1. The Kid, which was, among the Jews, one of the pure animals, denotes the Hebrews. The Father by whom it was purchased is Jehovah, who is represented as sustaining this relation to the Hebrew nation. The two pieces of money signify Moses and Aaron, through whose mediation the Hebrews were brought out of Egypt.
2. The Cat denotes the ancient Assyrians, by whom the ten tribes were carried into captivity.
3. The Dog is symbolical of the ancient Babylonians.
4. The Staff signifies the Persians, a powerful nation of antiquity.
5. The Fire indicates the Grecian empire, under Alexander the Great.
6. The Water betokens the Romans, or the fourth of the great monarchies, to whose dominion the Jews were subjected.
7. The Ox is a symbol of the Saracens, who subdued Palestine and brought it under the Caliphs of Bagdad.
8. The Butcher, that killed the Ox, denotes the Crusaders, by whom the Holy Land was wrested out of the hands of the Saracens, for a time.
9. The Angel of Death signifies the Turkish power, by which the land of Palestine was taken from the Crusaders, and to which it is still subject.
10. The commencement of the 10th stanza is designed to show, that God will take signal vengeance on the Turks, immediately after whose overthrow the Jews are to be restored to their own land, and to live under the government of the long-expected Messiah.