[SCENE VII.]

Enter D AVID with J OAB , A BYSSUS , C USAY ; with drum and ensign against R ABBAH .

Dav. This is the town of the uncircumcised,
The city of the kingdom, this is it,
Rabbah, where wicked Hanon sitteth king.
Despoil this king, this Hanon of his crown;
Unpeople Rabbah and the streets thereof;
For in their blood, and slaughter of the slain,
Lieth the honour of King David's line.
Joab, Abyshai, and the rest of you,
Fight ye this day for great Jerusalem.

Enter H ANON and others on the walls .

Joab. And see where Hanon shows him on the walls;
Why, then, do we forbear to give assault,
That Israel may, as it is promised,
Subdue the daughters of the Gentile's tribes?
All this must be performed by David's hand.
Dav. Hark to me, Hanon, and remember well:
As sure as He doth live that kept my host,
What time our young men, by the pool of Gibeon,
Went forth against the strength of Isboseth,
And twelve to twelve did with their weapons play;
So sure art thou and thy men of war
To feel the sword of Israel this day,
Because thou hast defied Jacob's God,
And suffered Rabbah with the Philistine
To rail upon the tribe of Benjamin.
Ha. Hark, man: as sure as Saul thy master fell,
And gored his sides upon the mountain-tops,
And Jonathan, Abinadab, and Melchisua,
Watered the dales and deeps of Askaron
With bloody streams, that from Gilboa ran
In channels through the wilderness of Ziph,
What time the sword of the uncircumcised
Was drunken with the blood of Israel;
So sure shall David perish with his men
Under the walls of Rabbah, Hanon's town.
Joab. Hanon, the God of Israel hath said,
David the king shall wear that crown of thine
That weighs a talent of the finest gold,
And triumph in the spoil of Hanon's town,
When Israel shall hale thy people hence,
And turn them to the tile-kiln, man and child,
And put them under harrows made of iron,
And hew their bones with axes, and their limbs
With iron swords divide and tear in twain.
Hanon, this shall be done to thee and thine,
Because thou hast defied Israel. —
To arms, to arms, that Rabbah feel revenge,
And Hanon's town become King David's spoil!

Alarum, excursions, assault, exeunt omnes Then the trumpets, and D avid with H ANON'S crown .

Dav. Now clattering arms and wrathful storms of war
Have thundered over Rabbah's razed towers;
The wreakful ire of great Jehovah's arm,
That for his people made the gates to rend,
And clothed the cherubins in fiery coats
To fight against the wicked Hanon's town.
Pay thanks, ye men of Judah, to the King,
The God of Sion and Jerusalem,
That hath exalted Israel to this,
And crowned David with this diadem
Joab. Beauteous and bright is he among the tribes;
As when the sun attired in glistering robe,
Comes dancing from his oriental gate,
And bridegroom-like hurls through the gloomy air
His radiant beams, such doth King David show,
Crowned with the honour of his enemies' town,
Shining in riches like the firmament,
The starry vault that overhangs the earth:
So looketh David King of Israel.
Abis. Joab, why doth not David mount his throne
Whom heaven hath beautified with Hanon's crown?
Sound trumpets, shalms, and instruments of praise,
To Jacob's God for David's victory.

Enter J ONADAB .

Jonad. Why doth the King of Israel rejoice?
Why sitteth David crowned with Rabbah's rule?
Behold, there hath great heaviness befall'n
In Amnon's fields by Absalon's misdeed;
And Amnon's shearers and their feast of mirth
Absalon hath o'erturned with his sword;
Nor liveth any of King David's sons
To bring this bitter tidings to the king.
Dav. Ay me, how soon are David's triumphs dashed,
How suddenly declineth David's pride!
As doth the daylight settle in the west,
So dim is David's glory and his gite
Die, David; for to thee is left no seed
That may revive thy name in Israel.
Jonad. In Israel is left of David's seed.
Comfort your lord, you servants of the king. —
Behold, thy sons return in mourning weeds,
And only Amnon Absalon hath slain.

Enter A DONIA with other Sons.

Dav. Welcome, my sons; dearer to me you are
Than is this golden crown or Hanon's spoil.
O, tell me, then, tell me, my sons, I say,
How cometh it to pass that Absalon
Hath slain his brother Amnon with the sword?
Ad. Thy sons, O king, went up to Amnon's fields,
To feast with him and eat his bread and oil;
And Absalon upon his mule doth come,
And to his men he saith, " When Amnon's heart
Is merry and secure, then strike him dead,
Because he forced Thamar shamefully,
And hated her, and threw her forth his doors. "
And this did he; and they with him conspire,
And kill thy son in wreak of Thamar's wrong.
Dav. How long shall Judah and Jerusalem
Complain, and water Sion with their tears!
How long shall Israel lament in vain,
And not a man among the mighty ones
Will hear the sorrows of King David's heart!
Amnon, thy life was pleasing to thy lord,
As to mine ears the music of my lute,
Or songs that David tuneth to his harp;
And Absalon hath ta'en from me away
The gladness of my sad distressed soul.

