 | Complete Poems of Frances E. W. Harper |  |
THE SIN OF ACHAN
Night closed o'er the battl'ing army,
But it brought them no success;
Victory perched not on their banners;
Night was full of weariness.
But it brought them no success;
Victory perched not on their banners;
Night was full of weariness.
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Flushed and hopeful in the morning,
Turned they from their leader's side:
Routed, smitten and defeated,
Came they back at eventide.
Turned they from their leader's side:
Routed, smitten and defeated,
Came they back at eventide.
Then in words of bitter mourning
Joshua's voice soon arose:
“Tell us, O thou God of Jacob,
Why this triumph of our foes?”
Joshua's voice soon arose:
“Tell us, O thou God of Jacob,
Why this triumph of our foes?”
To his pleading came the answer
Why the hosts in fear did yield:
“'Twas because a fearful trespass
'Mid their tents did lie concealed.”
Why the hosts in fear did yield:
“'Twas because a fearful trespass
'Mid their tents did lie concealed.”
Clear and plain before His vision,
With whom darkness is as light,
Lay the spoils that guilty Achan
Covered from his brethren's sight.
With whom darkness is as light,
Lay the spoils that guilty Achan
Covered from his brethren's sight.
From their tents they purged the evil
That had ruin round them spread;
Then they won the field of battle,
Whence they had in terror fled.
That had ruin round them spread;
Then they won the field of battle,
Whence they had in terror fled.
Through the track of many ages
Comes this tale of woe and crime;
Let us read it as a lesson
And a warning for our time.
Comes this tale of woe and crime;
Let us read it as a lesson
And a warning for our time.
Oh, for some strong-hearted Joshua!
Faithful to his day and time,
Who will wholly rid the nation
Of her clinging curse and crime.
Faithful to his day and time,
Who will wholly rid the nation
Of her clinging curse and crime.
Till she writes on every banner
All beneath these folds are free,
And the oppressed and groaning millions
Shout the nation's Jubilee.
All beneath these folds are free,
And the oppressed and groaning millions
Shout the nation's Jubilee.
| Complete Poems of Frances E. W. Harper | |