Israel in Egypt A Poem. By Edwin Atherstone |
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 | Israel in Egypt |  |
Audacious most of all, the king himself,
By Satan with great wrath and pride inflamed,
Mocked at the threatening; and his servants bade
Leave all within the field; nay, drive therein
All cattle whatsoe'er, which, under shed,
Or in the stable, else, had been secure:
So boldly his defiance to speak out
'Gainst Moses, and his God.
By Satan with great wrath and pride inflamed,
Mocked at the threatening; and his servants bade
Leave all within the field; nay, drive therein
All cattle whatsoe'er, which, under shed,
Or in the stable, else, had been secure:
So boldly his defiance to speak out
'Gainst Moses, and his God.
But humbler men
Among the Egyptians, who the wondrous things
By Moses done had seen,—respected him,
And in his word believed: and all their beasts,
As night drew on, brought homeward from the fields;
And bade that, of their servants, not one man,
Woman, or child, should on the morrow stir
From out their dwellings; lest the hail should fall,
And slay them. Through the day, from house to house,
Both they of Egypt, and of Israel too,
Went anxiously,—with pale face, and low voice,
Discoursing of the Terror that should come.
Even they of Pharaoh's servants, who the most
Had feigned a mockery,—rulers, captains, priests,
And sorcerers,—in the silence of the night
Lay sleepless; a strange fear oppressing them,
Like his who, waking from deep slumber, feels
A stirring of the earthquake.
Among the Egyptians, who the wondrous things
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And in his word believed: and all their beasts,
As night drew on, brought homeward from the fields;
And bade that, of their servants, not one man,
Woman, or child, should on the morrow stir
From out their dwellings; lest the hail should fall,
And slay them. Through the day, from house to house,
Both they of Egypt, and of Israel too,
Went anxiously,—with pale face, and low voice,
Discoursing of the Terror that should come.
Even they of Pharaoh's servants, who the most
Had feigned a mockery,—rulers, captains, priests,
And sorcerers,—in the silence of the night
Lay sleepless; a strange fear oppressing them,
Like his who, waking from deep slumber, feels
A stirring of the earthquake.
One alone
Within the royal palace, no fear had
Of evil on the morrow; for he thought
Cunningly all to 'scape; and great joy have,
And perfect peace, even though the hail should fall
Dread as a rock-storm; and the plains and hills
Make stagger with the smiting.
Within the royal palace, no fear had
Of evil on the morrow; for he thought
Cunningly all to 'scape; and great joy have,
And perfect peace, even though the hail should fall
Dread as a rock-storm; and the plains and hills
Make stagger with the smiting.
Night, and day,
In the heart of Sethos had a demon worked;
Blowing to heat intense his foul desire
Toward Israel's snow-pure virgin, chosen of God:
When, therefore, standing by his father's side,
That hail-plague he heard threatened,—instantly,
To shun it he resolved; and, in the land
Of Goshen, pleasantly and safely, pass
That day of peril; and, perchance, the night,—
Should the storm pause not; for, that come it would,
Doubt had he none; though sorcery alone
As cause misdeeming. Therefore, the command
At evening gave he, that, with earliest dawn,
His chariot should stand ready,—one alone
Of all his train accompanying, the steeds
To govern; so, with mind unfettered, he
In love's bright heaven might rove.
In the heart of Sethos had a demon worked;
Blowing to heat intense his foul desire
Toward Israel's snow-pure virgin, chosen of God:
When, therefore, standing by his father's side,
That hail-plague he heard threatened,—instantly,
To shun it he resolved; and, in the land
Of Goshen, pleasantly and safely, pass
That day of peril; and, perchance, the night,—
Should the storm pause not; for, that come it would,
Doubt had he none; though sorcery alone
As cause misdeeming. Therefore, the command
At evening gave he, that, with earliest dawn,
His chariot should stand ready,—one alone
Of all his train accompanying, the steeds
To govern; so, with mind unfettered, he
In love's bright heaven might rove.
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But, through that night,
His whole base nature so the fiend inflamed
With dreams brain-maddening, that even certain death,
As penalty, seemed nought, so he but first
Might revel in the bliss. From bed he sprang,
And toward the east looked out. The morning star
Told night far spent. Attendants roused he then,
And bade that two score horsemen, fully armed,
At day-break, close beyond the eastern gate,
Should bide his coming; for resolved he was,—
Love's lurements failing,—by the violent hand
To seize the Rose of Goshen, and bear off:
Whither, as yet he knew not: that, to time
He left: for him could no place be amiss,
So therein were his goddess,—the sole thing
His frenzied eye could see: his father's wrath,
The blot of public shame; even death itself,
From private vengeance,—all invisible
Behind the one great blaze of hoped-for bliss.
With speed his arms he donned: one hasty cup,
Of food one morsel, took, and hurried forth.
His whole base nature so the fiend inflamed
With dreams brain-maddening, that even certain death,
As penalty, seemed nought, so he but first
Might revel in the bliss. From bed he sprang,
And toward the east looked out. The morning star
Told night far spent. Attendants roused he then,
And bade that two score horsemen, fully armed,
At day-break, close beyond the eastern gate,
Should bide his coming; for resolved he was,—
Love's lurements failing,—by the violent hand
To seize the Rose of Goshen, and bear off:
Whither, as yet he knew not: that, to time
He left: for him could no place be amiss,
So therein were his goddess,—the sole thing
His frenzied eye could see: his father's wrath,
The blot of public shame; even death itself,
From private vengeance,—all invisible
Behind the one great blaze of hoped-for bliss.
With speed his arms he donned: one hasty cup,
Of food one morsel, took, and hurried forth.
| Israel in Egypt | |