Ahijah's Curse

The blinded seer, the Shilonite,
Ahijah, worshipped Yahveh's name;
And when the queen of Israel came,
An angel brought him second-sight.

"Approach!" he bade, "and bow the knee!
I know thee, wife of Ephraim's king;
I know the query thou dost bring.
Go, bear thy husband God's decree.

"'Because thou floutest Me,' He saith;
'Because thou madest gods of gold,
And leddest Jacob from my fold,
I summon Nebat's sons to death;

"'The dog shall tear them in the street,
The vulture tear them in the field;
Their bones shall whiten, unconcealed,
Beneath the scorn of alien feet.'

"And thou, O weeping mother, fly
To find thy stricken one alive;
Yet even while thy steps arrive
Beneath thy portal, he shall die."