A cruel despot reigned; each living thing
Shuddered before him; in his vast domains
Hundreds of suffering wretches died in chains;
The land was weary of their clamoring.

He loved to see wild hands in anguish cling,
His heart was shut to pity and to pains,
While death made riot in his city's lanes,
Reigning with him, a dreaded, mightier king.

Then came upon the land a blighting blow;
All that had blossomed on the fields was swept
Skyward by tempests in their outraged power;
For dreary months no shrub was known to grow,
And it was told that this harsh tyrant wept
When pressing to his lips one withered flower!