George Peele. King David. Friedlander, Joseph, comp. 1917. The Standard Book of Jewish Verse

Joseph Friedlander, comp. The Standard Book of Jewish Verse. 1917.

King David

By George Peele


OF Israel’s sweetest singer now I sing,
His holy style and happy victories;
Whose muse was dipt in that inspiring dew,
Archangels ’stilled from the breath of Jove,
Decking her temples with the glorious flowers	5
Heaven rained on tops of Sion and Mount Sinai.
Upon the bosom of his ivory lute
The cherubim and angels laid their breasts;
And when his consecrated fingers struck
The golden wires of his ravishing harp,	10
He gave alarum to the host of heaven
That, wing’d with lightning, brake the clouds, and cast
Their crystal armour at his conquering feet.
Of this sweet poet, Jove’s musician,
And of his beauteous son, I press to sing:	15
That help, divine Adonai, to conduct
Upon the wings of my well-tempered verse
The hearers’ minds above the towers of heaven
And guide them so in this thrice haughty flight,
Their mounting feathers scorch not with the fire,	20
That none can temper but thy holy hand;
To thee for succour flies my feeble muse,
And at thy feet her iron pen doth use.