Dinah and the stranger
(Based on Genesis 34)
Bright the day but dark the night
When love strikes like a dart.
And the stranger looked at Dinah
With passion in his heart.
He took that fair maid by the hand
And laid her on the ground.
And when he took her maidenhead
She uttered never a sound.
And as she lay there in his arms
He kissed both cheek and chin:
Pray come and be my lawful wife
And leave your kith and kin.
I may not be your lawful wife
Without my brothers' leave.
I fear that they will cast me out
A lonely life to lead.
The stranger spoke to Simeon
And to Levi also.
He said: I love your sister dear
And with me she would go.
And then up spoke her brothers,
Their voices loud and hard:
No stranger may our maidens wed,
Thus says our mighty Lord.
Unless they circumcisèd be,
Each man must be made clean
So we shall do this holy work
With knives both sharp and keen.
And then up spoke his father,
A stranger in their land.
Said: Let it be as they have said,
And take their sister's hand.
And each of us will render up
And consecrate our lives
And take their daughters and their sons
For husbands and for wives.
Now Jacob was Dinah's father
And he blessed the blushing bride.
He thought it good to live in peace
With strangers to abide.
But Simeon had a good long sword,
Levi had a short;
And as they circumcised each man
They stabbed him to the heart.
Loud and bitter were the cries
Of every stranger's wife.
But louder far were Dinah's
When they took her lover's life.
Then up and spoke old Jacob,
Never known to speak with scorn:
How could there be such treachery
Into my kindred born?
Nay father, nay, replied his sons,
Lay it not at our door,
For the stranger took our sister
And made her play the whore.
It's true he took your sister
And made her play the whore,
But the deed that you have done this day
Has grievèd me still more.
When you circumcised them all
You ransomed them for God
And when you stabbed them to the heart
You shamed our mighty Lord.
Cursèd be your lifted swords
And never shall you see
The land of milk and honey
That the Lord has promised me.
Jehovah bade you welcome
The stranger in your gates.
For all who disobey this law
A dreadful doom awaits.
They buried the stranger on the hill
Outside the city wall
And Dinah lay across the grave
In sorrow for them all.
And so it's been and so shall be
Down through all these years
Until another comes to die
And wipe away all tears.
