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Of prudence, and with a heavy blow he felledThe smiter to the earth, and Israel hadOne tyrant less. Moses saw the mortal palenessChase the flushes from the Egyptian's face,The whitening lips that breathed no more defianceAnd the relaxing tension of the well knit limbs;And when he knew that he was dead, he hidHim in the sand and left him to his rest. Another day Moses walkedAbroad, and saw two brethren strivingFor mastery; and then his heart grew fullOf tender pity. They were brethren, sharersOf a common wrong: should not their wrongs moreClosely bind their hearts, and union, not division,Be their strength? And feeling thus, he said, "yeAre brethren, wherefore do ye strive together?"But they threw back his words in angry tonesAnd asked if he had come to judge them, and wouldMete to them the fate of the Egyptian?Then Moses knew the sand had failed to keepHis secret, that his life no more was safeIn Goshen, and he fled unto the desertsOf Arabia and became a shepherdFor the priest of Midian.
