Though her sun set while it was yet
day, Jephthah's daughter will forever
remain a beautiful memory a type of
religious fervor, ardent patriotism, and
filial devotion.
Rutsee, " upon yon crimson scarf un
rolled, a queen, brow-bound with burning
gold."
The conqueror of conquerors, before
whom even great Ca?sar bowed, we rind
Cleopatra the effete ruler of an effete
civilization revelling in the affections of
I n-Roman Antony. For Egypt, the
fullness of time had come; the learned
in all the learning of the Egyptians had
passed with all his learning away; the
refuge of the Herod-threatened Rabe was
like her own sun-kissed pyramids, a king
dom of corruptions, a whited sepulchre,
tilled with dead men's bones. Her cheek
reddened by tropical suns, her pulse
quickened by midnight revels, Cleopatra
reigned, her mastery of men the one
passion of her soul. The power-loving
Augustus gave her pause, and rather
than grace this cold emperor's triumph,
she courted death in the asp's sting.
Let us draw the veil and leave her in the
thickness of Egyptian darkness. Another
of her kind, threads the devious ways of
labyrinthine darkness and by the silken
clew of a poet's inspiration beholds the
effulgence of the upper light.
