The Complete Old English Poems

by Craig Williamson

  To rule their realm, a wasted homeland.

  So the Hebrews were a people displaced,

  Their lives a wilderness of suffering and sorrow.

  Then Nebuchadnezzar ordered his officers

  To seek out the smartest of the young Hebrews, 80

  Those who were most learned in the laws.

  He wanted the wise ones to hone their skills

  And increase their knowledge so that in debate

  He could show off his strength, offer insights,

  And proclaim himself the master of all minds. 85

  He never thought to thank God for his gifts.

  The officers found three young men,

  Wise ones from a noble stock,

  Skilled in scriptures, learned in the law.

  One was Hananiah, the second Azariah, 90

  The third Mishael—all chosen by the Lord.

  They came courageous and keen-witted

  Before the proud, pomp-loving king

  In the Chaldean court. The Hebrew men

  Were required to perform before the prince, 95

  Parade their wisdom, reveal their learning,

  Unlock their mind-hoards. The battle-king of Babylon

  Ordered his serving officers upon their lives

  To provide the young men with food and clothing,

  Sustenance and shelter, for the rest of their days. 100

  The guardian of Babylon was infamous on earth,

  Arrogant and angry, a torment and terror

  To the children of men. He lived by no law.

  One night in a deep sleep, the royal tyrant

  Was visited by a powerful and prophetic dream 105

  That haunted his heart and tortured his mind.

  He saw how the world was to be transformed,

  Wondrously shaped in a new creation

  Unlike anything before, containing a pattern

  Of the rise and fall of nations and kingdoms, 110

  So that every empire would one day crumble,

  And all earthly delights would turn into dust.

  Then the wolf-hearted lord of Babylon awoke

  From his wine-drunk sleep. His mind seemed bent

  By the dark dream he could barely recall. 115

  He summoned together his shrewdest sorcerers

  And demanded to know what his dream might mean.

  He was twisted in terror over this strange vision

  And couldn’t find the right words to describe

  Its beginning or end. The devil-wise sorcerers, 120

  Who could not decipher a wordless dream,

  Answered uneasily the tormented dreamer:

  “Lord Nebuchadnezzar, how can we know

  What’s concealed in your mind, hidden in your heart,

  What dreams disclose or the fates decree, 125

  If you can’t even bring to light its beginning?”

  Then the wolfish king spit out an answer:

  “You are not as wise as I once thought,

  When you claimed to comprehend my destiny

  And what great fortune would be my lot. 130

  You often offer keen wisdom in the court,

  Proud of your knowledge before the people,

  But now you fail to decipher my dream.

  Your knowledge is a nightmare! Your fate will be

  Death’s doom unless I come to know 135

  What this dream portends that disturbs my mind.”

  Those court magicians could give no counsel

  To the troubled king because the capacity

  To know Nebuchadnezzar’s mysterious dream

  Or unravel its riddle was withheld from them— 140

  Until the prophet Daniel, a powerful dream-reader,

  Beloved servant of God, came to the court,

  Bearing both wisdom and righteousness

  Before the king’s throne and the Creator’s judgment.

  He was the leader of those who had lost 145

  Their homes and heartland, ruler of the remnant

  Who lived in misery, wrapped in woe—

  The ones now slaves of the savage heathens.

  God granted Daniel grace through the secret

  Thoughts of a holy spirit, so that an angel 150

  Revealed to him every aspect of the king’s dream.

  When the day dawned, Daniel came to the court

  To describe the dream to his worldly lord,

  Wisely explaining the destiny of nations,

  The rise and fall of all earthly empires, 155

  So that the headstrong king could comprehend

  The beginning and end of his anxious dream.

  Thus Daniel garnered great honor and renown

  Among the scholars and sages of that city

  Because he had explained the king’s dream, 160

  Which had been both communicated and concealed,

  Hidden in his heart and haunting his mind,

  A sure sign of his sins and his wicked ways.

  Yet Daniel could not bring the king to believe

  In the power of the Lord, for he began to build 165

  A golden idol in the plains of Dura,

  Which were part of the country often called

  The mighty Babylon. Against God’s wishes,

  The heathen king raised up a human image,

  Gilded and godlike. He was shrewd without sense, 170

  Cunning without capacity. He wanted wisdom

  And knew no righteousness.

  * * *

  [Then the king called the leaders of the land

  Together to worship the glittering god.]

  The heathens came at the call of the trumpet 175

  And bowed down on their knees before the idol,

  Worshipping an image. They knew no better

  Than to follow the false faith of their lord,

  An angry tyrant who was snared in sin,

  Proud of his power, haughty in his heart. 180

  They were as perverse as their unenlightened prince.

