-. 
 

 
University of California Berkeley 
 
 

 
 :"T* 
 

 HADAD, 
 
 A DRAMATIC POEM 
 
 BY JAMES A. HILLHOUSE, 
 
 AUTHOR OF PERCY'S MASQUE, AND THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PRINTED FOR E. BLISS & E. WHITE. 
 
 MDCCCXXV. 
 
Southern District of New-York, ss. 
 
 (L. S.) BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the seventeenth day of March, in the forty- 
 ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, E. Bliss & E. White, of 
 the said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they 
 claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit: 
 
 Hadad, a Dramatic Poem. By James A. Hillhouse, Author of Percy's Masque, and The 
 Judgment." 
 
 In conformity to the act of Congress of the United States, entitled, " An act for the 
 encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the 
 authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned." And also to 
 an act, entitled, " An act. supplementary to an act, entitled, an act for the encouragement 
 of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprie 
 tors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits 
 thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." 
 
 JAMES DILL, 
 Clerk of the Southern District of New- York. 
 
TO 
 
 THE VENERABLE 
 
 ABRAHAM BEACH, D. D. 
 
 AS A TESTIMONY OF AFFECTION, 
 
 THIS WORK 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE belief in a former intercourse between 
 mankind, and the good and evil beings of the 
 Spiritual World, harmonizes with the solemn twi 
 light of the scriptural ages, and is sustained by 
 many declarations of Holy Writ. The passages 
 involving that part of the doctrine which relates 
 to the Fallen Spirits for example, those reciting 
 the necromantic power of the Egyptian Magicians, 
 of the Sorceress of Endor, the passion and dis 
 comfiture of the Evil Angel, who was enamoured 
 of the beautiful daughter of Raguel, and the De- 
 monian possessions of a later period are explain 
 ed, by some paraphrasts, in a manner which pre 
 cludes spiritual agency ; but by most commenta 
 tors, supported by the common faith of the Chris- 
 
viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tian world, they are understood as simple narra 
 tions of actual occurrences. Dr. Clark affirms, 
 that to every unprejudiced reader of the Sacred 
 Writings, it is evident they represent those who 
 dealt with Familiar Spirits, " as actually possess 
 ing a power to evoke the dead, to perform super 
 natural operations, and to discover hidden and se 
 cret things, by spells, charms, incantations, &c"* 
 Dr. Gray, in his observations on the Book of To- 
 bit, which he considers as entitled to the credit of 
 an authentic historical narrative, remarks : " With 
 respect to the agency of Angels, there is nothing 
 inconsistent with reason, received opinions, or 
 Scripture, in supposing a limited superintendence 
 of Superior Beings. We know, indeed, that under 
 the peculiar circumstances of the Jewish economy, 
 the ministry of Angels was manifestly employed 
 
 * Adam Clark, note on the 18th ver. 22d Chap. EXOD. 
 
INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 in subserviency to God's designs ; and that particu 
 lar personages were occasionally favoured with their 
 familiar intercourse. It is likewise unquestionable, 
 that before the power and malevolence of Evil Spi 
 rits were checked and restricted by the control of 
 our Saviour, their open influence was experienced." 
 Thus understood, the Scriptures offer scenes of 
 unrivalled wildness and sublimity ; agents, whose 
 power and attributes are of unknown extent, who 
 connect, on the authority of our Faith, the visible 
 with the invisible world. The reader will bear in 
 mind, that the following pages relate to a people 
 accustomed to preternatural occurrences ; and to 
 a period, when the Diviner and the Mage not only 
 enjoyed the confidence of the wise, and powerful 
 of the earth, and influenced the affairs of empires, 
 but are believed, by the learned of later ages, to 
 have actually possessed, in some instances at least, 
 superhuman art and knowledge.* 
 
 * Among others, Basil, Ambrose, Jerome, Turtullian appear to 
 
 2 
 
x INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The particular epoch signalized by the rebellion 
 of Absalom, is familiar to all. The simple man 
 ners which prevailed in Israel previously to the 
 kingly government, and even during the life of 
 Saul, had disappeared. Accelerated by the ex 
 tensive conquests, and the amazing wealth of 
 David, history declares the dawn of that luxury 
 to have become manifest, which advanced in the 
 reign of his successor, to a proverbial height of 
 splendour. 
 
 Had ad was the name of the cotemporary sove 
 reigns of Damascus. Nicholas of Damascus re 
 lates, that after many battles, David signally de 
 feated King Hadad near the Euphrates, together 
 with Hadadezer, another Syrian monarch whom 
 he attempted to succour ; and adds, that the suc 
 ceeding Kings of Damascus took the name of 
 Hadad. 
 
 have been of this opinion. See their notions respecting the Magi, 
 cited by Calmet. Art. Magus. 
 
DRAMATIS PERSONS. 
 
 DAVID, King of Israel. 
 
 ABSALOM. ~) , . 
 
 > his sons ; the latter yet a boy. 
 
 SOLOMON, 5 
 
 HAD AD, of the blood royal of Damascus, an hostage in Jerusalem. 
 MEPHIBOSHETH, the son of Jonathan; residing in David's palace. 
 NATHAN, the Seer. 
 
 ZADOK, ~) Kg1lPriests . 
 
 ABIATHAR, 3 
 
 JOAB, the Military Chief. 
 
 BEN AI AH , Captain of the Cherethites and Pelethites, or Life Guard. 
 
 ITTAI, Commander of David's land of Gittiles. 
 
 AHITHOPHEL " 
 
 MALCHIAH, j 
 
 BALAAM-HADDON, a Babylonish Mage. 
 OBIL, an Ishmaelite, keeper of the King's camels. 
 MAUGRABIW, an instrument ofHadad's. 
 ABIMILECH, Captain of a Company of Ishmaelites. 
 BAGOAS, an Eunuch in the household of Absalom. 
 Jews, Ishmaelites, Slaves, &fc. 
 
 TAMAR, the daughter of Absalom. 
 MALCUTH, wife of Obil. 
 
 ADAH**' \ m *^ e and dau S hter ofAbimttech. 
 Ishmaelite women, fyc. 
 SCENE chiefly in Jerusalem. 
 
HAD AD. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 SCENE I. A hall in the palace of DAVID. MEPHIBOSHETH 
 seated, attended by two Ethiopians. 
 
 Mephib. Who lurks in yonder vestibule ? There flits 
 A shadow there. 
 
 Enter HADAD. 
 
 Had. Ha, Prince, forsake the banquet ? 
 
 Mephib. Young Syrian, he becomes that title better 
 Who, midst his sons and captains, feasts, to-day, 
 Envoys from proudest nations ; tyrant Egypt, 
 Elam, and Tyre, Assyria, and Damascus, 
 
 3 
 
U HAD AD. ActL 
 
 Dusk princes from the east, and unknown south ; 
 All bearing to his coffers richest gifts, 
 Fuming his pride with incense, courting league 
 And amity with him, whose warlike name 
 Even Ishmael's roving sons respect and fear. 
 
 Had. Dost thou thou, whose illustrious grandsire wore 
 The crown of Israel, when young David's hrows 
 Were wreathed with oak-leaves in the wilderness, 
 Renounce thy lineage, title, thy great name, 
 Because thou lack'st the chair and canopy ? 
 Prince, in that unseen chamber where the Soul 
 Sits shrouded with her winged ministry, 
 Swifter than light and countless as the stars,. 
 High aims, proud thoughts, inflexible resolves> 
 And hopes that reach at glory, there is fixed 
 The seat of Majesty. 
 
 Mephib. O, thoughts like these 
 May grace the lips, but thou wilt live to find 
 Power is the seat of Majesty. 
 
 Had. When clouds 
 Lower' d black as midnight o'er his head, who, now, 
 
Scent I. HAD AD. 15 
 
 Thinks nought can intercept the sun, and deems 
 His throne immoveable as holy Zion, 
 What had his heart to lean on in the hour 
 Of peril, but an old man's prophecy ? 
 Less stable, Prince, than lineal rights like thine. 
 But to that golden prophecy he clung, 
 Revolved it waking, slept to dream it o'er, 
 Drew from it hope, and constancy, and courage ; 
 Else, had some cavern been his dwelling still, 
 And not these roofs of cedar. 
 
 Mephib. Hadad no 
 
 Thou'rt not so wild, to deem the abject wretch . 
 Mephibosheth e'er thinks of lineal rights ? 
 
 Had. Glimmers thy natal star more dim than mine ? 
 Am not I here an hostage, poor, and powerless, 
 Condemned to exile on the false pretence 
 Of Syria's broken faith ? destined, perhaps, 
 To fill some Hebrew dungeon, while a son 
 Of David sways the sceptre of Damascus ? 
 Yet, singly here upon his wall-girt hill, 
 I feel, and will assert my claims, as proudly 
 As in the halls of Hadad. 
 
16 HADAD. Act I. 
 
 Mephib. Different far 
 
 Thy fate and mine. Thy race yet lives, and reigns ; 
 A numerous people and a powerful throne 
 Await thee. Seated there, thou mayst restore 
 Its ancient glory : thy victorious arms 
 May recompense these days to Israel, 
 Bow haughty Zion to the yoke, and lead 
 Her princes captive to the hanks of Pharpar. 
 But I, alas ! a cripple since the day 
 My fathers fell in Mount Gilboa, what 
 Can I, but weep and curse ? Cut off from glory, 
 Like some dull Levite, I consume the time 
 O'er chronicles that teach me what I've lost, 
 Or, in a niche of these my master's halls 
 Study the mysteries of Israel's court. 
 
 Had. A pastime, Prince, various enough to please ! 
 Lust luxury ambition blood ! 
 
 Mephib. In the primeval day, the friends of God 
 Dwelt in plain tents, or underneath some tree ; 
 But see how this Prince-prophet builds his nest. 
 Mark yonder pavement, like a limpid lake, 
 
Scene I. HADAD, 17 
 
 Reflecting all things from its polished face ; 
 Behold yon couches, wrought like kingly thrones 
 With gold and ivory ; those purple hangings, 
 Garnished with pearls, and enter-tissued all 
 With rarest needle-work a guilty pride 
 That mocks the tabernacle. Breathe the perfume 
 From yonder bossy censers, sending up 
 A silvery volume to the vaulted roof; 
 There the lign-aloes wastes its precious sweets, 
 Costlier than Ophir's dust. Look at his meats, 
 His wines, the service of his table ; youths 
 About his cup fairer than Tammuz. See 
 His wives, his concubines, whose annual waste 
 Employs the looms of Egypt, whose white necks 
 Glitter with gems that might redeem a kingdom. 
 
 Had. Types, types of Heaven, my lord Mephibosheth, 
 Whose pleasures strain, so oft, his soaring fancy. 
 
 Mephib. Nor is this all ; his sons outstrip their sire 
 In every wild device of luxury. 
 Poor Israel sweats to pamper their blown pride, 
 Which, swollen and rank, breaks out, anon, in lust 
 
18 HADAD. Act I. 
 
 And murder. Never was a suffering land 
 
 So cursed with princes, such a locust tribe 
 
 To suck its sweetness. Look at Absalom ! 
 
 Does Pharaoh's chariot prouder shake the way ? 
 
 Is there a Syrian temple, where your Gods 
 
 Stand in their superhuman majesty, 
 
 Awing the worshipper, that can display 
 
 A juster image of monarchal pride ? 
 
 His haughty spirit lightens in his eye, 
 
 That, eagle-like, seems fixed on some far quarry : 
 
 His Babylonish mantle, wrought with stars, 
 
 And golden characters of strange device, 
 
 Flames like a constellation ; and the hoop, 
 
 Half seen upon his brows, denotes a will, 
 
 That, if it dared, would make a white head crownless. 
 
 Had. Interpret not so harshly. It denotes 
 But David's heir, the eldest, noblest-born, 
 Bravest, and most illustrious son of Israel. 
 
 Mephib. Ha ! by whose blood became he so ? 
 
 Had. By blood, which had I shed in such a cause. 
 An injured, violated sister's cause, 
 I ne'er had washed the voucher from my hand. 
 
Scene L HADAD. 19 
 
 Mephib. But Daniel too 
 Is he despatched ? or has he sold his birthright ? 
 
 Had. Thou wouldst not name meek-spirited Daniel, 
 To rule this fiery people ? Send him first 
 To silence Bashan, when his thousand oaks 
 Fight with the tempest of the wilderness. 
 
 Mephib. But, prithee, how know'st thou, or Absalom, 
 That Adonijah, who, in royal parts, 
 Valour, and comeliness, and martial skill, 
 Scarce yields to him the palm, and far outshines, 
 In peaceful virtues, and unblemished fame, 
 May not be chosen ? ay, or Solomon, 
 Old Nathan's darling, son of David's age, 
 Cherished like Joseph, whose ripe boyhood yields 
 The promise of a mind that after times 
 Will wonder at ? The King was Jesse's youngest, 
 And matched young Solomon in looks and years, 
 When Samuel passed seven stately sons, to crown 
 The shepherd boy. Why dost thou fix thine eyes 
 With such a settled, searching, scorching glare, 
 As thou wouldst rend the secrets from my soul ? 
 
20 HADAD. ActL 
 
 Had. But hast thou heard or noted aught like this ? 
 
 Mephib. Prince of Damascus, what is that to thee ? 
 If Saul and David, or if David's sons 
 Dispute the throne, hath Syria aught to say ? 
 
 Had. Nay, Prince, I meant 
 
 Mephib. Meant but to draw forth that 
 Which Absalom, thy kinsman, burns to know ; 
 Thy more than kinsman beauteous Tamar's sire ! 
 Tell him, Mephibosheth nor hears, nor sees, 
 Nor hath, in these fair seeming days, a tongue. 
 Slaves, bear me hence the revellers come forth ! 
 
 [Mephib. is borne out.] 
 
 Had. I'll drop a balsam, though, shall make thy tongue 
 Discourse like music, and anoint thine eyes 
 Till diadems and sceptres dazzle them. 
 He harps the fatal note young Solomon 
 The scorpion of the brood, whose sting shall prove 
 Mortal to other than his foes. [Listens.'] The step 
 Is Absalom's 'tis he and opportunely. 
 
 Enter ABSALOM. 
 
Scene!. HADAD. 21 
 
 Ab. Hadad, thine uncle's envoys sup with me, 
 In private, with the Tyrian : Go, I prithee, 
 And bid those chiefs of Issachar, whose cause 
 Sped ill this morning. Say Ahithophel, 
 Who friended them in council, meets with us. 
 But why art thou alone here ? all the guests 
 Have followed to the garden. 
 
 Had. The son of Jonathan went hence, but now. 
 Being next him at the table, I refreshed 
 His cup so oft, and spiced it so with vaunts 
 Of Judah's glory, subtler than hot wine 
 To work on Benjamin, that in a rage 
 He flung from me to cool his ferment here. 
 I followed, as unconscious of offence, 
 In hopes his wine or passion might let fall 
 Something of import to you. 
 
 Ab. Dropp'd he aught ? 
 
 Had. An ominous hint or two ; but he was waspish. 
 
 Ab. Touching the crown ? 
 
 Had. Discoursing of the times, 
 The King, his power, dominion, wealth, and glory, 
 
 4 
 
22 HADAD. Act L 
 
 I mentioned you as his undoubted heir. 
 He eyed me with a look askance, implying 
 More than his words, and craved to know why you, 
 Or I, thought that commended Adonijah 
 Then, with a smile of dark malignant joy 
 Which lighted up his murky eye, exclaimed, 
 " Why not the younger ? nature's prodigy 
 Son of old age the Prophet's favourite ! 
 What ! did not Samuel consecrate a child ?" 
 
 Ab. Malicious slave ! He sees what, like a barbed 
 And venomed shaft, hath rankled in me long. 
 The Seer and Joab plot against me. 
 
 Had. That 
 Perplexes me. 
 
 Ab. Why, Nathan loves the boy, 
 And schools him deep in dreams and prophecies ; 
 But Joab seeks his own imperious will, 
 Well pleased to see the prince become a priest. 
 Me he would foil, because I fear him not, 
 Because I've checked his towering arrogance. 
 
 Ha d. But think you that the King gives ear to them ? 
 
Scene I. HAD AD. 23 
 
 Ab. I would not wrong my father. He hath been 
 Gracious to me and constant, and hath shown 
 Tokens of love I cannot lightly bury. 
 Mischance estranged us once but that's long past 
 And I remember, when he first embraced me, 
 How passion heaved his breast, and how the tears 
 Bedewed his cheeks. 
 
 Had. But did you note, my lord, 
 The homage shown the boy before the envoys ? 
 How they discoursed with him ? what costly gifts, 
 Caresses, flattery, they heaped upon him ? 
 Or watch the workings of your father's face, 
 When the old Chaldee lifted up his hands 
 In wonder at his answers ? Had he been 
 Israel's sole hope, they could not more have graced him. 
 
 Ab. Was it so marked ? 
 
 Had. Nay ask ; for others saw it, 
 And smiled, and spoke aside. And sure, my lord, 
 The son of Bathsheba receives, of late, 
 Nicer attention and observance, more 
 Obsequious homage, and a winged obedience 
 
24 HADAD. Act I. 
 
 That flies ere bidding, (most observable 
 
 In those about the court who love not us,) 
 
 And the old Prophet watches him as close 
 
 As if some evil Spirit lurked to snare 
 
 The precious child of heaven, and heir of Israel. 
 
 Ab. Would heaven, or hell, or any place but this, 
 Contained the basilisk I 
 
 Had. Ha! look! 
 
 Enter NATHAN* 
 
 the hoary son of mischief comes. 
 Let us retire to safer conference : 
 Spies are about us : stay not to accost him. 
 
 [Exeunt Ab. and Had.] 
 
 Nath. Why doth that Syrian shun me ? Always thus 
 He, like a guilty thing, avoids my presence. 
 Where'er I find him, and I find him ever 
 Closely conferring, whether roofed, as now, 
 Or on the walls, or in the streets, or gates, 
 Or the resorts of men, if I appear, 
 
Seme II. HADAD. 
 
 His bright mysterious eye seems conscious of me, 
 And soon he vanishes. I touched him once. 
 He turned, as he had felt a scorpion ; fear 
 And loathing glared from his enkindled eyes, 
 And paleness overspread his face, like one 
 Who smothers mortal pain. Fierce, subtle, dark, 
 Designing, and inscrutable, he walks 
 Among us like an evil Angel. 
 
 [Passes on.] 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 The King's private apartment. King DAVID alone* 
 Enter NATHAN. 
 
 Math. God save the Anointed ! 
 
 K. Dav. Seer, we would thy counsel. 
 Damascus asks a consort for his heir, 
 Our hostage, here, and names the flower of Israely 
 Absalom's daughter. What shall we reply ? 
 
 Nath. Should Israel graft upon a heathen stock ? 
 
26 HADAD. Act I. 
 
 K. Dav. But 'tis a noble youth, and near of kin ; 
 And sure the gentle maiden favours him, 
 For Absalom himself preferred the suit, 
 Who lives in Tamar. 
 
 Nath. Hearken not, O King. 
 
 K. Da-o. But if the youth conform to Moses, sure, 
 His blood and fortunes may aspire so high. 
 What nobler line than Hadad's, or what throne 
 Of older splendour than Damascus' ? 
 
 Nath. Old, and idolatrous. 
 
 K. Da-o. Her idols fall 
 If she be linked with us, and Israel's crown 
 Secures a warlike power as her ally. 
 
 Nath. Rather betroth her to the poorest hind 
 That toils in Judah. 
 
 K. Dav. Prophet of the Lord, 
 Seest thou aught more in him than we discern 
 A young prince modelled in the rarest mould 
 Of mind and features, clad with every grace 
 That honours dignity ? I ne'er beheld, 
 Save my son Absalom's, a goodlier form, 
 Or mind of brighter lustre. 
 
Scene II. HADAD. 27 
 
 Nath. I have felt 
 
 Strange agitations in his presence, throes, 
 And horrid workings, like the inward strife 
 After dark visions, when the spectral forms 
 That lodge and haunt there, turmoil all my soul. 
 Some mystery some strange antipathy 
 Torments me with abhorrence and distrust. 
 O, pause, my lord, ere such a covenant; 
 Heaven frowns on them ; our Law allows them not. 
 Let not his beauty nor his tongue entice thee : 
 He hath an eye bright as the morning star, 
 But pride, and fiendlike cunning, glance from it, 
 And sin is couched in his lascivious smile. 
 
 K. Dav. If intimations visit thee from Heaven, 
 We owe obedience, else, as man to man, 
 We speak. His daughter's welfare I would leave 
 To Absalom. He hath a mind mature, 
 Is politic to judge, and loves the maid 
 Even to her rich deservings. They best know 
 Their Syrian kinsman, long beneath their roof. 
 
 Nath. Hath she escaped, unsoiled, so young and fair, 
 
28 HADAD. Act L 
 
 Syria's and Geshur's impious rites, to yield, 
 Yield, in the precincts of the sanctuary, 
 To an uncircumcised, the heart where faith 
 Glowed like the hunting censer ! O, beware 
 Of crafty policy! It wears a face 
 Too like ambition. Geshur cleaves to him 
 League but Damascus with his power in Israel 
 And Absalom may bend his father's bow. 
 
 K. Dav. Wrong not my son. 
 
 Nath. I would not 5 but I fear 
 The sin of Lucifer hath snared his heart, 
 Too prone to high aspiring. Let me ask 
 Wherefore such state attends him? why he rides 
 In a proud chariot drawn by fiery steeds, 
 While Israel's monarch sits upon a mule ? 
 Why dazzling guards surround him, chosen youths, 
 Selected from the prime of all the land, 
 Armed and arrayed like princes ? Why he still 
 Stands in the gates saluting all who pass, 
 Or greeting in the streets the common people, 
 As they were brothers? True humility 
 
Scene //. HAD AD. 29 
 
 K. Dav. You misinterpret venial things. His name 
 Was outcast, lost from us three years in Geshur, 
 Besides a long dejected sojourn here. 
 He seeks to drive those days from men's remembrance 
 By shows of splendour, and by courtesy 
 To win lost hearts. 
 
 Nath. He doth insult the throne, 
 And takes from royalty and age its rev'rence. 
 
 K. Dav. You love him not, and ever strained his faults. 
 
 Nath. My lord, I know and boldly speak his faults. 
 If love and loyalty possess his heart, 
 Wherefore those wassails and night banquetings, 
 Where malcontents carouse, and wish him King ? 
 Why are the Chiefs and Princes of the Tribes, 
 Who come to solemnize our holy feasts, 
 Caressed about his table till they lose 
 All sense of precedence, and deem the crown 
 Already on his brows ? Your chiefest men, 
 Ancients, and reverend Judges, flock to hear 
 His Syrian Parasite sweeten their cups 
 With honied flattery, and golden hopes, 
 
 5 
 
30 HADAD. Act I. 
 
 And promises of days when Absalom 
 
 Shall make the desert blossom, and the rock 
 
 Drop as the vine and olive. 
 
 K. Dav. Days like these 
 Were welcome, Seer. 
 
 Nath. You know not what you utter 
 Wo to the hour of his anointing ! King ! 
 A dreadful vintage shall be trod that day, 
 With purple garments ! Lo ! the noise of arms, 
 Chariots, and horsemen, and the shout of Nations, 
 Are in my ears ! the wail of Zion ! Hark ! 
 A cry, a cry, comes from her royal towers, 
 Of bitter anguish, like a Monarch's voice ! 
 My Son ! my People ! Wo, alas ! 
 
 K. Dav. Pause not ; 
 Declare it all ; Heaven's will is ours. 
 
 Math. 'Tis gone 
 
 It passed me, like a cloud of blood, with sounds 
 Like the near clang of battle. 
 
 K. Dav. (After a pause.) Man of God, 
 We hearken to thee as an Oracle 
 
Scene II. HADAD. 31 
 
 Of sacred wisdom ; nothing from thy lips 
 Falls unrespected. He who changed yon crook 
 For Israel's sceptre, may refuse, or grant 
 The same to Absalom : His will be done. 
 But, Prophet, know I harbour no distrust 
 Of him thou blam'st. Familiar with the pomp 
 Of older kingdoms, he foreruns the day 
 Of simpler Israel. Nay, he ever loved 
 The ornaments of life, and claimed his due 
 Of rank and state ; delighted in the blaze 
 Of arms, and glistering face of war ; and bore 
 Himself, from his most tender years, like one 
 Conscious of nobleness, born to sustain 
 A kingdom's burthen. 
 
