The Two Brothers and Other Poems Author:Edward Henry Bickersteth General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1871 Original Publisher: Rivingtons Subjects: History / General Poetry / General Poetry / American / General Poetry / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing ... more »text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: SAMSON. [ The story of Samson is put into the mouth of Manoah, who relates it to his attendant shortly before his death.'] " Ibi demum morte quievit." Viegil. Mneid. ix. 445. Give me thy hand, brave stripling, for mine eyes Are dim with age and many sorrows : rise And lead me to that rocky seat, whereon Beams the full radiance of the summer sun ; And basking in his glory, ere he laves His chariot wheels in yonder western waves, -- Again my frozen life-streams onward flowing, Again my heart with manhood's pulses glowing, -- I'll grant thy eager and long-sought request, Before I sink to silence and to rest. Yes, thou hast urged me oftentimes to tell How my child Samson lived and fought and fell; By all the silent pleading of those years Spent with an old man in this vale of tears, By all the brooding thunder-clouds of war Skirting the confines of our land afar, And by thy hopes to light the latent fire Of thy young heart at Samson's funeral pyre ; I felt thy silent longings ; but my heart, Though school'd in grief, refused the mourner's part: I could not tell thee without tears his story -- I could not weep o'er Samson's tomb of glory: -- But now I feel, I know my hour is nigh. Who weeps with heaven before him ? fix thine eye On mine: the sun shines cloudless : it is well: Now listen to an old man's tale, and tell The after centuries when I am gone, So spake Manoah of his only son. Yes, the dark clouds are breaking ...« less