JEPHTHAH. 53
That bends in you toward summer, faint and fair,
Whose lovers bared their swords to-day ; and ye,
O reverend heads, most beautiful for gray,
The comely crown of age, that doth beseem
Your wise sweet beauty, as the ivy wreathes
The rugged glory of the sycamore,
Have ye heard aught of Jephthah’s home-coming ?
For our cheeks tingle with th’ expected kiss
Of hardy warriors dear to us, and now
By double kinship rendered doubly dear.
For O! my father comes to gladden me
With those enduring kisses that endow
Heart, hope, and life with gladness. Comes he soon ?
ELEAZAR.
Maiden most perfect, daughter of our lord,
And ye, most fairest branches of our tree,
Maidens of Israel, we await you here
That ye, no other, may go forth to meet
The chief victorious. And after you
Those villains that once cast him out shall forth
In sackcloth to his feet, if haply so
He spare their vagabond and worthless lives. .
ADULAH.
Not so, my father. In my father’s name
I promise unto all great happiness,
And vengeance clean forgotten in the land;
“ Vengeance is mine, Jehovah will repay.”
My father shall not frown on any man.