Manet D AVID . Enter Widow of Thecoa.

W. of T. [ kneeling ] God save King David, King of. Israel,
And bless the gates of Sion for his sake!
Dav. Woman, why mournest thou? rise from the earth;
Tell me what sorrow hath befall'n thy soul
W. of T. [ rising. ] Thy servant's soul, O king, is troubled sore,
And grievous is the anguish of her heart;
And from Thecoa doth thy handmaid come.
Dav. Tell me, and say, thou woman of Thecoa,
What aileth thee or what is come to pass.
W. of T. Thy servant is a widow in Thecoa.
Two sons thy handmaid had; and they, my lord,
Fought in the field, where no man went betwixt,
And so the one did smite and slay the other
And, lo, behold, the kindred doth arise,
And cry on him that smote his brother,
That he therefore may be the child of death;
" For we will follow and destroy the heir. "
So will they quench that sparkle that is left,
And leave nor name nor issue on the earth
To me or to thy handmaid's husband dead.
Dav. Woman, return; go home unto thy house:
I will take order that thy son be safe.
If any man say otherwise than well,
Bring him to me, and I shall chastise him;
For, as the Lord doth live, shall not a hair
Shed from thy son or fall upon the earth.
Woman, to God alone belongs revenge:
Shall, then, the kindred slay him for his sin?
W. of T. Well hath King David to his handmaid spoke:
But wherefore, then, hast thou determined
So hard a part against the righteous tribes,
To follow and pursue the banished,
Whenas to God alone belongs revenge?
Assuredly thou saist against thyself:
Therefore call home again the banished;
Call home the banished, that he may live,
And raise to thee some fruit in Israel
Dav. Thou woman of Thecoa, answer me,
Answer me one thing I shall ask of thee:
Is not the hand of Joab in this work?
Tell me, is not his finger in this fact?
W. of T. It is, my lord; his hand is in this work:
Assure thee, Joab, captain of thy host,
Hath put these words into thy handmaid's mouth;
And thou art as an angel from on high,
To understand the meaning of my heart:
Lo, where he cometh to his lord the king.

Enter J OAB .

Dav. Say, Joab, didst thou send this woman in
To put this parable for Absalon?
Joab. Joab, my lord, did bid this woman speak,
And she hath said; and thou hast understood.
Dav. I have, and am content to do the thing
Go fetch my son, that he may live with me.
Joab. [ kneels. ] Now God be blessed for King David's life!
Thy servant Joab hath found grace with thee,
In that thou sparest Absalon thy child.
A beautiful and fair young man is he,
In all his body is no blemish seen;
His hair is like the wire of David's harp,
That twines about his bright and ivory neck;
In Israel is not such a goodly man;
And here I bring him to entreat for grace.

Enter A BSALON with J OAB .

Dav. Hast thou slain [Amnon] in the fields of Hazor — —
Ah, Absalon, my son! ah, my son, Absalon!
But wherefore do I vex thy spirit so?
Live, and return from Gesur to thy house;
Return from Gesur to Jerusalem:
What boots it to be bitter to thy soul?
Amnon is dead, and Absalon survives.
Abs. Father, I have offended Israel,
I have offended David and his house;
For Thamar's wrong hath Absalon misdone:
But David's heart is free from sharp revenge,
And Joab hath got grace for Absalon.
Dav. Depart with me, you men of Israel,
You that have followed Rabbah with the sword,
And ransack Amnon's richest treasuries. —
Live, Absalon, my son, live once in peace:
Peace [be] with thee, and with Jerusalem!

Manet A BSALON .

Abs. David is gone, and Absalon remains,
Flowering in pleasant spring-time of his youth:
Why liveth Absalon and is not honoured
Of tribes and elders and the mightiest ones,
That round about his temples he may wear
Garlands and wreaths set on with reverence;
That every one that hath a cause to plead
Might come to Absalon and call for right?
Then in the gates of Sion would I sit,
And publish laws in great Jerusalem;
And not a man should live in all the land
But Absalon would do him reason's due:
Therefore I shall address me, as I may,
To love the men and tribes of Israel.