When Israel Went Out of Egypt

When Israel went out of Egypt

Behind the spattered doorposts I recall
My elders muttering prayers of terror when
Night and the angel of destruction fell
On the firstborn of Egypt; heard the cry
Of the heart-broken women like sea-birds
Calling over the waste; saw the black surge
Smash the great army that pursued us still,
As a child smashes sticks; saw, looking back,
Strange residue upon the settling sea,
Robes and plumes, white faces, fingers at the reins,
The upturned necks of horses lodged in mud
And broken chariot wheels; stood at the mountain
When thunder made my people hide their eyes
And the lone prophet sojourned to the height
To bring us back the great gift of the Law;
Wavered a moment when the earth beneath
Cracked, and devoured the rebels whole; bent double
To scramble up the grains of what-is-this,
Seethed them and baked the paste into sweet wafers;
Swung the good sword at the Amalekite,
Well while the prophet held his old arms high,
But when they fell, our favor fell with them.
I have known all these things and more, far more;
Yet sometimes when the evening sun's at rest
On the long sands behind, there comes again
A hint of something subtle on the air,
A slither of a scent, or festal song;
Come to me only, though a guilty glance
Now and again from one of my old friends
Betrays a similar thought: for there are times,
God help us, there are times when we might trade
The holy Torah and the heaven-dropped food
And all the fiery wonders of the desert,
The promise of a land we have not seen,
For wheat in ear upon the river's mud,
A pot of lamb stew rich in leeks and onions,
And brown girls wearing no more than a sash
Smiting the tambourine upon the hip;
For slavery too had something for the slave.
Then the sun sets; we huddle in our tents,
We bow, we pray; and the great yearning falls
Like dew upon the Sabbath eve: to hold
Close to our hearts that choice that is not ours,
That He would dwell among us, Israel,
Bound among all the nations to be free.

Comments

[Windmill Tilter]

Hurrah for poetry! Glad to see you take up with the muse once more. Now, there's that matter of the great baseball epic...

[Beth from TN]

This moved me to tears, Tony. How about a poetry reading while you're visiting Bryan?

[Anonymous]

When Augustus Ruled
(Vespers of the Eve of the Nativity)

When Augustus ruled alone upon earth
,
The many kingdoms of men came to end
;
And when Thou wast made man of the pure Virgin,

The many gods of idolatry were destroyed
,
The cities of the world passed under one single rule
,
And the nations came to believe in the sovereign Godhead.

The peoples were enrolled by the decree of Caesar,

And we the faithful were enrolled in the name of the Godhead

When thou our God was made man.

Great is thy mercy,
O Lord,
Glory to Thee.

[Gina M. Danaher]

A beautiful poem which is timely for me. With each step that we as a nation take backward, returning to the Old World socialism from which our ancestors fled, I find myself saying in my mind, "So you wanna to back to Egypt?" This, I think, was the title of a Bob Dylan song and although I never really was a fan of his, I have always remembered that song title.

[Deacon Michael D. Harmon]

Students of poetry should mark well how alliteration wedded to vivid image carries the poem along, sweeping from line to line and topic to topic like sloop tacking in a fresh breeze, bound for harbor on a path that first goes this way, then turns that, but ends up lashed firmly to the dock where it always is intended to rest.

Marvelous! Thank you, Dr. Esolen. And more, please.

[Tony Esolen]

Thank you, folks -- and, Tilter, I was hoping you especially would like it!

Beth -- I would like to give a poetry reading, but not my own -- Herbert, Milton, Browning, Hopkins. How about that? Dramatic reading, straight from memory....

[Beth from TN]

Ooooohhhh, I think we could handle that!

I'll email you this week with various suggestions for your time. Have been utterly swamped the past few weeks. Right now -- all caught up on grading -- for the next 12 hours . . . !

[Sr. Dorcee Clarey]

To repeat what Beth said: it also moved me to tears. I guess I've been longing for some beauty these days. Thank you for providing it, Tony. I'll definitely put a link to it on my blog. And, indeed, please keep writing. We need it.

[Emil]

When is Prof Esolen visting Bryan College?

It's a bit of a drive from Nashvile, but maybe....

[Beth from TN]

March 1-3, Emil. Our chapels are 11:00 on MW; we haven't yet discussed the rest of Tony's schedule. Nashville's not far -- come on down! (We are on Eastern time.)

[Fr Nathan Thompson]

Gina, I couldn't find anything about Dylan, although he may have covered it during his "Slow Train Comin'" years (but I seriously doubt it.) "So, You Wanna Go Back to Egypt" was actually a Keith Green song. Keith Green was a great songwriter, but few would compare him to Dylan, likewise, Dylan's voice... uh, well... let's just leave it at, he's no Keith Green.

[Rene Sykes]

Wow. Outstanding. I enjoy Dr. Esolen's commentaries in Magnificat and looked around today to see what else he's written. What a treat to find this poem. Hope there's more to come.