 Nath. Son of Jesse 
 
 K. Dav. Hath he not, 
 
 Since fourteen summers gave his sinews strength, 
 Served with me in the field, slept in my tent, 
 Hungered, and suffered, watched, and toiled with me, 
 Shed his young blood by veteran captains' sides, 
 And wielded those bright weapons you dispraise 
 
32 HADAD. Act I. 
 
 Beneath mine eyes, in dire and mutual hazards y 
 Like a true son and soldier ? Hadst thou stood 
 Beside me, Seer, at Helam, when the field 
 Shook with Barbarian triumph, to behold 
 The fierce Assyrian squadrons darkening round me, 
 Thou hadst not blamed his rushing wheels and steeds 
 That cleft their sabaoth, like Heaven's red bolt, 
 With unhop'd rescue. Twice has he redeem'd me. 
 Shall time wear such things from a father's heart ? 
 
 Nath. Alas 
 
 K. Dav. (Waving his hand.) 'Tis near the hour of 
 
 sacrifice. 
 We'll pause ere we decide the Syrian's suit. 
 
 Nath. (Making obeisance.) 
 Dwell ever in the hollow of His hand ! 
 
 [Exit Nath. K. Dav. retires into his closet.] 
 
Scene III. HADAD. 33 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 The garden of ABSALOM'S house on Mount Zion, near 
 the palace, overlooking the city. TAMAR sitting by a 
 fountain. 
 
 Tarn. How aromatic evening grows ! The flowers, 
 And spicy shrubs exhale like onycha ; 
 Spikenard and henna emulate in sweets. 
 Blest hour ! which He, who fashioned it so fair, 
 So softly glowing, so contemplative, 
 Hath set, and sanctified to look on man. 
 And lo ! the smoke of evening sacrifice 
 Ascends from out the tabernacle. Heaven 
 Accept the expiation, and forgive 
 This day's offences ! Ha ! the wonted strain, 
 Precursor of his coming ! Whence can this 
 It seems to flow from some unearthly hand 
 
 Enter HADAD. 
 
34 HADAD. Act L 
 
 Had. Does beauteous Tamar view, in this clear fount, 
 Herself, or heaven ? 
 
 Tarn. Nay, Hadad, tell me whence 
 Those sad, mysterious sounds. 
 
 Had. What sounds, dear Princess ? 
 
 Tarn. Surely, thou know'st ; and now I almost think 
 Some spiritual creature waits on thee. 
 
 Had. I heard no sounds, but such as evening sends 
 Up from the city to these quiet shades ; 
 A blended murmur sweetly harmonizing 
 With flowing fountains, feathered minstrelsy, 
 And voices from the hills. 
 
 Tarn. The sounds I mean, 
 Floated like mournful music round my head> 
 From unseen fingers. 
 
 Had. When? 
 
 Tarn. Now, as thou earnest. 
 
 Had. 'Tis but thy fancy, wrought 
 To ecstasy ; or else thy grandsire's harp 
 Resounding from his tower at eventide. 
 I've lingered to enjoy its solemn tones. 
 
Scene III. HAD AD. 35 
 
 Till the broad moon, that rose o'er Olivet, 
 Stood listening in the zenith ; yea, have deemed 
 Viols and heavenly voices answered him. 
 Tarn. But these 
 Had. Were we in Syria, I might say 
 The Naiad of the fount, or some sweet Nymph, 
 The goddess of these shades, rejoiced in thee, 
 And gave thee salutations ; hut I fear 
 Judah would call me infidel to Moses. 
 
 Tarn. How like my fancy ! When these strains precede 
 Thy steps, as oft they do, I love to think 
 Some gentle heing who delights in us 
 Is hovering near, and warns me of thy coming ; 
 But they are dirge-like. 
 
 Had. Youthful fantasy, 
 
 Attuned to sadness, makes them seem so, lady. 
 So evening's charming voices, welcomed ever, 
 As signs of rest and peace ; the watchman's call,' 
 The closing gates, the Levite's mellow trump 
 Announcing the returning moon, the pipe 
 Of swains, the bleat, the bark, the housing-bell, 
 Send melancholy to a drooping soul. 
 
36 HADAD. Act L 
 
 Tarn. But how delicious are the pensive dreams 
 That steal upon the fancy at their call ! 
 
 Had. Delicious to behold the world at rest. 
 Meek labour wipes his brow, and intermits 
 The curse, to clasp the younglings of his cot ; 
 Herdsmen, and shepherds, fold their flocks and hark ! 
 What merry strains they send from Olivet ! 
 The jar of life is still ; the city speaks 
 In gentle murmurs ; voices chime with lutes 
 Waked in the streets and gardens ; loving pairs 
 Eye the red west in one another's arms ; 
 And nature, breathing dew and fragrance, yields 
 A glimpse of happiness, which He, who formed 
 Earth and the stars, had power to make eternal. 
 
 Tarn. Ah ! Hadad, meanest thou to reproach the Friend 
 Who gave so much, because he gave not all ? 
 
 Had. Perfect benevolence, methinks, had willed 
 Unceasing happiness, and peace, and joy ; 
 Filled the whole universe of human hearts 
 With pleasure, like a flowing spring of life. 
 
 Tarn. Our Prophet teaches so, till man rebelled. 
 
Scene IIL HADAD. 37 
 
 Had. Mighty rebellion ! Had he 'leagured Heaven 
 With beings powerful, numberless, and dreadful, 
 Strong as the enginery that rocks the world 
 When all its pillars tremble ; mixed the fires 
 Of onset with annihilating bolts 
 Defensive vollied from the throne ; this, this 
 Had been rebellion worthy of the name, 
 Worthy of punishment. But what did man ? 
 Tasted an apple ! and the fragile scene, 
 Eden, and innocence, and human bliss, 
 The nectar-flowing streams, life-giving fruits, 
 Celestial shades, and amaranthine flowers, 
 Vanish ; and sorrow, toil, and pain, and death. 
 Cleave to him by an everlasting curse. 
 
 Tarn. Ah ! talk not thus. 
 
 Had. Is this benevolence ? 
 Nay, loveliest, these things sometimes trouble me : 
 For I was tutored in a brighter faith. 
 Our Syrians deem each lucid fount, and stream. 
 Forest, and mountain, glade, and bosky dell, 
 Peopled with kind divinities, the friend? 
 
38 HADAD. Act 1. 
 
 Of man, a spiritual race allied 
 
 To him by many sympathies, who seek 
 
 His happiness, inspire him with gay thoughts, 
 
 Cool with their waves, and fan him with their airs. 
 
 O'er them, the Spirit of the Universe, 
 
 Or Soul of Nature, circumfuses all 
 
 With mild, benevolent, and sun-like radiance ; 
 
 Pervading, warming, vivifying earth, 
 
 As spirit does the body, till green herbs, 
 
 And beauteous flowers, and branchy cedars rise ; 
 
 And shooting stellar influence through her caves, 
 
 Whence minerals and gems imbibe their lustre. 
 
 Tarn. Dreams, Hadad, empty dreams. 
 
 Had. These Deities 
 They invocate with cheerful gentle rites, 
 Hang garlands on their altars, heap their shrines 
 W ith Nature's bounties, fruits, and fragrant flowers. 
 Not like yon gory mount that ever reeks 
 
 Tarn. Cast not reproach upon the holy altar. 
 
 Had. Nay, sweet. Having enjoyed all pleasures here 
 That Nature prompts, but chiefly blissful love, 
 
Scene III. HADAD. 
 
 At death, the happy Syrian maiden deems 
 
 Her immaterial flies into the fields, 
 
 Or circumambient clouds, or crystal brooks, 
 
 And dwells, a Deity, with those she worshipped ; 
 
 Till time, or fate, return her in its course 
 
 To quaff, once more, the cup of human joy. 
 
 Tarn. But thou believ'st not this. 
 
 Had. I almost wish 
 
 Thou didst ; for I have feared, my gentle Tamar, 
 Thy spirit is too tender for a Law 
 Announced in terrors, coupled with the threats 
 Of an inflexible and dreadful Being, 
 Whose word annihilates, whose awful voice 
 Thunders the doom of nations, who can check 
 The sun in heaven, and shake the loosened stars, 
 
 Like wind-tossed fruit, to earth, whose fiery step 
 
 i 
 The earthquake follows, whose tempestuous breath 
 
 Divides the sea, whose anger never dies, 
 Never remits, but everlasting burns, 
 Burns unextinguished in the deeps of Hell. 
 Jealous, implacable 
 
40 HADAD. Act I. 
 
 Tarn. Peace ! impious ! peace ! 
 
 Had. Ha ! says not Moses so ? 
 The Lord is jealous. 
 
 Tarn. Jealous of our faith, 
 Our love, our true obedience, justly his ; 
 And a poor recompense for all his favours. 
 Implacable he is not ; contrite man, 
 Ne'er found him so. 
 
 Had. But others have, 
 If oracles be true. 
 
 Tarn. Little we know 
 Of them ; and nothing of their dire offence. 
 
 Had. I meant not to displease, love ; but my soul 
 Sometimes revolts, because I think thy nature 
 Shudders at him and yonder bloody rites. 
 How dreadful ! when the world awakes to light, 
 And life, and gladness, and the jocund tide 
 Bounds in the veins of every happy creature, 
 Morning is ushered by a murdered victim, 
 Whose wasting members reek upon the air, 
 Polluting the pure firmament ; the shades 
 
Scene III. HADAD. 41 
 
 Of evening scent of death ; almost, the shrine 
 O'ershadowed by the holy Cherubim ; 
 And where the clotted current from the altar 
 Mixes with Kedron, all its waves are gore. 
 Nay, nay, I grieve thee 'tis not for myself, 
 But that I fear these gloomy things oppress 
 Thy soul, and cloud its native sunshine. 
 Tarn, (in tears, clasping her hands.) 
 Witness, ye Heavens ! Eternal Father, witness ! 
 Blest God of Jacob ! Maker ! Friend ! Preserver ! 
 That with my heart, my undivided soul, 
 1 love, adore, and praise thy glorious name, 
 Confess thee Lord of all, believe thy Laws 
 Wise, just, and merciful, as they are true. 
 
 Hadad, Hadad ! you misconstrue much 
 The sadness that usurps me 'tis for thee 
 
 1 grieve for hopes that fade for your lost soul. 
 And my lost happiness. 
 
 Had, O say not so, 
 Beloved Princess. Why distrust my faith ? 
 
42 HAD AD. Act 'I. 
 
 Tarn. Thou know'st, alas, my weakness ; but remember, 
 I never, never will be thine, although 
 The feast, the blessing, and the song were past, 
 Though Absalom and David called me bride, 
 
 x 
 
 Till sure thou own'st, with truth, and love sincere, 
 
 The Lord Jehovah. 
 
 Had. Leave me not Hear, hear 
 
 I do believe I know that Being lives 
 
 Whom you adore. Ah ! stay by proofs I know 
 
 Which Moses had not. 
 
 Tarn. Prince, unclasp my hand. (Exit.) 
 
 Had. Untwine thy fetters if thou canst. How sweet 
 
 To watch the struggling softness ! It allays 
 
 The beating tempest of my thoughts, and flows 
 
 Like the nepenthe of elysium through me. 
 
 How exquisite ! Like subtlest essences, 
 
 She fills the spirit ! How the girdle clips 
 
 Her taper waist with its resplendent clasp ! 
 
 Her bosom's silvery-swelling network yields 
 
 Ravishing glimpses, like sweet shade and moonshine 
 
 Checkering Astarte's statue 
 
Scene III. HADAD. 43 
 
 Enter a SLAVE. 
 
 Slave. One in haste 
 Inquires for you, my lord. 
 Had. I come. 
 
 [Exeunt.] 
 
ACTVII. 
 
 SCENE I. An apartment in ABSALOM'S house. ABSALOM 
 and HADAD in discourse. 
 
 Ab. But you still speak as if a heavy doubt 
 Burthened your tongue. Be plain. Think you his love 
 Exceeds a parent's charter ? 
 
 Had. Troth, my lord, 
 
 I scarce know how to answer. All my hopes 
 Are so ingraft to yours, that I may see 
 With jealous eyes. What casts a shade o'er you, 
 Leaves me in darkness palpable ; for I, 
 With lineal honours, may a jewel lose 
 Far dearer than Damascus' diadem. 
 
 Ab. Think you I say the aim of his fond dotage 
 Transcends the sacred limits of my rights ? 
 
Scene L HAD AD. 45 
 
 Had. Why, then, my lord, I must confess, this flux 
 Of zeal, and duty, and officious homage. 
 Observable of late, enforces me 
 To think some ears about the Prince have caught 
 What else I had believed an envious fable. 
 Ab. What fable? 
 Had. Such I held it, and, as such, 
 My duty bade me keep it. Curse the tongue 
 Whence sland'rous rumour, like the adder-drop, 
 Distils her venom, withering friendship's faith, 
 Turning love's favour 
 Ab. Speak, speak. 
 
 Had. My lord, a whisper steals about the city, 
 Not widely known, or current for a truth, 
 But credited by some, that, wrought upon 
 By Joab and the Seer, the King has named 
 The royal heir. 
 
 Ab. Ha ! named and I not know it? 
 Had. Twice in the gates, and thrice upon the walls, 
 Was I saluted yesterday, and asked 
 If my lord Absalom had heard the rumour, 
 
 7 
 
46 HADAD. Act II. 
 
 'Tis said, to make the choice irrevocable, 
 Young Solomon has received, by Nathan's hand, 
 The private unction. 
 
 Ab. Vengeance! What! anoint him! 
 Th' opprobrious blot make him a spectacle ! 
 Trumpet to all mankind the damned deed 
 That scandals his gray hairs, and robs his life 
 Of half its lustre ! 
 
 Had. Oh, my lord, that's past; 
 And Time, sin's varnisher, hath done his office. 
 
 Jib. Good heaven ! his very angel hides his face, 
 Even at the name of Bathsheba 
 
 Had. But mark : 
 
 'Tis but a rumour, we may hope unfounded : 
 Though ephod-wearers stroke their beards and smile. 
 
 Ab. Founded or false, it wears a treasonous face, 
 And looks defiance. Mitred heads, beware ! 
 And younger brothers ! Death ! ere Absalom 
 Tamely behold the lineal ornament 
 Plucked from his crest, Jerusalem shall shake 
 Her rock-built throne in ruins o'er our House, 
 And Aaron's line perish beneath the Sanctuary ! 
 
Scene I. HADAB. 47 
 
 Had. (aside.) Tremble, towered mistress, that behold'st 
 
 afar, 
 From thy embattled mount, the subject nations ! 
 
 Jib. If I have forfeited my birthright, name 
 The action which attaints my blood. Have I 
 Preferred my safety to the public weal ? 
 Spared toil, or blood, at Israel's summons ? shrunk 
 From any hazard to advance her power, 
 That this same sin-engendered seed should think 
 To step before me ? Show me on what grounds, 
 What plea, what pretext, yonder harlot's stripling 
 Confronts, for precedence, the son of Kings 
 Who girt his harness in the field ere he 
 Was born. 
 
 Had. Let Joab answer. 
 
 M. Were there in 't 
 A face of justice but to see my rights 
 Wantonly trampled by an impious bandit ; 
 A father's love, which lay upon my heart 
 Like gracious manna, vanish at the breath 
 Of an old visionary ; be left blank, 
 
48 HADAD. Act II. 
 
 Because I scorn to flatter, and protest 
 
 My filial faith for favour, strips me bare 
 
 Of patience ; and I swear, ere brook such wrong, 
 
 I'll give their chronicles a bloodier leaf 
 
 Than Amnon's. 
 
 Had. Pause not. Snatch the glorious prize 
 From brows that totter with the mighty burthen. 
 
 Ab. How ! Wouldst thou blight my fame with parricide ? 
 I threat usurpers. 
 
 Had. Prince, it is not strange 
 My thoughts outstrip you. Hadad's every hope, 
 Life, royalty, and liberty, and love, 
 l)epend on Absalom. Who knows how soon 
 Those precious counsellors, who hide the beams 
 Of royal grace from you, may stigmatize 
 Damascus as a dangerous neighbour ; hint 
 That I am turbulent, and apt for war, 
 And may, hereafter, shake the peace of Judah ; 
 Suggest a dungeon as a safer hold ; 
 While Pharpar's lovely vale may bloom as fair 
 Beneath his Adonijah's sceptre ? Else, 
 
Scene /. HAD AD. 49 
 
 Why am I held assurance for the faith 
 Which Syria never broke ? never, my lord 
 
 Those levies which gave umbrage were to check 
 The insolence of Bosra. Not an hour 
 Stand I assured of life or liberty, 
 Till Israel's crown empale my kinsman's head. 
 Assents he to the alliance, which would rest 
 The pledge of amity ? If his intents 
 Be fair, why hesitate ? Can policy 
 Devise a surer bond to knit the kingdoms ? 
 
 Ab. No matter King or no King's leave she's thine. 
 
 Had. I'm grappled to your fortunes. But, my lord, 
 Is not the bond 'twixt child and parent charged 
 With mutual duties ? If my father stint 
 His love, neglect my nurture, cast me off, 
 Or give my lawful portion to another, 
 Am I his debtor still, to reverence, love, 
 Obey ? or is the obligation cancel'd ? 
 
 Ab. Enough I'll know the truth of this black tale, 
 If there's a clue to trace it. 
 
 Had. Might we not 
 Extract it from the boy ? 
 
60 HADAD. Act II. 
 
 Ab. Thou hast a tongue 
 
 That strikes like music ; thou mightst charm his heart 
 To drop its secret. 
 
 Had. But how to meet ? The Prophet guards his steps 
 Close as his shadow. 
 
 Ab. Oft, of late, I see him 
 Walking the Paradise and neighb'ring orchards, 
 With studious looks, among the plants and flowers. 
 With hut a slave : there you may meet him daily. 
 
 Had. Perhaps Mephibosheth might lend us light : 
 He watches all things with a dragon's eye. 
 
 Ab. Assail him. 
 
 Had. Promises may make him speak ; 
 But golden ones. 
 
 Ab. Nay, promise what you must. 
 
 Had. And be you ignorant, my lord that's best. 
 He carries strength ; for Benjamin would cleave 
 To any cause that served the House of Saul. 
 
 Ab. Go now in search of them. Bid, as you pass, 
 Ahithophel attend me. 
 
 Had. Yes, my lord. (Exit.) 
 
Scene I. HADAD. 51 
 
 Ab. And can it be, my father ? Can thy heart, 
 Thy lion nature, condescend so low ? 
 Canst thou still bend those eyes, whose awful beams 
 Of grace and glory I have coveted 
 As Heaven, and sought by noblest acts to win, 
 Still bend their favour on me, as in days 
 When we together breasted hostile shocks, 
 And you surveyed me, like the parent ospray 
 Her young one tow'ring from its native cliff ? 
 Still canst thou greet me with that brow of love, 
 Radiant as Moses', yet in secret stab ? 
 Stab where thou know'st 'twill rankle to the death ? 
 If this be so, what need I care for aught ? 
 I never in my proudest thought aspired 
 To his soul's grandeur. Death it is to think 
 How villanous counsels warp the noble mind 
 From nature's bias ! Curs'd be his misleaders ! 
 The crown is mine by birth, by purchase mine 
 And who shall rob me of my glorious right ? 
 
 [Exit.] 
 
SCENE II. 
 
 The King*s Paradise, without the walls. HADAD pacing 
 up and down one of the walks. He stops as he fronts 
 
 the city. 
 
 . 
 
 Had. 'Tis so ; the hoary Harper sings aright : 
 How beautiful is Zion ! Like a queen, 
 Armed with a helm in virgin loveliness, 
 Her heaving bosom in a bossy cuirass, 
 She sits aloft, begirt with battlements 
 And bulwarks swelling from the rock, to guard 
 The sacred courts, pavilions, palaces, 
 Soft gleaming through the umbrage of the woods 
 Which tuft her summit, and, like raven tresses, 
 Wave their dark beauty round the Tower of David- 
 Resplendent with a thousand golden bucklers, 
 The embrazures of alabaster shine ; 
 
Scene IL HADAD. 53 
 
 Hailed by the pilgrims of the desert, bound 
 To Judah's mart with orient merchandise. 
 But not, for thou art fair and turret-crowned, 
 Wet with the choicest dew of heaven, and blessed 
 With golden fruits, and gales of frankincense, 
 
 Dwell I beneath thine ample curtains. Here, 
 
 # 
 
 Where Saints and Prophets teach, where the stern Law 
 Still speaks in thunder, where chief Angels watch, 
 And where the Glory hovers, here I war. 
 Goaded by love, as by immortal hate 
 Of Him predicted, o'er the haughty line 
 I burn to consummate a double triumph 
 Ha ! hold the object of my search approaches. 
 Now, if the tale be truth indeed, or forged, 
 (More like,) by dark Ahithophel to rouse< J > 
 The Prince, it matters not. His spirit seethes 
 With pent ambition, like the Asphaltic caves y 
 Whose black and bitter substance, boiling up, 
 A spark will kindle. This young minion's eye, 
 Thick clustering auburn curls, and sanguine cheek, 
 Reveal the destined worshipper of beauty* 
 
 * 
 
54 HADAD. Act II. 
 
 Enter SOLOMON, attended by two Slave?. 
 
 ' 
 
 Good morrow, little Prince. 
 
 Sol. Health to you, sir. 
 
 Had. What fragrant flowers are those you carry ? 
 
 Sol. Buds 
 Of Median myrtle, mandrake flowers, and camphire. 
 
 Had. (scenting them.) They're passing sweet. 
 What dark-eyed favourite didst thou pluck them for ? 
 
 Sol. For none, sir. 
 
 Had. Ha, methinks they'd rarely grace 
 A lily bosom : many an one would heave 
 At such a token from a gallant Prince. 
 
 Sol. I plucked them for my herbal. 
 
 Had. Grace defend me, 
 
 Ere I had reached your age, I held sweet flowers 
 Created for no end hut to adorn 
 Young damsels, whose dark locks I loved to braid, 
 And twine with rosy wreaths, and prank their bosoms. 
 Intended for the throne, as you are, Prince, 
 The loveliest virgins in my uncle's court 
 
Scene//. HADAD. 55 
 
 Caressed me secretly with amorous gifts, 
 And smiled at favours which I ravished from them. 
 Should you not like a sweet young loving maid 
 To toy with, and present with knots of flowers ? 
 
 Sol. No, sir. 
 
 Had. But why ? it were a harmless pleasure. 
 
 Sol. Because I would not waste my spring of youth 
 In idle dalliance. I would plant rich seeds 
 To blossom in my manhood, and hear fruit 
 When I am old. Besides, 'tis said by those 
 Most like to know, 'tis not for Princes' sons 
 To follow wantons, or to love spiced drinks. 
 
 Had. Kings are meant there, or sons of Kings, at least, 
 On whom the government will rest ; but that, 
 Perchance, will be your lot ? 
 
 Sol. Perchance. 
 
 Had. Nay, more, 
 'Tis said the King has named you to the throne ? 
 
 Sol. Things, oft, are said. 
 
 Had. (after a pause.) 
 But tell me truly, if a beauteous damsel, 
 
36 HADAD. AcilL 
 
 Like those young delicates about your mother, 
 With skin like ermine, cheeks like wind-flowers, hair 
 Like aragamen, eyes like the gazelle, 
 Her lips a braid of scarlet 
 
 Sol. Or like my cousin Tamar. 
 
 Had. Is she so tempting fair ? 
 
 Sol. So Hadad thinks. 
 
 Had. Who told you that, my little Prince ? 
 
 Sol. Your eyes. 
 
 Had. Speak they so plain, indeed ? 
 
 Sol Not speak ; they burn. 
 For when you gaze upon her beauteous face, 
 I see them kindle like the ruddy lamps 
 That flame within the tabernacle. 
 
 Had. Well, 
 
 Do not all eyes the same, whene'er they gaze 
 On beauteous woman, Nature's masterpiece ? 
 
