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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=117496" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Jephthah's Vow</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">The hostile armies still were hush'd in sleep,<br>And over Gilead's plain hung silence deep;<br>The fading watch-fires dimly gleam'd from far,<br>Like the faint radiance of some sinking star,<br>And rising high in heaven, the moon's pale beam,<br>Its trembling lustre cast o'er bank and stream:<br>The men of Israel slept—but in his tent,<br>Their chief in prayer the lingering moments spent.<br>He felt how less than vain was human power,<br>To lend him succour in the coming hour,<br>And kneeling, threw aside his helm and sword,<br>And pour'd his soul in suppliance to the Lord.<br>“Oh thou! who ridest on the whirlwind's wings,<br>Jehovah! Judge of earth, and King of kings!<br>Be pleased from thine abiding place on high,<br>To cast on Israel's low estate thine eye;<br>Behold, oh Lord! how fallen is the pride<br>Of her who once the nations round defied,<br>When thy bright pillar was her shield and guide.<br>Lord! she hath sinn'd—forgetful of thy name,<br>Hath raised to other gods the altar's flame;<br>Unmindful of thy mercies she has knelt,<br>And join'd in prayer with those that round her dwelt;<br>But God, forgive her—for she bends the knee,<br>And turns in tearful penitence to thee;<br>Her cherish'd idols from their shrines she spurns,<br>And once again thy holy altar burns.<br>Forgive her, Lord! again thy grace restore,<br>And in her wounds thy healing balsam pour!<br>How long, oh Lord! shall Israel bow the head,<br>And mourn her power estranged, her glory fled?<br>How long shall Zion's daughters weep in vain,<br>The best, the noblest, of thy servants slain?<br>Behold'st thou not, from thine abode of day,<br>How hath the spoiler mark'd her for a prey?<br>Arise, arise! in thy returning wrath,<br>And sweep proud Ammon from her guilty path!<br>Arise, arise! thy lamp of light restore,<br>And on thy foes thy cup of vengeance pour!<br>If thou who hear'st from heaven thy servant's prayer,<br>Against thy foes thy vengeful arm wilt bare,<br>If thou wilt nerve my arm, and edge my sword,<br>That death and slaughter through their ranks be pour'd,<br>When homeward with exulting shouts I turn,<br>Unnumber'd fires shall on thine altars burn;<br>And what of all my household first shall be,<br>To greet thy servant, shall be slain for thee!”<br>Thus Jephthah pray'd—Jehovah heard his prayer,<br>And gave his arm to triumph in the war;<br>The power of Ammon was subdued and slain,<br>And Israel rescued from her captive chain.<br>The chieftain turn'd him home in conquering pride,<br>His helpless captives trembling by his side,<br>His car triumphal with proud laurels hung,<br>And songs of victory around him sung.<br>Yet though his bosom swell'd with conscious pride,<br>His sinking heart in secret sadness died;<br>The flush of triumph faded from his brow,<br>With memory of his unaccomplish'd vow;<br>Nor were his bodings false—as near he drew,<br>To where his native city met his view,<br>A band of maidens gaily deck'd with flowers,<br>The brightest blooming in their roseate bowers,<br>With timbrel, dance, and song, to meet him came,<br>In numbers wild, proclaiming Jephthah's fame:<br>And while his bold achievements still they sung,<br>Their brightest roses in his path they flung.<br>The leader of that band of joyous girls<br>Was fairest of the group—her clustering curls<br>With roses wreath'd—the cheek of blush and snow,<br>The ruby lip, the eye's expressive glow,<br>All met in her—and beam'd more brightly fair,<br>For the proud feeling that had call'd her there.<br>She forward sprung, to meet the chief's advance,<br>And first on her was pour'd his anxious glance.<br>That martial cavalcade, that pompous show,<br>What were they to his anxious spirit now?<br>E'en ‘midst the loud acclaims that rent the air,<br>He tore the wreath of laurel from his hair,<br>And, dashing from his side his conquering blade,<br>He sprang to earth, to meet and clasp the maid.<br>“My child, my daughter!” wild exclaim'd the chief,<br>“How hast thou changed my triumph into grief!<br>How hast thou now become as one of those,<br>Who are my worst tormentors and my foes!<br>For I have vow'd, in prayer unto the Lord,<br>If he would nerve my arm and edge my sword,<br>That of my household, what first met my eyes,<br>Should be to him a holy sacrifice.”<br>The maiden heard, and one convulsive start<br>Drove back the gushing life-blood from her heart,<br>While with blanch'd cheek and vacant eyes she stood,<br>As though the hand of death had chill'd her blood;<br>'T was but a moment—then her changing eye,<br>With deep fire glowing, spoke her purpose high.<br>“Since thou hast vow'd, my father, to the Lord,<br>Do thou with me according to thy word;<br>I cannot murmur that my life should be<br>An offering, thus, for Israel and for thee!”<br>The maiden died—and long, in after years,<br>Did Zion's daughters mourn her fate with tears.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Elizabeth+Margaret+Chandler">Elizabeth Margaret Chandler</a> from <i>Poetical Works</i><div class=q>
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<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=117496" data-title="Jephthah's Vow de Elizabeth Margaret Chandler" data-description="The hostile armies still were hush'd in sleep,/And over Gilead's plain hung silence deep;/The fading watch-fires dimly gleam'd from far,/Like the faint radiance of some sinking star,/And rising high in heaven, the moon's pale beam,/Its trembling l..."></div>
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