Page:The Poems and Prose remains of Arthur Hugh Clough, volume 2 (1869).djvu/96

But not, she said, methought, but not for this,
In the old days, did Jacob seek his bride;—
Where art thou now, O thou that sought'st me then?
Where is thy loving tenderness of old?
And where that fervency of faith to which
Seven weary years were even as a few days?

And Rachel wept and ended, Ah, my life!
Though Leah bear thee sons on sons, methought
The child of love, late-born, were worth them all.

And Leah groaned and answered, It is well:
She that hath kept from me my husband's heart
Will set their father's soul against my sons.
Yet, also, not, she said, I thought, for this,
Not for the feverish nor the doating love,
Doth Israel, father of a nation, seek;
Nor to light dalliance, as of boy and girl,
Incline the thoughts of matron and of man,
Or lapse the wisdom of maturer mind.

And Leah ended, Father of my sons,
Come, thou shalt dream of Rachel if thou wilt,
So Leah fold thee in a wife's embrace.

These are the words of Jacob's wives, who sat
In the tent door, and listened to their speech,
The spring beside him, and above the palm,
While all the sheep were gathered for the night.