  For their sins they were headed for a grim reward.

  When the trumpets called everyone to come

  To worship the idol, there were three in the city

  Who refused to bow down to the brazen image— 185

  These were the youths of Israel, the sons of Abraham

  By their long lineage, keepers of the covenant,

  True to the everlasting and almighty Lord.

  These noble youths made known to everyone

  That they would not worship a god of gold, 190

  But only the King of heaven, the Shepherd of souls,

  Who granted them grace. The courageous ones

  Boldly made clear to the heathen king

  That he could never compel them to worship an idol

  That he had built and burnished as an unholy god. 195

  The king’s servants reported to their lord:

  “The three wise scholars now in the city,

  Who are incidentally your captives, refuse to obey,

  To bow down humbly before our bright god.

  They will not follow our faith and worship 200

  The god you constructed in gold for yourself.”

  Then the swollen-hearted ruler of Babylon

  Became enraged, fuming and furious.

  In an outburst of temper, he told the three youths

  They must humbly worship his glorious idol 205

  Or suffer the pain of torture and torment,

  The surging flame, the savage fire.

  He commanded the Hebrew men to bow down,

  To implore that evil idol for protection,

  To pray to the gold he had shaped as a god, 210

  But the young men refused his corrupt request.

  They kept their courage and followed their faith.

  They were determined to fulfil God’s law

  And not mock or scorn the Lord of hosts,


  No matter how much misery it might cause them. 215

  They would not worship a heathen idol

  Or give credence to the prince’s pagan god,

  Even though he threatened them with cruel death.

  Then the ruthless king, wrathful and resolute,

  Flew into a fury, ordering a great furnace, 220

  A fiery oven, to destroy the wise youths

  For opposing his powers. When the furnace burned

  As hot as could be, a blazing oven

  To scorch the flesh and heat up the heart,

  The king of Babylon, merciless and murderous, 225

  Ordered everyone assembled and the youths bound

  And cast into the flames. Then an angel appeared

  To offer God’s aid. Though the king’s thanes

  Had savagely thrust them into that fierce furnace,

  The Lord shielded them, saving their lives, 230

  When he sent down a holy spirit from heaven,

  An angel who entered the oven, untouched by flame,

  And enfolded the youths in a loving embrace,

  Turning back terror and torment, burn and blaze.

  That fire could not mar their manly beauty, 235

  Singe their faces, scorch their flesh.

  God was their guardian—his power preserved them.

  The savage king was contorted with rage.

  He ordered his servants to feed the fire

  With more wood till it was monstrously large. 240

  The furnace was groaning, the iron oven gleaming.

  The wolfish king wanted the oven walls

  To surround and cook, sizzle and sear,

  The beloved youths who were determined to remain

  Firm in their faith, steadfast in the law— 245

  But the fierce flames leapt up abruptly

  Beyond the furnace from the holy ones to the heathens,

  Blazing and blackening more unexpected bodies

  Than anyone thought fitting! Inside the oven

  The youths survived—their spirits exulted. 250

  Outside the oven, people in a frenzy

  Were consumed by flames as their king looked on.

  That was not the outcome anyone imagined—

  The fire was determined to hurt the heathens.

  The good Hebrew youths were all glad-hearted. 255

  They sang praise-songs to God as well as they could

  Inside the oven. He had preserved their lives.

  They sang in the arms of their guardian angel,

  Who had kept them alive in his cool embrace

  And turned back the flame upon the tormenters, 260

  So the faithful survived. That savage fire

  Was no hotter to them than the light of the sun.

  The tongues of flame did not touch their hearts

  As they trusted in God. The fire fell on the heathens,

  Who were already aflame with evil and hatred. 265

  The threat was thrown back at the threateners.

  The king’s servants too soon discovered

  The flames devouring their faces and flesh.

  That grim fire did not help the good looks

  Of those who no longer rejoiced in their work! 270

  Then the hard-hearted, headstrong king,

  When he came to his senses, saw a great wonder,

  A holy miracle in the middle of the flames—

  Three righteous men moving about in the oven,

  Untouched, unscathed, unbroken, unblazed— 275

  Whole in the heat, their hearts joyful—

  And something else surrounding them there,

  A glorious angel of almighty God,

  Protecting them all in his arms’ embrace.

  No harm was done, no death delivered— 280

  Except of course to their own tormentors.

  Inside the oven it was only as warm

  As sunlight on a summer day at dawn

  When the cool dew is carried off by the breeze.

