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Poems by Isaac Rosenberg

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!<br />

—<br />

;<br />

MOSES<br />

And the slaves 1<br />

teeth as God made them,<br />

Then hide from the summoning tribunal,<br />

Pharaoh will speak; and I'll seize that word to<br />

act.<br />

Should the word be a foe's I can use it well<br />

As a poison to soak into Egypt's bowels ;<br />

A wraith from old Nile will cry<br />

" For his mercy they break his back "<br />

And I shall have a great following for this,<br />

The rude, touched heart of the mauled, sweaty<br />

horde,<br />

Their rough tongues fawn at my hands, their redstreaked<br />

eyes<br />

Glitter with sacrifice. Well ! Pharaoh bids me<br />

act. . . .<br />

Hah ! Pm all a-bristle. . . . Lord, his eyes<br />

would go wide<br />

If he knew the road my rampant dreams would<br />

race<br />

I am too much awake now—restless, so restless.<br />

Behind white mists invisibly<br />

My thoughts stood like a mountain<br />

But Power, watching as a man,<br />

Saw no mountain there<br />

Only the mixing mist and sky<br />

And the flat earth.<br />

57

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