Part 5 (1/2)

CHAPTER IX

”Judith,” a great poem founded on Scripture story. Authors.h.i.+p uncertain.

Part of it lost. Quotations from it. Description of Holofernes'

banquet as of a Saxon feast. Story of Judith dwelt on to encourage resistance to Danes and Northmen.

To-day we shall think about some more of the great poetry that was made before the Norman Conquest, and we shall first take one of the finest and most characteristic poems which remain to us, a poem founded on Bible story; the great poem, of which we have unfortunately only a part, the ”Judith.”

It is not certain who wrote this poem: it may have been Cynewulf; but we do not know.

The story of Judith is a well-known one; the story of the Hebrew lady who is described in the foreword to the Book of Judith as ”that ill.u.s.trous woman, by whose virtue and fort.i.tude, and armed with prayer, the children of Israel were preserved from the destruction threatened them by Holofernes and his great army.”

The earlier part of the poem is lost, so we can only guess how the poet told of the ravage wrought by the general of King Nabuchodonoser in the countries close to Palestine, and how submission was as vain as resistance to a power which, for the time being, was allowed to be so terribly great.

The poem, as we have it, begins where Judith has come, in the splendour of her beauty, and the might of her purity, and the power of her faith, to destroy the destroyer and set her people free.

The Prince of Glory gave her the s.h.i.+eld of His hand in the place Where she stood in her uttermost need of the highest Doomer's grace To save her in peril extreme; and the Ruler of all things made, The glorious Father in Heaven, He granted the prayer she prayed, And, because of the might of her faith, He gave His help and His aid.

I have heard how his word went forth, how Holofernes bad His men to the drinking of wine, and the splendid feast he had.

The prince he called his thanes and the s.h.i.+elded warriors best, And the folk-leaders came to the mighty, all fain for the doing his best.

And now, since the coming of Judith, three days and three nights had been, The woman wise in her heart, and fair as the elf-folk sheen.

We have the description of the banquet, with the deep bowls and well-filled cups and pitchers borne to the sitters along the floor--just the description of the old Saxon banquet which the poet knew of. We have the drunken glee of Holofernes, his right noisy laughter and the stormy mirth that could be heard from afar; and his call to the henchmen to quit them as warriors ought, till at last they lie in their drunken sleep, powerless, and as though stricken of death.

Then comes the night, and the sending for Judith, the wise-hearted one, to Holofernes' tent. Holofernes lies in his drunken sleep, and the Lord's handmaid draws from the sheath the keen-edged glittering sword, and prays,

O G.o.d of all created, I pray my prayer to Thee!

O Spirit of Comfort! O Son Almighty! I bow my knee, For Thy mercy to me who need Thee, most glorious Trinity!

Now is my heart waxed hot, exceeding hot in me, And my soul afflicted sore, and sorrowful grievously.

Give victory, Prince of Heaven, to me, and steadfast faith, That so with this sword I slay this dealer of wrong and death.

O, grant me Thy salvation, most mighty Folk-prince, Thou, For ne'er have I needed Thy mercy with greater need than now.

Avenge, O mighty Lord, the thing whereof I wot, Which is anger in my soul, and in my breast burns hot.

Then the Judge most high He gave her the courage she prayed Him for, As yet to each He giveth, who seeketh Him, as of yore, With faith and understanding, his help for evermore.

And then,

Enlarged was the woman's soul, the holy one's hope sprang new.

And she smites the evil general with the strength she had prayed for, and goes forth victorious with her handmaiden, to bear the tidings to her people of the deliverance wrought for them, ascribing the glory to G.o.d and His might. Judith leaves the camp of the a.s.syrians, with her waiting-woman, who carries the head of Holofernes in a bag. Men and women in great mult.i.tudes flock to the fortress-gate, pressing and running to meet G.o.d's handmaid, glad of heart to know of her home-coming. They let her in reverently, and the trophy she has brought is shown them. Judith beseeches them to go forth to the fight, as soon as the Maker of the beginning of all things, the King of high honour, hath sent the bright light from the East; to go forth bearing s.h.i.+eld and buckler and the bright helmet, to meet the thronging foemen, and fell the folk-leaders, the doomed spear-bearers. Their foes are doomed to death, and they shall have glory and honour in battle. Then follows a great battle, with full victory to Israel.

The poet has varied from the Biblical story, in representing the officers of Holofernes' army as drunk; and also in telling of a battle after the return of Judith to Bethulia. It also may seem strange that Judith should address the Holy Trinity and each separate Person thereof.

The old Christian poet carried his belief along with him, and the handmaid of G.o.d, the brave Judith, was to him a follower of Our Lord.

The brave Judith, yes! St Dominic's Third Order was at first, as we know, called ”The militia of Jesus Christ.” How Judith would have loved the name! And we may think, may we not? how, looking from her place among the glorified, she smiled on the great warrior Maiden Saint who went in the might of the Lord, to deliver her country from the rule of the stranger.