“‘My ministry is finish’d; in thine hands,
Blest of the Lord, O Joshua! I have put
The book of life, and in thine arms expire.’
He ceas’d, and instantly the hand of death
Press’d on his heart and stopp’d its vital pulse;
His eye-lids dropt upon their sightless balls:
One deep-drawn sigh dismiss’d his parting soul;
To heaven it rose; his body sank to earth,
And God’s archangel guarded his remains.”
In charming contrast to this portentous rhapsody stands Goldsmith’s own tender oratorio, The Captivity. It deals with the sons of Israel in exile, working and weeping on the banks of the Euphrates; yet keeping their hearts turned longingly to the fields of Sharon, the plains of Kedron, the cedar-clad hills of Lebanon, and Zion. “Insulted, chained, and all the world their foe,” the captives nourish their faith in the God of their fathers: