University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

The forest of Ephraim: the tents of a company of Ishmaelites: women seen under the trees: Adah singing by a tent door.
Ad.
Ha! Kedar, wherefore in such haste?

Enter a Young Ishmaelite.
Y. Ish.
O, Adah!
The plain is full of warriors: two great hosts
Are rushing to the battle.

Ad.
Heavens! to battle!

Enter Sarah, from the tent.
Sar.
What 's that?

Y. Ish.
Sarah, two armies are in conflict;
Covering the plain with horses, arms, and ensigns.
Why, heard ye not the trumpets?

Women.
(collecting about them.)
No—No—No.

Sar.
But where?

Y. Ish.
West of the wood. While at the spring
Filling our water-skins, we heard a blast,
And trampling, hollow sounds, that shook the earth,
And, pushing to the forest edge, we saw
Squadrons approaching 'gainst a mighty host
Camped in the plain, a countless multitude.
O, Adah, such a glorious sight! shields flashed,
Spears shook, and arrows flew!

Sar.
But who are they?

Y. Ish.
We know not; but Abimilech declared
The battle promised blood. He says the spoil
Will more enrich us than our spices, more
Than thrice our annual journey into Gilead.
Dumah is with the camels; all the rest
Are watching to despoil the slain. I came,
Lest ye should fear mischance.

Ad.
Alas! alas!

Y. Ish.
O, could you see how dazzling bright their arms,
How square and firm they move, flashing the sun
Back from the brazen ridges,—and behold
The warrior in the car majestic rule
His bounding steeds, white as the noonday cloud!

Enter Tamar, pale, and leaning upon Hadad, followed by two of the Guard.
Had.
We crave your hospitality, good people;
This lady 's faint, and cannot keep the saddle.
Grant her the shelter of your tent awhile.

Sar.
Enter in peace.

Ad.
Sweet lady, let me aid thee.

(Adah conducts Tamar into the tent.)
Sar.
Belike she 's frighted? Heard ye of the battle?

Had.
We have.

Sar.
Know ye what hosts they be?

Had.
'T is Israel.

Sar.
Whom strive they with, my lord?

Had.
Their ancient, cruel,
Inveterate, and indomitable foe,
Each other.

Sar.
Holy God!

Had.
(to the Guard.)
Keep all together. Are your comrades near?

Guard.
Stationed behind the tents, my lord.

Had.
'T is well:
Be ready to mount instantly; and hark,
I have a word for all of ye.

(Hadad and Guard disappear behind the tents.)
Sar.
Isaac with Isaac hosts, and Ishmael reaps
The bloody spoil! Thus Heaven's decrees—

Enter Adah.
Ad.
O, mother!
Never did I behold such beauty! sure,
She must be some born Princess, all her vest
Is twined with gold, and every loop
Is fastened with a gem. But O! such grief,
Such sighs, it wrings my heart!

Women.
Who can she be?

Ad.
Her girdle, sandals, bracelets, glistering hood
Of checklaton, are wondrous; and a cord
Of rarest rubies twice engirds her neck,
And falls betwixt her bosom white as wool.
But O, her lovely face was never peered.
She looks, methinks, as Pharaoh's daughter did,
When we beheld her pleasuring on the Nile.

Sar.
Here comes the stranger:—noble too.

Ad.
Question him, mother dear:—ask who they are,
And what hath chanced to them; 't is, sure, some sad,
Sad accident.

Enter Hadad.
Sar.
How can we serve my lord,
Or yon fair lady?

Had.
Let us rest a space.

Sar.
Yea, but she droops, my lord. I would we might
Administer: her tears and beauty touch
My daughter nearly.

Ad.
Ah! might not some comfort—

Had.
Nothing: intrude not on her.

Sar.
If we knew
Her ailment, doubt not we could balm it, Sir:
Adah has soothed a wilder mood, believe me.

Had.
Her friends are in the battle. Trouble not
Anxiety ye cannot tranquillize.

Sar.
Her friends may conquer: why doth she despair?

Had.
They may, they must. But leave her, dame.

Y. Ish.
Here 's Dumah.

Enter an Ishmaelite.
Sar.
What of the battle, Dumah? heard ye aught?

Ish.
I durst not leave the camels long; but ere
I came, I ran and looked, just looked.

Had.
What saw'st thou?

Ish.
Host mixed with host confused,
The flash and shock of arms, shouts, groans, and peals
Of shrilling trumpets, and a dreadful car
Hurled by two steeds fiercer than unicorns—

Had.
Who yielded?

Ish.
None; but many fell.

Had.
You know not—Would I could a glance there!—
Tamar appears at the door of the tent.
Ha! what, my love?

Tam.
What tidings?

Had.
Nothing decisive. Thou shalt hear the first.
Go in, sweet:—calm your agitated spirits.

Tam.
Ah! Hadad, thou mightst have prevented this.

Had.
Nay, have I not assured thee how I strove,
Entreated, kneeled to shake the Prince's purpose?—
His will is moveless as the world's fixed centre.

Tam.
Had I but known it!—Now, it matters not
Who wins or loses.

Had.
Could I play the traitor?
Betray his secrets?—That had sundered us
For ever, blasted all my hopes in thee.—
Go in, love; thou shalt know whate'er betides.
(Tamar retires.)
How long is it, since you beheld the field—
Enter two Ishmaelites with spoils.
But here 's of fresher die—Rings, daggers, girdles,—
(Examining the booty.)
Or friends', or foes',—they speak a common tongue.—
Bring them not near this tent.—How goes the field?

First Ish.
The storm drives south.

Had.
Ha! south?

Second Ish.
We gathered these
Where the first blows were struck.

Had.
Saw ye a chariot?

