To kill and to destroy, and "to take peace
From all the earth." Listen! for the third seal
Is opening now, and the third cherubim
Cries, Come and see! Then said a voice to John,
What dost thou see?

JOHN.

Lo! a black horse appears--
Its rider has a balance in his hand.
Ride on--ride on! Justice and Equity
Visit the earth, with Plenty.[168] 40
The fourth seal
Is opened now, and the fourth cherubim
Cries, Come and see!

VOICE.

What seest thou?

JOHN.

A pale horse--

VOICE.

And rider?

JOHN.

Yes--a dire anatomy.
As he rides on, nations with terror shriek--
DEATH! and the gulf of hell shoots out its flame
After the footfall of that ghastly horse. 50
The rider shouts, and haggard Famine crawls,
With wan and wasted visage, from her cave;
And Pestilence, speeding unseen in air,
Breathes, and ten thousand perish, and wild beasts
Howl in the city of the dead, and feed
Upon the black and countless carcases.[169]
Low thunders rolled, and sounds of woe were heard,
When the fifth seal was opened; and John saw
A burning altar, and beneath it, souls
Of those who had been slain--the witnesses, 60
Confessing Christ in torments, and they cried,
How long, O Lord, holy, and just, and true,
Dost thou not judge--judge and avenge our cause!
And robes of white were given to each of them,
And a voice said, Oh! rest ye yet a while,
Rest ye till persecution's cup be drained;
The judgment leave to Him who sits in heaven.
The thunders louder rolled, as the sixth seal
Was opened. Ah! the sun is black above
As sackcloth, and the round moon red as blood; 70
Earth rocks from east to west; the stars are fallen,
And falling, as the fig-tree casts its figs,
When shaken by the mighty hurricane.
Heaven is departing, like a scroll; the kings,
And the chief captains, and the mighty men,
Bondmen and free, have hid them in the caves,
And mountains, and dark places of the earth,
And to the mountains and the rocks they cry,
Fall on us! hide us--hide us from the face
Of the incensed Lamb, for his great d