xt7kpr7mq14n https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7kpr7mq14n/data/mets.xml Johnston, William Preston. 1895 books b92-250-31802481 English F.F. Hansell & bro., : New Orleans : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Bible. O.T. History of Biblical events Poetry. Bible. O.T. Psalms. English Paraphrases. Pictures of the patriarchs : and other poems / William Preston Johnston. text Pictures of the patriarchs : and other poems / William Preston Johnston. 1895 2002 true xt7kpr7mq14n section xt7kpr7mq14n

PICTURES OF THE PATRIARCHS

A N D

OTHER POEMS

WILLIAM PRESTON JOHNSTON.

NEW ORLEANS:
F. F. HANSELL & BRO,, PUBLISHERS,
1895

This page in the original text is blank.

PICTURES OF THE PATRIARCHS

AND

OTHER POEMS.

By WILLIAM PRESTON JOHNSTON.

Printed and Bound by
L, GRAHAM & SON, Ltd.,
New Oreans.

MRS. JOSEPHINE LOUISE NEWCOMB

THIS LITTLE BOOK

OF VERSE

DEDICATED

THE MEMORIAL

AN ANCIENT FRIENDSHIP

AND

OF HER BENEFICENCE AND WISDOM

SHOWN IN GIFTS FOR THE

HIGHER EDUCATION

THE WOMEN OF NEW ORLEANS.

This page in the original text is blank.

SONNET.

TO MRS. JOSEPHINE L. NEWCOMB.

Them that the Lord reserves for goodly deeds,
He tempers in affliction's furnace fires,
And treats as dross their sorest human needs,
Burning to ashes all their vain desires.
Quenching in tears the hot soul that aspires,
He on the anvil lays the throbbing heart
And smites it; this its stubborn grain requires
To fashion it for use; the thrill, the smart,
The shaping blow reveal the Maker's art.
From flame, from force, from flood, His hand with-
draws
Th' elastic steel to do a worthy part,
And in a seraph's hand to serve the Master's cause,
Supple and strong as the Damascus blade,
For God's best uses and His warfare made.

_ 5 -

PART FIRST.

PICTURES OF THE PATRIARCHS.

I. The Call of Abraham.
II. Abraham's Guest.
Ill. The Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah.
I V. Jacob's Burial.
V. Samson.

- 6 -

PART SECOND.

THE HARP OF DAVID-A SONNET.

NEW VERSIONS OF PSALMS.

Psalm IV.
Psalm XXIII.
Psalm XXV.
Psalm XXXVI.
Psalm LXVII.
Psalm CIII, Part r.
Psalm Cil, Part 2.
Psalm CXI.
Psalm CXVI.

PART THIRD.

DEVOTIONAL VERSE.

The Beloved Physician.
The Ladder.
The Prisoner of War.
Forgiveness.
Christ is All.
Our Hope.
The All Sufficient.
Heaven's Hostage.
The Perfect Rest.

-8-

PART FIRST.

PICTURES OF THE PATRIARCHS.

" I will open my mouth in a parable:
I will utter dark sayings of old;
Which we have heard and known,
And which our fathers have told us."
Psalm LXXVI!!, 2, 3.

- 9.

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THE CALL OF ABRAHAM.

The dull gray dawn came creeping o'er a waste,
Wide-stretching, level and monotonous,
Without a tree or shrub, without a stream,
With no glad sound of water, no soft swell
Of leafy waves in forest, or in grove,
Save one tall palm beside a sunken well,
Whose polished rim with toil and time was worn
-Abrasions by the rope through centuries-
One straight plumed palm whose crest sighed in the
wind.
From a low hillock nigh, a shapen rock,
Sculptured by Nature, through the gravel broke
Such altar rude as Titans might uprear
To Chaos. On its summit huddled lay
A heap, black in the stirring breath of dawn.
There came a flushing in th' awakened East,
A radiant finger toward the zenith stretched
Through the dark sky, as if to point a path
Of royal splendor for the king of day.
Then all grew luminous; and, from the rock,
What seemed a pile inanimate rose up
A man in shepherd's garb, tall, powerful,
Straight as the spear he bore in his right hand,
And stood as motionless as if out the rock,
By light's creative touch evoked he had sprung
And the same instant had been turned to stone.
His eyes were toward the Orient, whose bright gates,
On golden hinges turning, showed the dawn,
Angelic sentinel, whose mailed hand
-11-

Unbarred the portals of the shining East.
Hope, like a diadem, sat on his brow,
And in his gaze beamed forth full-hearted joy,
Love, expectation, reverence and faith.