First Ish.
The conflict there, is like the desert whirlwind,—
Darts, arrow-flights, and clashing, eager spears,
And desperate combatants are huddled there.—
The dust-wreaths fly.—The ramping chargers foam
Like yesty waters,—whizzing javelins glance
From their broad frontlets and brass poitrels, like
Hail from a rock. Their master's buckler takes
A tempest.

Had.
What! the battle pushes south?

First Ish.
We won
These spoils where it first closed, and now it rages
Further toward Succoth, all between thick strown
With carcasses. All 's broken and confused.
But, scattered through the field, you may espy,
Far in the hostile ranks, the scarlet crests
Of some who know their weapons well, and clear
A bloody space around them.—Tema! ha!
Enter third Ishmaelite, with booty.
How goes the strife?

Third Ish.
We left it at the direst.

First Ish.
How fares the car?

Third Ish.
The horses plunge and madden,
But cannot stir the wheels, fast wedged by dead
And living. Round them fights a furious ring,
Like reckless lions. All their silver manes,
And arched necks, when they rear, show bloody red.

Fourth Ish.
(entering while the last speaks.)
They 're prostrate,—dead, I think,—I saw them fall.

Had.
What of their lord?

Fourth Ish.
O'er his fallen steeds he combats:
His sword sweeps circles that the hardiest shun.

Had.
He cannot 'scape, then?—Can he 'scape?

Fourth Ish.
For thrice
The car, I would not stand in it.

Third Ish.
'T is o'er ere this: we came about, for fear
Of skirmishers that struggled in the wood.

Had.
(walking aside.)
'T is odds he 's slain,—I know the cruel pack
That bay him!—So—I'll rid me of these fellows;—
Alone with her, I may persuade,—If not,
I have her, and can curb her.—All 's fulfilled!—
And all shall be fulfilled! No more I climb
Moriah till the frustrate covenant
Leave her a salt-sown rock!—What if our foe
Recover?—Is 't my fault?—Have I not thrust
The parricidal brand into his bosom?—
Come, what may come,—I'll trust my dear-bought guerdon
To no hereafter.

Fourth Ish.
Lo!—the Captain.—Lo!
Here comes Abimilech.

Enter Abimilech, and several Ishmaelites, with a quantity of rich spoil.
Abim.
(perceiving Hadad.)
Whom have we here?

Third Ish.
We found him when we came,
Inquiring of the battle.

Ad.
(running to Abimilech.)
Welcome, father.

Abim.
What stranger 's that?

Ad.
O, father, he hath brought
A lady brave and beauteous as a Princess.

Had.
(saluting Abimilech.)
Peace.

Abim.
Peace.

Had.
I prithee, Chief,
How fortunes, now, the field?

Abim.
(after a glance of scrutiny.)
The eagles smell it.

Had.
But is the battle lost?

Abim.
Or lost, or won,
'T is stricken; and the wreck of hosts is strown
As after whirlwinds.

Had.
Heard ye of the Chief
Who fought from out a chariot with white steeds?

Abim.
He 's finished.

Had.
Ha! how know'st thou that?

Abim.
I saw him lifeless.

Had.
Art thou sure?

Abim.
If to be bored with three tough darts be sure.

Had.
Beseech ye, come this way: some friends are near,
To whom the news were murderous.—Then he 'scaped not?

Abim.
He fled upon a mule, and disappeared,
And had escaped, I thought, though hotly followed,
Taking the wood when met upon the plain.
But, as I crossed the forest far within,
A trumpet roused me. Hearing earnest voices,
I made that way, through a close brake, to spy
The danger. Near the thicket's verge, I saw
A concourse round an oak. Intent they seemed
On some great spectacle. Opening anon,
I saw him, bleeding, and transpierced with darts,
Borne past me on their shields.

Had.
What was his vesture?

Abim.
Fragments of purple hung about his shoulders.

Had.
His arms? his helm?

Abim.
Unhelmed his head, and bare;
His breastplate sparkled, studded, and engrailed
With flowers of gold, pure burnish of Damascus.

Had.
His stature—

Abim.
Palm-like tall, of noblest aspect;
With ample locks that trailed upon the ground.

Had.
Let Hades rise to meet him reverently,
For not a Kingly Phantom there sustained
A heart more regal!

Abim.
Yea; though he miscarried,
He well deserves a valiant memory,
And fought it like a son of David.

Had.
Dead!—
We must begone. Prithee, speak not of this
Till we 're away.—First I'll despatch yon horsemen.

(Aside.)
Abim.
(approaching the Ishmaelites.)
Come, bustle, bustle, mates:—day wastes,—and, with
The moon, we must be making for the Desert.

Had.
(behind the tents.)
Mount, Sirs,—your master needs ye,—push amain,—
Spur,—strike into the field the shortest way;—
Where'er ye see him grapple to his side.—
I'll guard the Princess.— (Returning.)
So; we'll further pierce
The forest, that they trace us not. At worst,
Our dromedaries can, with ease, outstrip them.
(Approaching Sarah's tent.)
Princess, we must begone.

Tam.
(appearing.)
Ha!—What?

Had.
But this;—
Your father has retreated.

Tam.
Is he safe?—
Alive?—unhurt?—

Had.
So they who saw, report.

Tam.
Thanks, gracious Heaven!

Had.
Come, sweet,
We must obey him, now.—The conflict 's o'er;—
Take comfort. Bid we these good friends farewell.

Tam.
Adieu, kind-hearted Adah! Were my fate
Less cruel, we would not part so. Keep this
For Tamar's sake. (Gives her a ring.)


Ad.
Farewell! farewell!—The stars
Prove kinder to you.

Sar.
Go in peace.

Tam.
Farewell to all!

(The Ishmaelites follow Tamar and Hadad to the rear of the encampment.)