 Sol. No, not like yours. 
 
 Had. Hold, here's a box of perfume, 
 Sent to King Hadad from the farthest east, 
 From rich Serendib. Smell it, Prince. 
 
Scene H. HADAD. S7 
 
 Sol. 'Tisrare 
 
 It glides like magic through me. Nay, I prithee, 
 Give 't me again. 
 
 Had. (aside.) It works. Behold the lid. 
 
 Sol. Ye powers ! what matchless youth and maid are 
 there ? 
 
 Had. Venus and Tammuz. 
 
 Sol. Never did my eyes 
 Behold a sight so lovely. 
 
 Had. Wouldst thou know 
 Their story ? 
 
 Sol. Troth, I would. 
 
 Had. Then sit we here 
 Beneath this spreading terebinth. And first, 
 As you've been straitly watched, and kept so long 
 In ignorance of things a Prince should know, 
 I'll tell you by what chance, ere I had reached 
 Your comely stature, I grew wiser. 
 
 Sol. Do. 
 
 Had. Behind my uncle's palace spreads a park, 
 With lawns, and glades, sunn'd plats, and darksome woods, 
 
58 HADAD. Act II. 
 
 Through which Abana, limpid as this fount, 
 Winds gently past delightful arhours, shades, 
 And green retirements from the noontide heat. 
 In a sweet solitary nook o'erhung 
 With trees of ancient beauty, where the stream 
 Had scooped a little basin, fringed with flowers 
 Even to the brim, and screen'd from observation 
 By blossom' d boughs, and aromatic shrubs 
 Clustering impervious 
 
 Sol. Like the very bank 
 Where these sweet lovers lie. 
 
 Had. Much like it, Prince. 
 Here had I stolen one day from my attendants, 
 And lay along beneath a tuft of henna, 
 Watching the idle water. Soon, I heard 
 The sound of voices, soft, and silver sweet, 
 Approaching in the wood. I kept me still. 
 Anon, two heavenly damsels of the Queen's 
 Entered the little arbour, and sat down 
 Full in my view and hearing. One was white 
 As the young lily, with luxuriant braids 
 
Scene II. HAD AD. 59 
 
 Of ebony ; the other's blooming cheek, 
 
 Like the pomegranate, blushed through locks of gold. 
 
 Awhile they talked and laughed, (love all their theme r ) 
 
 With merry eyes, and bright carnation lips 
 
 Which deepen'd as they told their amorous stories. 
 
 At last, the dark-haired maid proposed to cool 
 
 Their limbs and glowing bosoms in Abana, 
 
 Unsandall'd her fair foot, undid the clasps, 
 
 And drew the jewell'd buskin from a leg 
 
 Of ivory, to try the water's 
 
 Enter NATHAN, /row a walk near them. 
 
 Ha! Prince, 
 The box ! 
 
 Sol. (running to Nath.) 
 Look, father, what a beauteous pair ! 
 And smell the perfume Hadad gave to me : 
 'Tis sweeter than the richest aloes. 
 
 [The Prophet examines the box of perfume ; then dashes 
 it on the ground. It flashes, and rises in smoke.~\ 
 
60 HAD AD, ActIL 
 
 Nath. (approaching Hadad sternly.) 
 Who, what art thou, foul poisoner ? How durst thou 
 Abuse with forms and philters this young prince ? 
 Who art thou ? Is it for the love of sin ? 
 Or art thou leagued, for some infernal purpose, 
 With Hell against the House of David ? Speak - 
 Who art thou ? 
 
 Had. (pale and agitated.) 
 One unused to terms like these, 
 And will requite them, reverend man of God. 
 
 Nath. Glare not upon me with those fiendlike eyes. 
 Thou haggard, trembling, guilt-confounded wretch. 
 I curse thee, and defy thee, in Heaven's name I 
 Come, boy, 
 
 [Exit with Sol.] 
 
 Had. Would Hell's eternal fire were round thee ! Hell's 
 Undying viper gnawing at thy heart ! 
 
 [Pacing violently to andfro, checks himself, 
 
 as fearful of being observed.] 
 Whence, wherefore this detested flesh can front 
 Worst death, yet quails before a tottering bald-head 
 
Scene II. HADAD. 61 
 
 Whence could he come, with such a thief-like step ? 
 Curs'd clods! too dull for aught but thunder Ha! 
 
 Enter ABSALOM, at a distance. 
 
 He comes to know our conference 'Tis well 
 Gloom and resentment in his mien. He seems 
 Prepared for darker searching. When he shakes 
 Those ominous locks, I know the clime within, 
 As the wind's temper by the lashing woods. 
 
 M. What ! hast thou seen him ? 
 
 Had. Yes, my lord. 
 
 Ab. What said 
 The cockatrice ? 
 
 Had. Wary and shrewd he seems, 
 And shunned my questions ; lesson'd well, no doubt- 
 Ere I had fully proved him, Nathan broke 
 Imperiously upon us, and, with threats, 
 Dragged him away. 
 
 M. I'll know, if Hell be moved 
 To answer. 
 
 9 
 
62 HADAD. Act II. 
 
 Had. Have you seen Ahithophel ? 
 
 Ab. He smooths it o'er, but shakes his head, and looks 
 
 * 
 
 More than he dares confess. 
 
 Had. What! will not speak ? 
 
 Ab. Not plainly, but believes, or doubts, at least ; 
 But I must be resolved. The howling damn'd 
 Know not my suffering, for they know their doom, 
 And steel them to endurance. Thus to live, 
 With hate and love, revolt and reference, 
 Fighting like hungry vultures for my heart, 
 
 V' Fff't -f 
 
 I cannot, will not, long. 
 v Had. Now would to grace 
 Some way some thought 
 
 Ab. Hast seen Mephibosheth ? 
 
 Had. My lord (Pauses as in reflection.) 
 
 Ab. What is't ?- Declare thy mind. 
 
 Had. I almost fear but, were I Israel's Prince, 
 I knew my counsel. 
 
 Ab. Palter not. 
 
 Had. My lord, 
 A wondrous man is in Jerusalem, 
 
Scene II. HAD AD. 63 
 
 Arrived three nights ago from Babylon, 
 Bound into Egypt to consult the Sages 
 Touching events foretold the Assyrian King. 
 He draws his lineage and his power from one 
 Named in your Chronicles, who prophesied 
 The Star from Jacoh, and who trebly blessed 
 The conquering people whom the Lords of Moab 
 Called him to curse, the potent sage of Pethor, 
 Chief of the ancient Magi. None has since 
 Equalled his power or piercing eye, till now ; 
 But this far-seeing Mage, 'tis said, has viewed 
 Earth's consummation, and declared what shall be 
 When the last star expires. 
 
 Ab. What, Balaam-Haddon ? 
 
 Had. He's here ; but keeps himself from public view. 
 A Syrian who had known him, like myself, 
 In Babylon, observed his caravan 
 Enter an obscure court. I went, and saw. 
 The awful front, and eye oracular 
 Were his indeed. I would consult him, Prince. 
 
64 HADAD. Act II. 
 
 Ab. (after a brief pause.) 
 
 But such an act might blast me. Were it known, 
 Idolatry ! would ring from Dan to Besor. 
 
 Had. Thence, I was doubtful to propose the step j 
 Not that I held you awed by Moses' threats.* 
 But could not I obtain the intelligence, 
 Without your motion ? 
 
 Ab. That, indeed,- 
 
 Had. I burn 
 
 To know another thing, more near to you 
 Than me, which this great Magian could resolve. 
 
 Ab. What's that? 
 
 Had. What Spirit 'tis that serves your father. 
 
 Ab. Spirit! 
 
 Had. Many suppose he holds some God, or Demon 
 Bond-servant to his throne, who works his will, 
 And hath assisted all his mighty deeds. 
 
 * " The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and 
 after wizards, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut 
 him off from among his people." LEVIT. xx. 6. 
 
Scent II. HADAD. 65 
 
 Ab. This is believed ? 
 
 Had. Many believe it here, 
 And 'tis thje current faith of neighbouring Kings. 
 No marvel it has missed your ear, my lord, 
 For you pay outward reverence to the Law, 
 And are his son. Nor is it strange, methinks, 
 Nor passing reason. Look at his broad realm, 
 Stretched from Euphrates to the Western Sea, 
 From Elath to Orontes. Where is Edom ? 
 Philistia ? Ammon ? Where the Syrian thrones, 
 Coeval with the world ? Who smote the Chaldee ? 
 Broke Elam's bow ? and taught the Desert hordes 
 To shun his dangerous frontier ? Who hath scaped 
 Perils unnumbered ; hunted, like a wolf, 
 From den to den by King and people ? Who 
 In fourscore stricken battles bathed his sword 
 In bloodiest conflict, yet sustains no scar ? 
 Who, weaponless, o'erthrew the Giant ? Who 
 Hath piled the gold and jewels till his vaults 
 Resemble spirit-mines ? Who plucks the trunks 
 Of Lebanon, and bids them arch his roofs, 
 
6 HAD AD. Act 1L 
 
 Or heaps them in the vale like river reeds ? 
 Who takes the spirit captive with his strings, 
 Charming the ear with magic melody, 
 Or sweeps his sounding kinnor till the soul 
 Ascends the heaven of ecstasy? My lord, 
 Who hath done more than these ? in war, in peace, 
 The minion of the time, excelling all 
 The Kings of earth, as yonder radiant sun 
 The inferior orhs of heaven ? A shepherd-boy. 
 
 Jib. True, Hadad, and it irks my inmost soul 
 To break my faith with such a father. Were 
 He less, my sin would be so. 
 
 Had. If he wrong'dme, 
 Though brighter than the fabled Seraphim, 
 Were he the God I worshipped, I'd fall off. 
 
 Jib. Misery attends me either way. 
 
 Had. My lord, 
 
 Think o'er the hist'ry of his birth, whom foes 
 Would foist above you ; imp of an adultress ! 
 Remember brave Uriah bearing back 
 His doom, to leave the beauteous harlot free ! 
 
Scene/7. HADAD. 67 
 
 Had this been, if the Lord protects his fortunes ? 
 Or such a guilt-avenging Being live ? 
 No, I would learn by what presiding Genius 
 He works his wonders ; how subjected first ; 
 Whether attracted by his minstrelsy ; 
 Or by some power residing in his star ; 
 Or how ; for various are the ways to win 
 Ascendency o'er Spirits ; and this power 
 We know is his ; for, while a beardless stripling, 
 His skill expelled a demon from his master. 
 Perhaps, my lord, power strong enough exists, 
 To break the pact, and lure him to your service. 
 
 Ab. Well, see the Mage : prove if his visioned eye 
 Can tell us what hath chanced. I've deeper reason 
 Than you suspect, to prize their star-taught lore. 
 Pray him to cast our horoscopes, both mine, 
 And his, we fear ; as for the rest, inquire 
 Or leave it, as you will. Thou hast not yet 
 Sounded Mephibosheth ? 
 
 Had. Not yet, my lord. 
 
 Ab. Then do not, till we know the present issue. 
 
 [Exeunt.] 
 
SCENE III. 
 
 The house of OBIL. OBIL and MALCUTJI. A knocking. 
 
 Obil. Woman, who knocks there ? 
 
 Mai. (looking through the lattice.) 
 The crook-back Maugrabin. 
 
 Obil. Ha ! open, Malcuth, open. 
 
 Mai. Do 't thyself. 
 
 The elvish slave shall knock till doom, ere I 
 Unsheath a bolt. 
 
 Obil. Peace, shrew. (Opens the door.) 
 
 Enter MAUGRABIN. 
 
 Mai. Spawn of the Nile, 
 What seek'st thou with us ? 
 
 Maug. Thy fair company. 
 Here, Obil, take this casket guard it safely 
 
Scene III. HADAD. 69 
 
 There's more in't than would purchase all your tribe, 
 Nay, every hoof that roams upon the desert. 
 Trust it to no hand but your master's. 
 
 Obil. Whose? 
 The King's ? 
 
 Maug. Forsooth! thou feed'st his dromedaries. 
 And he feeds thee. But is it on his gold 
 Thou found'st the hope to see thy lovely sands 
 Once more, and view, at ease, from thy broad tent 
 Camels, and asses, flocks, and herds, and slaves 
 About thee like the Patriarch ? Call him 
 Thy lord, who makes thee lord o'er others. No ; 
 Thy master Hadad . 
 
 Obil. I'll obey. 
 
 Maug. (to Malcuth.) Farewell, sweet leopardess ! 
 
 [Signs to OBIL, who lays the casket on the table, 
 and follows him out.] 
 
 Mai. They're whispering 
 Now, by our mother Hagar, but I'll see 
 What wond'rous treasure 'tis, (opens the casket.) A lying 
 knave ! 
 
 10 
 
70 HADAD. Act II. 
 
 'Tis nothing but a monstrous key enchased 
 As for some royal sepulchre Ha ! how ? 
 It will not close and Maugrabin's returning. 
 
 [Throws it down, and exit.] 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 The terraced roof of ABSALOM'S house, by night ; adorned with 
 -vases of flowers, and fragrant shrubs: an awning spread 
 over part of it. TAMAR and HADAD. 
 
 Tarn. No, no, I well remember proofs, you said, 
 Unknown to Moses. 
 
 Had* Well, my love, thou know'st 
 I've been a traveller in various climes ; 
 Trod Ethiopia's scorching sands, and scaled 
 The snow-clad mountains ; trusted to the deep ^ 
 Traversed the fragrant islands of the sea, 
 And with the Wise conversed of many nations. 
 
 Tarn. I know thou hast. 
 
Scene IF. HAD AD. 71 
 
 Had. Of all mine eyes have seen, 
 The greatest, wisest, and most wonderful, 
 Is that dread sage, the Ancient of the Mountain. 
 
 Tarn. Who? 
 
 Had. None knows his lineage, age, or name : his locks 
 Are like the snows of Caucasus ; his eyes 
 Beam with the wisdom of collected ages. 
 In green unbroken years, he sees, 'tis said, 
 'The generations pass, like autumn fruits, 
 Garnered, consumed, and springing fresh to life, 
 Again to perish, while he views the sun, 
 The seasons roll, in rapt serenity, 
 And high communion with celestial powers. 
 Some say 'tis Shem, our father, some say Enoch, 
 And some Melchisideck. 
 
 Tarn. I've heard a tale 
 Like this, but ne'er believed it. 
 
 Had. I have proved it. 
 Through perils dire, dangers most imminent, 
 Seven days and nights midst rocks and wildernesses, 
 And boreal snows, and never-thawing ice, 
 
72 HADAD. Aci II. 
 
 Where not a bird, a beast, a living thing, 
 Save the far-soaring vulture comes, I dared 
 My desperate way, resolved to know, or perish. 
 Tarn. Rash, rash advent'rer ! 
 Had. On the highest peak 
 Of stormy Caucasus, there blooms a spot 
 On which perpetual sunbeams play, where flowers 
 And verdure never die ; and there he dwells. 
 Tarn. But did'st thou see him ? 
 Had. Never did I view 
 Such awful majesty : his reverend locks 
 Hung like a silver mantle to his feet, 
 His raiment glistered saintly white, his brow 
 Rose like the gate of Paradise, his mouth 
 Was musical as its bright guardians' songs. 
 
 Tarn. What did he tell thee ? O ! what wisdom fell 
 From lips so hallowed ? 
 
 Had. Whether he possess 
 The Tetragrammaton, the powerful Name 
 Inscribed on Moses' rod, by which he wrought 
 Unheard of wonders, which constrains the Heavens 
 
Scene IV. HAD AD. 73 
 
 To shower down blessings, shakes the earth, and rules 
 
 The strongest Spirits ; or if God hath given 
 
 A delegated power, I cannot tell. 
 
 But 'twas from him I learned their fate, their fall, 
 
 Who, erewhile, wore resplendent crowns in Heaven ; 
 
 Now, scattered through the earth, the air, the sea. 
 
 Them he compels to answer, and from them 
 
 Has drawn what Moses, nor no mortal ear. 
 
 Has ever heard. 
 
 Tarn. But did he tell it thee ? 
 Had. He told me much more than I dare reveal ; 
 For with a dreadful oath he sealed my lips. 
 
 Tarn. But canst thou tell me nothing ? Why unfold 
 So much, if I must hear no more ? 
 
 Had. You hade 
 
 Explain my words, almost reproached me, sweet, 
 For what by accident escaped me. 
 
 Tarn. Ah! 
 
 A little something tell me sure, not all 
 Were words inhibited. 
 
74 HADAD. Act II. 
 
 Had. Then, promise never, 
 Never to utter of this conference 
 A breath to mortal. 
 
 Tarn. Solemnly I vow. 
 
 Had. Even then, 'tis little I can say, compared 
 With all the marvels he related. 
 
 Tarn. Come, 
 I'm breathless Tell me how they sinn'd, how fell. 
 
 Had. Their Head, their Prince involved them in his ruin. 
 
 Tarn. What black offence on his devoted head 
 Drew endless punishment ? 
 
 Had. The wish to be 
 Like the All-Perfect. 
 
 Tarn. Arrogating that 
 Due only to his Maker ! awful crime ! 
 But what their doom ? their place of punishment ? 
 
 Had. Above, about, beneath ; earth, sea, and air ; 
 Their habitations various as their minds, 
 Employments, and desires/ 2 ) 
 
 Tarn. But are they round us, Hadad ? not confined 
 In penal chains and darkness ? 
 
Scene IV. HADAB, 75 
 
 Had. So he said ; 
 
 And so your holy books infer. What saith 
 Your Prophet ? what the Prince of Uz ? 
 
 Tarn. I shudder, 
 Lest some dark Minister be near us DOW. 
 
 Had. You wrong them. They are bright Intelligences, 
 Robbed of some native splendour, and cast down, 
 'Tis true, from Heaven ; but not deformed, and foul, 
 Revengeful, malice-working Fiends, as fools 
 Suppose. They dwell, like Princes, in the clouds : 
 Sun their bright pinions in the middle sky ; 
 Or arch their palaces beneath the hills, 
 With stones inestimable studded so, 
 That sun or stars were useless there. 
 
 Tarn. Good heavens ! 
 
 Had. He bade me look on rugged Caucasus,. 
 Crag piled on crag beyond the utmost ken, 
 Naked, and wild, as if creation's ruins 
 Were heaped in one immeasurable chain 
 Of barren mountains, beaten by the storms 
 Of everlasting winter. But, within 
 
76 HAD AD. Act II. 
 
 Are glorious palaces, and domes of light, 
 Irradiate halls, and crystal colonnades, 
 Vaults set with gems the purchase of a crown. 
 Blazing with lustre past the noon-tide beam, 
 Or, with a milder beauty, mimicking 
 The mystic signs of changeful Mazzaroth. 
 
 Tarn. Unheard of splendour ! 
 
 Had. There they dwell, and muse, 
 And wander ; Beings beautiful, immortal, 
 Minds vast as heaven, capacious as the sky, 
 Whose thoughts connect past, present, and to come r 
 And glow with light intense, imperishable. 
 Thus, in the sparry chambers of the Sea 
 And Air-Pavilions, rainbow Tabernacles, 
 They study Nature's secrets, and enjoy 
 No poor dominion. 
 
 Tarn. Are they beautiful, 
 And powerful far beyond the human race ? 
 
 Had. Man's feeble heart cannot conceive it. Whew 
 The sage described them, fiery eloquence 
 Flowed from his lips, his bosom heaved, his eyes 
 
Scene IV. HADAD. 77 
 
 Grew bright and mystical ; moved by the theme, 
 Like one who feels a deity within. 
 
 Tarn. Wondrous ! What intercourse have they with men? 
 
 Had. Sometimes they deign to intermix with man, 
 But oft with woman. 
 
 Tarn. Ha ! with woman ? 
 
 Had. She 
 
 Attracts them with her gentler virtues, soft, 
 And beautiful, and heavenly, like themselves. 
 They have been known to love her with a passion 
 Stronger than human. 
 
 Tarn. That surpasses all 
 You yet have told me. 
 
 Had. This the Sage affirms ; 
 And Moses, darkly. 
 
 Tarn. How do they appear ? 
 How manifest their love ? 
 
 Had. Sometimes 'tis spiritual, signified 
 By beatific dreams, or more distinct 
 And glorious apparition. They have stooped 
 
 11 
 
78 HADAD. Act 11. 
 
 To animate a human form, and love 
 Like mortals. 
 
 Tarn. Frightful to be so beloved ! 
 Who could endure the horrid thought ! What makes 
 Thy cold hand tremble ? or is't mine 
 That feels so deathy? 
 
 Had. Dark imaginations haunt me 
 When I recall the dreadful interview. 
 
 Tarn. O, tell them not I would not hear them. 
 
 Had. But why contemn a Spirit's love ? so high, 
 So glorious, if he haply deigned ? 
 
 Tarn. Forswear 
 My Maker ! love a Demon ! 
 
 Had. No O, no 
 My thoughts but wandered Oft, alas ! they wander. 
 
 Tarn. Why dost thou speak so sadly now? And lo ! 
 Thine eyes are fixed again upon Arcturus. 
 Thus ever, when thy drooping spirits ebb, 
 /Tliou gazest on that star. Hath it the power 
 
 To cause or cure thy melancholy mood ? 
 
 [He appears lost in thought.] 
 Tell me, ascrib'st thou influence to the stars ? 
 
Scene IV. HAD AD. 79 
 
 Had. (starting.) The stars ! What know'st thou of the 
 stars? 
 
 Tarn. I know that they were made to rule the night. 
 
 Had. Like palace lamps! Thou echoest well thy grand- 
 sire. 
 
 Woman! the stars are living, glorious, 
 Amazing, infinite ! 
 
 Tarn. Speak not so wildly. 
 I know them numberless, resplendent, set 
 As symbols of the countless, countless years 
 That make eternity. 
 
 Had. Eternity ! 
 
 Oh ! mighty, glorious, miserable thought ! 
 Had ye endured like those great sufferers, 
 Like them, seen ages, myriad ages roll ; 
 Could ye but look into the void abyss 
 With eyes experienced, unobscured by torments, 
 Then mightst thou name it, name it feelingly. 
 
 Tarn. What ails thee, Hadad ? Draw me not so close. 
 
 Had. Tamar ! I need thy love more than thy love 
 
 Tarn. Thy cheek is wet with tears Nay, let us part 
 
80 HADAD. Act II. 
 
 'Tis late I cannot, must not linger. 
 
 [Breaks from him, and exit.] 
 
 Had. Loved and abhorred ! Still, still accurs'd f 
 [He paces, twice or thrice, up and down, with 
 passionate gestures ; then turns his face to 
 the sky, and stands a moment in silence.] 
 
 Oh! where, 
 
 In the illimitable space, in what 
 Profound of untried misery, when all 
 His worlds, his rolling orbs of light, that fill 
 With life and beauty yonder infinite, 
 Their radiant journey run, for ever set, 
 Where, where, in what abyss shall I be groaning ? 
 
 [Exit.] 
 
A C T III. 
 
 SCENE I. The, inner apartment of DAVID'S sepulchre, filled 
 with treasure : a sarcophagus of Egyptian porphyry 
 standing in the centre. Enter ABSALOM, HADAD and BA- 
 LAAM-HADDON, as from another chamber of the tomb. B. 
 HADDON carries a lamp, and a silver vessel for the burning 
 of perfume. 
 
 B. Hadd. Behold, my lord, the last and richest ! Here, 
 Nothing but gold of Ophir, pearls, and gems 
 Of priceless value. How they catch the lamp beams, 
 And sparkle as I wave it, like the stars 
 Upon a fitful night of clouds. And lo ! 
 The marble in whose womb he means to sleep. 
 
 Ab. It strikes me dumb what heaps, what mountain 
 piles ! 
 
82 HADAD. Act III. 
 
 The pillage of the world were scarce enough 
 To sum the riches we have gazed upon. 
 
 Had. But whence can he have drawn them ? there's the 
 
 question. 
 
 He has pulled down, indeed, some barbarous thrones, 
 Made Syria tributary, and brought home 
 Rich spoil ; but in the chambers of this rock < 8 > 
 Are treasures which the empires of the earth, 
 United, cannot equal. Whence they come 
 I'm bent to know. His flocks, and herds, and tilth, 
 Vineyards, and olive-grounds, and all he draws 
 Of yearly revenue from all the tribes, 
 From Elath, and the Eastern caravans, 
 Shrink to an alms. 
 