And now the glories of the coming day
Draw on apace, pearl, opal, amber, rose,
Peach-bloom, pomegranate, breath of flame, the core
Of altar-fire, and all the auguries,
The heralds, nymphs, companions of the Sun;
"Fill the great orb, in awful majesty,
Bursts from the dull, dead level of the plain.
" Now I know God! " the shepherd cried aloud,
And bent his knee and worshipped: " This is God.
'Tis Thou who givest heat, light, life and growth
To herb and tree, to the dull beast who feeds
And knows Thee not and unto me who claim
Kinship to Thee and aspirations high
And life immortal in these throbbing veins.
O mighty ruler of the spreading earth !
O guardian who hast called day from the night!
Conqueror of darkness and the world of death
I give Thee praise for that I know I am,
For what I am not; I beseech Thee, watch
With Thine unblenching eye over the man
Who worships Thee! "

Tending his patient flock
And drawing water to assuage their thirst,
Or threatening with his lance the prowling wolf,
He did his task, 'till, wearied with the toil,
He broke his fast with bread stored in his scrip
And the pure water and a draught of milk.
His hunger satisfied, beneath the palm,
Or stretched in sheltered shadows of the rock,
He wore away the lingering afternoon,
- 12 -

Until the gradual Sun sloped to the west
And o'er him threw her evening dusky pall.
" What meaneth this " the musing shepherd Cried;
" Can a God sleep or lay him down to rest,
Outwearied with his ward, while, clean forgot,
I and the world are left the sport of chance
Or to the care of lesser deities."

E'en as he spoke, out of the fading sky
Looked forth an eye bright with intelligence,
The Evening Star, which seemed to read his thoughts;
And from the ebon portals of the East,
Robed all in sheen of silver, like a queen
New-wedded, came the Moon ; while, drawing near.
As virgins bidden to a marriage feast,
Thronged all the company of stars in heaven.
"They tell-those old Sabteans,"-thus he spoke,
"'[hat these are they that rule the fates of men,
Decide their destinies, and sway their lives
With happy or with baleful influence.
Be these my bright divinities, whose eyes
With observation multitdudinous
Shall guard my rest."

Throughout the night he kept
An equal vigil with the untiring stars
And with the imperial nmoon that moved supreme
Athwart mid-heaven. But when she too had set,
The shining watchers trembled and turned pale,
And sank into the luminous arms of morn.
With eyes fast fixed upon the awful vault,
Which overhangs the solid ribs of earth,
The shepherd murmured: "Fade ye, too, ye hosts
Burns there no quenchless flame, no source of light,
Which self-subsisting still pervades the void
Of universal space, and guides the star,
-- 13-

Revolves the moon, and plants His flaming torch
On the bright chariot of the king of day
Shines there no Central Light which sees, knows,
rules
Is there no Being in whom rests the All
Yes! One, a Spirit, invisible, supreme,
To whom sun, moon and stars, the world itself,
Are ministers, whose hand shall guide their course
And their appointed times and seasons set,
Whose days are numberless, without end or time,
And in whose breath stands all the state of man.
Him will I worship, Him alone adore,
The God more ancient than the lights of heaven,
Who was, and is, and shall forever be;
Eternal, infinite, and knowing all,
Him will I serve; in Him alone believe;
Live for Him, love Him, lie in His right hand."

Then rolled the thunder in the cloudless sky,
Sharp flashed the lightning and the great earth shook,
While from a space where dazzling radiance blazed,
Blinding the man with soul-subduing awe,
Came forth a voice which pierced him like a sword,
Yet poured a balm upon the wound it made.
" Fear not," it said, " thy shield and buckler 1,
And thine own great reward, thou friend of God.
Abram, seeing thy faith, henceforth art thou
Father of the faithful; thus my call to thee.
Thou art the stem, whose branches wide shall spread
To every land; thy seed more numberless
Than forest leaves, than sands upon the shore,
Than all the stars on which thine eyes have gazed,
Shall rule the world; and in them shall be blessed
All generations. This thy covenant
And thine exceeding great reward shall be."

-1 4-

ABRAHAM'S GUEST.

