But they did not see the golden fringes
Of their coming morn; they only saw the cold,
Grey sky, and fainted ’neath the cheerless gloom.
Moses sought again the presence of the king:
And Pharaoh’s brow grew dark with wrath,
And rising up in angry haste, he said,
Defiantly, “If thy God be great, show
Us some sign or token of his power.”
Then Moses threw his rod upon the floor,
And it trembled with a sign of life;