Jephthah and Other Mysteries

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 !