 Ab. I know not what to think. 
 The Mage must answer. 
 
 Had. Balaam-Haddon, speak. 
 
 B. Hadd. If there be power in incantations, spells, 
 Or potency in stars, or strongest magic, 
 Or compounds such as these, some one shall answer. 
 
Scene I. HAD AD. 83 
 
 [Places the vessel on the farther part of the sarcophagus, 
 heaps drugs upon it, and kindles them by the lamp.'] 
 
 Stand by me here, my lords : Observe, but speak not. 
 
 [A thick smoke rises, which envelopes the remoter part of 
 the tomb : ABSALOM and HADAD stand with their eyes 
 intently fixed upon it : B. HADDON mutters an incantation, 
 casting, from time to time, perfumes upon the flame. A 
 form becomes dimly visible amidst the smoke ; its eyes and 
 countenance sparkling. ABSALOM continues silently ga 
 zing. B. HADD. turns to him.] 
 
 Address your questions briefly ; when the smoke 
 
 Decays, it vanishes. 
 Ab. Who art thou ? 
 Spirit. The Genius of the Throne. 
 Ab. Servest thou the King? 
 
 Spirit. I serve the Throne, and him who sits thereon, 
 Ab. Implying thou mightst serve his son ? 
 Spirit. If he 
 
 Were chief in Jewry. 
 
 Ab. Canst thou make him so ? 
 
84 HADAD. Act III. 
 
 Spirit. No, nor oppose : I have no present power 
 Upon the hlood of David. 
 
 Had. Prince, mark that. 
 
 Ab. Canst thou foresee Know'st thou the past ? 
 
 Spirit. Dim shadows of the future lie before me, 
 Like forms in twilight : all things past I know. 
 
 Ab. Then answer, I adjure thee, for to this 
 Wert thou evoked. Is Solomon elect 
 To David's throne ? Has he received the unction ? 
 
 Spirit. The kingly oil hath flowed upon his locks. 
 
 Had. Change not, my lord. What boots a horn of oil 
 Against that sword, that military arm, 
 Thy power in Israel ? 
 
 Ab. And now I care not Heaven or Hell to aid, 
 I'll prove the issue. Spirit, art thou bound 
 By ties indissoluble to the King ? 
 
 Spirit. I serve the Throne, till thrice three times revolve* 
 
 Ab. Three times 
 
 B. Hadd. So Spirits reckon ; he will not reveal, 
 Who bound thee ? 
 
 Spir. Jesse's son. 
 
Scene I. HAD AD. 83 
 
 B. Hadd. Serv'st thou in love ? 
 Spirit. No ; for he hath not kept his covenant. 
 Ab. But shall the son of Bathsheha be King ? 
 Spirit. He may be, or may not. 
 Ab. How know'st thou that ? 
 Spirit. I read it in thy horoscope. 
 Ab. Know'st thou 
 My destiny ? 
 
 Spirit. I know what may be. 
 Ab. Speak, 
 
 Reveal, I do beseech thee, mighty Power, 
 How I may hold my lawful birthright. 
 B.Hadd. Speak. 
 
 Spirit. What said the Chaldee whom thou saw'st at Geshur ? 
 Ab. Ha! 
 
 Spirit. What answer brought he from the palace tower 
 Of Talmai, on the night of Pentecost ? 
 Ab. The holy Gods! 
 
 Spirit. A hostile Planet near allied to thee, 
 Threatens eclipse and blood ; o'ercome but that, 
 And length of days, and glory shall be thine. 
 
 12 
 
86 HAD AD. Act III. 
 
 That powerful Star is Solomon's, and rides 
 Hard by the ascendant. 
 
 Ab. But hath not yet attained it ? 
 
 Spirit. It enters on the seventh of Tisri. 
 
 Ab. Gods! 
 
 Had. So near ? 
 
 Ab. Direct me. How can I overcome ? 
 
 Spirit. Possess the crown ere Tisri. 
 
 Ab. Shall I, then, 
 Be fortunate ? 
 
 Spirit. Beyond thy father, or the happiest mortal. 
 
 Ab. And thou wilt serve me ? 
 
 Spirit. As I now do him. 
 
 B. Hadd. Reveal the nature of thy services. 
 
 Spirit. I give him strength, enlarge his heart, protect 
 His life, extend his realm, diffuse his glory, 
 And rifle, at his bidding, earth, and sea. 
 
 B. Hadd. Thou brought'st these treasures then ? 
 
 Spirit. My servants did. 
 
 Ab. Stay tell me shall I see thee 
 
Scene L HAD AD. 87 
 
 Spirit. When thou sitt'st 
 Upon thy father's throne. 
 
 [The smoke disperses , the image fades 
 and disappears.] 
 
 Ab. ByAstaroth! 
 
 My faith extended not to this : the words, 
 The self-same syllables, ne'er breathed to mortal, 
 In which a potent Chaldee summed my fate. 
 
 Had. Nothing escapes them. 
 
 Jib. Hence, Hadad, hence my fears, 
 My cares, my policy, my flattering arts 
 To win the people, and strike root so deep 
 That none could pluck me : Ever in my ears 
 Rung the presaging voice ; and years of toil 
 Yield but this hairbreadth. How, in half a moon, 
 Could I have built my name to that great height, 
 Needful to front my father's power ? how sought 
 The dangerous elements ? how organized them ? 
 Now, like Manoah's son, my hidden strength 
 Can shake the kingdom when my trumpet sounds. 
 
88 HADAD. Act III. 
 
 Had. (to B. Hadd.) 
 What seest thou ? what transports thee ? what's the 
 
 wonder ? 
 
 B. Hadd. Lo ! on the far horizon towers a form 
 Enthroned upon a pedestal so high 
 That East and West behold it ; nations kneel 
 To kiss its base ; the symbol in its hand 
 Marks universal power ; its radiant head 
 Bears to the sky a diadem so bright 
 That suns look pale ; its arm gigantic crests 
 Heaven, like the zodiac, and o'erawes the world ; 
 Mountains unhoard their treasures, ocean breaks 
 Obedient at its footstool ; every tongue 
 And people shout, Hosanna to the Son 
 Of David ! 
 
 Had. (starting.) Ha ! 
 
 Ab. He faints. 
 
 Had. The wonted trance 
 Thus lay the son of Beor on Mount Pisgah, 
 
 By Balak's altars. Powers Demonian, mark. 
 
 Record ! (aside.) 
 
Scene I. HADAD. 89 
 
 Ab. But heard you how he spake ? 
 
 Had. He spake 
 
 The Spirit's bidding, Prince. Observed you not 
 The supernatural brightness of his eye, 
 The majesty that swelled his form, his voice 
 How godlike ? Into him the Shadow passed. 
 Foretold, and left him. 
 
 Ab. Barest thou hope for me 
 So vast an empire, so magnificent ? 
 
 Had. My lord, my lord, thou deem'st this little realm 
 Much, and aspir'st, as to the top of glory, 
 To rule these Tribes, and curb the neighbour Kings ; 
 But seest not, for thou hast not roamed the world, 
 Kingdoms on kingdoms opening to thy view, 
 In prospect dazzling as the vales of Heaven ; 
 Thrones ancient as the Flood, where mighty Kings 
 Rule, toward the rising sun, o'er plains where gold, 
 And ivory, and aloes, and almug, 
 Abound like olives on the hills of Judah, 
 Or palms by Jericho, where spicy Isles 
 Perfume the seas, and coral rocks and pearl 
 
90 HADAD. Act HI. 
 
 Glitter along the shore. There thou mayst win 
 
 Thy conquering way, there plant thy throne, and wield 
 
 The universal sceptre. 
 
 Jib. Is thy tongue 
 Endued with witchcraft ? 
 
 Had. None thou need'st, to stand 
 The World's acknowledged Master. Hadst thou not 
 The Spirit's promise, in these caves behold 
 A talisman, and in thy father's veterans 
 Unshrinking agents to thy coldest wish. 
 He from the sheep-cote to the sceptre rose 5 
 Thou, with that sceptre, grasped in manhood's prime, 
 Mayst subjugate mankind. But such designs 
 Require immediate action, cannot linger 
 An old man's ebbing sands : that were to lose 
 Irreparable time, which, seized, extends 
 Thy empire past the pillars of Sesostris. 
 
 Ab. Come, these are fond conceits that make one giddy. 
 The place, or hour, or that unearthly form, 
 Whose thrilling accents vibrate in my ears, 
 Or thy wild visions, or these heaps of gold, 
 
Scene'II. HADAD. 91 
 
 Disorder me. My brain seems all on tire. 
 Yet a sepulchral coldness numbs my heart. 
 Let's leave this treasure-house of death. I'll pause. 
 
 This night, upon it. If to-morrow dawn 
 Upon my unchanged purpose, thou must speed 
 To Geshur, and, perhaps, Damascus. 
 
 Had. Look, 
 The Mage recovers ; let us lead him hence.* 
 
 [Exeunt.'] 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 An apartment in OBIL'S house : OBIL and MALCUTH. 
 
 Mai. What shakes thee so, and makes thee look so pale ? 
 Obil. That dromedary Fiend that beast of Hell- 
 Lean, black, and demon-like, it stands ; it eats not, 
 
 * "He,"(Manasseh, King of Judah,) "observed times, and used 
 witchcraft, and dealt with a Familiar Spirit." 2 CHRON. xxxiii. 6. 
 
92 HADAD. Act III. 
 
 Drinks not to satisfy an ass's foal ; 
 
 But ruminates the livelong day, and glares 
 
 Upon me when I enter, with an eye 
 
 Of such unnatural meaning, that I quake 
 
 Lest human words should follow. In the gloom, 
 
 Its eyeballs hum like living fire. Just now, 
 
 As in the twilight trembling I approached it, 
 
 I thought by Heaven, I thought she folded quickly 
 
 A griffin wing. 
 
 Mai. What senseless prate is this ? 
 
 Obil. And when I wait, by night, without the walls. 
 Long ere his step is audible, she snorts, 
 Springs, rears, and trembles, turns her flaring nostril 
 Up toward the midnight clouds, and paws, and spurns r 
 And vanishes, when Hadad mounts, as yet, 
 Earth-born Aashari* never did. 
 
 Mai. And this 
 Has blanched thy manhood so ? 
 
 Obil. I've mark'd, besides, 
 
 * The fleetest kind of dromedary. 
 
Scene II. HADAD. 93 
 
 When from his night-career, at dawn, he comes, 
 Though flaked with foam, and panting like a steed 
 That has outstripped the ostrich, not a hair 
 Is stained, nor speck of clay deforms her limbs. 
 Hassid, our son, is bold, and he declares, 
 On a wild night while he by Kedron stood 
 Awaiting in my stead, a spectral voice 
 Accosted Hadad ere beyond his hearing, 
 And in the hollow wind their accents mingled. 
 
 MaL His fear, you mean, mistook the wind for voices. 
 Obil. After this present business, whose blind haste 
 Betides to beasts and riders length of rest, 
 I'll to my tents : I've gold enough : I'll tend 
 No demon coursers, though a Prince bestride them. 
 
 Mai. Thou'dst hold the rein barehead' to Beelzebub, 
 So he would stuff thy turban folds with shekels. 
 
 Obil. Peace, cassowar ! Has Maugrabin been here ? 
 By this, he said the Princes would assemble. 
 The watch is set : The couriers are come in, 
 And lodged by Hassid o'er the city gate. 
 
 Mai. Know you the purpose of these meetings, Obil ? 
 
 13 
 
94 HADAD. Act III. 
 
 ObiL Hush, no. They bode more good to Ishmael 
 Than cocker'd Isaac Hark ! (A knocking.) They're come. 
 Begone. 
 
 [Exit MALCUTH.] 
 [OBIL passes through an outer room to the door, and 
 
 returns assisting in MEPHIBOSHETH.] 
 Mephib. Look to my mule, good fellow, wilt thou, quick ? 
 Take her from sight. Are they not come ? 
 
 ObiL Not yet, 
 My lord, but 'tis the hour. 
 
 Mephib. Well, dally not. [Exit OBIL.] 
 Now let me breathe no eye beholds me here 
 But in the streets, methought, each one I met 
 Gazed on me, whispering with suspicious looks. 
 Where goes Mephibosheth at this dusk hour ? (4) 
 Voices and feet seemed following me. 'Tis strange. 
 How oft have I preferred the evening shade 
 To visit Ramah, or go down to Bethel, 
 Pleased with the starry dimness ! Now, the night 
 Seems but the pall of guilt. Conspiracy ! 
 If thou canst look so grim to roe, dethroned, 
 
Scene II. HAD AD. 95 
 
 Dishonoured, stript of all my noblest rights, 
 
 How colourest thou thy devilish front to him 
 
 The chief conspirer ? Or, is this hut weakness ? 
 
 The child of melancholy ? nerves unused 
 
 To dangerous action ? I have gazed on him, 
 
 So long, as Heaven's Vicegerent, the bare thought 
 
 Of lifting rebel hands against him, thrills 
 
 Like sacrilege ; to pluck him from his power, 
 
 Seems as to rend a ruling spring from nature, 
 
 Whence wreck and chaos follow. Think, my soul, 
 
 On red Gilboa ! on the walls of Bethshan ! 
 
 There hung the Anointed, while an outlaw snatched 
 
 His blood-stained emblems ! If our compact hold 
 
 He yet shall render bitter tears to Saul 
 
 And mourn, in strains sincere, the Mighty fallen. 
 
 I know not why I doubt. They promise fair 
 
 And Absalom respects his pledge. That Syrian 
 
 His subtlety eludes me ; yea, a sense 
 
 Of secret and inexplicable fear 
 
 Steals o'er me while I gaze into his bright 
 
96 HADAD. Act III. 
 
 Unfathomable eye Soft ! I must hide 
 Distrust beneath a smiling aspect now. 
 
 [Enter ABSALOM, HADAD, AHITHOPHEL, MANASSES, 
 and MALCHIAH, muffled in their mantles, followed 
 by OBIL, who bolts and bars the door.] 
 Ab. Good even, Prince. 
 Jlhith. Prosperity to Benjamin. 
 
 (HADAD speaks aside with OBIL.) 
 Mephib. Health to my lord, to grave Ahithophel, 
 To all. 
 
 Jib. What, are the couriers come ? 
 Had. The warden of the gate, good Obil's son, 
 Has them in custody. 
 Jib. Admit them. 
 Had. Stay- 
 Were it not best receive them separately ? 
 Ab. No matter. 
 
 Ahith. One by one, my lord, were best. 
 Jib. Bring in the Hittite from beyond the Jordan. 
 
 [Exit OBIL.] 
 There lie my strongest fears. Sit nearer, friends- 
 
Scene' II. HAD AD. 97 
 
 In Gilead there are some of wealth and power, 
 So rooted I could never shake them. 
 
 Ahith. All 
 
 Grown old and weak with him, and impotent 
 For good or evil. Fear them not, my lord. 
 Nay, look not on my hoary locks, for what 
 Am I but an expiring voice, a flame 
 Blazing a moment to direct thy path, 
 And then extinct for ever ? 
 
 Re-enter OBIL, introducing a Courier. 
 
 Ab. Approach. Whence comest thou ? 
 
 Courier. From Edrai. 
 
 Ab. Thou went'st by Bethabara : thence what course ? 
 
 Courier. I crossed, my lord, by Bethabara, thence 
 Along the woods of Abarim to Heshbon, 
 Met there the chiefs of Gad and Reuben ; thence, 
 Through Saron, mountain Ramoth, and Rogelim, 
 That night to Edrai. 
 
98 HADAD. Jict III. 
 
 Ab. Whom saw'st thou there ? 
 
 Courier. Both Princes of Manasseh. 
 
 Ab. What despatches ? 
 
 Courier, (unbuckling his belt.) 
 This girdle for my lord. 
 
 Ab. No more? 
 
 Courier. Nothing. 
 
 Ab. 'Tis well. Go to thy house. Have Puath near. 
 
 [Exit Courier.'] 
 [ABSALOM draws from the inside of the girdle two 
 
 small rolls, which he opens and reads.] 
 Lo ! as I said, we cannot trust in Gilead : 
 Ramoth, Rogelim, Lodebar, and Jazer, 
 With stubborn Mahanaim stand. But see, 
 My friends, what strength is left us yet o'er Jordan, 
 The cities charactered in red are ours ; 
 The sable his ; the others doubtful. Mark 
 How we outnumber them. Observe that cipher 
 Concluding both. That bids us on. I named 
 The time the manner all the enterprise, 
 And asked their answer. 
 
Scene' II. HAD AD. 99 
 
 Ahith. Wise it is : no foe 
 So formidable as delay. 
 
 Ab. Call Puath. 
 
 Ahith. (still looking at the rolls.) 
 Jazer, and Lodebar My lords, what are they ? 
 Fenced cities ; but with helpless people filled ; 
 Tillers, and artisans ; no men of war 
 Hang there the shield. 
 
 Enter Second Courier. 
 
 Ab. What bearest thou ? 
 
 Courier. These signets. (Drawing five signets linked 
 together , from his bosom.) 
 
 Ab. I know them. What of these ? 
 
 Courier. I was bid say, 
 Mount Zalmon will reply to Hebron's call. 
 Ebal repeat it, Tabor waft the note, 
 And Carmel echo it to Lebanon. 
 
 Ab. Aught more ? 
 
 Courier. The words, Strike ! Prosper ! 
 
100 HAD AD. Act 111. 
 
 Ab. Faithful Puath, 
 
 Go rest thee now. (Exit Courier.) Open, thou flying Hind 
 Of Naphtali, that wont to bring good tidings. 
 
 [Unscrews one of the signets, takes from it a small 
 folded writing, glances over it, and hands it to AHI- 
 
 THOPHEL.] 
 
 'Tis from Pagiel, Prince of Naphtali, 
 Written in Ephraim. All the northern Tribes 
 To Benjamin, are sure : He has passed down, 
 He says, communing with our friends as far 
 As Shiloh. Twenty thousand valiant men 
 Wait but our summons. 
 
 Ahith. Welcome news. 
 
 Ah. Call the remaining messenger. This last 
 Has visited the west and south ; an old 
 And trusted follower. 
 
 Enter Third Courier. 
 
 What tidings, Caleb, 
 From the hill country ? 
 
Scene' II. HAD AD. 101 
 
 Courier. Every face, my Prince, 
 Is lifted to salute the expected sun. 
 
 Ahith. All tiptoe on the mountains, say'st thou ? Well, 
 A speedy and a glorious dawn awaits them, 
 A rising such as Judah never saw. 
 
 Ab. What cities hast thou greeted ? 
 
 Courier. All the chief 
 From Ajalon to Kadesh. This, from Giloh, 
 My lord Ahithophel ; this from the chiefs 
 Of Ziph and Lachish. 
 
 [Takes letters from the folds of his cap for ABSALOM 
 and AHITHOPHEL.] 
 
 Ahith. (after perusing his despatches.) 
 All's well j and bids us not delay. 
 
 Ab. This missive 
 
 Seals our resolves. It comes from Ithamar. 
 Our royal trumpet will be blown in Hebron 
 At the sixth hour to-morrow. 
 
 Mephib. (starting.) How ! to-morrow? 
 
 Malchi. To-morrow, Prince ? 
 
 Ab. Ten thousand men encamp 
 14 
 
HADAD. Act III. 
 
 Before it ere that hour. By eventide, 
 The news must be beyond the Kishon. 
 
 Mephib. (aside.) Moses ! 
 
 Ahith. Be not surprised, my lords : Our safety lies 
 In suddenness. The cloud is in the heaven, 
 The bolt must fly, or men will shun it. 
 
 Manass. Yes, but - 
 
 Had. Pardon, my lord Manasses, I am rude, 
 And sage Ahithophel, our reverend Thummim, 
 Grant me a word. We twice have been convened, 
 Without our friends Malchiah and Manasses. 
 Briefly to them I state what you have heard. 
 I have myself passed through the Tribes ; with all 
 The Princes, Judges, powerful of our friends, 
 Held personal conf'rence ; to the nicest point 
 Instructed them; ta'en pledges ; armed their mouths 
 With potent arguments ; explaining thus 
 The strong necessity of all we do. 
 The King, whom Heaven preserve ! declined in years, 
 Lets fall the reins ; oppressors lord it ; wrongs 
 Cry in the streets with none to hear ; the Judge 
 
Scene II. HAD AD. 103 
 
 Sits not between the gates ; the King nor hears, 
 
 Nor substitutes : imperious Joab rules 
 
 God's heritage, and shakes his bloody hand 
 
 Over the innocent : old Nathan sits 
 
 Close at his master's ear, whispering against 
 
 The People's Chosen, bent to crown the Boy, 
 
 Whom secretly, 'tis said, he hath affianced 
 
 To Pharaoh's infant daughter. When the fit 
 
 Of penitential horror shakes the King, 
 
 He talks of Amnon fratricide and blood 
 
 Demanding expiation, and alarms 
 
 His mind infirm with guilt and punishment. 
 
 Thus stands the kingdom ; thus your cherished hopes 
 
 Totter to downfal. And will warlike Israel 
 
 Behold her lawful, her beloved Prince 
 
 Undone by treacherous instruments ? submit 
 
 Her stainless sceptre to a murderer's hand ? 
 
 For what awes ruthless Joab from the crown 
 
 But Absalom ? Think you, a Prince's blood, 
 
 A helpless youth, were sacred in his sight 
 
 If David slept, and Absalom were 
 
104 HAD AD. Act 111. 
 
 Who, only, never feared him ? Men of Israel, 
 Would you perpetuate your royal line, 
 Age must resign the rod of power to manhood. 
 With these, my lords, and other arguments 
 Suggested by the wise Ahithophel, 
 Are they replenished, and prepared for action. 
 Manass. Then let us on. 
 Had. My uncle promises 
 Full fifteen thousand footmen, and is pledged 
 A thousand chariots, and five thousand horse 
 By Hadadezer, if the sword decide it : 
 Our grandsire Talmai empties all his realm. 
 Malchi. I'm satisfied, my lord. 
 Mephib. Sirs, may the son of Saul 
 A moment's audience crave ? 
 Ab. Speak, noble Prince. 
 
 Mephib. My lord, I have allied to this great cause 
 The strongest Tribe save Judah. I demand 
 Recognisance, before these witnesses, 
 Of promises not mentioned, as methinks 
 Were meet, before this solemn sitting. 
 
Scene II. HAD AD. 105 
 
 Had. (smiling sarcastically aside.) Ha ! 
 
 Mephib. I claim your oath, that, if by me, the strength 
 Of Benjamin were added, you would bound 
 Your power by Jordan eastward, and resign 
 The ancient sovereignty of Ishbosheth 
 To me, the lineal heir. (A pause.) 
 
 Manass. Can this be so ? 
 
 Malchi. Divide the sceptre ! 
 
 Ahith. Never ! 
 
 Mephib. But he hath sworn it. 
 
 Ab. If the Tribes consented. 
 
 Mephib. The pledge was absolute 
 There stands your organ. Let him answer. 
 
 Ab. Hadad? 
 
 Had. My lord Mephihosheth, if I err not, 
 The promise was conditional. 
 
 Mephib. 'Tis false! 
 
 By heaven, my lords, it was a solemn gage 
 Unclogged and bound his honour to enforce it'. 
 
 [HAD. draws ABSALOM apart.'] 
 
 Manass. We have no right to mutilate the sceptre ; 
 The royalty is Judah's. 
 
106 HADAD. Act HI. 
 
 Ahith. Fixed in him : 
 A right perpetual promised. 
 
 Mepkib. Mock me not 
 
 With solemn words. By what right sit ye here 
 In treasonous council ? Plead ye right for this 
 
 Had. The sooner, Prince, the better ; suddenly. 
 
 Ab. (to Mephib.) The question of divided sovereignty. 
 Requiring grave debate, and general sanction, 
 Must wait the assembling of the Tribes, my lord. 
 Let us dissolve now : all is understood. 
 My father's leave is won, to sacrifice 
 In solemn state at Hebron, to fulfil 
 My vow in Geshur. Meet me there to-morrow. 
 The flower of Judah will attend in arms. 
 Stir with the dawn ; nor marvel if ye spy 
 Friends of the King upon the way : I've bid 
 Two hundred follow us, the more to cloak 
 The enterprise. And now, my lords, farewell. 
 