Abraham, friend of God and father of all
Who hold the primal creed that God is One,
Was sitting where his horsehair tent was stretched
Under the foliage of the tamarisk.
About his knees the child of laughter played,
The heir of promise, blessed before his birth.
Beyond strode Ishmael, with sullen brow
And air imperious and chiding voice,
Hast'ning the herdsmen, who had given scant heed
To the black clouds that lowered in the North.
The patriarch's eye fell on the gathering flocks,
The swaying camels and the huddling sheep,
Asses and kine, and the dust whirls that marked
Their homeward coming. and beyond them gazed
At the low sun betwixt the gilded bars
Of cloud; when, right across the disk, appeared,
Blurring it, as from a red furnace-door,
The form of one low-bent, as if with age,
Suppliant and worn, with vesture travel-stained.

Abraham rose-a chief of many bands-
And, stretching forth his hand with courtesy,
Made the poor wanderer welcome. " Enter thou,"
He said, "my dwelling; make its shelter glad
And honored with thy presence." Seating him,
The chief stooped down, and loosed his sandal's cord
And bathed his bruis6d feet.

-- 15 -

Meanwhile the hands
Of Sarah had prepared the evening meal,
Butter and milk with seeth6d lamb and bread,
And set the fare before the aged man.
The stranger-guest, with eager appetite,
Began to eat, giving no thanks to God.
The patriarch marked with anger the neglect,
And thus he spake, " Adorest thou not God,
Who plucked thee safely from the coming storm,
The Giver, who through me, hath spread this board "
"And who is he" the stranger made reply,
" That I should thank him for thy goodly gifts
When I adore, let it be sacred fire,
That warms the sluggish blood, that fills the eve
And thrills the heart with color, heat and light."
Then Abraham, with holy zeal consumed,
With love of God and hatred of His foes,
Thrust forth his guest into the night and storm,
Saying, with bitterness of righteous wrath,
"Get hence, Idolater!"

The tempest beat
At his tent door with fitful violence;
Fast fell the driving hail; and the keen wind,
With the Accuser's voice, howled mockingly.
Abraham stood, the blood still crimsoning
His clouded brow, when on his heart there fell
The awe of one who hears the voice of God,
The Voice that called him from Chaldea forth
And gave the Land to him and to his seed
As an inheritance. Yet on the blast
It spake not, for a solemn lull had fallen
On earth and heaven ; but in his heart the words
He heard, like footfalls of the thunder king
In some vast cavern's darkness echoing.
"Where is the aged man, thine evening guest"
- 16 -

And Abraham replied: " I thrust him forth,
0 Lord ! because he would not worship Thee."
Then God made answer: " Have I borne with him
These hundred years, although dishonoring Me,
And thou-could'st thou not suffer him one night"
Then to the earth the Patriarch bowed down,
" Alas! my zeal was blind; Thy pardon, Lord !'
And forth into the storm he went, and fetched
The stranger back, and seated him again
With greater reverence than before, and cast
His scarlet robe, sign of his chieftainship,
Around his shivering form, and gently said,
" The Lord, my God, the Ever Merciful,
Hath bidden me care for tbee." The stranger spake:
" Many have been my years of pilgrimage,
Many, evil and weary have they been,
And never yet till now hath mortal man
To me, for evil speech, requited good.
They tell that somewhere dwells a Light Divine,
Which warms the heart with vision of the truth
That God is merciful. 0 Abraham!
A hundred years of penury and woe,
The piercing force of winter's driving storm,
Have not the power to teach like one kind deed,
Nor half the sweet constraint of charity,
To guide us to thy God. 0 Prince of God
Thy God be mine ; for better can not be
Than this, the best of all--the Merciful ! "

- 37 -

THE MARRIAGE OF ISAAC AND
REBEKAH.

I.
The evening was far spent; the setting sun
Made luminous the cloudless western sky,
As a strong man, gray-bearded, eagle-eyed,
Halted his camels on the desert's verge.
There a fair city rose, in that midland
Clasped in the fruitful, warm embrace of streams
Whose founts in Eden's sacred garden sprang,
Nahor's fair city-Ur-the beaming eye,
Which, sparkling in a waste of barren sand,
With crystal waters blesseth many a league
Of pasture, waving palms and greenery.

