February 22, 2009
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Moses' Death
"That was the grandest funeral
That ever pass'd on earth,
But no man heard the trampling,
Or saw the train go forth--
Noiselessly as the daylight
Comes back when night is done,
And the crimson streak on ocean's cheek
Grows into the great sun.
Noiselessly as the springtime
Her crown of verdure weaves,
And all the trees on all the hills
Open their thousand leaves;
So, without sound of music,
Or voice of them that wept,
Silently down from the mountain's crown
The great procession swept.
Perchance the bald old eagle,
On grey Beth-peor's height;
Out of his lonely eyrie
Look'd on the wondrous sight;
Perchance the lion, stalking,
Still shuns that hallow'd spot,
For beast and bird have seen and heard
That which man knoweth not.
But when the warrior dieth,
His comrades in the war,
With arms reversed and muffled drum,
Follow the funeral car;
They show the banners taken,
They tell the battles one,
And after him lead his masterless steed,
While peals the minute gun.
Amid the noblest of the land
Men lay the sage to rest,
And give the bard an honor'd place,
With costly marble dress'd.
In the great minster transept,
Where lights like glories fall,
And the organ rings, and the sweet choir sings ,
Along the emblazon'd wall.
This (Moses) was the truest warrior
That ever buckled sword;
This the most gifted poet
That ever breathed a word;
And never earth's philosopher
Traced with his golden pen
On the deathless page truths half so sage
As he wrote down for men.
And had he not high honour, --
The hillside for a pall,
To lie in state, while angels wait,
With stars for tapers tall.
And the dark rock pines, like tossing plumes,
Over his bier to wave,
And God's own hand in that lonely land
To lay him in the grave.
O lonely grave in Moab's land!
O dark Beth-peor's hill!
Speak to these curious hearts of ours,
And teach them to be still:
God hath His mysteries of grace,
Ways that we cannot tell;
He hides them deep, like the hidden sleep
Of him He loved so well."
--George Henderson in the Studies in the Book of Exodus pg. 33-35
I hope that you all would read this because it shows us that there are so many things in life we will never understand like God's grace. Leave me comments as to what you think about the poem. God Bless!
Comments (4)
yes brother, it really should
in Christ alone, our hope is found.
may we always remember that... especially here on earth where in our humanity our strivings are so much, our achievements so attractive and our strength really so weak.
remain in Him
An interesting poem. A pity about the subject matter. Whether Moses ever actually ever existed is not the point. The tales told are of a murderous barbaric child-killer and a genocidal ayatollah.
@Lovegrove - That is very interesting because Islam claims Moses to be a prophet. so, if you are saying that Moses did not exist and was all the things you claim, then your religion is false. If you doubt one portion of your faith, how can it all stand up for truth. Please I don't mean any disrespect but you really offended me with what you wrote on my post. I wish you would have been more respectful. Please don't treat me with disrespect.
@joshstormont - Your reply is in two parts and I'll answer them as such.
I'm not a mussleman so how they view Moses is of indiffeerence to me.
I wrote my opinion of Moses by what the scriptures say he did. If that offends you then you have a deeper problem that is at first apparent. Mose may or may have not existed. That is one thing I wrote. If that offended you then, you're too sensitive to discuss religion with anyone outside kindergarten. You were probably offended however by my opinion of a primitive savage who kills POWs, women and boy children and hands over pre-pubescent girls over to the murderers of their mothers and brothers. For what purposes he handed over young girls to rough murderers can only be summised. Anyone doing that outside of scripture would get righteous anger aimed at them from all sides, hopefully including Christians. Because Moses did it in scripture, Christians, Jews and Muslims attempt to justify his actions. That is disgusting to say the least. If that offends you then you're a psychopath and not worth discussing anything with, especially not anything to do with spiritual matters and what may be right or wrong about such actions.