Page:Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.djvu/39

GOLIATH of GATH,

1 Sam. Chap. xvii.

YE martial pow'rs, and all ye tuneful nine,
Inspire my song, and aid my high design.
The dreadful scenes and toils of war I write,
The ardent warriors, and the fields of fight:

You best remember, and you best can sing

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The acts of heroes to the vocal string:
Resume the lays with which your sacred lyre,
Did then the poet and the sage inspire.

  Now front to front the armies were display'd,

Here Israel rang'd, and there the foes array'd;

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The hosts on two opposing mountains stood,
Thick as the foliage of the waving wood;
Between them an extensive valley lay,
O'er which the gleaming armour pour'd the day,

When from the camp of the Philistine foes,

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Dreadful to view, a mighty warrior rose;
In the dire deeds of bleeding battle skill'd,
The monster stalks the terror of the field.

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