10 JEPHTHAH.
A way for the soul to flee,
A charm for the lips to bind;
And the struggle is keen as the strife to be,
And the heart is tossed by the thankless wind.
ELEAZAR,
Nay, for a man’s sure purpose is of God.
CHORUS.
The large pale limbs of the earth are tanned
With the sun and the sea and the yellow sand
And the face of earth is dark with love
Of the lords of hell and the spirits above
That move in the foggy air of night,
And the spirit of God, most like a dove,
Hovers, and lingers, and wings his flight,
Spurned and rejected and lost to sight;
But we desire him, a holy bird,
And we turn eyes to the hollow hills ;
For God is strong, and His iron word
Mocks at the gods of the woods and rills.
For .our God is as a fire
That consumeth every one
That is underneath the sun,
And our uttermost desire
Must abase, with rent attire,
Souls and bodies to His throne,
Where above the starry choir
Stands the jasper, where alone
Palest seraphim respire