The traveler bade halt; his journey's end
He knew at hand; he made his camels kneel
Hard by a well where women caine to draw,
What time they came, the waters cool and clear,
Then, kneeling down himself, made fervent prayer
To Elohim, the Mighty One on High:
"Almighty God, the God of Abraham!
I pray Thee send to me good speed this day,
And kindness show my master, Abraham.
He is Thy chosen, and, with faith entire,
He hath obeyed when Thou hast given command.
' God is my help,' the name and faith I bear,
And Eliezer prays not doubtfully.
Now, that the daughters of the tribe draw near,
- 18 -

Bestow Thy heavenly wisdom to direct
My choice aright on her that is to be
Spouse of a prince and mother of a race,
Whose bands shall sweep the desert, line the shore,
Bear rule in distant lands beyond the sea,
And hold the unchanging truth that God is one.
And let it come to pass beside this well,
That damsel fair to whom my lips shall say,
'Let down thy pitcher, pray, that I may drink,'
And she shall say to me, a stranger, ' Drink,
And likewise to thy camel's parched lips
Will I bring water that shall slake their thirst,'
-Let that same damsel be Jhe bride decreed
Bv heaven ror Isaac, since her brow will wear
The surest badge of honorable stem,
The outward sign of the true, princely soul,
The heaven-appointed crown of noble thought,
The diadem of native royalty,
The grace and goodness of sweet courtesy."

Even as he ceased the throng of women came
And first Rebekah, Bethuel's daughter fair,
Her pitcher on her shoulder, straight and tall
In that prime womanhood, when beauty blooms
Like the fresh rose which wears its earliest dew
Nor yet hath warmed with the young kiss of morn.
Down to the well she went, her pitcher filled,
And straightway up the stony steps returned.
Ben-Eliezer then to meet her ran,
And said: " Let me, I pray thee, from thy jar
A little draught of the pure water drink."
Then, bending like the wind-swept grass, she said:
"Yea, drink my Lord," and hasted to let down
Her pitcher on her hand, and gave him drink.
When he had lifted up from where he drank,
With kind and gentle voice she spake:
- 19 --

",Thy camels also-mark their anxious eyes-
Their fill of water will I draw for them."
Whereon, with step light as the mountain roe,
She sped, and in the trough her pitcher poured,
And ran again unto the well, and drew
Water for all the weary caravan.
But the man, full of wonder, held his peace,
Seeking by thought to learn, if so the Lord
Had made his journey prosperous or no.
And thus it came to pass when all the beasts,
Ten camels of the herd, had drunk their fill,
Stretching their scraggy necks, with patient eyes
Fixed on the friendly hand that watered them,
That the man drew two golden earrings forth,
Of half a shekel weight, the work of Tyre,
Wrought cunningly with many a rare device,
And two great bracelets of ten shekels weight,
Made to enclasp the wrist, with quaint design
Of vine and leaf and flower and tracery,
Like nature's self but done in crusted gold,
And gave them to her with due reverence.
Ben-Eliezer questioned her, and said:
"Whose daughter art thou I beseech thee, say;
And may we in thy father's dwelling lodge"
Then unto him she modestly replied,
With eyes abashed at the rich gifts she wore
"I am the daughter of that Bethuel,
The son that Milcah unto Nahor bore.
Grain for thy beasts, food for thyself, a room
Wherein the traveler may rest in peace,
Are thine; what cheer we have is also thine;
To thee safe shelter, welcome, reverence;
To us the gladness of thy coming here
And auguries of weal whilst thou shalt stay."
Then bowed the man his head and worshipped God:
" Now, blessed be the God of Abraham,
Who hath not left my master destitute
-20-

Of His rich mercy, His abiding truth.
A wanderer, no star to guide my path,
The Lord hath led me in the certain way
And brought me to my master's brethren's house!
The damsel ran, her eyes wi::h wonder bright,
And in her father's house all these things told.

II.
Then Laban, Bethuel's eldest son and heir,
Of stature lofty, strong of linb and heart,
Sinewy and brown, with fearless brow and mien,
Like a young eagle perched among the crags,
Whose eye, beak, talons threaten red rapine,
Yet veiling subtle craft and strong desire
Under the guise of sparkling gaiety,
Weighed with a glance the ornaments of gold
His sister showed-the stranger's gift to her-
Reckoned their price, and valued hence the giver.
Laban strode forth with rapid step and free,
And came unto the man beside the well.
" Come in, thou blessed of tLe Lord," he said,
" Now, wherefore standest thou outside the gate
Our house is ready, and thy place prepared,
With room for all thy camels and thy men."
Welcome was given, his camels were ungirt,
His sandals loosened, and cool water brought
To bathe his feet and those of all his men,
And meat was set before the man to eat.
But he would not. " My errand first," he said;
Then Laban unto him repliec: "Speak on."
Then spake Ben-Eliezer, measuredly,
And said: " The servant 1, of Abraham
The Lord hath blessed my w-aster bounteously,
Hath given him flocks and herds, silver and gold,
Servants and camels and all worldly gear;
-2 1-

