Collected Works (Vol. I)

74 JEPHTHAH JEPHTHAH. Hearken, Jehovah, to thy servant now ; Fill Thou my voice with thine own thunders ; fill My swift sharp words with such a lightning- fork As shall fall venomous upon the host Of these idolatrous that thus invade Our fencéd cities, these that put to sword Our helpless. Hear the cry of widowed men ! Of young men fatherless! Of old men reft Of children! Grant us victory to avenge Their innocent shed blood, and ruined land. So, to gain time for prayer and penitence For grievous trespass of idolatry Done to the accurséd Baalim (aszde)—and time To gather fugitives, and make them men, And straggling herdsmen for our arma- ment !—(a/oud) We send thee, herald, to the furious king Who lies with all his power encamped some- where Hence southward toward Mahanaim. Say Unto the king of Ammon: Thus. saith Jephthah : Why hast thou come with bloody hands against us? Our holy God, that bound the iron sea With pale frail limits of white sand, and said : Thus far, and not one billowy step beyond ! Saith unto thee in like commandment: Thou Who hast destroyed my people from the land So far, shalt not encroach upon their places One furlong more, lest quickly I destroy Thee and thy host from off the earth. thus ; Ride for thy life, and bring me speedy word. [ Axzt Herald. Say CHORUS. Not wingéd forms, nor powers of air, Nor sundered spirits pale and fair, Nor glittering sides and scales, did bring The knowledge of this happy thing That is befallen us unaware. In likeness to the lips that sing Ring out your frosty peal, and smite Loud fingers on the harp, and touch Lutes, and clear psalteries musical, And all stringed instruments, to indite A noble song of triumph, such As men may go to fight withal. For now a captain brave and strong Shall break the fury of the thong Wherewith the sons of Ammon scourge Our country ; and his war shall urge Long columns of victorious men To blackest wood and dimmest den, Wherever fugitive and slave Shall seek a refuge, find a grave ; And so pursue the shattered legions Through dusty ways and desert regions Back to the cities whence they came With iron, massacre, and flame, And turn their own devouring blade On city fired and violate maid, That Israel conquer, and men know God is our God against a foe. For the web of the battle is woven Of men that are strong as the sea, When the rocks by its tempest are cloven, And waves wander wild to the lee ; When ships are in travail forsaken, And tempest and tumult awaken ; When foam by fresh foam overtaken Boils sanguine and fervent and free. The sword is like lightning in battle, The spear like the light ofa star ; It strikes on the shield, and the rattle Of arrows is hail from afar. For the ways of the anger of lords Are bloody with widowing swords, And the roar of contention of chords Rolls back from the heart of the war. The fighters slip down on the dying, And flying folk stumble on dead, And the sound of the pitiless crying Of slaughter is heavy and red,