 Manass. Farewell. 
 
 Malchi. Farewell and prosper, noble Prince. 
 
 Mb. Take separate streets, you who ascend to Zion. 
 I keep the west, by Millo. 
 
Scene-//. HAD AD. 107 
 
 Manass. We'll be guarded. 
 
 [Exeunt all but HADAD, MEPHIBOSHETH, and OBIL.] 
 
 Mephib. (aside.) This is my recompense 
 For trusting traitors ! Fellow, bring my mule. 
 
 Had. Stay. 
 You go not forth to-night. 
 
 Mephib. Not forth ! Presum'st thou 
 
 Had. Refrain from passion, Prince : it will not boot you. 
 
 Mephib. Now, by the bones of Saul Bring forth my mule. 
 
 Had. (to Ob.) Stir, and thou diest. 
 
 Mephib. What ! ruffian, meanest to murder me ? 
 
 Had. Hear me, my lord. I know the cause you have 
 Of discontent : I strained the Prince's words 
 Something beyond their 
 
 Mephib. Base, perfidious 
 
 Had. Hush! 
 
 No matter; you and I best know how far ; 
 'Twere needless repetition. But I see 
 Danger within thine eye, and I'll not risk 
 The safety of the state. You must repose, 
 I say, beneath good Obil's roof to-night. 
 
108 HADAD. Act III. 
 
 Mephib. Villain 
 
 Had. Tut ! have a care ! in ticklish times 
 Like these, we wear our daggers here and mine 
 Is sometimes sudden. Obil, mark my words. 
 Provide thy hest for Prince Mephihosheth ; 
 Respect him as myself ; but if he look 
 Beyond thy doors, ere the third morning hour, 
 Your blood be on ye both. What ! hearest thou ? 
 
 Obil. Master, rev'rently. 
 
 Had. Remember ! eyes will be about these doors, 
 To-night, which you were best avoid. Good rest, 
 My lord Mephibosheth. 
 
 [Exit. Scene closes.'] 
 
SCENE III. 
 
 The, gate of the city, looking down the valley toward Enro- 
 geL Several Jews sitting in the gate. The Warden 
 walking with his truncheon in his hand. 
 
 First Jew. Know you what enterprise our Prince intends 
 After the sacrifice ? 
 
 Second Jew. No ; doth he any ? 
 
 first Jew. Eliab's son, last night, 'twixt this and Hebron 
 Met his war chariot and his battle steeds. 
 
 Warden. The Prince went forth at dawn this morning, sir, 
 Upon a mule. His chariot has not passed. 
 
 First Jew. But Amariah saw it. 
 
 Warden. When ? last night? 
 
 First Jew. Journeying this way, about the second watch, 
 He heard the clang of hoofs, and drawing close 
 
 15 
 
110 HAD AD. AcillU. 
 
 Beneath some sycamores, beheld the car, 
 
 Horses, and equerries go by, like men 
 
 Who steal upon an enemy. It clashed, 
 
 The place being rough, it clashed, as filled with arms. 
 
 Third Jew. But this is strange. 
 
 Warden. It did not pass this gate. 
 
 Third Jew. Why go about ? 
 
 First Jew. Perhaps he meditates 
 A swoop upon the restless Edomite. 
 
 Second Jew. Look ! who comes there at speed ? 
 
 First Jew. See how for life he dashes through the brook, 
 And up the hill. Ha ! look the animal 
 Is spent, and falls 
 
 Second Jew. He stops not lo ! he comes 
 Like the sped arrow. 'Tis some messenger. 
 
 Warden. 'Tis Zadok's son. Fall back, and let him pass. 
 
 [Warden calls aloud.] 
 What for King David? 
 
 [Ahimaaz rushes through the gate.] 
 
 Mim. Tidings ! Close the gates. 
 
 [Passes up into the city.] 
 
Scene IF. HAD AD. Ill 
 
 Jews. What can it mean ? 
 Warden. Mischance, I fear. 
 Jews. Let's after. 
 
 [Exeunt into the city.'] 
 
 Warden. His looks were ominous. I'll to the tower 
 And see if any hostile shape approaches. 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 An apartment in ABSALOM'S house. NATHAN and TAMAR. 
 
 Nath. Thou'rt left to-day, (would thou wert ever left 
 Of some that haunt thee !) therefore am I come 
 To give thee counsel. Child of sainted Miriam, 
 Fear not to look upon me ; thou wilt hear 
 The gentle voice of love, not stern monition. 
 Commune with me as with a tender parent, 
 Who cares for all thy wishes, hopes, and fears, 
 Though prizing thy immortal gem above 
 The transitory. 
 
112 HAD AD. Act HI. 
 
 Tarn. Have I not thus, ever ? 
 
 Nath. But I would probe the tenderest of thy heart, 
 Touch its disease, and give it strength again, 
 And yet inflict no pain. 
 
 Tarn. What means my lord ? 
 
 Nath. I know thee pure, and guileless as the dove ; 
 The easier prey ; and thou art fair, to tempt 
 The spoiler nay, he not alarmed, but speak 
 Openly to me. I would ask thee, Princess, 
 If not displeasing, somewhat of the stranger, 
 The Syrian who aspires to David's line. 
 
 Tarn, (averting her eyes.) 
 If I can answer 
 
 Nath. Maiden, need I ask, 
 
 I fear I need not is he dear to thee ? 
 
 'Tis well. But tell me, hast thou ever noted, 
 Amidst his many shining qualities, 
 Aught strange or singular ? unlike to others ? 
 That caused thy wonder ? even to thyself, 
 Moved thee to say, How ? wherefore's this ? 
 
Scene' IV. . ^ HAD AD. 113 
 
 Tarn. Never. 
 
 Nath. Nothing that marked him from the rest of men ? 
 Hereafter you shall know why thus I question. 
 
 Tarn. O yes, unlike he seems in many things : 
 In knowledge, eloquence, high thoughts. 
 
 Nath. Proud thoughts 
 Thou mean'st ? 
 
 Tarn. I'm but a young and simple maid, 
 But, father, he, of all my ears have judged, 
 Is master of the loftiest richest mind. 
 
 Nath. How have I wronged him ; deeming him more apt 
 For intricate designs, and daring deeds. 
 Than contemplation's solitary flights. 
 
 Tarn. Seer, his far-soaring thoughts ascend the stars, 
 Pierce the unseen abyss, pervade, like light, 
 The universe, and wing the infinite. 
 
 Nath. (fixing his eyes upon her.) 
 What stores of love, and praise, and gratitude, 
 He thence must bring to Him whose mighty hand 
 Fashioned their glories, hung yon golden orbs 
 Amidst his wondrous firmament ; who bids 
 
114 HAD AD. Act III. 
 
 The day-spring know his place, and sheds from all 
 Sweet influences ; who bars the haughty sea, 
 Binds fast his dreadful hail, but drops the dew 
 Nightly upon his People ! How his soul, 
 Returning from its quest through Earth and Heaven, 
 Must glow with holy fervour ! Doth it, maiden ? 
 
 Tarn. Ah ! father, father, were it so indeed, 
 I were too happy. 
 
 Nath. How ! expound thy words. 
 
 Tarn. Though he has trod the confines of the world. 
 Knows all its wonders, and almost has pierced 
 The secrets of eternity, his heart 
 Is melancholy, lone, discordant, save 
 When love attunes it into happiness. 
 He hath not found, alas, the peace which dwells 
 But with our Fathers' God. 
 
 Nath. And canst thou 1 ove 
 One who loves not Jehovah ? 
 
 Tarn. O, ask not. 
 
 Nath. (fervently.) 
 My child ! thou wouldst not wed an Infidel ? 
 
Scene IV. HAD AD. 115 
 
 Tarn, (in tears.) Oh no ! Oh no ! 
 
 Nath. Why then this emhassage ? Why doth your sire 
 Still urge the King ? Why hast thou hearkened it ? 
 
 Tarn. There was a time when I had hopes, when truth 
 Seemed dawning in his mind and sometimes, still, 
 Such heavenly glimpses shine, that my fond heart 
 Refuses to forego the hope, at last, 
 To number him with Israel. 
 
 Nath. Beware ! 
 
 Or thou' It delude thy soul to ruin. Say, 
 Doth he attend our holy ordinances ? 
 
 Tarn. He promises observance. 
 
 Nath. Two full years 
 Hath he abode in Jewry. 
 
 Tarn. Prophet, think 
 
 
 
 How he was nurtured in the faith of Idols. 
 That impious worship long since he abjured 
 By his own native strength ; and now he looks 
 Abroad through Nature's works, and yet must rise 
 
 Nath. Speaks he of Moses ? 
 
 Tarn. Familiar as thyself. 
 
116 HAD AD. Act 111. 
 
 Math. I think thou said'st he had surveyed the world ? 
 
 Tarn. From Ethiopia to the farthest East, 
 Cities, and tribes, and nations. He can speak 
 Of hundred-gated Thebes, towered Babylon, 
 And mightier Nineveh, vast Palibothra, 
 Serendib anchored by the gates of morning, 
 Renowned Benares, where the Sages teach 
 The mystery of the soul, and that famed seat 
 Where fleets and warriors from Elishah's Isles 
 Besieged the Beauty, where great Memnon fell : 
 Of temples, groves, and superstitious caves 
 Filled with strange symbols of the Deity ; 
 Of wondrous mountains, desert-circled seas, 
 Isles of the ocean, lovely Paradises, 
 Set, like unfading emeralds, in the deep. 
 
 Math. Yet manhood scarce confirms his cheek. 
 
 Tarn. All this 
 
 His thirst of knowledge has achieved ; the wish 
 To gather from the wise eternal Truth. 
 
 Nath. Not found where he has sought it, and has led 
 Thy wandering fancy. 
 
Scene IV. HAD AD. 117 
 
 Tarn. O, might I relate 
 But I bethink me, father, of a thing 
 Like that you asked. Sometimes, when I'm alone, 
 Just ere his coming, I have heard a sound, 
 A strange, mysterious, melancholy sound, 
 Like music in the air. Anon, he enters. 
 
 Mtth. Ha ! is this oft ? 
 
 Tarn. 'Tis not unfrequent. 
 
 Jfoth. Only 
 When thou'rt alone ? 
 
 Tarn. I have not heard it, else. 
 
 Nath. A sound like what ? 
 
 Tarn. Like wild sad music, father ; 
 More moving than the lute or viol touched 
 By skilful fingers. Wailing in the air 
 It seems around me, and withdraws as when 
 One looks and lingers for a last adieu. 
 
 Nath. Just ere he enters ? . 
 
 Tarn. At his step it dies. 
 
 Math. Mark me. Thou know'st 'tis held by righteous 
 men 
 
 16 
 
118 HADAD. Act III. 
 
 That Heaven intrusts us all to watching Spirits,(5) 
 Who ward us from the Tempter. This I deem 
 Some intimation of an unseen danger. 
 
 Tarn. But whence? 
 
 Nath. Time may reveal : meanwhile, I warn thee, 
 Trust not thyself alone with Hadad. 
 
 Tarn. Father, 
 
 Nath. I lay not to his charge ; I know, in sooth, 
 Little of him, (though I have supplicated,) 
 And will not wound thee with a dark suspicion. 
 But shun the peril thou art warned of, shun 
 What looks like danger, though we haply err : 
 Be not alone with him I charge thee. 
 
 Tarn. Seer, 
 I will avoid it. 
 
 Nath. All is ominous : 
 
 The Oracles are mute, dreams warn no more, 
 Urim and Thummim keep their glory hid, 
 My days are dark, my nights are visionless, 
 Jehovah hath forsaken, or, in wrath, 
 Resigned us for a season. Times like these 
 
Scene IF. HAD AD. 119 
 
 Are jubilee in Hell. Fiends walk the Earth/ 6 ) 
 Misleading princes, tempting poor men's pillows, 
 Supplying moody hatred with the dagger, 
 Lust with occasions, treason with excuses, 
 Lifting man's heart, like the rebellious waves, 
 Against his Maker. Watch, and pray, and tremble ; 
 So may the Highest overshadow thee ! 
 
 [Exit Math.] 
 
 Tarn. His awful accents freeze my blood. Alas ! - 
 How desolate, how dark my prospect lowers ! 
 Oh ! Hadad, is it thus those sunny days, 
 Those sweet deceptive hopes must terminate, 
 When mixing in thy gentle looks I saw 
 Love blend with reverence, as my lips described 
 The power, the patience, purity, and faith 
 Of our Almighty Father? Then, I thought 
 Thy spirit, softened by its earthly passion, 
 Meetly refined, and tempered, to receive 
 The impression of a love which never dies. 
 How art thou changed ! All tenderness you seemed, 
 Gentle and social as a playful child ; 
 
120 HADAD. Act III. 
 
 But now, in lofty meditation rapt, 
 
 As on an icy mountain-top thou sit'st 
 
 Lonely and unapproachable, or tossest 
 
 Upon the surge of passion, like the wreck 
 
 Of some proud Tyrian in the stormy sea.^- 
 
 What sounds are those ! A tumult ! 'Tis the cry 
 
 And rush of multitudes Bagoas ! Ho ! 
 
 Enter BAGOAS. 
 
 What noise is that ? 
 
 Bag. 'Tis nothing, Princess. 
 
 Tarn. Hark! 
 
 The clamour rises ! Shrieks, and frantic voices ! 
 Lead to the balcony 'tis some strange chance. 
 Proceed, I say. 
 
 Bag. Most honoured Princess 
 
 Tarn. Ha! 
 Dar'st thou oppose me ? 
 
 Bag. Strict commands were left 
 Thou shouldst not go abroad, nor look without, 
 Until my lord's return. 
 
Scene V. HADAD. 121 
 
 Tarn, (aside.) What can this mean ? 
 My father, slave, commanded so ? 
 
 Bag. Sternly ; 
 With threats for disobedience. 
 
 Tarn. 'Tiswell: 
 Begone, and shut the doors. Begone I say. 
 
 [Exit Bag.} 
 I'll know the meaning of this dreadful outcry. 
 
 [Exit hastily by another door.'] 
 Enter BAGOAS, alarmed. 
 Bag. Gods ! I forgot the roof. ( Pursues her.) 
 
 SCENE V. 
 
 The roof of ABSALOM'S house. Enter TAMAR, hastening 
 to the parapet. 
 
 Tarn. Good heavens ! what dire disaster ! whence this 
 
 throng 
 
 Of frantic women children ancient men 
 Tearing their beards and garments Ha ! the Ark ! 
 
122 HADAD. Act III. 
 
 Abiathar and Zadok weeping by it 
 
 The Priests and Levites Gracious God ! some foe 
 
 Hath sure surprised us ! Hear me ! People ! Friends ! 
 
 Enter BAGOAS. 
 
 Bag. (taking hold of her.) 
 Come, lady 
 
 Tarn. Horror ! there's the King 
 Barefoot amidst his weeping household 
 
 Bag. No, no 
 
 Tarn. His gray head bare his mantle rent ! O, hear me ! 
 [Stretching her hands to the people below.] 
 Look up ! O, answer me ! My father David ! 
 
 Bag. (drawing her away.) Cry not, but listen 
 
 Tarn, (breaking from him, rushes to the parapet.) 
 Ho ! hear me ! Levites ! Friends ! Will no one answer ? 
 
 Bag. I'll answer, lady : call not to the people. 
 
 Tarn, (wildly.) 
 What has befallen him ? wherefore's the tumult ? 
 
 Bag. Your grandsire is no longer King. 
 
Scene V. HAD AD. 123 
 
 Tarn Alas ! 
 Is Zion taken ? 
 
 Bag. Not by foes. The Prince 
 
 Your father wears, to-day, the Hebrew crown. 
 
 Tarn, (thunderstruck.} My father ! 
 
 Bag. Surely Princess ; look not pale. 
 
 Tarn, (gasping for breath.) My father my 
 
 Bag. By all the gods 'tis true may wrath o'ertake me 
 If I deceive you crown'd this day at Hebron. 
 What say'st ? thy white lips move 
 
 Tarn, (with a deep groan.) 
 Oh! Absalom Oh! Absalom! (Falls senseless.) 
 
ACT IV. 
 
 SCENE I. The top of Mount Olivet, crowded with fugitives 
 
 from Jerusalem : KING DAVID, surrounded by his household, 
 
 worshipping : The Cherethites and Pelethites* restrain the 
 
 People from pressing upon him. JOAB, BENAIAH, and other 
 
 armed Chiefs, marshalling the multitude. 
 
 Ben. Go bid yon loiterers hasten over Kedron, 
 If they would march with us. 
 
 Joab. Let them ahide : 
 Why crawl they after us ? What seest thou, ho ? 
 
 * The Cherethites and Pelethites, or the Extirpators and the Ex 
 peditious, were the King's military attendants, and the immediate 
 agents of his will. 
 
Scene I. HADAD. 125 
 
 [Addressing a Soldier stationed in a tree above him."\ 
 
 Soldier. Nothing, my lord, but people from the city 
 Hurrying this way. 
 
 Joab. Look not on them, fool : fix 
 Thine eyes upon the south. 
 
 Soldier. I do, my lord. 
 
 Joab. What seest thou toward the Prince's pillar ? 
 
 Soldier. Nothing. 
 
 Joab. On that same open height beyond it ? 
 
 Soldier. Nothing. 
 
 Joab. Well, nail thine eyes there. Will the old man's 
 
 prayer 
 
 Stretch out till doom ? Benaiah, we lose time ; 
 We should be now beyond Bahurim. 
 
 Ben. Be patient ; 
 
 The stroke was bitter, and his heart seemed fraught 
 Almost to bursting. 
 
 Joab. Better rive at once, 
 Than meet the tender mercies of his son 
 By loitering here. By heaven, I'll rouse him 
 
 Ben. Hold, 
 Hold, Joab! 
 
 17 
 
126 HADAD. Act IV. 
 
 People. Stand aside Back there The King ! 
 [KiNG DAVID comes forward among the People : Enter HU 
 SHAI, with his garments rent; he falls to the ground, and 
 
 clasps the King* s feet.] 
 
 Hush. God save my lord the King ! Live I to see 
 My master thus ! the Light, the Rock of Israel ! 
 
 K. Da-o. Once, Hushai, once the candle of the Lord 
 Beamed on my head, and like a shadowing rock, 
 His buckler sheltered me. Thou seest me, now, 
 Dark and defenceless ; all my leprous sins 
 Wrathfully visited upon my people. 
 
 First People. What will become of us ? 
 
 Second People. Alas ! alas ! 
 Heaven hath forsaken us ! 
 
 Third People. Wo, wo, alas ! 
 
 Joab. (going among them.) 
 
 Peace with your howling ! Peace ! or ye shall feast 
 The wild beasts of the wilderness. My lord, 
 We linger here while death is at our heels. 
 
 K. Dav. Hushai. 
 
 Hush. Command thy servant. 
 
Scene I. HADAD. 127 
 
 K. Dav. Turn thou back : 
 
 * 
 
 Mix with his council : seem as they. Thy words 
 May blast AhithophePs, whose malice, else, 
 Will work our ruin : With us thou canst nought. 
 Abiathar and Zadok stay behind, 
 By my commandment, with the Ark : To them 
 Communicate what thou canst learn of import : 
 They will despatch it to me by their sons, 
 Where I shall wait them in the wilderness. 
 
 Joab. Depart ere thou art seen. 
 
 Hush. God guard the King, 
 And bring him home to Zion. 
 
 K. Dav. May it please Him ! 
 
 [Exit Hushai.] 
 
 Soldier, (calling from the tree.) 
 Joab my lord I see the flash of arms 
 On that same hill : The vanguard comes and now 
 The horsemen. 
 
 Joab. Make they for the city ? 
 
 Soldier. Straight. 
 
 Joab. Enough ; descend. Shall we advance? 
 
128 HAD AD. Act IV. 
 
 K. Dav. Is there conveyance for the household ? 
 
 Joab. None. 
 
 People. Yes, Ziba's here with asses. 
 
 Second People. Only two. 
 
 Joab. (impatiently.) 
 
 Therefore, my lord, behoves us haste : Suppose 
 His Horse overtake us in the open plain. 
 Cumber'd with women ? 
 
 K. Dav. Bid the Pelethites 
 Take up the youngest. Place upon the beasts 
 Michal and Bathsheba. Send forward some 
 For mules and camels, if the villages, 
 Or fields can yield us any. Where's the Prophet ? 
 
 Joab. Yonder, with Solomon. Art ready, sir ? 
 
 K. Dav. Ittai, protect the rearward. Station one 
 To bring intelligence. Command the signal. 
 
 Joab. (to his trumpeter.) Sound. 
 
 [Trumpet sounds : exeunt the King, and People, 
 guarded by the armed bands.] 
 
SCENE II. 
 
 The palace : an antechamber of the council-hall : Officers of 
 ABSALOM'S guard, attendants, <^c. in waiting. 
 
 First Off. Will their debate ne'er end ? 
 
 Second Off. No, by the proverb, 
 Never : when gossip graybeards talk, the sun 
 Stands still. 
 
 Enter HAD AD from the hall. 
 
 Had. (to one of the attendants.) 
 
 What, is she come yet ? 
 
 Mend. No, my lord. 
 
 Had. (aside.) This is Heaven's spite !- 
 You bore the signet ? saw the Princess ? 
 
 Mend. Yes, my lord. 
 
130 HADAD. Act IV. 
 
 Had. Why didst thou not stay by her when thou saw'st 
 The streets in tumult ? 
 
 Attend. I was bid depart. 
 
 Had. O curse ! (Turns angrily into the hall.) 
 
 First Off. What clouds the Syrian? What's amiss, (to 
 
 the Attendant.) 
 That Hadad bites his lip with such a frown ? 
 
 Attend. The Princess, sir, is missing. 
 
 Officers. Missing ! Ha ! (They gather round him.) 
 But how? 
 
 Attend. It happened thus. Imploring leave 
 To come unto her father, he despatched 
 Permission by his signet ; but she came not, 
 Though she had thrice entreated him with tears. 
 It since appears, refusing all attendance, 
 Except a slave, she went into the streets, 
 And has not since been heard of. 
 
 First Off. When was this? 
 
 Attend. About the hour of twilight. 
 
 First Off. 'Tis dark night : (Looking out.) 
 The city's in confusion : she may suffer 
 Some shameful outrage. 
 
Scene II. HAD AD. 131 
 
 Attend. That is feared indeed : 
 Bagoas raves, and tears his hair, and Hadad 
 
 Re-enter HADAD. 
 
 Had. Brave gallants of the guard, the King commands 
 You follow me. The Princess Tamar's lost, 
 This riotous night, we fear, amidst the streets. 
 Ride six of you, for life, to every gate, 
 And bid them, in the King's name, suffer none 
 Pass outward : Scatter through the streets your comrades ; 
 Pierce sharply through the people ; scan the crowds. 
 If ye espy her, send me instant news 
 To Zion gate by Gihon. On the bridge 
 'Twixt the two cities I will post myself. 
 Away ! [Exeunt officers of the Guard.] 
 
 (To one of the attendants.) 
 
 Come hither. Know'st thou that dark alley 
 Behind the Market-place ? 
 
 Attend. I do, my lord. 
 
 Had. Run thither. Near a lattice thou wilt see 
 
132 HADAD. Act IV. 
 
 A low dark man, in a Scribe's gaberdine, 
 
 Devoutly searching Moses, by a lamp 
 
 Nich'd in the wall. Say Hadad's treasure's lost 
 
 The Princess lost in the unruly streets, 
 
 And spirited, perhaps, into some den 
 
 Of mischief. Bid him search, and come to me 
 
 Upon the western bridge o'er Gihon. Fly. [Exit Attend.'] 
 
 Go all : disperse yourselves in every quarter : 
 
 If ye hear tidings, bring them me. Stay thou, 
 
 The King's forthcoming. He shall be enriched, 
 
 Who first salutes me with intelligence. 
 
 [Exeunt.] 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 The council-hall. ABSALOM, AHITHOPHEL, MANASSES, 
 MALCHIAH, HUSHAI, and others, in debate : AHITHOPHEL 
 speaking. 
 
