--
Thine, on the hill, the oil and wine.
Thou lion! nations shall turn pale
When swells thy roar upon the gale.

"Judah, my son, ascend the throne,
Till comes from heaven the unborn king--
The prophesied, the mighty one,
Whose heel shall crush the serpent's sting.
Till earth is paradise again,
And sin is dead, and death is slain!

"Wide as the surges, ZEBULON,[9]
Thy daring keel shall plough the sea;
Before thee sink proud Sidon's sun,
And strong Issachar toil for thee.
Thou, reaper of his corn and oil,
Lord of the giant and the soil!

"Whose banner flames in battle's van!
Whose mail is first in slaughter gored!
Thou, subtler than the serpent, DAN,[10]
Prince of the arrow and the sword.
Woe to the Syrian charioteer
When rings the rushing of thy spear!

"Crush'd to the earth by war and woe,
GAD,[11] shall the cup of bondage drain,
Till bold revenge shall give the blow
That pays the long arrear of pain.
Thy cup shall glow with tyrant-gore,
Thou be my Son--and man once more!

"Loved NAPHTALI,[12] thy snow-white hind
Shall bask beneath the rose and vine.
Proud ASHER, to the mountain wild
Shall star-like blaze, thy battle-sign.
All bright to both, from birth to tomb,
The heavens all sunshine, earth all bloom!

"JOSEPH,[13] come near--my son, my son!
Egyptian prince, Egyptian sage,
Child of my first and best-loved one,
Great guardian of thy father's age.
Bring EPHRAIM and MANASSEH nigh,
And let me bless them ere I die.

"Hear me--Thou GOD of Israel!
Thou, who hast been his living shield,
In the red desert's lion-dell,
In Egypt's famine-stricken field,
In the dark dungeon's chilling stone,
In Pharaoh's chain--by Pharaoh's throne.

"My son, all blessings be on thee,
Be blest abroad, be blest at home;
Thy nation's strength--her living tree,
The well to which the thirsty come;
Blest be thy valley, blest thy hill,
Thy father's GOD be with thee still!

"Thou man of blood, thou man of might,
Thy soul shall ravin, BENJAMIN.[14]
Thou wolf by day, thou wolf by night,
Rushing through slaughter, spoil, and sin;
Thine eagle's beak and vulture's wing
Shall curse thy nation with a king!"

Then ceased the voice, and all was still:
The hand of death was on the frame;
Yet gave the heart one final thrill,
And breathed the dying lip one name.
"Sons,