58 JEPHTHAH.
And we too, changing these funereal vestments
Will clothe in moonlike splendour, candid robes
Of priestly purity, our joyous selves.
O fortunate day! O measured steps of noon,
Quicken, if once ye stayed for Joshua,
To keep sweet music to our hearts. Away!
[Exeunt all but Jared.
JARED.
I will await, and hide myself away
Behind yon bushes, to behold the plot
Bud to fulfilment. Then, Leviathan,
I am thy master. Mockery of a God
That seest this thing prosper—Ha! thine altar!
Let me give thanks, Jehovah! O thou God
That rulest Israel as sheep and slaves,
But over me no ruler; thou proud God -
That marshallest these petty thunder-clouds
That blacken over the inane abyss
But canst not tame one fierce desire of mine,
Nor satiate my hatred, nor destroy
This power of mine over thy devil-brood,
The hatchment of thine incest, O thou God
Who knowest me, me, mortal me, thy master,
Thy master—and I laugh at thee, the slave!
Down from Thy throne, impostor, down, down, down
To thine own Hell, immeasurable—
A VOICE.
Strike !