 Ahith. My lord, you know them not you wear, to-day. 
 The diadem, and hear yourself proclaimed 
 
Seme HI. HAD AD. 333 
 
 With trump and timbrel Israel's joy, and deem 
 Your lasting throne established. Canst thou bless, 
 Or blast, like Him who rent the waters, clave 
 The rock, whose awful clangour shook the world 
 When Sinai quaked beneath his majesty ? 
 Yet Jacob's seed forsook this thundering Guide, 
 Even at the foot of the astonished mount ! 
 If benefits could bind them, wherefore flames 
 The Ammonitish spoil upon thy brows, 
 While David's locks are naked to the night dew ? 
 Canst thou transcend thy father? is thy arm 
 Stronger than his who smote from sea to sea. 
 And girt us like a band of adamant ? 
 Trust not their faith. Thy father's root is deep : 
 His stock will bourgeon with a single sun ; 
 And many tears will flow to moisten him. 
 Pursue, this night, or ruin will o'ertake thee. 
 
 Ab. Whatsay'st thou, Hushai ? Speak to this, once more. 
 
 Hush. I listen to my lord Ahithophel, 
 As to a heaven-instructed oracle ; 
 But what he urges more alarms my fears. 
 
 IS 
 
134 HADAD. Art IV' 
 
 Thou seest, O King, how night envelopes us : 
 
 Amidst its perils, whom must we pursue ? 
 
 The son of Jesse is a man of war, 
 
 Old in the field, hardened to danger, skilled 
 
 In every wile and stratagem ; the night 
 
 More welcome than the day. Each mountain path 
 
 He treads instinctive as the ibex ; sleeps, 
 
 Moistened with cold dank drippings of the rock, 
 
 As underneath the canopy. Some den 
 
 Will be his bed to-night. No hunter knows 
 
 Like him, the caverns, cliffs, and treacherous passes ; 
 
 Familiar to his feet, in former days, 
 
 As 'twixt the Court and Tabernacle ! What ! 
 
 Know ye not how his great heart swells in danger 
 
 Like the old lion's from his lair by Jordan 
 
 Rising against the strong ? Beware of him by night, 
 
 While anger chafes him. Never hope 
 
 Surprisal. While we talk, they lurk in ambush, 
 
 Expectant of their prey : the Cherethites, 
 
 And those blood-thirsty Gittites crouch around him, 
 
 Like evening wolves : fierce Joab darts his eyes, 
 
Scene HI. HAD AD. 
 
 Keen as the leopard's, out into the night, 
 
 And curses our delay ; Abishai raves ; 
 
 Benaiah, Ittai, and the Tachmonite, 
 
 And they, the mighty three, who broke the host 
 
 Of the Philistines, and from Bethlehem well 
 
 Drew water, when the King but thirsted, now, 
 
 Raven like beasts bereaved of their young. 
 
 We go not after boys, but the Gibborim, 
 
 Whose bloody weapons never struck but triumphed. 
 
 Malchi. It were a doubtful quest. 
 
 Hush. Hear me, O King. 
 Go not to night, but summon, with the dawn, 
 Israel's ten thousands ; mount thy conquering car, 
 Surrounded by innumerable hosts, 
 And go, their strength, their glory, and their King, 
 Almighty to the battle ; for what might 
 Can then resist thee ? Light upon this handful, 
 Like dew upon the earth ; or if they bar 
 Some city's gates against thee, let the people 
 Level its puny ramparts, stone by stone, 
 And cast them into Jordan. Thus, my lord 
 
136 HADAD. Act IV. 
 
 May bind his crown with wreaths of victory, 
 And owe his kingdom to no second arm. 
 
 Ahith. O blindness ! lunacy ! 
 
 Hush. I would retire ; 
 Ye have my counsel. 
 
 Ahith. Would thou hadst not come, 
 To linger out with thy pernicious talk 
 The hours of action. 
 
 Hush. Wise Ahithophel, 
 No longer I'll offend thee. Please the King 
 
 [ABSALOM waves him to resume, his seat.~] 
 Ahith. By all your hopes, my lord, of life and glory, 
 I do adjure thee shut thine ears to him ! 
 His counsel's fatal, if not treacherous. 
 I see its issue, clearly as I see 
 The badge of royalty, not long to sit 
 Where now it sparkles, if his words entice thee.- 
 Never was prudence in my tongue, or now. 
 Blanch'd as I am, weak, withered, winter-stricken, 
 Grant but twelve thousand men, and I'll go forth. 
 Weary, weak-handed, what can they, if taken, 
 Now, in their first alarm ? 
 
Seene III. HAD AD. 137 
 
 Ab. Were this resolved, 
 We would not task thy age. What think ye, sirs ? 
 
 Manass. My lord, the risk is great : a night assault 
 Deprives us of advantage from our numhers, 
 Which in the open field ensure success ; 
 And news of a disaster blown about, 
 And magnified, just now, when all are trembling, 
 Might lose a Tribe, might wound us fatally. 
 Hushai's advice appears most prudent. 
 
 Ahith. Fate! 
 
 Malchi. I think so too, my lord. 
 
 Others. And I. And I. 
 
 Ahith. Undone ! 
 
 Ab. The Council are agreed, this once, 
 Against you, and with them the King accords. 
 
 Ahith. (stretching his hands toward ABSALOM.) 
 Against thyself, thy throne, thy life, thy all ! 
 Darkness has entered thee, confusion waits thee, 
 Death brandishes his dart at thee, and grins 
 At thy brief diadem ! Farewell ! Farewell ! 
 Remember me ! I'll not be checked and rated, 
 
138 HADAD. Act IV. 
 
 Branded with treason see my hoary hairs 
 Hooted and scoffed at, if they're spared, indeed, 
 For such indignity. Thou'lt follow soon. [Exit.'] 
 
 Ab. Or win or lose, we walk not by thy light. 
 
 Malchi. The old man's strangely moved. 
 
 Manass. His fury seemed 
 Prophetical. 
 
 Ab. The council is dissolved, 
 Here to assemble in the morning early, 
 To order for our absence. Leave us now 
 To private business. 
 
 Counsellors. Save our lord the King. 
 
 [Exeunt.] 
 
SCENE IV. 
 
 The bridge over Gihon by the corner of Millo, between the 
 upper and lower city : illuminations seen on the housetops : 
 sounds of nocturnal riot and confusion in the streets : HA- 
 DAD walking impatiently backwards and forwards on the 
 bridge. 
 
 Had. Where can they loiter ? Should some ruffian clasp 
 Her peerless beauty Ha ! what cry is that ? 
 
 [Listens anxiously to distant shouts.'] 
 Mouth' d brutes.! Or live, or die King Absalom, 
 I care not. How like Hell's epitome 
 The city looks ! The fires of jubilee 
 Flash bloodily upon the gloomy clouds 
 That hang, as charged with thunder, over it. 
 The crowds upon the housetops stare about 
 
140 HADAD. Act IV. 
 
 Like new come ghosts. In every guarded tower 
 Helms gleam, and bristling spears ; and crested forms 
 Stalking the ramparts in the lurid light, 
 Like guardians on the Infernal battlements, 
 Appear gigantic. But, were those grim confines 
 Peopled polluted with a herd like these, 
 These Chosen Children, they were Hell indeed ! 
 The filth, the dregs of all Jerusalem 
 Float in the streets. Thieves, beggars, bravoes, base 
 Nethinims, harlots, tattered prodigals, 
 Flock from their holes to shout for Absalom. 
 
 Almost, I pity Hark ! a rabblement 
 
 Hoots this way. Let me shun their drunken madness. 
 
 [Retires into the shade of Millo : enter a crowd from 
 the lower city, shouting.] 
 
 First Crowd. Hurrah for Absalom ! King Absalom ! 
 
 Second Crowd. Down with the Graybeard ! 
 
 Third Crowd. Down with the Giant-queller 
 
 Fourth Crowd. Hold, sirs hold while I chanl a canticle 
 Indited for next Feast of Tabernacles, 
 On that same doughty feat. 
 
Seme IF. HAD AD. 141 
 
 Fifth Crowd, (drunk.) A murrain take 
 Your canticles ! Cry, Long live Absalom ! 
 
 Fourth Crowd. Whom have we there, my masters ? See 
 
 ye not ? 
 
 Bolt upright by the wall ? Rabbi, who art thou ? 
 Emerge, I say : come from the land of shadows :- 
 Art thou for Absalom ? 
 
 Had. Ay. 
 
 Fifth Crowd. Then come forth. 
 
 Had. I'm stationed by the King. 
 
 Crowd. Molest him not ; 
 He says he's of our party. 
 
 Fifth Crowd. Let him shout. (Approaches Hadad.) 
 Uplift thy voice. Wast thou born dumb ? 
 
 Crowd. Look ! look ! 
 What throng is that by David's Tower ? 
 
 Second Crowd. Hurrah ! (Rushes up toward Zion : all 
 follow.) 
 
 Had. (resuming his station on the bridge.) 
 What nightmare sits on them ! They might have groped 
 The Red Sea caves, the womb of Caucasus, 
 
 19 
 
142 HAD AD. Act IV. 
 
 The den of Hiddekel Ha ! Maugrabin ! 
 
 [MAUGRABIN looks from behind an angle of the. 
 
 neighbouring wall, and enters.] 
 What news ? hast found her ? ha ? 
 
 Maug. No track of her. 
 
 Had. Out, Incubus ! 
 Where hast thou idled ? Darest thou torture me ? 
 
 Maug. By Trismegistus ! in this half short hour 
 I've borne my clay so sprightfully about, 
 That eyes which saw me doubted if they saw 
 Substance, or shadow. Every den of blood, 
 Cavern of booty, loose retreat of lust 
 And murder, compassed by these holy walls, 
 I've entered, searched, and sworn by Samael, 
 That if they touch a hair of her, their souls 
 Shall blaze, this night, in the profoundest Hell. 
 Why should I play thee false ? Grudge I the morsel ? 
 Or am I like to hide, for virtue's sake, 
 A delicate bird of David's nest from thee, 
 The King of Fowlers ? 
 
 Had. (continuing a moment in thought.) Follow me. 
 
 [Exeunt.'] 
 
SCENE V. 
 
 The court of the Tabernacle on Mount Zion, lighted by afire 
 upon the altar of burnt offerings : the interior of the sanc 
 tum partially visible through the smoke of the incense 
 burning there : ZADOK and ABIATHAR standing by the 
 altar. 
 
 Abi. The night frowns darkly, and may burst in storm 
 Before our sons o'ertake the King. How, then, 
 Cross ruffled Jordan with the helpless household ? 
 
 Zad. Look not to me for cheering. Am not I 
 Dark as thyself? 
 
 Abi. But thou didst charge the youths 
 So straitly to pass o'er. 
 
 Zad. So Hushai bade. 
 
 Enter TAMAR, attended by two ancient Jews. 
 
144 HADAD. Act IV. 
 
 Tarn. O, holy Priests ! O, blessed Tabernacle ! 
 Zadok Abiathar will ye protect me ? 
 
 Zad. (supporting her.) 
 
 Protect thee, Princess ! thou art with sure friends. 
 Whence comest thou ? 
 
 Tarn. I know not Oh ! I know not. 
 
 Jew. We rescued her from villains. 
 
 Zad. Merciful! 
 What measure hath this dreadful day of wrath ! 
 
 Jew. We met her in a dark and lonely place, 
 West of Damascus' gate, dragged by two ruffians, 
 Her mouth close bound. Perceiving us approach, 
 They snatched the caul and circlet from her head, 
 Tore from her arms and neck the costly gems, 
 And plunged into the darkness. 
 
 Zad. Blest be He 
 
 Whose mercy guided you ! How cam'st thou thus 
 Exposed ? Know ye ? (to the Jews.) 
 
 Jew. Hearing the Ark returned, 
 She bent her steps this way, to seek of you 
 Intelligence and comfort. In the dusk 
 
Scene V. HADAD. 145 
 
 And crowded streets, losing her sole attendant, 
 And borne amidst the tumult, she was seized 
 By those same wretches, her pretended guides. 
 
 Zad. YeVe saved the Princess Tamar. Let me know 
 Your worthy names. 
 
 Jew. Barak and Mahlon, kinsmen, 
 Of Omri's house. 
 
 Zad. The deed shall be rewarded, 
 If righteousness return. But leave the maid 
 We watch before the altar safer here, 
 In presence of the Lord, than with an host. ^ 
 
 Tarn. Yes, leave me, leave me, friends. 
 
 Jew. Farewell ! may prayers 
 And sacrifice avert the threatened judgments. 
 
 [Exeunt Jews.] 
 
 Tarn. O, tell me, where is David ? I beheld him 
 Barefoot and weeping Or was that a dream ? 
 Yourselves the Levites weeping round the Ark ? 
 
 Zad. Ah ! that it were a dream ! 
 
 Tarn. But speak to me 
 Plainly of things, for I grow wild. I ask, 
 
146 HABAD. Act IV. 
 
 But no one answers Absalom is King 
 
 They cry When ? How ? What hath befallen us ? 
 
 Zad. David is driven forth. 
 
 Tarn. Where? where? 
 
 Abi. We know not. 
 
 Zad. Nor where, nor how : it fell upon our heads 
 Like sudden thunder. 
 
 Tarn. Were I but with him ! 
 
 Ye know not where he went ? Perhaps they followed 
 Have murdered him ? Assure me Doth he live ? 
 
 [The Priests whisper together.] 
 Enough ! my father is not ! 
 
 Zad. Hearken, Princess, 
 For we may trust thee. David lives. He fled 
 Toward Jordan, promising to wait for tidings 
 In a concerted place 
 
 Tarn. But will he 'scape ? 
 
 Zad. If he pass o'er to night ; and both our sons 
 Are sped to warn him. 
 
 Tarn. Did ye urge ? implore him ? 
 
 Jlbi. We counselled him, and he is wise of heart. 
 
Scene V. HAD AD. 147 
 
 Zad. Calm your perturbed spirits now : repose 
 Upon the Lord. His promises sustain 
 Our fainting hopes : His sacred presence dwells 
 Still in the Sanctuary, and forbids 
 Despair. Yes, when the Ark resumed its place, 
 The Glory settled 'twixt the Cherubim 
 With undiminished lustre. 
 
 Tarn. Then, there's hope 
 
 But Oh ! my guilty father ! wo alas ! (weeps bitterly.) 
 
 Zad. Despair not : join with us in supplications. 
 
 Tarn. Why did they spare me ! Oh, that I had died 
 When death was near ! 
 
 Zad. Disparage not thy rescuer ; 
 Jehovah hears thee. Kneel for his offences, 
 For Israel's, whose portentous sins may tempt 
 A retribution terrible and final. 
 Enter the Sanctuary, and uplift 
 Thy sorrowing heart, more prevalent than incense. 
 
 [They lead her into the Tabernacle.] 
 
SCENE VI. 
 
 Without the vail of the court : HADAD attended by several of 
 ABSALOM'S guard: MAUGRABIN, at a little distance in the 
 gloom, watching them. 
 
 Had. I saw her there : she entered with the Priests. 
 Go in, and say the King commands her presence. 
 
 [The Guards pass into the court of the Tabernacle : 
 HADAD remains, intently looking through the vail.] 
 Lo ! lo ! the bloody shrine of sacrifice, 
 The cherub-tissued curtains, the seven branches, 
 Revealing through the censer's smothering fume 
 
 The dim magnificence ! Each implement 
 
 As he prescribed. These must be symbols, types 
 
 Of things hereafter. 
 
 Maug. (muttering to himself.) Tempt him, if thou wilt 
 Pry in his secrets till devouring fire 
 
Scene VI. HADAD. 149 
 
 Break out upon thee Yea, within the snuff 
 Of that detested incense ! How the wreaths 
 Begin to curl about him ! I'll not risk 
 Annihilation. (Exit.) 
 
 Had. Wherefore should I tremble ? 
 Mortals have gazed unblinded Moses saw 
 
 The lightning of his glory pass. But I 
 
 How could I front the terrible array 
 
 If yonder vail should part One flash might end me ! 
 
 What holds them parleying ? This abhorred smoke 
 Is worse than Stygian every breath I draw 
 Is mortal agony. Leave her I will not 
 
 In custody of those arch hypocrites 
 
 [Re-enter Guards, with TAMAR,] 
 Mean ye to stay eternity ? 
 
 First Guard. We stayed not. 
 
 Had. Peace! 
 
 Second Guard, (aside to his comrade.) 
 Look how convulsed and pale he is ; 
 And see, his breast is bloody. 
 
 20 
 
150 HADAD. Act IV. 
 
 Had. (fiercely.) Get behind me. 
 
 [Throws his mantle across his breast, and conducts 
 TAMAR out, followed by the rest : she neither 
 speaks, nor regards him.'] 
 
 
 SCENE VII. 
 
 A deep, woody glen : KING DAVID'S followers scattered in 
 different parts, some sleeping on the ground, others station 
 ed zvith their arms watching : The royal household shelter 
 ed under a slight tent spread beneath a tree : a Jire burning 
 near them: ITTAI and BENAIAH standing together in dis 
 course. 
 
 lit. It moves me more to see his hoary head 
 Thus bowed and bare, to read his grief-struck eye, 
 Than were his corse here bleeding. That's an end 
 Of good and evil. All his faults twice summed, 
 Deserve not this. My hardy spearmen wept, 
 When he, the second time, besought me turn, 
 Nor link my fortunes to a fallen Master. 
 
Scene VIL HAD AD. 151 
 
 Ben. I cannot talk these things : I know the King. 
 
 Itt. I, too, have stood by him in sharp extremes, 
 But never did his nature shine to me, 
 So like the furnaced gold. 'Tis strange, Benaiah, 
 The canker gnawing at his inmost heart, 
 He should sustain himself; careful for us 
 As he were hosom-free. The Prophet droops 
 Almost to death. Look how he sits beside 
 The fire ; his large eye fixed, like one distraught. 
 Even youthful Solomon essays to cheer him. 
 
 Ben. He was God's herald, Ittai ; but the Lord 
 Communes with him no more. 'Tis that o'erwhelms him. 
 This horrible rebellion came unwarned. 
 Besides, his reverend years are all unused 
 To these rough accidents. 
 
 lit. Outnumbers he 
 The King in years ? 
 
 Ben. I know not ; but the King 
 Shook hands with toil and danger, in his youth, 
 And never parted. Oft, while jealous Saul 
 Laid snares for him, we harboured in these wilds ; 
 
152 HADAD. Jet IV. 
 
 Slept under branching trees, or in a cave, 
 Huddled like outlaws round the blazing brands. 
 Partook our meal. Reclined among us 
 
 I see him now his consecrated locks 
 
 Clustering in youthful beauty, and his lips 
 Dispensing grace and wisdom not unmeet 
 For mitred Aaron ; sometimes mixed with sounds 
 Drawn from his harp, and heard in desert woods, 
 From one so young, so constant, so oppressed 
 It touched the most obdurate. In worst want, 
 His gracious speech, and modest-beaming eye 
 More cheered us than the wine cup. 
 
 Enter JOAB. 
 
 Joab. How now, sirs ! 
 No tidings yet, and past the second watch. 
 
 Itt. Some accident hath stayed them, or the rebels 
 Waver in council. 
 
 Joab. God confound them worse 
 Than gabbling Babel ! Is the King this way ? 
 
Scene VII. HADAD. 153 
 
 Ben. He passed among the trees upon the left. 
 Joab. 'Twere well to wake the People : the first news 
 May reach us from the trumpet. Should a blast 
 Bellowing among these gorges rouse them Ho, there !-^ 
 
 [Exit on the left.} 
 
 Ben. No fear : four scouts on speedy dromedaries 
 Watch toward Jerusalem, who will apprize us. 
 But see, the King approaches, as in thought. 
 
 [They remove to another quarter."] 
 
 Enter KING DAVID. 
 
 K. Dav. 5 Tis not my honour, crown, nor life nor all 
 That may oppress me scorn, nor poverty 
 Have I not suffered these, yet heen at peace ? 
 Tranquil upon a bed of flint ? looked up 
 Sweetly upon thy firmament, when nought 
 But the resplendent stars were over me, 
 Revolving all thy wondrous goodness, power, 
 And promises, till brighter heralds spake 
 Of thee in the rejoicing east? But ah! 
 
154 HADAD. Act IV. 
 
 Temptation found me and the angry Judge 
 Hath found me too ! I slighted thee, my King, 
 My Father, and thy righteousness returns 
 The insufferable pang. Thou only know'st, 
 Thou only know'st O, spare the penitent ! 
 Nor yet destroy the guilty utterly ; 
 Humble, but not destroy my erring son ! 
 
 Enter NATHAN and SOLOMON. 
 
 Sol. Look, father, how the Prophet faints. He deems 
 Us quite abandoned, and is past all hope 
 Ever to tread the holy hill again. 
 
 K. Dav. Despair not, Seer. Why dost thou not refresh 
 Thy weariness with food ? Thy spirit fails 
 From toil and hunger. Feed, and thou'lt revive. 
 
 Nath. O, that my thirsty soul could find, once more, 
 The fountains that refresh from His right hand! 
 
 K. Dav. But dost thou well impatiently to grieve 
 His transient hiding ? 'Tis not thy offence 
 Whose chastisement is on us. Thou wilt know 
 
Scene VII. HAD AD. 155 
 
 .lis gracious visitations, hear his voice 
 
 On thy instructed bed, and wake to bless 
 
 His mercy, with the sun ; while I, perhaps, 
 
 Am slumbering where no radiant planet beams 
 
 To cheer the chambers where his presence comes not. 
 
 Nath. 'Tis all a gloomy formless void. I fear 
 Even for the Covenant. His word must stand ; 
 Yet he hath cast the sceptre to the ground, 
 And left that Son of Wickedness to triumph/ 7 ) 
 He swore should not afflict thee. Yea, thy throne 
 Was promised lasting as the days of Heaven, 
 And as the sun before him. Where is it ? 
 And where the Chosen People, if in thee. 
 And thy offence, the promise fail ? 
 
 K.Dav. Not so. 
 
 Behold this child, whom God hath ever loved ; 
 Him thou shalt nurture, and restore to Israel 
 When the oppression's past. Adopt him now. 
 And if I perish, Boy, honour and love 
 The Prophet as thy father : he will teach 
 The paths of wisdom, guide thee to a crown 
 
156 HADAD. Act IV. 
 
 Whose brightness will outlast the rock of Zion. 
 Dost thou attend me ? 
 
 Sol. O, sir, most needfully. But, sure, the Lord 
 Will never prosper wicked Absalom. 
 
 K. Dew. How that may be, we know not, but be sure 
 His gracious promises, almighty works, 
 His oath to Abraham, pact with Moses, all 
 His patience, testimonies, chastisements, 
 His signs, his oracles, his graven Law, 
 The trampled Heathen, the triumphant Ark, 
 The promised Temple, the all-glorious hope 
 Of Jacob's bright redeeming Star these, these, 
 Will never be abortive, though my staff 
 Of stewardship be broken, and my eyes 
 See not the Lord's salvation. 
 
 Sol. Father, look! 
 Ahimaaz and Jonathan are come. 
 
 Enter JOAB, BENAIAH, ITTAI, and other Captains, followed 
 by a crowd of people, with AHIMAAZ and JONATHAN, who 
 prostrate themselves before K. DAVID. 
 
Scene VII. HAD AD. ,157 
 
 Ahim. } 
 
 V God save the King ! 
 Jon. } 
 
 K. Dav. Declare your tidings. 
 
 Ahim. Would 
 
 They were more welcome ! Absalom controls 
 The city, and was locked in deep debate. 
 When we departed, whether to pursue. 
 The council differed. Hushai prays the King 
 Cross Jordan speedily, by no means linger. 
 
 K. Dav. 'Twas in debate you say. 
 
 Ahim. Even when we came : 
 Ahithophel enjoining on the Prince 
 Instant pursuit, but Hushai for delay. 
 
 K. Dav. You saw not Hushai ? 
 
 Ahim. No, my lord ; we staid 
 Beside Enrogel, fearing to go in : 
 My father sent a maid to us. 
 
 K. Dav. When left ye? 
 
 Jon. About the dewfall. 
 
