He the Hook, that hid awhile,[1]
Pierced Leviathan with guile:
He the Child that laid His hand[2]
On the cockatrice's den:
That the ancient lord of men
Might avoid the ransomed land.
They, whose scorn the Seer offended[3]
As to Bethel He ascended,
Feel the Bald-head's wrath, and flee:
David, after madness feigned,[4]
Scapegoat, now no more detained,
Ritual sparrow, all go free.
Alien wedlock first despising,
With a jawbone Samson rising
Thousand Philistines hath slain:
Then in Gaza as he tarried,
Forth her brazen gates he carried
To the mountain from the plain.
Sleeping first the sleep of mortals
Judah's Lion thus the portals
Of the grave hath borne away:
While the Father's voice resounded,[5]
He, with majesty unbounded,
Sought our Mother's courts of day.
