 | Dramas, Discourses, and other Pieces |  |
15
X.
Near him, for wisdom famous through the East,
Abraham rested on his staff; in guise
A Chaldee shepherd, simple in his raiment
As when at Mamre in his tent he sat,
The host of Angels. Snow-white were his locks
And silvery beard that to his girdle rolled.
Fondly his meek eye dwelt upon his Lord,
Like one, that, after long and troubled dreams,
A night of sorrows, dreary, wild, and sad,
Beholds, at last, the dawn of promised joys.
Abraham rested on his staff; in guise
A Chaldee shepherd, simple in his raiment
As when at Mamre in his tent he sat,
The host of Angels. Snow-white were his locks
And silvery beard that to his girdle rolled.
Fondly his meek eye dwelt upon his Lord,
Like one, that, after long and troubled dreams,
A night of sorrows, dreary, wild, and sad,
Beholds, at last, the dawn of promised joys.
With kindred looks his great Descendant gazed.
Not in the poor array of shepherds he,
Nor in the many-colored coat, fond gift
Of doting age, and cause of direful hate;
But, stately as his native palm, his form
Was, like Egyptian Princes, proudly decked
In tissued purple sweeping to the ground.
Plumes from the desert waved above his head,
And down his breast the golden collar hung
Bestowed by Pharaoh when through Egypt word
Went forth to bow the knee as to her King.
Graced thus, his chariot with impetuous wheels
Bore him toward Goshen, where the fainting heart
Of Israel waited for his long-lost son,
The son of Rachel. Ah! had she survived
To see him in his glory!—As he rode,
His boyhood, and his mother's tent, arose,
Linked with a thousand recollections dear,
And Joseph's heart was in the tomb by Ephrath.
Not in the poor array of shepherds he,
Nor in the many-colored coat, fond gift
Of doting age, and cause of direful hate;
But, stately as his native palm, his form
Was, like Egyptian Princes, proudly decked
In tissued purple sweeping to the ground.
Plumes from the desert waved above his head,
And down his breast the golden collar hung
Bestowed by Pharaoh when through Egypt word
Went forth to bow the knee as to her King.
Graced thus, his chariot with impetuous wheels
Bore him toward Goshen, where the fainting heart
Of Israel waited for his long-lost son,
The son of Rachel. Ah! had she survived
To see him in his glory!—As he rode,
His boyhood, and his mother's tent, arose,
Linked with a thousand recollections dear,
And Joseph's heart was in the tomb by Ephrath.
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