Hattie Horner.

 
___________ 
 

THE GREAT DELIVERANCE.

 
________ 
 
CALM Egypt slept, The veil of heavy night 
Hung darkly 'tween the desert and the sky. 
Above the sleeping land that dreamed no harm, 
The sullen clouds bent low and threateningly, 
And through the darkness and the silence deep 
No voice of solemn warning breathed aloud: 
"Prepare to meet thy God." The soft night wind, 
That crept from house to house with noiseless tread, 
Repeated not: "Thy first-born all must die." 
The bird that moved upon the midnight bough 
Said not: "The hour is come"^__nor yet the stars
That stood above the land. The night wore on, 
And Egypt slept. 

The night wore slowly on,

 
And Israel, by the dimly burning light, 
Did watch with anxious heart. The lamb was slain 
And on the lintel had the blood been struck; 
The cloth was spread; the hurried meal was passed. 
(65)