Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

Shall dwell to Senir, that long ridge of hills.
This ponder, that all nations of the earth
Shall in his seed be blessed; by that seed

Is meant thy great Deliverer, who shall bruise
The serpent's head; whereof to thee anon
Plainlier shall be reveal'd. This patriarch bless'd,
Whom faithful Abraham due time shall call,
A son, and of his son a grandchild, leaves,
Like him in faith, in wisdom, and renown.

The grandchild with twelve sons increas'd departs
From Canaan, to a land hereafter call'd

Egypt, divided by the river Nile;

See where it flows, disgorging at seven mouths
Into the sea. To sojourn in that land

He comes, invited by a younger son

In time of dearth; a son, whose worthy deeds.
Raise him to be the second in that realm
Of Pharaoh there he dies, and leaves his race
Growing into a nation, and now grown
Suspected to a sequent king, who seeks
To stop their overgrowth, as inmate guests

150

156

160

165

Too numerous; whence of guests he makes them

slaves

Inhospitably, and kills their infant males:

Till by two brethren, (those two brethren call
Moses and Aaron,) sent from God to claim
His people from enthralment, they return

With glory and spoil back to their promis'd land.

155 increas'd] A Latinism, as Plaut. Trucul. ii. vi. 34.

'Cumque es aucta liberis.' Richardson.

170

But first the lawless tyrant, who denies
To know their God, or message to regard,

180

Must be compell'd by signs and judgments dire; 175
To blood unshed the rivers must be turn'd;
Frogs, lice, and flies, must all his palace fill
With loath'd intrusion, and fill all the land;
His cattle must of rot and murrain die;
Botches and blains must all his flesh imboss,
And all his people; thunder mix'd with hail,
Hail mix'd with fire, must rend the Ægyptian sky,
And wheel on th' earth, devouring where it rolls;
What it devours not, herb, or fruit, or grain,
A darksome cloud of locusts swarming down
Must eat, and on the ground leave nothing green:
Darkness must overshadow all his bounds, .
Palpable darkness, and blot out three days;
Last with one midnight stroke all the first-born
Of Egypt must lie dead. Thus with ten wounds
This river-dragon tam'd at length submits
To let his sojourners depart, and oft

Humbles his stubborn heart; but still as ice

185

191

More harden'd after thaw, till, in his rage

Pursuing whom he late dismiss'd, the sea
Swallows him with his host, but them lets pass

177 fill] Spoil. Bentl. MS.

180 imboss] Shakesp. K. Lear, act iv. sc. 11.

Thou art a boil,

A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle.'

Todd.

188 Palpable] 'O darkness palpable.' Marston's Sat. ii.

195

191 This river-dragon] So in the first edition; in the second, it is altered to "The river-dragon.' Pearce.

As on dry land between two crystal walls,
Aw'd by the rod of Moses so to stand

Divided, till his rescu'd gain their shore:

Such wondrous power God to his saint will lend, 200
Though present in his angel, who shall go
Before them in a cloud, and pillar of fire,

By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire,

To guide them in their journey, and remove
Behind them, while th' obdurate king pursues : 205
All night he will pursue, but his approach
Darkness defends between till morning watch;
Then through the fiery pillar and the cloud
God looking forth will trouble all his host,

209

And craze their chariot-wheels: when by command
Moses once more his potent rod extends
Over the sea; the sea his rod obeys;
On their embattle'd ranks the waves return,
And overwhelm their war. The race elect
Safe towards Canaan from the shore advance
Through the wild desert, not the readiest way,
Lest entering on the Canaanite alarm'd

War terrify them inexpert, and fear

215

Return them back to Egypt, choosing rather
Inglorious life with servitude; for life

220

To noble and ignoble is more sweet

197 crystal walls] In Sylvester's Du Bartas, p. 363, the Red Sea

is described with walls of crystall.' Todd.

207 defends] i. e. forbids, keeps off: so b. xi. 86. That defended fruit; and Spens. F. Q. iv. 3. 32.

'Himself to save and daunger to defend. Todd.

Untrain'd in arms, where rashness leads not on.
This also shall they gain by their delay

In the wide wilderness, there they shall found
Their government, and their great senate choose 225
Through the twelve tribes, to rule by laws ordain'd.
God from the mount of Sinai, whose gray top
Shall tremble, he descending, will himself
In thunder, lightning, and loud trumpets sound
Ordain them laws; part, such as appertain
To civil justice; part, religious rites
Of sacrifice, informing them by types

And shadows of that destin'd seed to bruise
The serpent, by what means he shall achieve
Mankind's deliverance. But the voice of God
To mortal ear is dreadful: they beseech
That Moses might report to them his will,
And terror cease; he grants what they besought,
Instructed that to God is no access

230

235

240

Without mediator, whose high office now
Moses in figure bears, to introduce
One greater, of whose day he shall foretell,
And all the prophets in their age the times
Of great Messiah shall sing. Thus laws and rites
Establish'd, such delight hath God in men
Obedient to his will, that he vouchsafes
Among them to set up his tabernacle,
The Holy One with mortal men to dwell.
By his prescript a sanctuary is fram'd

245

238 what they besought] In the first edition, 'He grants them their desire.'

Newton.

Of cedar, overlaid with gold; therein
An ark, and in the ark his testimony,
The records of his covenant; over these
A mercy-seat of gold between the wings
Of two bright cherubim; before him burn
Seven lamps, as in a zodiac representing
The heavenly fires; over the tent a cloud
Shall rest by day, a fiery gleam by night,
Save when they journey, and at length they come
Conducted by his angel to the land
Promis'd to Abraham and his seed.

250

255

260

The rest Were long to tell, how many battles fought, How many kings destroy'd, and kingdoms won; Or how the sun shall in mid heaven stand still A day entire, and night's due course adjourn, Man's voice commanding, 'Sun in Gibeon stand, 265 And thou moon in the vale of Aialon,

Till Israel overcome;' so call the third

From Abraham, son of Isaac, and from him

His whole descent, who thus shall Canaan win.
Here Adam interpos'd. O sent from heaven, 270
Enlightner of
my darkness, gracious things

Thou hast reveal'd, those chiefly which concern
Just Abraham and his seed: now first I find

Mine eyes true op'ning, and my heart much eas'd,
Erewhile perplex'd with thoughts what would be-

come

Of me and all mankind; but now I see

His day, in whom all nations shall be bless'd,
Favour unmerited by me, who sought

[blocks in formation]

275

« ZurückWeiter »