And in his age, Sarah, his wife, likewise
Being old, bare him a son, through God's good grace,
And to this son he hath given all he hath.
Unto my master I have straitly sworn
That I would bring back from his father's house,
The angel of the Lord assisting me,
A wife for Isaac, if from Nahor's stem,
A budding spray, a scion of this stock,
A maid would come whom God hath richly dowered
With royal gifts of feature, form and soul.
The angel who before me went hath shown
Rebekah to me, fairest of the fair,
And by a special sign hath pointed out
This virgin as fit mate for Abraham's son.
If thou wilt kindly with my master deal
And truly, tell me ; if not, tell me still,
That I may turn aside, and, going hence,
Be clear from the strait bondage of mine oath."
Then Laban spake him fair, and all went well.

Ill.
When the old sire was ready, Bethuel,
They brought Ben-Eliezer to his feet.
Bethuel, the princely Nahor's eldest son,
By patriarchal right, wisdom and power,
Still ruled where erst his father had borne sway.
His chair of judgment placed between the gates,
He leaned with all his weight of fourscore years
Upon his staff; his people stood around.
" Health, friend of Abraham !" he said, "and peace
And in my dwelling safety be with thee.
How fares it with my kinsman, Abraham,
In that far country where the stars go down"
"Thy father's brother, in his wanderings wide,
Hath prospered greatly. He is rich and strong;
Men reverence his justice, fear his wrath."
- 22 -

" He acted wisely," Bethuel quick replied,
"To leave this narrow verge where freedom dies
For want of breath between the desert sands
And the worse barrenness of singly power.
Rights are but paltry herbs that can not thrive
In the dense shadows of the royal grove,
Whose roots suck up all nutr ment and strength,
The substance of the soil. We lack the sun.
Our children, too, with looking long and oft
Upon these gilded beasts of !Nineveh,
That raven and live by prey and incense burn
To graven things no better than themselves,
-Our children grow rapacious, and forget
The law delivered to our fathers first
And handed down, the which obeying we
Submit our wills, and thus have peace with God.
They sigh for all the wretched pomp and show,
The vanity and nothingness cf wealth;
Play kestrels to the sparrows, since they lack
The eagle's wiag and talons to swoop down
And bear away the firstling of the flock.
But say you Abraham hath waxen old
Alas, where'er men dwell, they wear away;
The blade will fret the scabbard as you stir;
Hung on the wall it dulls by slow decay;
And so, rest and you rust; rub and you rue."
Then Abraham's servant straightway answered him,
"My master's path hath not been all on turf;
His feet have trodden the thorns, his sides have bled.
There is no climate dedicate to right,
No sky where virtue holds urquestioned sway
Since man's transgression. Vie in darkness walk;
God dwells in light; by faith in Him we live."
Old Bethuel, bending courteously, inquired:
"How hath it fared with Abraham these years
I pray thee, of my kinsman tell me more."
Then Eliezer's son made full reply
-23 -

" What time Lord Abraham from Haran went,
Moving with all his camels, herds and wealth
And brave Chaldean herdsmen armed with spears,
Trained to teach lessons to the spoiler bands
Which made them Ware of troubling aught was his,
He came unto that fair and fruitful plain
Which gushing Abana watereth copiously,
Where stands Damascus with its mansions white,
Its rich bazaars and walls of masonry,
A pearly boss upon an emerald shield.
There he encamped, and paid with liberal hand
For all his wants out of his treasure large.
The town folk, envying his show of wealth,
Scorning his simple ways, and confident
In stone and heavy enginery of war,
Did him foul wrong; but his reprisal came
Sudden and scathing as the bolt of heaven.
His arm6d bands thronged on the lofty walls,
Scaled by their nimble feet; and smiting hands
Quick won the citadel, and the rich town
Lay at his mercy, suppliant, full of woe.
Their insolence to abject terror changed,
They crowned him king, and so he ruled the land.
But not forgetful wherefore he was called,
He waited for the hour to set him free,
That yet again, beneath the open sky,
His eyes should see the camels browse and sheep
Follow the shepherd as he went afield,
Leading with friendly voice to pastures green.
Seven years he held Damascus with firm hand,
Teaching truth, justice, noble probity,
Through law and righteous judgment, but yet more
By the full pattern of a perfect man.
Then he laid down his sceptre, and went forth
To the old life, but left a legacy
Of maxims wise, sound laws, a tranquil state,
And better still a memory ever green
-24-

