Poems (Louisa Blake)/David and Goliah

DAVID AND GOLIAH.

There was a peace and quiet in the camp
Of the opposing armies, as they lay
Within their tents upon the highest points
Of the twin mountains;—no one would have thought
As they lay stretch'd beneath the quiet sky
In such apparent harmony, that hate
Render'd each bosom the unhallow'd seat
Of the worst passions man can bear to man.
It was the calmness that precedes the storm,
The stillness nature sheds on leaf and tree
As a brief prelude to entire destruction.

Already at the morning's earliest dawn,
The note of preparation had begun,
And those two mighty forces were to rush
On to the work of death, for none so brave
To meet the challenge of that mighty man
Whose dread approach at even and at morn
Spread panic and affright, through every heart,
As he came forth in his gigantic strength,
To challenge to the combat, and to praise,
In words of cruel scoffing, the brave hearts
Which form'd that mighty army; to admire
The latent courage, which was hid so deep
That all his various efforts quite had fail'd
To elicit hitherto a single spark;
That they possess'd this courage he declared
(With bitter irony,) he knew full well;
For they had often said., their hearts were strong,
Their spirits fearless, and to doubt the words
So oft repeated of such valiant men
Were most uncourteous:—but these all fail'd
His cold derision, and those bitter taunts,
Which soonest touch the heart and make it wake
From any lethargy, now wholly fail'd
To reach their slumbering and palsied souls.
The far extended host, collected there
As patriots to assert their country's rights,
As what they valued more than life itself,—
That chosen people whom the most high God
Had highly favor'd, and who now had come
To vindicate and to declare his name
Against a heathen foe who knew him not,
Lay bound and fetter'd by their slavish fear;
While the deep sin press'd heavier on their souls
As day by day they heard the haughty man,
Blaspheme the great Creator, as he bid
Defiance, both to Israel, and her God.

They were prepared; and the opposing bands
Stood ready for the battle; when once more,
For the last time the trumpet's sound was heard,
And once again the herald's voice proclaim'd,
The oft repeated challenge.
There was a breathless and a deathlike pause—
Not a voice answer'd, not a foot was stirr'd,
But many eyes were bent upon the face
Of stern Goliah, as he proudly stood
With his tall form drawn to its fullest height,
And his arms folded on his giant breast,
While his lip curl'd in his supreme contempt,
And his dark eye sent forth its bitter scorn,
As once again he impiously bid
His blasphemous defiance.

As he turn'd slowly round to leave the spot,
And Israel's soldiers dared not raise their eyes
To see the humbling and the burning shame
That redden'd on each cheek, to think that none
Of all that countless band, would risk his life,
His single life, for Israel's sake, and God's.
Then rush'd upon the spot, with breathless haste,
A stripling youth, whose slight and tender frame
Seem'd scarcely fitted to contend against
More than an infant's strength, and call'd aloud
Upon the bold contemner of his God,
To turn and to retract his impious words,
Or meet him in the fight.—Goliah turn'd,
And stood in silent wonder, that a boy,
A stripling, should come boldly forth and meet
The danger old and bearded men had shrunk from.

They met—Goliah with his lance and spear
With all his giant limbs encased in steel,
And David in his shepherd's humble dress,
No instrument of warfare save a stone
Chosen from the clear small brook—but 't was enough;
Undaunted he advanced—He knew that God,
Who once had saved him from the lion's jaw,
Was as strong now, to shield him from the hand
Of that bad man,—and as he placed his stone
Within the sling, he felt his arm was strong,
And his eye steady, while with all his skill
He hurl'd it at the proud deriding foe.
The work of death was done—It had sunk deep
Into Goliah's forehead, and he fell
And Israel was free!