Lo! where PALMYRA, 'mid her wasted plains, Her shattered aqueducts, and prostrate fanes, As the bright orb of breezy midnight pours Long threads of silver through her gaping towers, O'er mouldering tombs, and tottering columns gleams, And frosts her deserts with diffusive beams, Sad o'er the mighty wreck in silence bends, Lifts her wet eyes, her tremulous hands extends. If from lone cliffs a bursting rill expands Its transient course, and sinks into the sands; O'er the moist rock the fell hyena prowls, The serpent hisses, and the panther growls; On quivering wings the famished vulture screams, Dips his dry beak, and sweeps the gushing streams. With foaming jaws beneath, and sanguine tongue, Laps the lean wolf, and pants, and runs along; Stern stalks the lion, on the rustling brinks Hears the dread snake, and trembles as he drinks. Quick darts the scaly monster o'er the plain, Fold after fold his undulating train; And, bending o'er the lake his crested brow, Starts at the crocodile that gapes below.--DARWIN.
On the eastern side of the area of the Temple of the Sun, there is a curious doorway of one solid block of stone, which commands a fine view of the desert. "As we looked out of this narrow gateway," says Mr. Addison, "we fancied, that Zenobia herself might have often stood at the same spot, anxiously surveying the operations of Aurelian and his blockading army. From hence the eye wanders over the level waste, across which the unfortunate queen fled on her swift dromedary to the Euphrates; and here, the morning after her departure, doubtless congregated her anxious friends, to see if she was pursued in her flight; and from hence she was probably first descried, being brought back a captive and a prisoner in the hands of the Roman horsemen."
On the east side of the Piazza, stands a great number of marble pillars: some perfect, but the greater part mutilated. In one place eleven are ranged together in a square; the space, which they inclose, is paved with broad flat stones; but there are no remains of a roof.
At a little distance are the remains of a small temple, which is also without a roof; and the walls are much defaced; but from the door is enjoyed the magnificent coup-d'oeil of all the ruins, and of the vast desert beyond. Before the entry, which looks to the south, is a piazza, supported by six pillars, two on each side of the door, and one at each end. The pedestals of those in front have been filled with inscriptions in the Greek and Palmyrene languages, which are become totally illegible.