Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1824-08-12

From T., u s. Literary Gazette.
z Il "a u q Flo


ofthe Gibeonites, and they hanged them
IN the hill before aie Lord; and they fell
ell seven together. and were put to death
in the DAYS Of harvest, in tue first days,
in the beginning of barley harvest.
And Bizpab, the daughter OF Allah,
took sackclotb, and spread it for her up
on the rock. from the beginning OF har'
vest until the water dropped upon them
cut OF heaven, and suffered neither the
birds of the air to rest on them by day,
nor the beasts OF the field by night
Sam. xxi. ., 10.
Hea- villa, tive desola;e Rlzpah sad
As ON G,beahs rocks size watched the DEAD.
The sons of Michael before her lay,
And herogn fair children dearsr than they:
by n death e shame they all had died,
And were stretched Oh the bare rock, SIDE BY
side.
And Rizpah. once the loveliesto of all
1bat blooned and smiled in he oodrt OF Saul,
All wasted with watching and famine now,
And scorched blythe sun her haggard brow,
Sat tnournfay guarding their corpses there
And nurmured strange and solemn arr
The low, heart broken, and walEiiig stPnh
OF a mother that mourns her children slain.
have made the crags my home, and spread
On their desert backs m, sackcloth bed
I have eaten the bitter herb Of the rocks,
And drank the midnight dew in my locks;
have wept till could not weep, and The pam
OF my burning eyebaIls went to my BRAN.
Seven blaokened corpses before me he,
IL the blaze of the sun and the winds Of the sky.
\ have watched them through the burning day,
And driven the vuture and raven away.
And the cormorant wheeled IN circle round,
Yet feared 10 sugbt on the guarded grouhu.
And when the shadows OF twilight came
I have seen the byena's eyes OF Hane,
And heard at nay side his steath'y tread,
But aye a. my shout the savage fed:
And threw the lighted brand, to fright
The jackal and volt that yelled in the night
We were foully murdered, my haplcss sons,
BY the hands Of wicked and cruel ones;
Ne fell in your fresh and blooming PRIME, I
All innocent for your fathers crime.
He sinned--but he paid the price OF his quit,
When his blood by nameiess hand was spit;
When he s,rove with the heather host IN vain,
And fell with the flower Of his people slam,
And the sceptre his children's hands should sway
! rom his injured lineage passed away. i
But hoped that the cottage root would be
a SIZE retreat for my sons and me.
AVID that while they ripened TO manhood fast,
They should wean my thoughts from the woes
of the past.
And4my bosom sweiled with mothers pride,
AS tht y stood in their beauty anc strength ty
my side,
Tall Ike their sire, with ptincely grace
Uf his stated, form and the bloom of hio face.
Oh. what an hour for a mothers heart,
When the pitiess rufiians tore us apart!
When ] ciasped their knees, and wept and
prayed,
And struggled and shrieked to heaven for aid.
And clung to nv sons with desperate strength,
Till the murderers loosed my hold at length,
Aud bore me breathless and faint aside,
In their iron arms, while my children died,
They ded--and the mother tina, gave them brit!
Is forbid to cover their bones with earth.
The barley harves, was nodding white,
Uhen my child en- died on the rocky height,
And the reapers were singing on hill and
plain,
When came to my task of sorrow and pain.
But now the season ut ram is nigh,
The sun is dim in the thlckenlng sky,
Aud the clouds in su,len darkness rest,
When lie hides his light at the doors OF the
west.
hear the howl of the wind that brings
The long rear storm on its heavy wings
But the howling wind. and the driving rain
VIII beat on my houseless head in vain;
I shall stay, from my murdered sors to scare
Ihe beasts OF the desert, and fowls oil the az.
Is.