Hoary CARMEL, witness thou,
And lift in conscious pride thy brow;
As when upon thy cloudy plain
BAAL'S PROPHETS cried in vain! 390
They gashed their flesh, and leaped, and cried,
From morn till lingering even-tide.
Then stern ELIJAH on his foes
Strong in the might of Heaven arose!--
On CARMEL'S top he stood,
And while the blackening clouds and rain
Came sounding from the Western main,
Raised his right hand that dropped with impious blood.
ANCIENT KISHON prouder swell,
On whose banks they bowed, they fell, 400
The mighty ones of yore, when, pale with dread,
Inglorious SISERA fled!
So let them perish, Holy LORD,
Who for OPPRESSION lift the sword;
But let all those who, armed for freedom, fight, 405
"Be as the sun who goes forth in his might."
[160] Alluding to the harps found in the caverns of Thebes.
[161] Migdol was a fortress which guarded the pass of Egypt;
Baal-zephon, a sea idol, generally considered the guardian of the coast.
[162] The Cushites inhabited the granite rocks stretching along the Red
Sea.
[163] When the Egyptians found the ark, their expression was, "Let us
rejoice, we have found the lost Osiris," or Noah.
[164] The deluge or devastating storm.
[165] The desert of Ariana, where the army of Cyrus perished.
[166] Ammon, according to Sir Isaac Newton, was the first artificer who
built large ships, and passed the Straits.
[167] The entrance into the Red Sea was called the Gate of Affliction.
[168] Temple of Solomon.
[169] Alluding to the story of Patagonians bursting their cords when
taken.
[170] Pillars of Hercules.
[171] Moloch, whose rites of blood are well known, was worshipped along
the coast of Syria.
[172] The island described by Plato; by some supposed to be America.