 K. Dav. Wherefore have ye tarried ? 
 
 Ahim. We were pursued, my lord, and had not 'scaped, 
 
 21 
 
158 HADAD. Act IV. 
 
 At last, but for a woman of Bahurim, 
 Who hid us in a well. 
 
 K. Dav. Captains, ye hear. 
 Joab Benaiah- order for the march. 
 
 [Exeunt JOAB and BENAIAH.] 
 What further of the city ? Shed they blood ? 
 
 Ahim. We heard of none. 
 
 K. Dav. No violence committed ? 
 
 Jon. None, my lord. 
 His partisans possess the gates and walls 
 With warlike semblance, but the noise within 
 Resembled riotous mirth. 
 
 K. Dav. No outrage then ? 
 
 Ahim. None on the people. 
 
 K. Dav. How ! ye falter. Young men, 
 Keep nothing back, I charge ye, good or evil. 
 
 Ahim. Somewhat more proper for your private ear 
 We must relate then. 
 
 K. Dav. (to the people.) Go; prepare ye all 
 To march. Come this way, good Ahimaaz. 
 
 [Exeunt.] 
 
ACT V. 
 
 SCENE I. MAHANAIM, near the principal gate of the city. 
 The People collected : supplies of all kinds entering. King 
 DAVID standing among his Captains upon the wall, by the, 
 ascent of the gate. 
 
 First Citizen. But will the battle be to-day ? 
 
 Second Cit. You see, 
 
 The Captains are arrayed in proof 5 the bands 
 In readiness, awaiting but the King. 
 
 First Cit. Where lies the foe ? 
 
 Second Cit. Hard by the wood of Ephraim. (8 > 
 
 Enter an Old Man. 
 
160 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 Old Man. Direct mine eyes where is he ? which is he ? 
 
 Third Cit. Whom seek'st thou ? 
 
 Old Man. The Anointed the Sweet Singer. 
 
 Third Cit. The King ? Behold him yonder, on the wall, 
 Midst the Gibborim. Seest thou not ? there, father, 
 Him in the robe. 
 
 Old Man. Is that the King ? Oh, heavens ! 
 
 First Cit. Why dost thou weep ? 
 
 Old Man. How matted all his beard ! 
 Ah ! how neglected ! how his reverend locks 
 Are scattered ! Heavens ! is this the man who shone 
 Even as an Angel of the Lord ? How changed 
 Since I beheld him by the Tabernacle ! 
 
 Second Cit. He hath not trimmed his beard, nor changed 
 
 his raiment, 
 Nor slept, since he forsook Jerusalem. 
 
 Old. Man. Are those the Captains ? What helm'd chief 
 
 is that, 
 Whose face is as the ravening eagle's beak ? 
 
 Second Cit. 'Tis Joab. 
 
 Old. Man. Blest be Joab ! hearts of flint. 
 And hands of steel, are needful now. 
 
Scene!. HAD AD. 161 
 
 Second Cit. See, see ! 
 
 [KiNG DAVID and the Captains descend into the gate : 
 The People press nearer.] 
 
 K. Dav. Bring forth my harness. Joab and Abishai. 
 Lead ye the vanguard by the southern gate, 
 And wait me in the plain. My spear and harness ! 
 
 People, (many voices.) O, go not forth, my lord O, go 
 not Go not ! 
 
 Joab. If I might speak ? 
 
 K. Dav. Say on. 
 
 Joab. Thou know'st the time 
 Is perilous, and we can jeopard nothing. 
 Behold, my lord, this city's strong for siege, 
 High-towered, and watered, plentiful in corn 
 Poured in by Gilead, provender, and kine. 
 Let us thy servants strike the battle now, 
 And if we fail, my lord shall succour us 
 From out the city, or receive us here 
 Where we can baffle them. But if my lord 
 The King go forth and meet mischance to-day, 
 What hope is left us ? 
 
162 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 People, (crying tumultuously.) No, no, no. The King 
 Shall not go forth No matter if we perish 
 Ten thousand of us, to the King, is nought 
 They care not for us If the King he slain, 
 Israel is lost My lord shall not go forth 
 
 Joab. You hear the People. 
 
 Itt. All thy servants pray. 
 
 K. Dav. Well, what ye think is best, be done. 
 
 Joab. (unsheathing his szvord.) Advance 
 The banner. 
 
 K. Dav. Hear me, Joab Ittai, hear 
 Ye sons of Zeruiah, mark my charge 
 In presence of the People ! For my sake, 
 Deal gently with him even Absalom 
 Touch not his life What ! is he not my blood ? 
 
 Joab. God save the King ! Abishai pass thou south ; 
 I issue by this portal. 
 
 K.Dav. Ittai. 
 
 lit. My lord. 
 
 [They retire from the hearing of the People.'] 
 
 K. Dav. (after a moment's pause.] 
 Thou hast a son ? 
 
Seme I. HAD AD. 163 
 
 lit. Two valiant sons, my lord. 
 
 K. Dav. Fear'st thou the living God ? 
 
 lit. Thy servant doth. 
 
 K. Dav. Thou know'st, then, what it were to lose thy son 
 
 O, think on this If he he taken captive, 
 
 And he is ever in the press of combat, 
 Known by his deeds and stature, shield his life 
 From their wild fury. You perceive their minds 
 Are greatly edged, and all will aim at him. 
 1 would yield crown and life, ere see my son 
 Hurried to his award Dire, dire for him 
 Is this arbitrement 
 
 Itt. Wet not your cheeks, 
 My gracious lord, it doth unman my heart, 
 Which I would wear, to-day, like my habergeon. 
 
 K. Dav. Then swear to me. 
 
 Itt. I swear. 
 
 K. Dav. Enough, enough. 
 
 [The King resumes his station in the gate : The squad 
 rons pass out before him.~\ 
 
SCENE II. 
 
 The tent of ABSALOM : ABSALOM, armed except his helmet, 
 and HAD AD. 
 
 Ab. Methought I stood again, at dead of night, 
 In that rich sepulchre, viewing, alone, 
 The wonders of the place. My wandering eyes 
 Resting upon the costly sarcophage 
 Reared in the midst, I saw therein a form 
 Like David ; not as he appears, hut young, 
 And ruddy. In his lovely-tinctured cheek 
 The vermil blood looked pure and fresh as life 
 In gentle slumber. On his blooming brow 
 Was bound the diadem. But, while I gazed, 
 The phantasm vanished, and my father lay there. 
 As he is now, his head and beard in silver, 
 Sealed with the pale fixed impress of the tomb. 
 
Scene //. HADAD. 165 
 
 I knelt, and wept. But when I thought to kiss 
 My tears from off his reverend cheek, a voice 
 Cried, Impious ! hold ! and suddenly there stood 
 A dreadful and refulgent form before me, 
 Bearing the Tables of the Law. 
 Had. Rare phantoms ! 
 
 Ab. It spake not, moved not, but still sternly pointed 
 To one command, which shone so fiercely bright 
 It seared mine eyeballs. Presently, I seemed 
 Transported to the desolate wild shore 
 Of Asphaltites, night, and storm, and fire. 
 Astounding me with horror. All alone 
 I wandered ; but where'er I turned my eyes, 
 On the bleak rocks, or pitchy clouds, or closed them, 
 Flamed that command. 
 
 Had. How o'erwrought fancy coins ! 
 Ab. Then suddenly I sunk down, down, methought, 
 Ten thousand thousand cubits to a wide 
 And travelled way, walled to the firmament 
 On either side, and filled with hurrying nations ; 
 
 Hurrying they seemed, or hurried by some spell, 
 
 22 
 
166 HADAD. Aci V. 
 
 Toward a portentous adamantine gate 
 
 Towering before us to the empyrean. 
 
 Beside it Abraham sat, in reverend years 
 
 And gracious majesty, snatching his Seed 
 
 From its devouring jaws. When I approached, 
 
 He groaned forth, Parricide! and stretched no aid 
 
 To me alone, of all his Children. Then, 
 
 What flames, what howling fiery billows caught me, 
 
 Like the red ocean of consuming cities, 
 
 And shapes most horrid ; all, methought, in crowns 
 
 Scorching as molten brass, and every eye 
 
 Bloodshot with agony, yet none had power 
 
 To tear them off. With frantic yells of joy, 
 
 They crowned me too, and with the pang, I woke. 
 
 Had. 'Twas time, indeed. But this is empty nothing, 
 
 And should not shake a constant mind. 
 Ab. Not shake 
 
 From its determined purpose ; but may move 
 
 Affection, memory, with images 
 
 Of things, loved, mourned, or feared. That heart, methinks, 
 
 Were of strange mould which kept no cherished print 
 
Scene"//. HADAD. 167 
 
 Of earlier, happier times, when life was fresh, 
 And love and innocence made holy-day 
 Within the hosom, destined soon to know 
 The jar of sterner inmates ; or, that owned 
 No transient sadness, when a dream, or glimpse 
 Of fancy touched past joys. 
 
 Had. I held your soul 
 Fixed with a gaze too steadfast on the sun 
 Of glory, e'er to cast such looks behind. 
 
 Ab. And, Hadad, I had thought it strange in thee, 
 But that thou never knew'st a parent's love, 
 To hold so lightly what has cost me more 
 To quell, than all I can confront in arms. 
 Were I unmoved by such exhaustless bounty, 
 Heaped, loaded on me, since my earliest thought, 
 Till traitors poisoned him, I were a Fiend. 
 
 Enter an Officer of the Guard. 
 
 Off. My lord, the scouts bring tidings of the foe, 
 Skirting the left hand wood. 
 
168 HADAB. del V. 
 
 Jib. What form of march, 
 What numbers show they, sir ? 
 
 Off. Three squadrons come. 
 Joab, Benaiah, and the Cherethites, 
 Known by their scarlet plumage, make the vaward, 
 Beneath the royal banner : In the next, 
 The white scarfs of the Gittite troop appear : 
 The third was too remote for ken. 
 
 M. What numbers ? 
 
 Off. Some third, or fourth of ours, my lord. 
 
 Ab. So bold? 
 
 Yet that I looked for ; well I know their temper. 
 Saw they the King my father ? 
 
 Off. No, my lord, 
 No port that did resemble him. 
 
 Ab. 'Tiswell: 
 
 Command my chariot to the tent : Go, bid 
 The Captain be at his pavilion straightway. (Exit Off.) 
 This stern defiance arms my soul again. 
 So David front me not, these carrion birds, ', . 
 So fond to gorge, and baited to the carnage, 
 
Scene II. HADAD. 169 
 
 Shall taste their fill, to-day, by Astaroth! 
 Now for my daughter Tamar ! ho ! 
 
 [Partly withdrawing the inner curtain of the tent.] 
 
 Enter TAMAR. 
 
 My child. 
 
 Since thou wouldst follow, I have ordered thus. 
 The battle being near 
 
 Tarn. O ! say not so 
 
 Ab. Peace! hear me. 
 
 Tarn. Father ! father ! on my knees 
 I do conjure thee 
 
 Ab. (sternly.) Tamar ! 
 
 Tarn. By the love 
 
 You bear me ! by my grandsire's age ! by all 
 Heaven's fearful threatenings 
 
 Ab. Hush ! no more of this ! 
 Know'st thou thy father? Hope as soon to quail 
 My rushing war-steeds. What! when trumpets sound, 
 
170 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 And banners flout the sky ! Name it no more ; 
 
 But hear me. Twelve brave horsemen of the. guard 
 
 Will he your escort, with our trusty Kinsman. 
 
 Two dromedaries of the fleetest, girt 
 
 For thee and Hadad, if the day go hard, 
 
 Will bear ye from the danger. Mark me, Prince ; 
 
 Keep well aloof ; come not too near the turmoil ; 
 
 Move with the battle ; make the wood your skreen. 
 
 If we speed well, I'll meet ye here ; if not, 
 
 Stint not your riding, heed not food nor rest 
 
 Till Talmai's palace shelter her. Beware ! 
 
 Nor swerve a tittle ! And I charge thee, Hadad, 
 
 Be not o'er curious to inspect the strife ; 
 
 Thou canst not aid it ; and the trust thou hast 
 
 Is more to me than victory. 
 
 Had. My lord, 
 
 I yield to strong necessity, or else, 
 Nothing should sever me from thee to-day. 
 
 Ab. We need thee not. Farewell, my daughter. (Kisses 
 her.) Go; 
 
Scene///. HADAD. 171 
 
 Make ready for the saddle. Ride with me 
 Along the files, then, Hadad, to thy charge. 
 
 [TAMAR receives her fathers salute weeping, and 
 retires. AB. and HAD. go out together.] 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 The forest of Ephraim : the tents of a company of Ishmael- 
 ites : women seen under the trees : ADAH singing by a tent 
 door. 
 
 Ad. Greenly flourish, fragrant Mountain ! 
 Ishmael's free-born offspring know 
 Every shade and gushing fountain, 
 Where thy precious spices grow. 
 
 Laden with the odorous tribute, 
 When the gums have ceased tp fall, 
 
 Perfumes for the Priestly censer, 
 Sweets for Memphis' regal hall, 
 
172 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 First we greet, on .Zion's summit, 
 
 Haughty Judah's lion King, 
 Then to Nile's expecting borders 
 
 Gilead's rifled treasures bring. 
 
 What, though whirlwinds sweep our deserts, 
 Sands and death-clouds stalk the air ? 
 
 Bloody treason never frights us, 
 Royal mandates slay not there. 
 
 We no King, no Master worship ; 
 
 Hagar's God alone on high : 
 He the tameless spirit gave us, 
 
 Spread the desert, hung the sky 
 
 Ha ! Kedar, wherefore in such haste ? 
 
 Enter a young Ishmaelite. 
 
 Red. O,Adah! 
 
 The plain is full of warriors : two great hosts 
 Are rushing to the battle. 
 
 Ad. Heavens! to battle! 
 
Seem HI. HADAD. 173 
 
 Enter SARAH, from the tent. 
 
 Sar. What's that? 
 
 Ked. Sarah, two armies are in conflict 5 
 Covering the plain with horses, arms, and ensigns. 
 Why, heard ye not the trumpets ? 
 
 Women, (collecting about them.) NoNo No. 
 
 Sar. But where ? 
 
 Ked. West of the wood. While at the spring 
 Filling our water-skins, we heard a blast, 
 And trampling hollow sounds that shook the earth, 
 And, pushing to the forest edge, we saw 
 Squadrons approaching 'gainst a mighty host 
 Camp'd in the plain, a countless multitude. 
 O, Adah, such a glorious sight ! shields flashed, 
 Spears shook, and arrows flew ! 
 
 Sar. But who are they ? 
 
 Ked. We know not ; but Abimilech declared 
 The battle promised blood. He says the spoil 
 Will more enrich us than our spices, more 
 Than thrice our annual journey into Gilead. 
 
 23 
 
174, HADAD. Aet V. 
 
 Dumah is with the camels ; all the rest 
 Are watching to despoil the slain. I came, 
 Lest ye should fear mischance. 
 
 Ad. Alas! alas! 
 
 Ked. O, could you see how dazzling bright their arms, 
 How square and firm they move, flashing the sun 
 Back from the brazen ridges, and behold 
 The warrior in the car majestic rule 
 His bounding steeds, white as the noon-day cloud ! 
 
 Enter TAMAR, pale, and leaning wpon HADAD, followed by two 
 of the Guard. 
 
 Had. We crave your hospitality, good people ; 
 This lady's faint, and cannot keep the saddle. 
 Grant her the shelter of your tent awhile. 
 
 Sar. Enter in peace. 
 
 Ad. Sweet lady, let me aid thee. 
 
 [ADAH conducts TAMAR into the tent.'] 
 
 Sar. Belike she's frighted ? Heard ye of the battle? 
 
 Had. We have. 
 
SceneUL HADAD. 175 
 
 Sar. Know ye what hosts they be? 
 
 Had. 'Tis Israel. 
 
 Sar. Whom strive they with, my lord ? 
 
 Had. Their ancient, cruel, 
 Invet'rate, and indomitable foe, 
 Each other. 
 
 Sar. Holy God! 
 
 Had. (to the Guard.) Keep all together. Are your 
 comrades near ? 
 
 Guard. Stationed behind the tents, my lord. 
 
 Had. 'Tis well: 
 
 Be ready to mount instantly ; and hark, 
 I have a word for all of ye. 
 
 [HAD. and Guard disappear behind the tents.'] 
 
 Sar. Isaac with Isaac hosts, and Ishmael reaps 
 The bloody spoil ! Thus Heaven's decrees 
 
 Enter ADAH. 
 
 Ad. O, mother! 
 Never did I behold such beauty ! sure, 
 
176 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 She must be some born Princess, all her vest 
 Is twined with gold, and every loop 
 Is fastened with a gem. But Oh ! such grief, 
 Such sighs, it wrings my heart ! 
 
 Women. Who can she be ? 
 
 Ad. Her girdle, sandals, bracelets, glistering hood 
 Of checklaton, are wondrous ; and a cord 
 Of rarest rubies twice engirds her neck, 
 And falls betwixt her bosom white as wool. 
 But O, her lovely face was never peer'd. 
 She looks, methinks, as Pharaoh's daughter did, 
 When we beheld her pleasuring on the Nile. 
 
 Sar. Here comes the stranger : noble too. 
 
 M. Question him, mother dear : ask who they are, 
 And what hath chanced to them ; 'tis, sure., some sad. 
 Sad accident. 
 
 Enter HADAD. 
 
 Sar. How can we serve my lord, 
 Or yon fair lady? 
 
Scene III. HAD AD. 177 
 
 Had. Let us rest a space. 
 
 Sar. Yea, but she droops, my lord. I would we might 
 Administer : her tears and beauty touch 
 My daughter nearly. 
 
 Ad. Ah ! might not some comfort 
 
 Had. Nothing: intrude not on her. 
 
 Sar. If we knew 
 
 Her ailment, doubt not we could balm it, sir : 
 Adah has soothed a wilder mood, believe me. 
 
 Had. Her friends are in the battle. Trouble not 
 Anxiety ye cannot tranquillize. 
 
 Sar. Her friends may conquer : Why doth she despair ? 
 
 Had. They may, they must. But leave her, dame. 
 
 Kedar. Here's Dumah. 
 
 Enter an Ishmaelite. 
 
 Sar. What of the battle, Dumah ? heard ye aught ? 
 Dum. I durst not leave the camels long ; but ere 
 I came, I ran and looked, just looked. 
 Had. Whatsaw'stthou? 
 
178 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 Dum. Host mixed with host confused. 
 The flash and shock of arms, shouts, groans, and peals 
 Of shrilling trumpets, and a dreadful car 
 Hurled by two steeds fiercer than unicorns 
 
 Had. Who yielded? 
 
 Dum. None ; 
 But many fell. 
 
 Had. Know you Would I could cast 
 
 A glance there ! [TAMAR appears at the door of the tent.'} 
 Ha ! what, my love ? 
 
 Tarn. What tidings? 
 
 Had. Nothing decisive. Thou shalt hear the first. 
 Go in, sweet : calm your agitated spirits. 
 
 Tarn. Ah ! Hadad, thou mightst have prevented this. 
 
 Had. Nay, have I not assured thee how I strove, 
 Entreated, kneeled to shake your father's purpose ? 
 His will is moveless as the world's fixed centre. 
 
 Tarn. Had I but known it ! Now, it matters not 
 Who wins or loses. 
 
 Had. Could I play the traitor ? 
 Betray his secrets ? That had sundered us 
 
Scene III. HADAD. 179 
 
 For ever, blasted all my hopes in thee. 
 
 Go in, love ; thou shalt know whate'er betides. 
 
 [TAMAR retires.'] 
 How long since you beheld the field ? 
 
 Dum. Why, sir, 
 I've laded, and led home the camels since. 
 
 Enter two Ishmaelites, with spoils. 
 
 Had. This looks of fresher die. Where got ye these ? 
 
 First Ish. From those who did not say us nay. 
 
 Had. Rings, daggers, 
 
 Girdles. Or friends' or foes', they speak one tongue, 
 And bear the Hebrew image. Take them hence 
 Bring them not near this tent. How goes the field ? 
 
 First Ish. The storm drives south. 
 
 Had. Ha! south? 
 
 Second Ish. We gathered these 
 Where the first blows were struck. 
 
 Had. Saw ye a chariot ? 
 
 First Ish. The conflict there, is like the desert whirlwind. 
 
180 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 Darts, arrow-flights, and clashing eager spears, 
 And desperate combatants are huddled there. 
 The dust-wreaths fly. The ramping chargers foam 
 Like yesty waters : whizzing javelins glance 
 From their broad frontlets and brass poitrels, like 
 Hail from a rock. Their master's buckler takes 
 A tempest. 
 
 Had. So ! The battle pushes south ? 
 
 First Ish. We won 
 
 These spoils where it first closed, and now it rages 
 Further toward Succoth, all between thick strown 
 With carcasses. All's broken and confused. 
 But, scattered through the field, you may espy, 
 Far in the hostile ranks, the scarlet crests 
 Of some who know their weapons well, and clear 
 A bloody space around them. Tema ! ha ! 
 
 Enter third Ishmaelite, with booty. 
 
 How goes the strife ? 
 
 Third Ish. We left it at the direst. 
 
Scene III. HADAD. 181 
 
 First Isk. How fares the car ? 
 
 Third Ish. The horses plunge and madden, 
 But cannot stir the wheels, fast wedged by dead 
 And living. Round them fights a furious ring, 
 Like reckless lions. All their silver manes, 
 And arch'd necks, when they rear, show bloody red. 
 
 Fourth Ish. (entering while the last speaks.) 
 They're prostrate dead, I think I saw them fall. 
 
 Had. What of their lord ? 
 
 Fourth Ish. O'er his fallen steeds he combats : 
 His sword sweeps circles that the hardiest shun. 
 
 Had. He cannot 'scape then ? Can he 'scape ? 
 
 Fourth Ish. For thrice 
 The car, I would not stand in it. 
 
 Third Ish. 'Tis o'er ere this : we came about, for fear 
 Of skirmishers that struggled in the wood. 
 
 Had. (walking aside.) 
 
 'Tis odds he's slain I know the grim-faced crew 
 That bay him the Gibborim dogs of blood, 
 
 The war-leviathans 1 must bethink me. 
 
 What's to be done ? I'll rid me of those fellows 
 
 24 
 
182 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 Alone with her, I may persuade : If not 
 
 I have her and can curb her One thing's fixed : 
 I part with her no more. My work is done. 
 These feet ne'er tread Jerusalem again : 
 I've groaned, and burned, and suffered. Now's the meed. 
 If our arch foe recover, is't my fault? 
 Have I not laboured ? hurled the brand of Hell 
 Into his bosom ? Come what may, I'll trust 
 No after time with joys within my grasp. 
 Fourth Ish. Lo, lo, the Captain ; here's Abimilech. 
 
 Enter ABIMILECH, and several Ishmaelites, with a quantity of 
 rich spoiL 
 
 Abim. (perceiving Hadad.) Whom have we here ? 
 
 Third Ish. We found him when we came, 
 Inquiring of the battle. 
 
 Adah, (running to Abimilech.) Welcome, father. 
 
 Abim. What stranger's that ? 
 
 Ad. O, father, he hath brought 
 The sweetest lady ever lifted lid. 
 She's in our tent. 
 
Scene III. HAD AD. !S3 
 
 Had. (saluting Abim.) Peace. 
 
 Abim. Peace. 
 
 Had. I prithee, sir, 
 How fortunes now the field ? 
 
 Abim. The slaughter's rife. 
 
 Had. But is the battle lost? 
 
 Abim. Flight, conflict, carnage 
 Cover the champaign and the southern wood j 
 More north, loose bands, and straggling warriors stab, 
 And wrestle in the thickets, brakes, and marshes, 
 With direst hatred. Never saw I wrath 
 So fell, or followed. 
 
 Had. Heard ye of the Chief 
 Who fought from out a chariot with white steeds ? 
 
 Abim. He's finished. 
 
 Had. Ha ! how know'st thou that ? 
 
 Abim. I saw him lifeless. 
 
 Had. Art thou sure ? 
 
 Abim. If to be bored with three tough darts be sure. 
 
