Page:Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.djvu/43

Eliab heard, and kindled into ire
To hear his shepherd-brother thus inquire,
And thus begun? "What errand brought thee? say
"Who keeps thy flock? or does it go astray?

"I know the base ambition of thine heart,

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"But back in safety from the field depart."

Eliab thus to Jesse's youngest heir,
Express'd his wrath in accents most severe.
When to his brother mildly he reply'd,

"What have I done? or what the cause to chide?"

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The words were told before the king, who sent
For the young hero to his royal tent:
Before the monarch dauntless he began,
"For this Philistine fail no heart of man:

"I'll take the vale, and with the giant fight:

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"I dread not all his boasts, nor all his might."