A certain Levite, in those days we find,
At Ramah liv'd, which to Mount Ephraim join'd;
Who had himself, and Household set apart,
To serve his Maker with a willing heart.
Two Wives he had, the one a virtuous Dame,
Descreet, and Wise, and Hannah was her Name;
Whose fair, and lovely body did enshrine,
A Pious Soul with qualities Divine,
Her virtue did her Husbands love insure,
And from all People due respect procure,
Only her Rival cou'd not her endure.
And what increas'd Peninnah's haughty Pride,
The Lord had children unto her deny'd,
The Feasts that were to Israelites enjoind,
This Levite Still observ'd with zealous mind:
And did to Shilo, ev'ry Year repair,
For God had fix'd his Tabernacle there;
To offer sacrifice was his design,
And Worship at the fixed place and time:
And when he this August Assembly join'd,
His Loving Consorts never Stay'd behind.
Hophni and Phinehas, both as Priests appear,
The wicked Offspring of a Stock Sincere;
Whose vile Example had pernicious been,
In Tempting Abraham's chosen race to Sin.