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Page 1 of 11898 · PDF PAGE 21
…w in thy veins indignant at our sin. But thou art strong and we are weak indeed, Nor can we bear the burden, nor sustain The fury of the Children of the East That ride against us, and bright victory Is thronéd in their banners, and on ours Perches the hideous nightbird of defeat. Mourn, mourn and cry ; bow down unto the dust O Israel, and O Gilead, for your son Comes with unpitying eyes and lips compressed To watch the desecration of thy shrine, Jehovah, and the ruin of our hearth. JEPHTHAH. I am your outcast brother. At my birth My father did …
1898 · PDF PAGE 20
…ke of Israel. JEPHTHAH. And who are these? And who are Israel? CHORUS. Turn not thy face from us in wrath, for we Are thine own father’s children, and his loins With double fervour gat a double flower ; And we indeed were born of drudging wives, Pale spouses whom his heart despised, but thou Wast of a fairer face and brighter eyes,
1898 · PDF PAGE 50
…rsuit and spoil Only to one face dearer than my soul, And my wife’s eyes were welcome more desired Than chains of roses, and the song of children, And swinging palm branches, and milk-white—elders. CHORUS. Fie on thy railing! But his wife is sick, And cannot leave the borders of her house.
1898 · PDF PAGE 25
…And the spears flash on high, and each shield Gleams bright like the fury of lords Through the steam of the well-foughten field, And the children of Ammon are broken, their princes and warriors yield. The captain is chosen for fight, The light of his eye is as fire, And his hand is hardy of might And heavy as dead desire; _— And the sword of the Lord and of Jephthah shall build our dead women a pyre.
1898 · PDF PAGE 24
… ; Conquer our foes, and reign our king! JEPHTHAH. | . Ye have no king but God: see ye to that! ELEAZAR. — _ Behold, these people are as children, hiding Thoughts beautiful and true in profuse words, Not meaning all the lofty flight that fancy And the strong urgement of a tune discover. Be thou our judge, as Joshua long ago. JEPHTHAH. Swear by the Name unspoken that the truth Flashes between the lips that tremble thus! Ye love me not; ye fear me; ye might thrust Some petty obstacle before my hands When I would grasp your promise, and betray You…
1898 · PDF PAGE 35
JEPHTHAH. 31 By children loving me, to be a harness To drive me on the road of happiness To the far goal of heaven. Would to God It might be so a little ere I die! CHORUS OF ELDERS. This doubtful word his fuming lips gave forth: A maiden shall be slain for many men. This only of his fury seemed obscure. JEPHTHAH. A maiden shall be slain for many men. Surely, O people, and men of Israel, The prophecy is happy to the end. For see yon moon that creeps inviolate Against the corner of the mountains so, Slowly and gracefully to lighten us. So, ere th…
1898 · PDF PAGE 49
…hinoam, the aged priest of God, , Who weighest out the stars with balances, And knowest best of men the heart of man? AHINOAM. Ye are as children, and nowise your tongues Speak sense. I never hear your voice but know Some geese are gabbling. Sing to him perchance! The voice of old men is a pleasant thing. CHORUS. What say ye, brethren, shall we sing to him Some sweet low ditty, or the louder pean?
1898 · PDF PAGE 10
6 JEPHTHAH. Threatens the white flower of our homes: our wives, Daughters, and sons are as a prey to them, And where the children of the Ammonites Throng not swift hoofs for murder, Jephthah’s men Blaspheme our sanctuaries inviolate, And rob us of our dearest. Woe on woe, The overwhelming summit of a wave Too black, too concentrate, too impious, And culminating in a double death, Hangs imminent to crush the slender sides And battered bulwarks of our state. O thou Whose hoary locks and sightless eyes compel Our pity and our reverence, and whose …
1898 · PDF PAGE 29
…vade Our fencéd cities, these that put to sword Our helpless. Hear the cry of widowed men! And young men fatherless! And 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 th’ accurséd Baalim, and time To gather fugitives, and make them men, And straggling herdsmen for our armament, We send thee, herald, to the furious king Who lies with all his power encamped somewhere Hence southward toward Mahanaim. Say Unto the k…
1898 · PDF PAGE 22
…ecause of thee, to break The spirit of our pride, our lips to make Reverent toward thee, as of men ashamed. And now we pray thee for our children’s sake, And thine own pity’s sake, to come untamed, And furiously to ride against our foes, And be our leader, till one sanguine rose Spread from thy standard awful leaves of blood, And thy swords pour their long insatiate flood Through ranks of many dead, and then to close The wounds of all the land, and bid it bud
1898 · PDF PAGE 18
…s sake. And so the city was the spoil of them, And all our women-folk are slain or violate, And all our young men murderously slain, And children spitted on their coward spears. CHORUS. How heavy is Thy hand upon us, Lord ! MESSENGER. Nor stayed they there; but, fring Mahanaim, Sweep toward Mizpeh like a locust-cloud.