 Had. Beseech ye, come this way : some friends are near, 
 To whom the news were murderous. Then he 'scaped not? 
 
164 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 Abim. He fled upon a mule, and disappeared, 
 And had escaped I thought, though hotly followed, 
 Taking the wood when met upon the plain. 
 But as I crossed the forest far within, 
 A trumpet roused me. Hearing earnest voices, 
 I made that way, through a close brake, to spy 
 The danger. Near the thicket's verge, I saw 
 A concourse round an oak. Intent they seemed 
 On some great spectacle. Opening anon, 
 I saw him, bleeding, and transpierced with darts. 
 Borne past me on their shields. 
 
 Had. What was his vesture ? 
 
 Abim. Fragments of purple hung about his shoulders. 
 
 Had. His arms ? his helm ? 
 
 Abim. Unhelm'd his head, and bare ; 
 His breastplate sparkled, studded, and engrailed 
 With flowers of gold, pure burnish of Damascus. 
 
 Had. His stature 
 
 Abim. Palm-like tall, of noblest aspect ; 
 With ample locks that trailed upon the ground. 
 
 Had. Let Hades rise to meet him reverently, 
 
Scene III. HAD AD. 185 
 
 For not a Kingly Shadow there sustained 
 A prouder spirit ! 
 
 Abim. I have watched 
 
 His dauntless bearing through this desperate day 
 Too keenly to mistake. Though he miscarried, 
 He well deserves a valiant memory, 
 And fought it like a son of David. 
 
 Had. Dead! 
 
 We must begone. Prithee, speak not of this 
 
 Till we're away. First I'll despatch yon Horsemen. 
 
 [Aside.-] 
 
 Abim. (approaching the Ishmaelites.) 
 Come, bustle bustle, mates : day wastes and with 
 The moon, we must be making for the Desert. 
 
 Had. (behind the tents.) 
 
 Mount, sirs, your master needs ye push amain 
 Spur strike into the field the shortest way 
 Where'er ye see him grapple to his side 
 I'll guard the Princess. (Returning.) So ; we'll farther 
 
 pierce 
 The forest, that they trace us not. At worst, 
 
186 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 Our dromedaries can, with ease, outstrip them. 
 
 [Approaching SARAH'S tent.] 
 Princess, we must hegone. 
 
 Tarn, (appearing.) Ha IWhat ? 
 
 Had. But this; 
 Your father has retreated. 
 
 Tarn. Is he safe? 
 Alive? uninjured? 
 
 Had. They who saw, report 
 He so escaped. 
 
 Tarn. Thanks, gracious Heaven ! 
 
 Had. Come, sweet, 
 
 We must obey him, now : The conflict's o'er ; 
 Take comfort. Bid we these good friends farewell. 
 
 Tarn. Adieu, kind-hearted Adah ! Were my fate 
 Less cruel, we would not part so. Keep this 
 For Tamar's sake. (Gives her a ring.) 
 
 Adah, (weeping.) Farewell ! farewell ! The stars 
 Prove kinder to you. 
 
 Sar. Go in peace. 
 
 Tarn. Farewell to all ! 
 
 [The Ishmaelites follow TAM. and HAD. to the 
 rear of the encampment."] 
 
SCENE IV. 
 
 A sequestered place in the wood, surrounded with thick dark 
 trees : a fountain, near a cave : Enter HADAD and TAMAR. 
 
 * 
 
 Tarn. But why dismount here ? night approaches, 
 
 Hadad: 
 
 See, the slant sunbeams gild but the tall tree-tops, 
 And evening sables all below. The wood 
 Grows drear and dismal : let's escape from it. 
 
 Had. But we must wait the Guard. Come, sit with me 
 Beside this mossy fountain : All is still here : 
 List the sweet birds nestling among the boughs ; 
 All else soft silence : tumult comes not here. 
 Sit by this crystal spring awhile. 
 
 Tarn. No, no, 
 I will not sit ; we must not linger here. 
 
188 HAD AD. Art V. 
 
 My father bade us haste : we disobey, 
 
 And risk his anger. Keep your hands from me. 
 
 Had. But whither shall we fly ? 
 
 Tarn. Where he commanded. 
 
 Had. To vassal Geshui ! Who can there protect us ? 
 
 Or in Damascus' tributary walls ? 
 
 Hear me, sweet Princess, bright star of my being, 
 Fly, fly with me beyond this wretched scene 
 Of civil strife, and never-ending discord, 
 To realms of quietness, where we may dwell 
 In lasting peace. 
 
 Tarn. What mean'st thou ? 
 
 Had. Look on Israel 
 
 Deluged in blood the Royal House divided 
 The Tribes in faction peace for ever fled ! 
 What harbour here for love ? O, fly with me : 
 I will conduct you to a brighter sphere. 
 
 Tarn. Forsake my country? father? Never, never. 
 
 Had. Then Hadad's lost, and all our cherished hopes 
 A faithless dream. 
 
 Tarn. These sad clouds may disperse. 
 
SetmlV. HAD AD. 189 
 
 Had. Thou know'st not Ah ! 1 would have spared 
 
 that pang 
 
 Tarn. Ha! 
 
 Had. Hadad can never tread these bounds again. 
 Deemed (O, how falsely !) treason's foul abettor, 
 Since he is gone who only could attest 
 His spotless innocence. 
 
 Tarn. Since who is gone ? 
 
 Had, (seeming to weep.) 
 Alas ! alas ! your father 
 Sleeps with the valiant of the years of old. 
 
 Tarn. O, grief ! my father ! Couldst thou so deceive 
 me! 
 
 Had. I had not fortitude 
 
 Tarn. Alas ! my father ! (Lost in tears.) 
 
 Had. The bond is burst that knit thee to thy country : 
 Thy father's murderers triumph: Go not there 
 To see their mock'ry, hear his mighty name 
 Dishonoured by their lips. Let us retire, 
 And, piously, on some far peaceful shore, 
 
 With mingled tears embalm his memory. 
 
 25 
 
.190 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 Tarn. Am I an orphan ! 
 
 Had. Much loved Princess, no, 
 Not while this faithful heart so fondly 
 
 Tarn. All, 
 
 All gone ! all but one hoar and stricken head ! 
 My father David ! I'll to thee. 
 
 Had. (aside.) Curs'd thought ! 
 
 What ! to the slayer of thy parent ! Go 
 
 Where obloquy, and shame, and curses load him ! 
 
 Hear him called, Rebel ! Canst thou bear that, lady ? 
 
 Tarn. Nor shall I David too will mourn, and shield 
 His memory with a father's love. 
 
 Had. Tamar 
 Wilt thou forsake me ? 
 
 Tarn. I must go to David. 
 
 Had. Think, think of your inevitable lot ! 
 Withering neglect and scorn ! for who will wed 
 A traitor's offspring ? Men will call thee so, 
 And Princes slight thee as a blasted thing. 
 
 Tarn. Prince, wherefore this to me ? Conduct me hence. 
 
Scene IV. HADAD. 191 
 
 Had. (abruptly, in an altered tone.) 
 Nay, hold ! for you must listen. And, if deaf 
 To love, I can speak that will touch your ear 
 To fearful ecstasy. 
 
 [TAMAR startled: he proceeds in an agitated manner.] 
 
 Confide in me, 
 
 And turn thy back on this curs'd land for ever, 
 And I'll convey thee to a Paradise 
 
 Where thou shalt reign the worshipped Queen of realms, 
 To which this Canaan is a darksome span. 
 Beings. shall serve thee brighter than thy dreams : 
 The Elements shall stoop to thee ; the Sea 
 Disclose her wonders, and receive thy feet 
 Into her pearly chambers ; radiant clouds 
 Shall be thy chariot, thou shalt roam the skies : 
 To satisfy thy noble thirst of knowledge, 
 Ages, forgotten ages shall cast up 
 Their hoarded treasures, ere the mighty flood 
 Covered the mountains, ere this rolling Earth 
 Stood in her station : Thou shalt know the Stars, 
 The Houses of Eternity, their names, 
 Their courses, destiny ; all secrets high. 
 
192 HADAD. Aci V- 
 
 Tarn. Talk not so madly, Hadad. 
 
 Had. (vehemently.) Speak answer 
 
 Wilt thou be mine if mistress of them all ? 
 
 Tarn. I know not what I fear when I say, No. 
 Thou wouldst not wrong me in this lonely wood. 
 Confided to thee as a sacred trust 
 Alas ! and yet thy passion-troubled mien 
 Appals me. 
 
 Had. (haughtily.) Ha? perhaps you doubt my power? 
 Whom dost thou think me ? 
 
 Tarn. Able to achieve 
 
 What human strength and genius 
 
 
 
 Had. (with scorn.) Human strength ! 
 
 Tarn. What horrid thought of pride curls thy pale lip. 
 
 And ruffles all thy form ? O, look not thus 
 
 Your eyes are terrible Protect me, Heaven ! 
 How, how have I offended ? 
 
 Had. Still, thou deem'st me 
 Hadad the man the worm the 'heritor 
 Of a poor vanquished tributary King ! 
 Then know me 
 
Scene IV. HAD AD. 193 
 
 Tarn, (terrified.) Heavens! O, heavens! 
 
 Had. This form was Hadad's 
 But I the Spirit I the Power who speak 
 Through these clay lips am from the Heaven of Heavens. 
 The peer of Angels. 
 
 Tarn. Horror ! 
 
 f 
 
 Had. Canst thou conceive 
 
 The love that could persuade me to these fetters ? 
 Quenching immortal and angelic lustre 
 Abandoning my power I who could touch 
 The firmament, and plunge to darkest Sheol, 
 Bask in the sun's orb, fathom the green sea, 
 Even while I speak it, here to root and grow 
 In Jewish earth, a mortal abject thing. 
 To win and to enjoy thy love ! 
 
 Tarn, (in a low voice of supplication.) Heaven, Heaven, 
 Forsake me not ! 
 
 Had. First, in the city's crowded gate 1 saw thee, 
 The memorable day thou cam'st from Geshur, 
 A vermil blossom by thy father's side, 
 Hailing Jerusalem with smiles and tears. 
 
194 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 Then, then I loved thee tender as thou wert 
 
 I hung invisibly about thy steps 
 
 About thy bed I glided in thy dreams ; 
 
 Filled them with sweet voluptuous forms and phantoms, 
 
 And watched thy glowing cheek, and heaving bosom, 
 
 While my bright visions stirred thy fancy. Happy, 
 
 Till that curst Syrian, fresher than Adonis, 
 
 Became thy inmate. Oh ! what horrid pangs 
 
 Rent me when I perceived thy conscious cheek, 
 
 Thy soul-fraught glances ! No seducing dream, 
 
 Illusion, art of mine, could reach thee more. 
 
 Then first I knew Hell's agonies, and writhed 
 
 In fire, and felt the scorpion's sting. 
 
 Tarn, (aside.) What thoughts ! 
 Am I awake ? What horrid recollections ! 
 
 Had. And yet I harmed him not I harmed him not 
 But mourning in a mountain solitude 
 Neighb'ring Jerusalem, my luckless love 
 And blasted destiny, your father's train 
 Came forth to hunt. The Syrian, from the rest 
 Severing in hot pursuit, fell in with Outlaws, 
 
Scene IF. HAD AD. 195 
 
 Who followed, and with bloody daggers slew him, 
 Even by the fountain where I mused unseen. 
 
 Tarn, (clasping her forehead.) 
 O, grace ! O, pity ! Sure my senses reel ! 
 
 Had. Thou know'st the time remember'st well. 'Twas 
 
 night 
 
 Ere he returned ere I returned for I, 
 From that day forth, have worn these lineaments. 
 
 Tarn. Confusion ! horror ! 
 
 Had. While his lifeless limbs 
 Pressed the green sod, while, pitying, T surveyed 
 His matchless beauty, nobly stern in death, 
 And thought how dear those features were to thee, 
 I dared the penalty, for thy sake, dared 
 Death, prison-house, and penal consequence, 
 Denounced on the offence I linked myself 
 To Hadad's form, and man's infirmities 
 My recompense, my only recompense. 
 Thy love. 
 
 Tarn. Insidious Fiend ! 'tis falsehood all ! 
 Thou slew'st him ! 
 
196 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 Had. Ha ! are there not other means 
 To free the spirit ? Had I marred him thus ? 
 
 [Draws aside his vesture, and displays two bleeding 
 stabs upon his breast.] 
 
 Tarn. O, Powers of Heaven ! 
 
 Had. Immedicable wounds that thrill and throb * 
 Hourly, as with the mortal steel, and gush 
 Fresh blood, when stronger passions shake my frame ; 
 
 No art can heal them and no balm assuage. 
 
 O, if this sight constrain the tear of pity, 
 How wouldst thou live to listen the dire torments 
 Must loose me from this flesh too deep to tell 
 To which your death, by poison, steel, or rack, 
 Is a sweet noontide slumber. 
 
 Tarn. Wretched Being! 
 
 Had. Dost thou not pity me ? 
 
 Tarn. If 't be not guilt ; 
 For thou art ruined, and I know thy mind 
 Vast, various, capable of misery 
 Past thought. 
 
 Had. I love thee : 'tis my only joy ; 
 
Scene IV. HADAD. 197 
 
 I've paid to win thy love a sumless price : 
 Canst thou deny it me ? (Approaching her.) 
 
 Tarn. Avoid me leave me 
 I sin in talking withthee Pardon, Heaven! 
 I know not what I do. 
 
 Had. Weep not, 
 
 Nor fear, sweet Princess : I would make thee happy, 
 Happier than mortal. Bid me sprinkle, now, 
 Three crystal drops of this pure spring upon thee, 
 And thou shalt live, unfading, tracts of years, 
 And bloom, when all who stand to-day on eai th 
 Are shapeless dust. (Scoops water from the fountain.) 
 
 Tarn, (recoiling with horror.) 
 Avaunt ! approach me not ! 
 Jehovah shelter me ! O, righteous Prophet. 
 Had I obeyed thee ! Guilty, and undone ! 
 
 Had. Why call'st thou on that name so oft, nor know'st 
 Thyself abandoned ? Hop'st thou to escape 
 His wrath who visits on the children's head 
 The father's guilt? Thy sire has angered him, 
 And thou must suffer. Take the good I offer : 
 
 26 
 
198 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 Thou hazardest no evil, and securest 
 Almost immortal bliss. Wilt thou ? 
 
 Tarn. No no no. 
 
 Had. Strange obduracy ! Thou art mine, thou seest : 
 Resigned to me in this vast wilderness, 
 Night, solitude, and silence all around, 
 With none to friend or help thee ; yet thou turnest 
 From happiness beyond the lot of mortal, 
 Beauty unfading, knowledge like the Angels'. 
 Glory, and sovereignty, and length of days, 
 And raptures needing more expressive lips 
 Ah ! thou relent'st Thus, let me clasp my treasure ! 
 
 Tarn, (springing backward.) 
 Heart, hold thou firm ! God, look on me, 
 For 1 am sore beset ! If 'tis my crime 
 Not to have abhorred thee utterly, and sealed 
 My ears like adamant, nor ventured, once, 
 Exchange a thought, 'twas difficult, alas ! 
 Seeing that form, and listening to a tongue 
 Employed so oft in noblest eloquence, 
 To realize thee, foul, and reprobate. 
 
Scene IV. HADAD. 199 
 
 Abandoned quite, hating thy God, and bent 
 To drag a frail, bereaved, unhappy creature 
 Down to thy own dark mansion-house of pain. 
 But now, I know thee I abjure thee hate thee 
 More than unwittingly I loved. To God 
 
 I cleave on God I call 
 
 Had. (with demoniac violence.) 
 No more we'll argue after Thou, at least, 
 Shalt never bear the Incarnate Foe we fear ! 
 
 Tarn. Save me ! Oh ! Oh! For Jacob's, David's sake! 
 [He drags her, shrieking, into the cavern. A trumpet 
 and voices heard in the wood. Enter BENAIAH, with 
 a party of Cherethites, from the pursuit.] 
 Ben. This way, this way It issues from yon cave. 
 Cherethites. Stand from the gorge Give light, and 
 weapon-room. 
 
 [Several Cherethites enter the cavern.] 
 Ben. It thrilled me like a woman's desperate cry 
 Ha ! hark ! what dire unnatural yell was that ? 
 
 [They listen.] 
 
 Some mortal conflict rages Heavenly Powers ! 
 What curses ! howling ! horrid blasphemy ! 
 
200 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 First Cher. 'Tis like Gehenna ! 
 Ben. Guard the entrance : 
 Some stout hearts follow me. 
 
 [BENAIAH enters, attended by three of the band.'] 
 Second Cher. Follow, who list : 
 I like not these dark caves that yawn like Hades ; 
 They're haunted by accursed Spirits oft, 
 Who craftily entice men in, and there, 
 Force them to kneel at their ensnaring altars. 
 First Cher. But should we leave our lord in peril ? 
 Third Cher. No, 
 By heaven ! Let's in, and stand hy him. 
 
 [As others are entering, a Cherethite rushes out, pale 
 
 and trembling."] 
 Cherethites. What now ? 
 What violence is doing ? Speak. Why stares 
 Your hair? 
 
 Cherethite. O, go not 'tis too terrible. 
 Other Cherethites. What saw ye ? Speak ! 
 Cherethite. One like the Cherubim, 
 Dreadfully glistering, wing'd, and dazzling bright 
 
Scene' IV. HADAD. 201 
 
 As lightning, whose fierce-bickering eyeballs shot 
 Sparkles like arrows, filling all the cave 
 With red effulgence, smiting with grasp'd beams 
 A howling, withering, ghast, demoniac shape, 
 Crouched like a venomous reptile, rage and fear 
 Gleaming in his fell eyes, who cursed, and gnash'd, 
 And yelled, till death's last livid agony. 
 
 Second Cher. The Prophets keep us ! 
 
 Cherethite. Nothing kin to earth 
 E'er looked such serpent rage, or battled so 
 With death's strong pangs. 
 
 Third Cher. Heaven guard us from the Fiend ! 
 
 [They all start.] 
 
 Fourth Cher. What sound was that ? 
 
 Second Cher. It seemed a rush of wind from out the cave. 
 
 First Cher. 'Twas passing wings. 
 
 Third Cher. I felt it ; and methinks, 
 A sudden sweetness fills the air around us. 
 
 First Cher. Ambrosial. It betokens some blest Presence. 
 
 Second Cher. They come, they come. 
 
 [Enter two Cherethites, dragging the body of HADAD 
 from the cavern. All gather round it."] 
 
202 HADAD. Act V. 
 
 First Cher. What hideous monster is't ? 
 
 Second Cher. 'Tis nothing human : 
 Look how 'tis blasted. 
 
 Third Cher. What a hellish glare 
 Is glazed upon those starting eyeballs ! 
 
 Second Cher. Damned. 
 
 [Enter BENAIAH, and others, from the cavern, bearing 
 
 v 
 
 TAMAR, whom they place upon the turf by the spring.] 
 
 Ben. 'Tis she indeed, the Princess, but not dead ; 
 The colour's in her cheek, and see, she breathes. 
 
 [Sprinkles water in her face.] 
 
 Tarn, (opening her eyes, terrified.) 
 Where am I ? ha ! 
 
 Ben. Look up, sweet lady : Be not so affrighted : 
 We are thy friends, the servants of the King 
 Thy Grandsire. 
 
 Tarn. Who? 
 
 Ben. I am Benaiah ; these 
 Are David's servants. 
 
 Tarn. Take me to him Save me Oh ! (sinks back.) 
 
 Ben. Take courage, Princess : all is well : Behold ! 
 
SceneiV. HAD AD. 203 
 
 Arm'd friends are round thee. Heaven hath shown us, too, 
 
 Who guards the innocent. Sound the recall : 
 
 Collect more strength about us : Seize a mule, 
 If any brouse the glade without a rider. 
 
 [Trumpet sounds.] 
 
 Hell has been busy. Yonder withered thing 
 Is Hadad. Though close shrouded from men's eyes, 
 He could not 'scape the All-seeing, who hath hurled 
 Ripe vengeance on the foul deceiver's head. 
 I well remember, now, a dark surmise 
 Imparted by the Prophet to the King, 
 The day we left Jerusalem. But, sirs, 
 The night grows chill. We must remove her : Come. 
 My lord will prize her safety as the kingdom. 
 
 [Exeunt, bearing TAMAR.] 
 
 THE END. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 NOTE I. 
 
 or forged 
 
 (More like) by dark Jlhithophel, to rouse 
 The Prince. p. 53. 
 
 Ahithophel appears to have been the grandfather of Bathsheba. 
 His enmity to David is imputed by the Jews to resentment on her 
 account. 
 
 NOTE II. 
 
 Above, about, beneath ; earth, sea, and air ; 
 Their habitations various as their minds, 
 Employments, and desires. p. 74. 
 
 " The fall of Angels, therefore, was pride. Since their fall, their 
 practices have been the clean contrary unto those before mentioned ; 
 for being dispersed, some in the air, some in the earth, some amongst 
 the minerals, dens, and caves that are under the earth, they have by 
 all means laboured to effect an universal rebellion against the laws, 
 and as far as in them lieth, utter destruction of the works of God." 
 HOOKER, Eccles. Polity, b. l.sec. 4. 
 27 
 
206 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE III. 
 
 but in the chambers of this rock 
 Are treasures ivhich the empires of the earth, 
 United, cannot equal. p. 82. 
 
 Josephus, speaking of the burial of David, observes : " He had 
 great and immense wealth buried with him, the vastness of which 
 may be easily conjectured at by what I shall now say ; for a thousand 
 and three hundred years afterwards, Hyrcanus the High Priest, when 
 he was besieged by Antiochus that was called the Pious, the son of 
 Demetrius, and was desirous of giving him money to get him to raise 
 the siege, and draw off his army ; and having no other method of 
 compassing the money, opened one room of David's sepulchre, and 
 took out three thousand talents, and gave part of that sum to Antio 
 chus, and by this means caused the siege to be raised, as we have in 
 formed the reader elsewhere. Nay, after him, and that many years, 
 Herod the King opened another room, and took away a great deal of 
 money ; and yet neither of them came at the coffins of the Kings 
 themselves." Antiq. of the Jews, b. 7. ch. 15. 
 
 The riches left by David, according to the common computation, 
 exceeded eight hundred millions sterling. 
 
 NOTE IV. 
 
 Where goes Mephibosheth at this dusk hour ? p. 94. 
 
 That David strongly suspected Mephibosheth of some participation 
 in the rebellion, is apparent from his behaviour to Ziba. When Me 
 phibosheth meets the King, on his return to Jerusalem, with externa 
 
NOTES. 207 
 
 signs of the deepest sorrow for his misfortunes, and protests that the 
 accusations of his servant are false and slanderous ; David, instead of 
 indignantly annulling his gift to Ziba of Mephibosheth's possessions, 
 and inflicting the punishment he would have merited, had his master's 
 story been believed, answers : " Why speakest thou any more of thy 
 matters ? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land." See also 
 JOSEPHUS : Translator's note. b. 8. ch. 11. 
 
 NOTE V. 
 
 Thou knoiifst His held by righteous men 
 That Heaven intrusts us all to Watching Spirits. p. 118. 
 
 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones ; for I say 
 unto you that in Heaven their Angels do always behold the face of 
 my Father, which is in Heaven. MATT.xviii. 10. Are they not all 
 ministering Spirits sent forth to minister for them who should be heirs 
 of salvation. HEBREWS, i. 14. The Angel of the Lord encampeth 
 round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. PSALM 
 xxxiv. 7. 
 
 The Jews universally believed in Guardian Angels. 
 
 NOTE VI. 
 
 Fiends walk the earth. p. 119. 
 
 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou ? Then Satan 
 answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and 
 from walking up and down in it. JOB, i. 7. 
 
208 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE VII. 
 
 And left that Son of Wickedness to triumph. p. 155. 
 
 The 89th Psalm, alluded to by Nathan, is ascribed by the Jews to 
 Abraham. 
 
 NOTE VIII. 
 
 Hard by the Wood of Ephraim. p. 159. 
 
 The Wood of Ephraim was near the city T)f Mahanaim in the 
 country of Gilead, in the tribe of Gad. It received this appellation 
 from a slaughter of the Ephraimites by Jephtha, which happened 
 there. 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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