HENAS before the birth of dear her child

Might modest maiden thus seclude herself

And chaste with oils rich and vapours sweet

Anoint herself, thereby herself prepare

To bring about the mortal man entire,

Wherein is met the hopes, the fears, the dreams—

All that his mortal kin are customed to,

So David there knelt him before that sage,

Who, shunning him the halls of pow’r and pomp,

Which, paganlike, bespeak their lesser worth,

And forfeit by their show authority,

Bedewed with oil pure the head of him

Who would be king— yet crown nor kingship sought.

Whereas the dew of Eden’s stilly lawn

Sprang cloudless up to feed the infant earth,

And forth brought to the Pair the fatal fruit,

That royal salve engendered still the Plan

Of Providence— for mortal good or woe

Which hinges on the fickle heart of man,

But is preserved by that insuperable Good

Which for man’s good all mortal things doth work.

 

Scene in the Supernatural

HEN from that hill pastoral there arose

Such kingly odour to th’ celestial heighths,

Th’eternal altar which with vapors sweet

Doth reek with fragrant drafts which are the prayers

Of many saints, did there conjoin its own

And signal to that host the grand commence

Of greater things to come, thereby to gain

The sure salvation of all Israel’s kind.

And signaled thus, in quick and vast array

Did all the legions of the Lord convene.

Across the great expanse came quick reply:

A dreadful blast on some malignant horn

Whereat the clam’rous horde replied in kind.

From up th’  infernal phalanx rose a flame,

And following, a putrid fog which hung

About the warlike wraiths and rained

A noisome dew. Betwixt the chasm still

Remained the martial front, who held in check

Their full attack. Thus neither force advanced,

But bided by in awful calm to strike.

 

David as Poet

HAT time which pow’r infernal did prolong

In vicious patience to fulfil their schemes

Fell faltering before the plan of He

Who does all Time hold hefted in His hand;

As some expectant warrior weighs aloft

His dart adept, and marks his target well,

And measuring with stretching sinew’s span

The distance long. Before the din of anxious throng

Encroaches there, becalms himself, and flies.

That David, there on Israel’s hilly land,

Made sing the harp that was his strongest arm.

That strand, now singing and now still,

Propels the shaft, which being that true praise,

Doth carry straight and true and keen alight,

And put Satanic phalanxes to flight.

 

David and Jonathan

ND thus in favor both with God and man

Did David grow; and taken to the heart

Of Saul and all of Israel’s kingly court,

Chiefly the prince, Saul’s favored only son.

Fair deep and true they bore in mutual love

That bond which the vicissitudes of fate

Can neither bind nor break, but mere increase.

 

The Fall of Saul

UT Saul, whose envy did him mortal ill

Gazed long upon the works of God and, wroth,

Drank deep the sickened draughts of jealousy

And like the moon, who, envious of the sun,

Turns back her face to hide in th’ depths of night,

But only shines to counterfeit the light

Of he the greater Star. That Jealousy,

Which wast of all the mortal ills the first,

And which from all our ills took parentage,

So vexed his mind. Uptook the deadly spear

And so assayed to slay the chosen king; 

When from his lyre  pure David sought to soothe

Th’ troubled transports that sore Saul did vex;

But softer strings than these would hardly charm

An heart which from its meeter course had turned, 

A spirit made obdurate in its pride;

That pride, which all man’s fatal falls precedes.  

 

Samuel Confronts Saul

OW Saul, beset by rage of war, did make offense

Against the long and mortal foes of Israel’s land; 

And madly thus assayed th’ Amalekite horde, 

And having vacuous victory thereby gained, 

Did quarter give, where quarter God forbade,

And slew them not whom God gave to be slain.

 

And Samuel spoke:

“What then is this the lowing of the rams?

What calling of the cattle in mine ears?

Thou flouts the Word of God for want of lambs?

The man who does the Will of God and doth Him fear

Is he whom God will prosper with His hand.

The blackest arts which mages do conspire 

With disobedience doth the Lord equate,

And no less than off’rings made with pagan fire 

Doth God a proud and  wayward spirit hate.”

 

And Saul said:

“Now I have sinned— remember not my shame;

Return again with me and salve my sin;

The people did me sway, and for their fear

Did I pay heed to their thoughtless demand.”

 

Epic Simile of the Torn Robe. 

ND turning in his righteous wroth away

Did then the prophet of the Lord forbear 

To listen more to pride and selfish cant. 

But Saul in desp’rate mood and fain

To justify his err before the courts

Of heav’n that had deemed him false

Did seize upon the hem of that good saint,

And grasping it, fell down and made him low. 

But as the sage did turn his back away,

It tore.  As t’were a map, whereon the bounds

Of one, the rightful king were there ordain’d,

And by the engines twain of State or Fate, 

Violently ripped. So all of man’s affairs 

Made motion under that supernal plan, 

Dispos’d and executed by the Hand

Of He Who works above all else His Will. 

 

And Samuel said:

“I will not now  henceforth return with thee;

The Lord from out thy hand hath torn the crown,

To give it to a one better than thee. 

This is the Lord’s decree, and it shall stand

For God will waver not, as should a man”. 

 

Saul Pursues David

OW Saul, beset by his satanic rage,

That would usurp, like Lucifer, the throne

From that ordainéd monarch, which in turn 

Would bring about salvation to their kin,

Did pursue th’ chosen future king

Unto his own destruction and in spite 

Of He Whose words had him ensconced 

Upon the royal throne ordained by God. 

Upon the hills in secret violence met, 

Did seek to kill the future king, who gave 

No enmity to Saul, but fled. As it were night 

And David chanced upon the sleeping Saul,

But mild forbore to take the royal head 

Which lay in sightless slumber on the ground. 

