"Whose banner flames in battle's van! Whose mail is first in slaughter gored! Thou, subtler than the serpent, DAN,[10] Prince of the arrow and the sword. Woe to the Syrian charioteer When rings the rushing of thy spear! "Crush'd to the earth by war and woe, GAD,[11] shall the cup of bondage drain, Till bold revenge shall give the blow That pays the long arrear of pain. Thy cup shall glow with tyrant-gore, Thou be my Son--and man once more! "Loved NAPHTALI,[12] thy snow-white hind Shall bask beneath the rose and vine. Proud ASHER, to the mountain wild Shall star-like blaze, thy battle-sign. All bright to both, from birth to tomb, The heavens all sunshine, earth all bloom! "JOSEPH,[13] come near--my son, my son! Egyptian prince, Egyptian sage, Child of my first and best-loved one, Great guardian of thy father's age. Bring EPHRAIM and MANASSEH nigh, And let me bless them ere I die. "Hear me--Thou GOD of Israel! Thou, who hast been his living shield, In the red desert's lion-dell, In Egypt's famine-stricken field, In the dark dungeon's chilling stone, In Pharaoh's chain--by Pharaoh's throne. "My son, all blessings be on thee, Be blest abroad, be blest at home; Thy nation's strength--her living tree, The well to which the thirsty come; Blest be thy valley, blest thy hill, Thy father's GOD be with thee still! "Thou man of blood, thou man of might, Thy soul shall ravin, BENJAMIN.[14] Thou wolf by day, thou wolf by night, Rushing through slaughter, spoil, and sin; Thine eagle's beak and vulture's wing Shall curse thy nation with a king!" Then ceased the voice, and all was still: The hand of death was on the frame; Yet gave the heart one final thrill, And breathed the dying lip one name. "Sons, let me rest by Leah's side!" He raised his brow to heaven--and died. HAVILAH. [6] The privileges of the _first-born_ passed away from the tribe of Reuben, and were divided among his brethren. The double portion of the inheritance was given to Joseph--the priesthood to Levi--and the sovereignty to Judah. The tribe never rose into national power, and it was the first which was carried into captivity. [7] The massacre of the Shechemites was the crime of the two brothers. For a long period the tribe of Simeon was depressed; and its position, on the verge of the Amalekites, always exposed it to suffering. The Levites, though finally entrusted with the priesthood, had no inheritance in Palestine: they dwelt scattered among the tribes. [8] The tribe of Judah was distinguished from the beginning of the nation. It led the van in the march to Palestine. It was the first appointed to expel the Canaanites. It gave the first judge, Othniel. It was the tribe of David, and, most glorious of all titles, was the _Tribe of our_ LORD.