The poetical works of Robert Stephen Hawker Edited from the original manuscripts and annotated copies together with a prefatory notice and bibliography by Alfred Wallis |
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THE SIGNALS OF LEVI. |
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 | The poetical works of Robert Stephen Hawker |  |
THE SIGNALS OF LEVI.
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The Rabbins have ruled that the daily oblation was never to begin until the Signal of Levi was heard, and the time was thus to be known: A Levite was placed, before cockcrow, on the roof of the Temple, to watch the sky; and when the day had so far dawned that he could see Hebron, a city on the heights where John the Baptizer was afterwards born, then he blew with his trumpet an appointed sound, and the sacrifice began.
Signal the First
There is light on Hebron now:
Hark to the trumpet din!
Day dawns on Hebron's brow,
Let the sacrifice begin.
Hark to the trumpet din!
Day dawns on Hebron's brow,
Let the sacrifice begin.
76
Hear ye the gathering sound!
How the lute and harp rejoice,
'Mid the roar of oxen bound,
And the lamb's beseeching voice.
How the lute and harp rejoice,
'Mid the roar of oxen bound,
And the lamb's beseeching voice.
This day both prince and priest
Will hold at Salem's shrine
A high and haughty feast
Of flesh and the ruddy wine.
Will hold at Salem's shrine
A high and haughty feast
Of flesh and the ruddy wine.
For a perilous hour is fled,
And the fear is vain at last,
Though foretold by sages dead,
And sworn by the Prophets past.
And the fear is vain at last,
Though foretold by sages dead,
And sworn by the Prophets past.
They said that a mortal birth
E'en now would a Name unfold
That should rule the wide, wide earth,
And quench the thrones of old.
E'en now would a Name unfold
That should rule the wide, wide earth,
And quench the thrones of old.
But no sound, nor voice, nor word,
The tale of travail brings;
Not an infant cry is heard
In the palaces of kings.
The tale of travail brings;
Not an infant cry is heard
In the palaces of kings.
Blossom and branch are bare
On Jesse's stately stem:
So they bid swart Edom wear
Fallen Israel's diadem.
On Jesse's stately stem:
So they bid swart Edom wear
Fallen Israel's diadem.
77
How they throng the cloistered ground
'Mid Judah's shame and sin:
Hark to the trumpet-sound!
Let the sacrifice begin.
'Mid Judah's shame and sin:
Hark to the trumpet-sound!
Let the sacrifice begin.
Signal the Second
There is light on Hebron's towers,
Day dawns o'er Jordan's stream,
And it floats where Bethlehem's bowers
Of the blessèd morning dream.
Day dawns o'er Jordan's stream,
And it floats where Bethlehem's bowers
Of the blessèd morning dream.
Yet it wakes no kingly halls
It cleaves no purple room;
The soft, calm radiance falls
On a cavern's vaulted gloom.
It cleaves no purple room;
The soft, calm radiance falls
On a cavern's vaulted gloom.
But there, where the oxen rest
When the weary day is done,
How that maiden-mother's breast
Thrills with her Awful Son!
When the weary day is done,
How that maiden-mother's breast
Thrills with her Awful Son!
A cave where the fatlings roam,
By the ruddy heifer trod,
Yea! the mountain's rifted home
Is the birthplace of a God!
By the ruddy heifer trod,
Yea! the mountain's rifted home
Is the birthplace of a God!
This is He! the mystic birth
By the sign and voice foretold;
He shall rule the wide, wide earth,
And quench the thrones of old.
By the sign and voice foretold;
He shall rule the wide, wide earth,
And quench the thrones of old.
78
The Child of Judah's line,
The son of Abraham's fame:
Arise, ye lands! and shine
With the blessèd Jesu's name.
The son of Abraham's fame:
Arise, ye lands! and shine
With the blessèd Jesu's name.
This is the glorious dawn:
So fades the night of sin;
Lo! the gloom of death is gone,
Let the sacrifice begin.
So fades the night of sin;
Lo! the gloom of death is gone,
Let the sacrifice begin.
Signal the Third
“Oh! watchman! what of the night?
Tell, Christian soldier, tell:
Are Hebron's towers in sight?
Hast thou watched and warded well?”
Tell, Christian soldier, tell:
Are Hebron's towers in sight?
Hast thou watched and warded well?”
“Yea; we have paced the wall
Till the day-star's glimmering birth;
And we breathed our trumpet-call
When the sunlight waked the earth.”
Till the day-star's glimmering birth;
And we breathed our trumpet-call
When the sunlight waked the earth.”
“What sawest thou with the dawn?
Say, Christian warder, say:
When the mists of night were gone,
And the hills grew soft with day?”
Say, Christian warder, say:
When the mists of night were gone,
And the hills grew soft with day?”
“We beheld the morning swell
Bright o'er the eastern sea;
Till the rushing sunbeams fell
Where the westward waters be.
Bright o'er the eastern sea;
Till the rushing sunbeams fell
Where the westward waters be.
79
“City and bulwark lay
Rich with the orient blaze,
And rocks, at the touch of day,
Gave out a sound of praise.
Rich with the orient blaze,
And rocks, at the touch of day,
Gave out a sound of praise.
“No hill remained in cloud,
There lurked no darkling glen;
And the voice of God was loud
Upon every tongue of men.
There lurked no darkling glen;
And the voice of God was loud
Upon every tongue of men.
“There shall never more be night
With this eternal sun;
There be Hebrons many in sight,
And the sacrifice is done!”
With this eternal sun;
There be Hebrons many in sight,
And the sacrifice is done!”
1840.
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