Passage of the Red Sea.
That startled people lifted one
Quick, wondering glance toward the sun,
Then looked upon the sea;
They only felt that God had spoken—
The tide of vassalage was broken,
And Israel was free!
Quick, wondering glance toward the sun,
Then looked upon the sea;
They only felt that God had spoken—
The tide of vassalage was broken,
And Israel was free!
The Prophet whispers,"Come!"—they go—
Men with time-whitened hair,
Matrons, bright youths, and timid girls,
And little children fair—
They hasten through that parted tide,
Haste to the farther shore,
As though they knew the chilled depth sighed,
Impatiently, to roar.
Men with time-whitened hair,
Matrons, bright youths, and timid girls,
And little children fair—
They hasten through that parted tide,
Haste to the farther shore,
As though they knew the chilled depth sighed,
Impatiently, to roar.
And Pharaoh, too, has dared to come
Through those plowed waters, chained and dumb—
That ocean thoroughfare;
What though the clouds above his head
Breathed thunder-mutterings low;
What though the lightning, fiery red,
Flashed forth at times, as though it said,
"Man, darest thou to go?"
What though he felt the firm earth shake,
And saw the hills with terror quake—
He dares to follow there!
Through those plowed waters, chained and dumb—
That ocean thoroughfare;
What though the clouds above his head
Breathed thunder-mutterings low;
What though the lightning, fiery red,
Flashed forth at times, as though it said,
"Man, darest thou to go?"
What though he felt the firm earth shake,
And saw the hills with terror quake—
He dares to follow there!
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