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Page 1 of 11898 · PDF PAGE 38
… Between the folk of Ammon and the folk Of Israel this day be God the judge. [Exzt Second Herald. ELEAZAR. Well spoken: but the ear that will not hear Is deafer than the adder none may charm. JEPHTHAH. I know it, and will not await the answer. But dawn shall see a solemn sacrifice, And solemn vows, and long swords glittering, And moving columns that shall shake the earth With firm and manly stride; and victory Most like a dove amid the altar-smoke. CHORUS. We, passing here the night in prayer, will wait And with thee offer up propitious doves, …
1898 · PDF PAGE 28
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 f…
1898 · PDF PAGE 62
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…
1898 · PDF PAGE 27
…ill a vantage ground whereon Hard-breathing fighting men get scanty sleep Till the dawn lift his eyebrows, and the day Renew the battle? Will ye follow me Through slippery ways of blood to Ephraim To beat with sturdy swords unwearying Our foemen to their Ammon, and to grapple With red death clutching at the throat of us, With famine and with pestilence, at last To reach a barren vengeance, and perchance An hundred of your thousands to return Victors—so best God speed us—and for worst Death round our cities horrible and vast, And rape and murder…
1898 · PDF PAGE 60
…MICHORUS OF MAIDENS II. Forth, maidens, with your hands White with new lilies ! Forth, maidens, in bright bands, Virgins whose one sweet will is To sing the victory of our God in all sky-girdled lands! Elohim! SEMICHORUS I. With dancing feet, and noise Of timbrels smitten, With tears and tender joys, With songs unwritten, With music many-mouthed, with robes in snowy equipoise. Jephthah!
1898 · PDF PAGE 70
66 JEPHTHAH. The lamentations of these friends of mine But not my tears. For I will fit myself By solitude and fasting and much prayer For this most holy ceremony, to be A perfect, pure, accepted sacrifice. Only this sorrow—O father, father, speak ! JEPHTHAH. ADULAH. Most unblameable, we come again. I would not weep with these ; I dare not stay, Lest I weep louder than them all. Fare well, My father, O my father! I am passing Into the night. Remember me as drawn Into the night toward the golden dawn. [Exeunt Adulah and Maidens. CHORUS. Toward t…
1898 · PDF PAGE 19
…! Exit Messenger. CHORUS. I fear me our necessity is sure. But they come hither. Shall we rather flee ? ELEAZAR. I stand here manly, and will die a man. CHORUS. For cowardice not pleases God, nor fear. Shall we not take up weapons? Or shall He Rather defend us with His Holy Arm, We not presuming in our arrogance To come with cunning, and defend ourselves ? ELEAZAR. Nay, but God smites with sharpness of our swords, CHORUS. The sword is made sharp in our hands, but the point He shall guide; We grasp the tough ash of the spear, but His hand is bes…
1898 · PDF PAGE 66
… love On the weary way ; Where the ibex chant and call Over tempest’s funeral ; Where the horndd beast is shrill, And the eagle hath his will, And the shadows fall
1898 · PDF PAGE 52
… full heart: I would to God Your minds were somewhat fuller, and could keep Discretion seated on her ivory throne. What folly is it they will now be at, Gray beards, and goatish manners? Hearken them! CHORUS. In the brave old days ere men began To bind young hearts with an iron tether, Ere love was brief as life, a span, Ere love was light as life, a feather, Earth was free as the glad wild weather, God was father and friend to man. AHINOAM. Then when with mildness and much joy our judge Draw hither, let us send to meet his steps
1898 · PDF PAGE 59
JEPHTHAH. 55 ‘I will keep silence, though they tear my tongue Blaspheming from my throat. My servant now! ELEAZAR. Mingled emotions quickly following Fear upon fear, and joy and hope at last Crowning, have maddened Jephthah’s kinsman here. Mark his lips muttering, and his meaningless Furious gestures, and indignant eyes Starting, and hard-drawn breath! Him lead away Tenderly, as beseems the mercy shown To his repentance by this maiden queen. The Lord is merciful to them that show Mercy, and all such as are pure of heart ; Thy crown, Adulah, wea…
1898 · PDF PAGE 24
…ise, and betray Your faith for fear of me. I read thy thoughts, Old man; I trust no word of thine, but these Full-hearted mourners, them will I believe Upon their oath most solemn and secure. _ But take thou warning now, I shall not spare Grey hairs or faltering limbs for treachery. ELEAZAR. Lift up your hands, all people of this land, And swear with me this oath my lips pronounce: By Wisdom, father of the world, we swear;
1898 · PDF PAGE 57
… 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.
1898 · PDF PAGE 37
… your god hath given you your land ; Possess that peaceably; but whomsoever The Lord our God shall drive before our spears, His lands we will possess. And thou, O king, Art thou now better than that bloody Balak Whose iron hand was upon Moab? He, Fought he against us, while three hundred years We dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and Aroer And her white cities, and by Ammon’s coast? D 33
1898 · PDF PAGE 75
…nd which is only granted to those who by previous incarnations have fitted themselves for so sublime a knowledge. The brief sketch above will, however, make clear the Oath of the people and the Prayer of Jephthah, among other phrases which may seem at first sight less unin- telligible to ordinary analysis. That I have made Jephthah a Magician is also in accordance with tradition. Great captains were always great priests, in the secret Qabalistical sense. The priests themselves, then as to-day, were foolish old men trained to bolster up the exte…