As Pharfar's fields, that spring and ever spring
In verdure, when the world's athirst and sere.
While in Damascus he ruled more than king,
He found a man that fitted in his heart
As the blade rests wvithin its guardian sheath
Eliezer was his name. This man became
Steward of his wealth, his trusted bosom friend.
Behold, I am that Eliezer's son,
Who from Damascus Abraham drew forth
And made the guardian of his worldly gear.
Me, when no son had blessed his marriage bed,
The Prince of God had chosei for his heir,
The eldest child of all born in his house.
But the great God, who ordereth all things well,
Made void his purpose, granting by his grace
The child of gladness, Isaac, Prince of Peace.
Thus set aside by Heaven's assured decree,
My lot hath been to serve, arid not bear sway
But still my master's bounteous heart hath given
Trust for my troth, and favor for my faith
Upon my arm as on a staff he leans,
My counsel hears, while I his burtherns bear.
And now lest Isaac should his birthright mar
By taking from the Canaaniths a wife
Steeped in the waters of idolatry,
A turbid flood whose stain no wave can cleanse
White from its foulness, he hath sent me here,
Back to the city where his brother reigned,
That from the daughters of a nobler line
A mate for Isaac I may lead as bride."

IV.
With much discourse, then both the aged men
Told each the other what he longed to know.
At length thus Bethuel spake: " There is no choice,
The thing proceedeth from the Lord; behold,
-25--

Rebekah is before thee; take her; go,
Let her be wife unto mine uncle's son."
Abraham's servant heard the sage's words
Then worshipped God, low bowing to the earth.
From golden coffers, redolent of musk,
Scented with sandal wood and perfumes sweet
Fetched from the spicy islands of the sea,
Jewels he brought, of deftest workmanship,
Curious with silver, gold and precious gems,
That sparkled like the stars, or held imprisoned
The soul of flame, the verdure of the trees,
The distillation of the blue of heaven,
Such hues as deck the sunset caught in stone,
And that soft sheen enshrined within the pearl
Wrought in the workshops of the briny deep
By the fine touch of nature's alchemy;
Treasures of raiment from the looms of Ind
And ancient empires in remotest East;
Shawls of rare fabric, woven of camel's hair,
Filled in with colors of the faded fern
And dying leaf, with cabalistic words;
Silks and brocades and robes of various hue
And filmy tissues wrought with thread of gold.
These for Rebekah; for her mother, gifts
Meet for the mother of a royal bride;
And Laban, too, was not forgotten, lest he,
At the last moment, might start up some flaw.

He tarried feasting; and, when morning came,
The man rose early, saying, "Let us go;
Send me, I pray thee, to my master's house."
But to his words the maiden's kindred made
Answer-" Abide with us a little space-
Ten days if so ye will; then go in peace."
"Hinder me not, I pray," the old man said,
"I do my master's bidding; it fares ill
To daily when the Lord is prospering."
-26-

Then answered they, "Call we the damsel then,
And learn from her which way her heart inclines."
They called Rebekah, saying, " Wilt thou go
With this man," and she answered, " I will go."
Then while they gathered round with smiles and tears,
One haggard stripling, with wild eyes, stood forth,
And sang, with plaintive melody, FAREWELL.

" Among the heavy herds, behold the feet
That twinkle, of the lissome, young gazelle
Now here, now to the desert gone-O fleet!
Farewell! Farewell!

'In the cool dawn I watched the morning star,
That seemed to rule high he-ven's hollow cell;
But with the day it vanished--O how far!
Farewell, Farewell

I thought the thistle down a fairy flower;
The winds have borne it-where I can not tell;
But in my heart the thistle stings each hour:
Farewell, Farewell

"I found a trickling spring, child of the sky,
And dreamed Earth's source cf tears had bid it swell
The fount, its rocky bed, my heart, are dry;
Farewell, Farewell !"

