free-verse33 lines

Escape Of The Israelites, And Destruction Of Pharaoh.

Ah! short-sighted monarch, dost thou think to pursue

The Israel of God, and recapture them too?

Hast thou so soon forgotten the plagues on thee sent,

Or so hardened thy heart that thou can'st not relent?

Then make ready thy chariots, a long way they'll reach;

Thou hast six hundred chosen, a captain to each.

Now after them hasten, no time's to be lost,

That God worketh for them, thou'st felt to thy cost.

Speed thee then, speed thee, thou'lt soon them o'ertake,

Thou hast so overtasked them they're powerless and weak.

Ah! weak and defenceless they truly appear,

But the Lord is their rock, they're his special care.

See that pillar that's leading them all on their way,

It's a bright cloud by night and a dark cloud by day;

And now by the Red Sea behold they encamp,

But hark! what's that sound, it's the war horse's tramp.

Look up, see thy enemy close by thee now,

The sea lies before thee, ah! what canst thou do?

Moses bids them go forward at God's command,

When the waters divide, and they walk on dry land;

And the cloud that to Egypt is darkness all night,

To the children of Israel, is a bright shining light.

And now have the Hebrews all safely passed through

The Red Sea, which Pharaoh assaying to do

Is destroyed with his host, every one of them drowned,

Not a man saved alive, not a single man found

To return to lone Egypt, the sad news to bear

To the widows and orphans made desolate there.

But list! hear the rescued their glad voices raise,

And to timbrel and dance add the sweet song of praise,

For Pharaoh hath perished beneath the dark sea,

And the long enslaved Hebrews are happy and free.

July 14, 1852.