In hora qua audieritis sonitum tubae et fistulae et citharae sambucae et psalterii et symphoniae . . .

Daniel 3:5

Nebuchadnezzar’s statue stood About as high as a false god could. The three were left with little choice — Silence after the herald’s voice.

For Babylon’s profane event, Musicians tuned each instrument As carefully as they rehearsed What would happen to the accursed

Who failed to bow and adore The monumental fraud with a roar. (And might they expect the same At the reading of the great king’s name?)

In later years the tunes they played Recalled how they were once dismayed, That circle in the fiery den Intended for less flexible men.

And certainly they were delighted That they had not been invited As others had, to live or die. They lived their art, whatever the lie.