Then, turning toward the desert, swift he fled
And straight as arrow leveled at the prey,
With eyes fast fixed on point invisible
To other eyes, beyond the waste of sand.
Then said Rebekah softly, " Let us go."
- 27 --

V.
Dismissed with blessings and with fervent prayers,
Rebekah went, attended by her nurse
And by her damsels and by armed men,
Under the trusty Eliezer's care.
The wise old man, skilled in the desert's lore,
Threaded the waste, along the devious track
Of mountain defile and through pebbly plain,
Westward and southward to Laha-i Roi,
Where, at the Well of Succor, for a space
Isaac had been, and now, returning home,
Near Hebron dwelt, where Abraham still abode.
When they drew near to Mamre's stately oaks,
A smiling landscape broke upon the sight;
Gray olive orchards planted on the steeps,
And terraced vineyards blushing in the sun
And frequent flocks and verdure everywhere
Spangled with flowers, among the rocky hills.
Here at the eventide, to walk in thought,
Came Isaac, and he lifted up his eyes,
And saw the camels and Rebekah's train.
"Who is the man" the high born maiden asked.
" It is the Master." Eliezer said,
" The Son of Gladness and the Prince of Peace."
Then o'er her face she threw the accustomed veil,
Shrouding her beauty like a cloud the sun,
And, lighting down, she forward went on foot,
To meet her Lord-hope other had she none.
The princely son of Abraham came swift,
And greeted her; and, listening graciously
To all of Eliezer's words, drew near,
And led her to a spacious tent, well pitched
And hung with heavy tapestries and silk,
Which had been Sarah's, was Rebekah's now.
Gentle and strong, the master of himself,
The child of promise wore his sonship well.

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His steady eyes proclaimed a constant truth,
His comely features, healthful, cheerful, bright,
But yet composed and resolute and kind,
Well marked the heir selected to endure
With sweetness all the evil lot of man.
What evils are there to a mind resolved,
Set square upon a base of solid rock,
With duty, faith, fidelity and love,
Whose four sides face whatever tempests blow
The Patriarch Abraham his blessing gave,
And Isaac took ,Rebekah for his wife,
Henceforth the type of mutual wedded love.

- 29-

THE BURIAL OF JACOB.

Hard by the threshing floor of Atad, named
Henceforth, because of Egypt's mourning there,
Abel-Misraim, the procession paused,
That Pharaoh with his servant Joseph sent
To bury Israel. the man of peace.
Hither had Joseph brought, with all his house
And all his brethren, the long funeral train
Of his dead father, Israel, Prince of God;
Only their little ones, their flocks and herds,
Were left behind. For Jacob had desired,
With strong desire, that, in the sepulchre
Of his own people, they should lay him down,
Charging his sons that in Macpelah's cave,
Which Abraham, from Ephron, son of Hleth,
Had bought in Canaan for a resting place,
Among his fathers he might sleep at last.
Now, they had come to do as he had bidden,
And with them, by the grace of Egypt's king,
All his chief servants, elders of his house,
And all the elders of the land of Nile,
His horsemen and his chariots of war,
Spearmen and bowmen and the Ethiop slaves
And all the retinue of royalty;
For Pharaoh's chief delight was in the man,
Who read the future by the gift of God,
And in the days of famine saved the land.
Him had he placed at his right hand, and given
The second chariot in the land, and made
Chief councillor in his realm.
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For seven days
The sad procession halted in its march
At Atad, and with funeral games and songs
Did honor to the dead.

With calm, still brow,
Joseph looked on the bier where Israel lay,
Embalmed in state, the people gathered round.
"Chieftains !" he said, and waved his golden spear
With gesture grave, as one used to command
"Chieftains and warriors! children of the Dead!
Behold the body of a man God loved
And chose before his birth to le a prince,
The fruitful father of a race, whose sons
Shall swarm innumerous as the scaly fish
That crowd the Nile, or honey bees that hive
In the dark caverns of this blooming land,
Or stars that gem the vaulted roof of heaven.
God tried him sorely many times and oft,
And made him serve ere that He gave him rule,
Sweeping his heart strings with compelling hand,
Till they poured forth the fullness of lament,
Yet not rebelling, but with humble praise
Of God's great goodness. He was steadfast, true,
Firm as the rock, and patient to the end."
He ceased, and to him answered Potiphar,
The Captain of the Guard, his sometime lord,
Now under his dominion and his friend.

The Lord keeps watch above the pure in heart
And lets his light before their faces shine,
In dungeon and in battle takes their part,
And to their weakness lendeth strength divine.

The Lord is merciful unto the just
And full of loving kindness to the true;
He blesseth hi