 | Joseph And His Brethren |  |
Scene VIII.
—Jacob's Tent.Enter Jacob, Reuben, Issachar, Zebulun, Judah, and Benjamin.
Jacob.
My mind doth fear to trust to your report,
Like one who newly finds a precious mine,
Which, in the sounding, proveth all a blank;
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But what imagination did possess.
It were a dangerous thing for me, my sons,
To trust to such a blessèd dream as this,
And wake a common man.
Reuben.
Believe it true.
‘Haste you,’ saith he, ‘go up and tell my sire
How God hath made me dear to Pharaoh's heart,
Lord of his house, and ruler in the land.’
Issachar.
And it is even so; for men do flock
For orders and commands in all affairs,
And those, the highest that attend the king,
Do bow before his face.
Judah.
‘Away,’ saith he,
‘And tell my father to come down to me’—
And here his voice did tremble in his throat,
And the large tears, which beam'd within the spheres
Of Rachel's eyes, colour'd and sweet like hers,
Were held by hope, and urgèd by desire,
Till, 'twixt the names of brethren and of father,
They shot their beds and fell upon my hand.
Reuben.
‘Here shall ye live,’ saith he, ‘both ye and yours,
Your cattle and your herds; for there are yet
To be five years of famine in the land,
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Go, tell my father of my glory here
In the Egyptian land, and what you see;
And tarry not, but bring him hither straight,
That I may see my sire.’
Benjamin.
And then he wept
In such an agony upon my neck,
Almost to swooning; kiss'd me on each cheek,
And these my brethren all, and sobb'd so loud
My heart ach'd at this music of sweet peace.
Zebulun.
All Pharaoh's house marvell'd at his distress;
And when the king was told we were his kin,
He did command that we should lade our beasts,
And come to Canaan, and bring thee forth,
And ours, and all our household; and he said,
‘Regard not of your stuff; for all the best
Of Egypt, yea, the fat of all the land
Is yours.’
Judah.
And unto each of us he gave
Changes of raiment; and to Benjamin,
Three hundred pieces and five changes more.
Issachar.
And even now there come upon the way
Ten asses, laden choicely for thy need.
And yonder thou canst see the waggons sent
To carry us and ours into the land.
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Oh, God! I find that Thou art ever just.
Let no man grieve again, but be resign'd;
That which we see as ill,—God proveth good.
Enter Simeon, Dan, Naphthai, Levi, Gad, and Asher.
Simeon.
Lo! here are all the waggons and the food.
Jacob.
All that is nought! Joseph, my son, doth live!
I will go down and see him ere I die.
[Exeunt.
| Joseph And His Brethren | |