David

I

Mourn, Israel, mourn;
Thine anointed prince is slain.
All ye tribes of Israel, mourn;
How fleeting, how treacherous was his reign!

Oh! the bitter death he died:
Lifted up in scornful pride,
Whelmed by envy’s cruel tide; –
Life so vain!
Victim of familial crime,
Product of a troubled time;
Underneath a heap of stones,
In disgrace, his splintered bones
Now are lain.
Let all Israel sing his fame;
Remember not, ye tribes, his shame; –
Am not I, even I, to blame?
I laid the course his life would run.
O Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom, my son!

II

I held thee once upon my knees, –
Absalom, my son!
Thou hearest not my groans, my pleas,
Thou liest mute beneath the trees;
Thy destiny hath now been run,
Thy day of triumph now is done;
O Absalom, my son, my son!
I taught thee when thou wast a lad,
I brought thee up when thou wast young,
Upheld thee when thy heart was sad;
Thy jealousy did make thee mad; –
Now all thy deeds are left unsung.
Absalom, my son!
Thine own dear brother did thee wrong,
And as thy bitterness grew strong
Thou slewest him ere very long –
My son, mine own!
I could not punish thee thy crime –
Was it not but a little time
Ago that I had done the same,
Had slain a man to hide my shame?
Oh! how my sin hath grown.
The guilty course hath now been run.
O Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom, my son!

III

Into the forest thou didst flee;
Caught by a mighty oaken tree,
Thou hung between the earth and sky;
O Absalom, I mourn for thee!
Hanging in ignominy,
There didst thou die.
The Mighty wielded his deadly dart,
Thrust it deep into thine heart,
Played the treacherous slayer’s part,
My son, mine own!
Surrounded by Joab’s valiant ten
Armourbearers, mighty men –
They raised their swords against thee then –
The crime was done.
Israel mourn! All Judah weep!
Thine anointed now doth sleep.
Sing the fallen warrior’s fame:
Honour, honour to his name!
Tribes of Israel, weep and sigh,
Lift your voices to the sky,
Never let his memory die –
His course is done.
My son, my son, O Absalom, my son, –
O Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom, my son!

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