his riches and his glory,
Set him by the homeless beggar,

Holden in the pangs of hunger,
Gladly feeding on the morsels
Given by the poor and humble,
Who were once by him despiséd.
Lone, and destitute, and humbled,
Soon he learns his frail condition,
And that he is only mortal.
     Or the unpretending stranger,
From a poor and humble dwelling,
And unknown among the people,
Weemus oft would take and guide him
High unto a seat of honor,
To reside in noble mansions,
Fame and praise for ever by him.
Thuswise Weemus often acted,
Fearless of rebuke or censure,
And accounted not his reasons,
Dealing ever as he listed.
     Sero was the third prince calléd;
He was stern, and fierce, and warlike;
Fear and terror walked before him
In the sight of all the people,
And his bearing was majestic;
Quick and keen his glances darted,
Like a strong man’s arrow flying;
And the people tried to shun