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73
EZEKIEL.
74
“Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel.
“And say, what is thy mother? a lioness.
“And she brought up one of her whelps, a young lion. It devoured men.
“And they brought him in chains into the land of Egypt.
“Then she took another of her whelps, and he learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.
“And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities.
“And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the King
of Babylon.”—Ezekiel xix, 1.
[_]
The lion-whelps were Jehoahaz and Johoiakim, the former of whom was made captive by the King of Egypt, the latter by the King of Babylon.
75
Israel, was a lioness!
Mother of a lion brood,
Training in her fierce caress,
All her whelps to gorge on blood.
Red the surge of Jordan ran,
For their fearful meal was Man!
Mother of a lion brood,
Training in her fierce caress,
All her whelps to gorge on blood.
Red the surge of Jordan ran,
For their fearful meal was Man!
One she sent, a forest king,
Rushing over hill and plain,
Rapid as the eagle's wing,
Scorning lance, defying chain;
Hebron's mountains heard his roar,
Heard it Jordan's sedgy shore.
Rushing over hill and plain,
Rapid as the eagle's wing,
Scorning lance, defying chain;
Hebron's mountains heard his roar,
Heard it Jordan's sedgy shore.
Sharp the talon, fierce the fang,
When his lair the hunter found,
When he on the hunter sprang,
Making all the man a wound.
But her lion-whelp is gone,
Chained to Egypt's tyrant throne!
When his lair the hunter found,
When he on the hunter sprang,
Making all the man a wound.
But her lion-whelp is gone,
Chained to Egypt's tyrant throne!
76
Then from Israel's lion-den
Rushed another of her brood.
Ambushed in his mountain glen,
Hate his thirst, Revenge his food;
Loving night, and shunning day,
Keen to scent, and strong to slay.
Rushed another of her brood.
Ambushed in his mountain glen,
Hate his thirst, Revenge his food;
Loving night, and shunning day,
Keen to scent, and strong to slay.
Laying waste the palace hall,
Laying waste the city gate,
Glutting his revenge on all;
Dark as Death, and fixed as Fate.
Slaughter tainted earth and air,
Round that lion's mountain lair!
Laying waste the city gate,
Glutting his revenge on all;
Dark as Death, and fixed as Fate.
Slaughter tainted earth and air,
Round that lion's mountain lair!
Tore his fang the serpent's scale?
Chased his foot the flying deer?
No, the monarch in his mail,
No, the biting of the spear,
Only worthy of his spring,
Banqueted the forest king!
Chased his foot the flying deer?
No, the monarch in his mail,
No, the biting of the spear,
Only worthy of his spring,
Banqueted the forest king!
77
But the nations round him rose,
And the iron net was flung
By the noblest of thy foes,
O'er the fiercest of thy young.
Now his fetter is undone;
Death is lord—in Babylon!
And the iron net was flung
By the noblest of thy foes,
O'er the fiercest of thy young.
Now his fetter is undone;
Death is lord—in Babylon!
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