CHAPTER VI.

But Pharaoh was strangely blind, and turning From his first-born and his dead, with Egypt’s wail Scarce still upon his ear, he asked which way had Israel gone? They told him that they journeyed Towards the mighty sea, and were encamped Near Baalzephn. Then Pharaoh said, “the wilderness will hem them in, The mighty sea will roll its barriers in front, And with my chariots and my warlike men I’ll bring them back, or mete them out their graves.” Then Pharaoh’s officers arose And gathered up the armies of the king And made his chariots ready for pursuit. With proud escutcheons blazoned to the sun, In his chariot of ivory, pearl and gold, Pharaoh rolled out of Egypt; and with him Rode his mighty men, their banners floating On the breeze, their spears and armor glittering In the morning light; and Israel saw, With fainting hearts, their old oppressors on their Track: then women wept in hopeless terror; Children hid their faces in their mothers’ robes, And strong men bowed their heads in agony and dread; And then a bitter, angry murmur rose,— “Were there no graves in Egypt, that thou hast Brought us here to die?” Then Moses lifted up his face, aglow With earnest faith in God, and bade their fainting hearts Be strong and they should his salvation see. “Stand still,” said Moses to the fearful throng Whose hearts were fainting in the wild, “Stand still.” Ah, that was Moses’ word, but higher and greater Came God’s watchword for the hour, and not for that Alone, but all the coming hours of time. “Speak ye unto the people and bid them Forward go; stretch thy hand across the waters And smite them with thy rod.” And Moses smote The restless sea; the waves stood up in heaps, Then lay as calm and still as lips that just Had tasted death. The secret-loving sea Laid bare her coral caves and iris-tinted Floor; that wall of flood which lined the people’s Way was God’s own wondrous masonry; The signal pillar sent to guide them through the wild Moved its dark shadow till it fronted Egypt’s Camp, but hung in fiery splendor, a light To Israel’s path. Madly rushed the hosts Of Pharaoh upon the people’s track, when The solemn truth broke on them—that God For Israel fought. With cheeks in terror Blenching, and eyes astart with fear, “let Us flee,” they cried, “from Israel, for their God Doth fight against us; he is battling on their side.” They had trusted in their chariots, but now That hope was vain; God had loosened every Axle and unfastened every wheel, and each Face did gather blackness and each heart stood still With fear, as the livid lightnings glittered And the thunder roared and muttered on the air, And they saw the dreadful ruin that shuddered O’er their heads, for the waves began to tremble And the wall of flood to bend. Then arose A cry of terror, baffled hate and hopeless dread, A gurgling sound of horror, as “the waves Came madly dashing, wildly crashing, seeking Out their place again,” and the flower and pride Of Egypt sank as lead within the sea Till the waves threw back their corpses cold and stark Upon the shore, and the song of Israel. Triumph was the requiem of their foes. Oh the grandeur of that triumph; up the cliffs And down the valleys, o’er the dark and restless Sea, rose the people’s shout of triumph, going Up in praise to God, and the very air Seemed joyous for the choral song of millions Throbbed upon its viewless wings. Then another song of triumph rose in accents Soft and clear; “’twas the voice of Moses’ sister Rising in the tide of song.” The warm blood Of her childhood seemed dancing in her veins; The roses of her girlhood were flushing On her cheek, and her eyes flashed out the splendor Of long departed days, for time itself seemed Pausing, and she lived the past again; again The Nile flowed by her; she was watching by the stream, A little ark of rushes where her baby brother lay; The tender tide of rapture swept o’er her soul again She had felt when Pharaoh’s daughter had claimed Him as her own, and her mother wept for joy Above her rescued son. Then again she saw Him choosing “’twixt Israel’s pain and sorrow And Egypt’s pomp and pride.” But now he stood Their leader triumphant on that shore, and loud She struck the cymbals as she led the Hebrew women In music, dance and song, as they shouted out Triumphs in sweet and glad refrains.

MIRIAM’S SONG.

A wail in the palace, a wail in the hut, The midnight is shivering with dread, And Egypt wakes up with a shriek and a sob To mourn for her first-born and dead.

In the morning glad voices greeted the light, As the Nile with its splendor was flushed; At midnight silence had melted their tones, And their music forever is hushed.

In the morning the princes of palace and court To the heir of the kingdom bowed down; ’Tis midnight, pallid and stark in his shroud He dreams not of kingdom or crown.

As a monument blasted and blighted by God, Through the ages proud Pharaoh shall stand, All seamed with the vengeance and scarred with the wrath That leaped from God’s terrible hand.