Jephthah and Other Mysteries

24 JEPHTHAH. To these damned massacring invaders. Say, My fellows, will ye follow Jephthah? Hail! SOLDIERS. We follow Jephthah to the death. All hail! JEPHTHAH. Go then, refresh yourselves, and sleep to-night. I will send messages to their dread lord Demanding his fell purpose, threatening ‘ My present aid to you with men of valour Chosen of all your tribes, and charging him As he loves life, and victory, to content His army with their present brief success, Lest he pass by the barrier of our suffering, And find our wrath no broken sword, and find Despair more terrible than hope. Go now. A SOLDIER. We go, my lord, less readily to sleep Than if you bade us march. No man of us But stirs a little, I warrant, in his dreams, And reaches out for sword-hilt. All hail, Jephthah! SOLDIERS. Jephthah! a leader, a deliverer. Hail! [Exeunt Soldiers and Young Men.