And in his mercy did that warrior deign 

To cut a corner of the kingly garb 

As token both of his impending reign 

And fearful reverence of his lawful king.

As when his robe, which late the prophet

From off the dooméd monarch lately ripp’d,

The once to sign the end of that contentious reign,

Here now to signify the victory of grace. 

Then Saul, awak’d, repented him of wroth,

And spoke:

“Thou’rt the righteous one, and will prevail. 

Thy mercy provest that thy heart is right. 

No more thy rightful reign will I assail:

The Lord will do what’s pleasing in His sight.”

 

The Death of Samuel

OW Samuel, being much advanced in years

And all his ghostly mission near-fulfilled

Did pass away, and all of Israel mourned

That loss, which left them in such state bereft

Of vision deep, and still of deeper sight,

As when a man, being in slumber, wakes 

And with a foolish hand in dead of night, 

Fumbles for light. And reaching blindly out,

Disturbs the waning taper at his side. 

And Saul, mad, blind, and stony still of heart

Assayed the pow’rs of darkness to his aid. 

 

Psalm of the Fugitive (Psalm 59)

UT David still his conscience kept

And to the Lord his life and trust vouchsafed;

And with his soul, and withal with his tongue 

 Honored the Lord with singing and with praise. 

 

From all my foes, O God, deliver me. 

My bulwark and my stanchion ever be

Against my enemies, who whelm me like a flood,

Who seek to harm my life, who thirst for blood. 

They lie in wait and hatch their evil plots. 

Tho’ I am innocent, my ruin they have sought. 

Thou God of Israel, arise, look on my plight!

Avenge my wrongs and cast the wicked from thy sight. 

 

How my foes are hungry for my life!

Like dogs that hunt for prey in dark of night, 

They search the streets for whom they may devour,

But I, my God, will tell them of your power—

That you are Lord, my strong security,

My refuge and the One Who defends me. 

 

The Witch of Endor

OW, Saul had in those days throughout the realm 

Forbade the darker arts: the mages weird 

And wizards, witches and the occult seers

Who, being blinded to that purest Light,

Turned then with sightless eyes to darker shades. 

Which shapes obscure and shielded felt with hands

That grasped at phantoms and bethought them wise. 

So dank and dim the catacombs he sought

And met the sage, who made her pagan rite:

Burned strange the fire with her heathen herb,

And sent the bootless vapor to the skies. 

From up the barren ground, in wreaths of smoke,

Rose dreadful there and in awful aspect 

 The shade of Samuel stood, like an old man

Girt in robe and mantle as in life. 

 

Then Samuel spoke:

“Why hast thou called me  up?” And Saul replied:

“Sore vexed I am, for sudden all my foes 

Have conquered me and surely seek my life.”

 

“I had thee warned, and you did not attend. 

This then is what the Lord has sure declared:

That on the morn, shall you give full account 

For all thy trespasses: that you did not 

Put utterly to death the seed of Amalek, 

And tasted of the spoils of thy foe. 

The offerings of cattle I disdained

For I the Lord require not these things 

But more a willing heart and upright soul. 

But now the lives of you and more thy son

Shall pay the debt which pride and folly owe

And on the morrow you and Jonathan 

Will join me here in death’s quiet repose.”

 

Scene in Heaven and Hell

OW in the airy empyreal realm 

Upon a dizzy height, th’infernal ranks

Stood close arrayed th’ angelic ranks of God

Phalanxed there about the king of Israel

To give him aid and fend that royal right 

Which, being thus ordained by God Himself,

Was in its time ordained. Yet here broke forth

Th’ immutable countermand: the king would die. 

For this the wonted custom and the law: 

Th’ anointed one of God should suffer not 

To have his person thus injured, 

Thus Saul to younger blood must give his way. 

Thus, guarding angels fall away as one,

The arrows of the Philistines allow’d

To mortal wound the erstwhile chosen king. 

Upon the rocky prominence, the bow 

Of Abbadon, th’ infernal hangman, drew

Back with swarthy arm the massive cord,

Who aim’d his fiery dart and let it loose. 

With awful cry, th’ Satanic general 

Adulates his vict’ry o’er his foe. 

And Saul, his dreadful fate now fast ensur’d,

Entreat’st his general there to end his life,

Who steadfastly refused, bestruck by fear 

And ends’t his own upon that wavering blade 

Which formerly accustomed to th’ command 

Of its black-fated liege, lastly rebels 

And strikes down not a foe, but loyal friend. 

 

The Death of Saul and Jonathan 

N some far-distant garden yet untilled

Intruded still by no rude enterprise, 

Two trees alike alone the center hold. 

One great, one less, still both alike in grace,

Planted there by some ethereal hand 

In this their natural state and customed land. 

What fault or fate by which the cruel accéss

Leaves free the pagan blade to countermand?

The liege and heir, by some cold double stroke 

Are twain destroyed, and of their wonted tilth 

No more remains but wounded opened ground. 

 

David’s Lament 

OW on the heights lie fallen all the hinds

Who were in life the mighty and the fell!

O silent be and give it not to tell

In Ashkelon of death cruel and unkind!

Let no gentle rain or calming dew 

Upon Gilboa’s hill find resting place;

The mighty shields now broken and are strewed

Among the barbéd weapons of disgrace. 

The aeries of the eagle are laid low

And lions fear abroad to leave their lair;

And broken lies the swift and deadly bow 

Of Jonathan, of all our sons most fair. 

For thee, my dearest  brother, I most grieve, 

In life my ally and the most, my friend. 

On this lonesome battlefield I leave 

My more-than-brother to this woeful end. 

How the dead lie fallen on the slopes!

How on the heights lie fallen all our hopes!