Classic Poem

JUDGES V.

Part I.

Y OUR Great Preserver celebrate,
He who reveng'd our wrongs of late!
When you His sons, in Israel's aid,
Of life so brave a tender made.
You princes, with attention hear,
And you who awful sceptres bear,
While I in sacred numbers sing
The praise of our Eternal King.
When He through Seir His army led,
In Edom's fields His ensigns spread,
Earth shook, the heav'ns in drops descend,
And clouds in tears their substance spend.
Before His Face the mountains melt,
Old Sinai unknown fervour felt.
When Israel Sangar's rule obey'd,
And Jael, that virago, sway'd;
She bold of heart, he great in war;
Yet to the fearful traveller
All ways were then unsafe, who crept
Through woods, or pass'd when others slept.
The land uncultivated lay:
When I arose, I Deborah,
A mother to my country grew,
At once their foes and fears subdue.

Part II.

When to themselves new gods they chose,
Then were their walls besieg'd by foes.
Did one of forty thousand wear
A coat of steel? or shook a spear?
You, who with such alacrity
Led to the battle, O how I
Affect your valour! with me raise
Your voices; sing Jehovah's praise.
Sing you, who on white asses ride,
And justice equally divide;
You, who those ways so fear'd of late,
Where now no thieves assassinate;
You lately from your fountains barr'd,
Where you their clatt'ring quivers heard;
There, with united joy record
The righteous judgments of the Lord.
You, who your cities repossess,
Who reap in peace, His praise profess.
Arise, O Deborah, arise,
In heav'nly hymns express thy joys.
Arise, O Barak, thou the fame
And offspring of Abinoam,
Of Israel the renowned head.
Captivity now captive led.

Part III.

Nor shall the noble memory
Of our strong aids in silence die.
The quiver-bearing Ephraimite
March'd from his mountain to the fight.
Those who on Amalek confine;
The small remains of Benjamin;
From Machir, princes; not a few
Wise Zebulun with letters drew:
The valiant chiefs of Issachar,
With Deborah, troop'd to this war;
Who down into the valley tread
The way which noble Barak led.
But Reuben, from the rest disjoin'd
By hills and floods, was so in mind.
Did'st thou these glorious wars refuse,
To hear the bleating of the ewes?
O great in council! O how wise!
That couldst both faith and fame despise.
Gilead, of thund'ring drums afraid,
Or slothful, beyond Jordan staid.
Dan his swift-sailing ships affects,
And public liberty neglects:
While Ashur on his cliffs resides,
And fortifies against the tides.
But Zebulun and Naphthali,
Who never would from danger fly,
Were ready, for the public good,
On Tabor's top to shed their blood.

Part IV.

Then kings, kings of the Canaanites,
On Taanach plains address'd their fights,
Where swift Megiddo's waters ran;
Yet neither spoil nor trophy wan.
The heav'ns 'gainst Sisera fought; the stars
Mov'd in battalia to those wars;
By ancient Kishon swept from thence,
Whose torrent falling clouds incense.
Thou, O my joyful soul, at length
Hast trod to dirt their puissant strength.
Their wounded horse with flying haste
Fall headlong, and their riders cast.
Thus spake an angel: Cursed be
Thou Meroz, all who dwell in thee;
That basely would'st no aid afford,
In that great battle, to the Lord.
Cinaeian Heber's wife, thou best
Of women, be thou ever blest;
Blest above all; let all that dwell
In tents thy act, O Jael, tell.
She brought him milk above his wish,
And butter in a princely dish.
A hammer and a nail she took,
This into Sisera's temples struck.
He fell, fell down, down to the floor;
Lay where he fell, bath'd in his gore;
Lay grovelling at her feet; and there
His wretched soul sigh'd into air.

Part V.

His mother at her window stay'd,
And thrusting out her shoulders said,
Why are his chariot's wheels so slow,
Nor yet my son in triumph show?
When her wise ladies, standing by,
(Yea she herself) made this reply,
Have not their swords now won the day?
Have they not shar'd the wealthy prey?
Now ev'ry soldier for his pains
An Hebrew dame or virgin gains;
While Sisera, choosing, lays aside
Rich robes in various colours dy'd;
Rich robes with curious needles wrought
On either side, from Phrygia brought,
The thread spun from the silk-worms womb,
Such as a conqueror become.
Great God! so perish all Thy foes!
Love such as love Thee: O let those
Shine like the sun, when he displays
In th' orient his increasing rays.