Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE DESTRUCTION OF PHARAOH by JOHN RUSKIN

First Line: MOURN, MIZRAIM, MOURN! THE WELTERING WAVE
Last Line: FOR JACOB'S WEARY TRIBES ARE FREE!
Subject(s): EGYPT; GOD; JACOB (BIBLE); JEWS; MOURNING; JUDAISM; BEREAVEMENT;

MOURN, Mizraim, mourn! The weltering wave
Wails loudly o'er Egyptia's brave
Where, lowly laid, they sleep;
The salt sea rusts the helmet's crest;
The warrior takes his ocean-rest,
Full far below the deep.
The deep, the deep, the weary deep!
Wail, wail, Egyptia! mourn and weep!
For many a mighty legion fell
Before the God of Israel.

Wake, Israel, wake the harp. The roar
Of ocean's wave on Mizraim's shore
Rolls now o'er many a crest.
Where, now, the iron chariot's sweep?
Where I'haraoh's host? Beneath the deep
His armies take their rest.
Shout, Israel! Let the joyful cry
Pour forth the notes of victory;
High let it swell across the sea,
For Jacob's weary tribes are free!



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