Classic Poem

Jeroboam.

O Israel, hearken to me!
Said Jeroboam, the king;
Go not to Zion to bend the knee!
Said the son of Nebat, the king.

A golden Apis I make in Dan,
An Apis of gold in Beth-El;
So bear your offerings, every man,
To them, and all will be well.

Gods are they who brought your sires
From Egypt in days agone;
So gather about their altar fires
And worship from eve to dawn.

I burn the incense, I am the priest,
Said Jeroboam, the king;
O Ephraim, come to my holy feast,
Said the son of Nebat, the king.

Ahijah's Curse.

The blinded seer, the Shilonite,
Ahijah, worshipped Yahveh's name;
And when the queen of Israel came,
An angel brought him second-sight.

" Approach! " he bade, " and bow the knee!
I know thee, wife of Ephraim's king;
I know the query thou dost bring
Go, bear thy husband God's decree.

" " Because thou floutest Me," He saith;
" Because thou madest gods of gold,
And leddest Jacob from my fold,
I summon Nebat's sons to death;

" " The dog shall tear them in the street,
The vulture tear them in the field;
Their bones shall whiten, unconcealed,
Beneath the scorn of alien feet."

" And thou, O weeping mother, fly
To find thy stricken one alive;
Yet even while thy steps arrive
Beneath thy portal, he shall die. "

Elijah's Curse.

O son of Omri, Ahab, king
In Jacob! evil hast thou done
Above the kings before thee. None
Have served like thee the Cursed Thing.

O son of Omri, was it well
To worship molten calves, but thou
Must also diadem the brow
Of Sidon's heathen Jezebel?

Moreover, thou hast let her rave
Against Jehovah's faithful seers
Till I alone, a child of tears,
Have 'scaped the slayer's bloody glaive.

Yea, lofty stones of Ashtar, and
A fane to Sidon's brazen Boast,
And altars to the starry host
Beside thine ivory palace stand.

Wherefore, O king, Jehovah saith,
I send thee neither rain nor dew
For years, till Israel shall rue
His wanton ways, and long for death.

Carmel.

The Holy One of Shiloh bade:
" Elijah, speak to Ephraim's king,
And I, the merciful, will bring
My rain anew on hill and glade. "

And Ahab railed: " Art thou the man
Who troubles thirsting Israel? " —
" Not I, but Sidon's Jezebel;
Not I, but Omri's heathen clan. "

" Why should the Highest bless a fold
That turns from Him to ways of death,
Adoring Baal and Ashtoreth
And Jeroboam's beasts of gold?

" Why should He pour His fruitful rain
Upon the realm of her who drave
His faithful seers from cave to cave,
And spilled their blood on mount and plain?

" Now gather thou on Carmel all
The prophets of the starry horde
And Arbel's queen and Sidon's lord;
Yea, whoso scoffs at Yahveh's call.

" And they shall cry to gods of stone,
And I to El's eternal name;
And whoso sends consuming flame,
The earth shall hail him God alone. "

*****

O fire of Heaven! Sinai's breath!
Elijah's altar blazes high!
The priests of Baal and Ashtar lie
By Kishon's river, dumb in death.

Then wailed the Canaanitish queen:
" O gods infernal! Death and Fear!
Avenge me on this bloody seer!
Or slay me also, gods unseen! "

The Death of Ahab.

To Yahveh's prophet Ahab cried:
" Shall Ephraim's host to battle go,
And Judah lift the spear and bow
Against Benhadad's armored pride? "

" Yea, go and prosper, " scoffed the seer.
" Have not the oracles of Baal
Assured thee triumph over all?
Why seekest thou the future here?

" But canst thou bear Jehovah's word?
I saw thy people scattered far,
Like sheep upon a mountain scar:
And, " These are masterless!" I heard. "

So Ahab changed his broidered cloak,
And laid his golden armor by;
Then raised his lordly battle-cry,
And through the ranks of Syria broke.

A nameless Aramean drew
A random arrow, aimed by chance;
But Yahveh winged the fragile lance,
And smote the jointed harness through.
Thereon the king: " O charioteer,

Turn thou aside, for I must die;
But let no soldier come anigh,
Lest Ephraim yield in panic fear. "

At even, when the chariot fled,
The king alone knew not defeat.
His warder stayed him in his seat,
Erect and proud. The king was dead.

Jezebel at the Window.

She decked herself with chain and ring,
She rouged her cheek and tyred her fleece,
Yet ever shrilled, " Had Zimri peace?
Had Zimri peace who slew his king? "

She trembled not at treason's horde,
She fronted Jehu's lion eye,
Nor ceased to shriek that boding cry,
" Had Zimri peace who slew his lord? "

" Ho there, above! who stands for me? "
The slayer clamored: " Fling her down! "
O Sidon's lineage! Ephraim's crown!
O what a fall was there to see!

Her royal blood besprinkled horse
And wheel and wall and trampling foot;
Her gracious beauty gorged the brute
That snarled above her queenly corse.

Hosea's Curse.

Ephraim forgetteth Sinai's El,
And buildeth fanes to calves of gold;
His Baalim-stones are manifold,
His altars burden hill and dell.

Yet shall he tremble with affright
Because of the shame of Beth Aven,
Where batten the vulture and raven,
And smoke of offering dims the sight.

Beth Aven, sin of Israel, cry!
Thy shafts of Ashteroth shall fall,
And thorn and thistle cover all
The altars where thy Baalim lie

Behold, thy glory disappears!
The idols of Jacob are shattered,
The hosts of Samaria scattered,
And none shall dry the captive's tears.

The Ninevite shall tread your land
Your palaces shall hear his mirth,
And you shall bring your children forth,
And give them to the slayer's hand.