Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/66

How great was their surprise
When they the sight beheld:
An infant-lying there,—
A lovely Hebrew child.

The tender infant wept,
The princess felt its smart,
She gently took him up,
And pressed him to her heart.
Unlike her noble sire,
Who wickedly decreed
That every male should die,
Born of the Hebrew seed.

Like some kind mother, she
Beheld the helpless babe,
And thought within herself
His life, how shall I save?
I'll take him as mine own,
And he my son shall be,
And at my father's court
He there shall dwell with me.

In all the arts and skill
Of Egypt's sacred lore,
I'll fitly train him up,
Its mysteries to explore;
His name I'll Moses call,
To signify and show,
That from the rippling wave
His tender form I drew.

And while she mused thus,
Young Miriam forward came,
And seemed as if she would
Some information gain;
And with a modest look
She to the princess said,
"Shall I a woman seek
To nurse the tender babe?"

"Yes, little maiden, go,
A Hebrew woman bring
But least did she suspect
That Miriam knew the thing.
With eager haste she ran
The joyful news to tell,
That for the lovely babe
All things were working well.