23

WHY THE FACE OF MOSES SHONE

A JEWISH TRADITION

Exodus xxxiv. 29-35

For forty days and forty nights

The prophet fasted on the heights,

On Sinai's peaks he spake with God,

His being strangely overawed.

"Write down these words, 'tis My command

That they be written by thy hand;

Fore'er a witness they shall be

Of Israel's gift of Prophecy."

And Moses wrote the Ten Words down,

O'er every one he placed a crown,

An olden legend tells us why:

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They were to rule the world for aye."

He dipped his pen in starry light—
His sight grew dim, it shone so bright-
The Letters were of golden hue,
They shimmer still for me and you.

On tablets twain the Prophet wrote
This testament of wondrous note,
This heritage of ages past,
Bequeathed to all the world, to last.

WHY THE FACE OF MOSES SHONE 77

The task was done, and Moses seemed
To wonder why the light yet beamed;
He wished to write one other word,

But, murm'ring "Nay," looked heavenward.

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'Tis not for man to know Thy ways;
To probe the stars, to pluck the rays
From planets high, his spirit dares-
For man, O Lord, Thy Image bears.

"He soars upon the wings of thought
To find how all things Thou hast wrought;
He sets no bounds to his keen quest;
Not knowing all, he doubts the rest.

"Shall I reveal to human mind
What it, unaided, ne'er can find?
Shall I command the heart to hope,
That it may not in darkness grope?
"Shall I unveil to mortal man
The mysteries which make Thy plan
A blessing for the universe-
And change the boon into a curse?

"Nay, Lord of Hosts, he shall not see
With mortal eyes Eternity;

But every heart shall feel its glow-
The wistful stream of life must flow;

"And every eye
shall steadfast gaze
Above the mist, o'er all the maze
Of many doubts and many ills,
Beyond the Everlasting Hills.

""Tis better far the human soul

Shall strive and struggle toward the goal,
Lest, learning all, man cease to care
How Spirit, freed from flesh, may fare.”

And, saying this, with solemn mien,
His face was wreathed in starry sheen;
He wiped his pen upon his brow,

And Light streamed forth, he knew not how.

The Mountain flamed, as in a cloud
Th'Eternal passed-and Moses bowed;
Then, holding high the Tablets twain,
Transfigured, he came down again.

He wist not that his face did shine,
By grace of God, in every line;
The people saw, and, moved to fear,
Not even Aaron ventured near.

Then Moses knew that Hand Divine
Had traced o'er him that lustrous Sign;
He called to them and veiled the light
Which dazzled on their sense and sight.

They all came nigh, while Moses spake
The Ten Commands which made them quake.
The Law of Right a world obeys,
When men behold its blinding rays.

And lo! unwritten glory glows

From each pure heart that heaven knows;
From every pen that's dipped in light

Effulgence gleams to cheer the night.

THE SHEPHERD LEADER OF THE NILE 79

And every man who mounts the hill,
Where God reveals to all His Will,

Shall wear upon his forehead clear

The wondrous Sign which blessed the Seer.

The Light of Hope which glistened then,
Unwritten on the Prophet's pen,

And shone o'er him, he knew not how,
Streams out from every God-kissed brow.

GEORGE ALEXANDER KOHUT

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THE SHEPHERD LEADER OF THE NILE

Before the throne of Egypt's Lord,

The shepherd leader, Moses, stands;
A herder's staff he firmly grips,

But with his undimmed eyes commands.
And Pharaoh with a fretful mien

Turns deaf ears to his pulsing word,
Which, coming in the name of God,
Is as the voice of thunder heard.

"Oh, sov❜reign of the hardened heart,
My people serve you night and day.
The stubble of the field they hoard

To make bricks from your River's clay.
And monster cities do they lift

From sand dunes cast up by the sea-
They have been slaves a hundred years,
But now my people must go free.

My people cried unto their God,

A zealous God who heard their cry; He walks the earth in majesty,

And rules supreme the far-stretched sky; He called them to possess His land, The kindred of a noble breed, That they in large and liberal ways May serve their God, they must be freed!

The woes of thousand pains they bear,

Baked by the sun that steams the Nile— For every blow a foreman dealt

They wrought some huge but bloody pile. The Egypt that you rule, they reared, An empire mighty as the sea,

And for the things their hands have made Their Father's God now sets them free!

My people must go free this day!
The Red Sea calls, yon desert cries,
And distant smoking Sinai's peaks
Reverberate their agonies.

My God hath sent me to your face
To still the anguish of their moan:
Unless you free them from their bonds
My God will smite you and your throne!"

But Pharaoh of the hardened heart,
He yielded not, as Moses spake;
Nor feared he that the shepherd's threat
Would make the House of Egypt quake.