2845 Then the powerful King put to the test
His trusted servant; tried him sorely
To learn if his love was lasting and certain.
With strongest words he sternly said to him:
"Hear me and hasten hence, O Abraham.
2850 As thou leavest, lead along with thee
Thy own child Isaac! As an offering to me
Thyself shalt sacrifice thy son with thy hands.
When thy steps have struggled up the steep hill-side,
To the height of the land which from here I shall show you--
2855 When thine own feet have climbed, there an altar erect me,
Build a fire for thy son; and thyself shalt kill him
With the edge of the sword as a sacrifice to me;
Let the black flame burn the body of that dear one."
He delayed not his going, but began at once
2860 To prepare for departure: he was compelled to obey
The angel of the Lord, and he loved his God.
And then the faultless father Abraham
Gave up his night's rest; he by no means failed
To obey the Lord's bidding, but the blessed man
2865 Girded his gray sword, God's spirit he showed
That he bore in his breast. His beasts then he fed,
This aged giver of gold. To go on the journey
Two young men he summoned: his son made the third;
He himself was the fourth. He set forward eagerly
2870 From his own home and Isaac with him,
The child ungrown, as charged by his God.
Then he hurried ahead and hastened forth
Along the paths that the Lord had pointed,
The way through the waste; till the wondrous bright
2875 Dawn of the third day over the deep water
Arose in radiance. Then the righteous man
Saw the hill-tops rise high around him,
As the holy Ruler of heaven had shown him.
Then Abraham said to his serving-men:
2880 "O men of mine, remain here now
Quietly in this place! We shall quickly return
When we two have performed the task before us
Which the Sovereign of souls has assigned us to do."
The old man ascended with his own son
2885 To the place which the Lord had appointed for them,
Went through the wealds; the wood Isaac carried--
His father the fire and the sword. Then first inquired
The boy young in winters, in these words of Abraham:
"Fire and sword, my father, we find here ready:
2890 Where is the glorious offering which to God on the altar
Thou thinkest to bring and burn as a sacrifice?"
Abraham answered (he had only one thing
That he wished to perform, the will of the Father):
"The Sovereign of all himself shall find it,
2895 As the Lord of men shall believe to be meet."
Up the steep hill struggled the stout-hearted man,
Leading the child as the Lord had charged,
Till climbing he came to the crest of the height,
To the place appointed by the powerful Lord,
2900 Following the commands of his faithful Master.
He loaded the altar and lighted the fire,
And fettered fast the feet and hands
Of his beloved son and lifted upon it
The youthful Isaac, and instantly grasped
2905 The sword by the hilt; his son he would kill
With his hands as he promised and pour on the fire
The gore of his kinsman. --Then God's servant,
An angel of the Lord, to Abraham loudly
Spoke with words. He awaited in quiet
2910 The behests from on high and he hailed the angel.
Then forthwith spoke from the spacious heavens
The messenger of God, with gracious words:
"Burn not thy boy, O blessed Abraham,
Lift up the lad alive from the altar;
2915 The God of Glory grants him his life!
O man of the Hebrews, as meed for thy obedience,
Through the holy hand of heaven's King,
Thyself shall receive a sacred reward,
A liberal gift: the Lord of Glory
2920 Shall favor thee with fortune; his friendship shall be
More sacred than thy son himself to thee."
The altar still burned. Abraham was blessed
By the King of mankind, the kinsman of Lot,
With the grace of God, since he gave his son,
2925 Isaac, alive. Then the aged man looked
Around over his shoulder, and a ram he saw
Not far away fastened alone
In a bramble bush-- Haran's brother saw it.
Then Abraham seized it and set it on the altar
2930 In eager haste for his own son.
With his sword he smote it; as a sacrifice he adorned
The reeking altar with the ram's hot blood,
Gave to his God this gift and thanked him
For all of the favors that before and after
2935 The Lord had allowed him in his loving grace.
1. This selection is based directly on the biblical account of the
offering of Isaac. The clearness with which the picture is visualized
by the poet, and the fine restraint in the telling of the dramatic
incident make this passage a fitting close for the paraphrase of
Genesis.
2928. _Haran_, the brother of Abraham, is mentioned in Genesis, 11:26,
ff.