  It was God himself who saved and sustained them 285

  Then holy Azariah spoke his mind,

  Praising the Lord in prayer and song,

  Out of the heat of the surrounding flames,

  Faithful and faultless, staunchly determined

  To perform good deeds, saying these words: 290

  “Listen, Lord of all creatures, Maker of all things.

  Your matchless strength can save mankind.

  Your name is glorious, bright and beautiful,

  Renowned among nations. Day by day,

  Your judgments are proved timely and true, 295

  Righteous and triumphant, as you yourself are.

  Glorious Father, your will in this world

  Is just and generous. Grant us your grace,

  Shaper of souls. Protect and preserve us

  Now in our need from affliction and oppression, 300

  Suffering and slavery. Our Lord and Judge,

  We beg for mercy, bound by a ring of fire.

  We have earned this woe in our worldly lives;

  Our forefathers also were steeped in evil,

  Immoral city-dwellers stained with sin, 305

  Swollen with pride. They committed crimes,

  Breaking the laws, abhorring the holy life.

  Now we wander through the wide world,

  Unprotected, displaced, unfaithful, ungraced,

  Sometimes ignored, sometimes despised, 310

  Sometimes enslaved in terrible torment

  By heathen rulers or cruel kings.

  We are the hated exiles of earth,

  Driven by dire need into tyranny and bondage,

  Where we struggle and suffer. Almighty God, 315

  We offer thanks for days of hard discipline,

  Our penance for pride. Do not forsake us Father,

  But grant us your mercy, Savior of men.

  Keep those holy covenants, those sacred promises

  You established with Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph. 320

  Lord almighty, you promised through prophecy

  In distant days that you would deliver us,

  Increase our progeny, bringing forth

  A great multitude of famous tribes,

  A people countless as the circling stars, 325

  Numerous as the grains of sand on the shore,

  Or the waves rolling endlessly in the ocean,

  The boundless salt-seas—a people proliferating

  Through the twists and turns of expectant time.

  We are the survivors who suffer, dear Lord— 330

  We pray that you will keep your old promise

  To make clear your power and glory,

  So that now the Chaldeans and other peoples

  Who live as heathens under the heavens

  Will know that you alone are the Lord Eternal, 335

  Giver of victories, God of hosts,

  Sovereign and shield, sustainer of truth,

  Righteous Ruler of everything on earth.”

  So the holy man praised his Maker’s mercy,

  His power and purpose. Then down from the sky 340

  An angel descended, a beautiful being

  Robed in radiance. He brought comfort,

  The Lord’s compassion, a lifeline from God.

  Bearing heaven’s brightness, the holy angel

  Cast out the fire, swept back the flame 345

  With protecting power so that no one was harmed—

  Their bodies were unburned, their hearts untouched.

  The angry angel seized the blaze, flinging fire

  Back at their enemies for their wicked ways.

  When the angel arrived in the glorified air, 350

  The fire in the cruel furnace cooled down.

  It felt like a summer shower in the noon heat,

  A relief of wind and wet, a delight of raindrops.

  The flame was quenched by the Creator’s power,<
br />
  A gift of the clouds, a cooling hope for the holy men, 355

  When three youths—Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—

  Walked with the angel through the fiery furnace,

  Four who fought the fire, surviving the flame.

  The bold-hearted men emerged intact,

  Praising God, offering prayers to the Prince, 360

  Urging the children of Israel and all earthly creatures

  To bless the everlasting Lord, the Ruler of all realms.

  The three bold survivors, wise in mind,

  Said to their Creator with a single voice:

  “Gracious Father, let the full beauty 365

  Of the world’s crafts, each created wonder,

  The heavens and angels, the bright clear waters,

  Each of your beings in its own degree,

  Everything above in its glory and grandeur,

  Praise your power and worship you. 370

  Let the sun and moon, the stars in heaven,

  The planets parading in the night sky,

  The waters of earth and air, the dew and rain,

  Praise and glorify you. Let all souls sing,

  Exalting the name of almighty God. 375

  Let burning fire and bright summer,

  Night and day, land and sea,

  Light and darkness, heat and cold,

  Frost and dew, rain and river,

  Spring-snap and winter-wonder, 380

  Cloud-drift and snow-drift,

  All weathers, all seasons, glorify God.

  Let all creatures in the curve of creation

  Extol your blessings, eternal Lord—

  Lightning-flash and thunder-clap, 385

  Earth-hills and summer-spills,

  Salt-waves and spring-surges,

  The deep thrum of whales singing,

  The high drift of birds winging,

  Water-flow and wind-blow, 390

  Cattle in the field, beasts in the wild.

  Let the children of men celebrate your love,

  Bring you the best of their hearts’ hymns.

  Let the people of Israel, your faithful servants,

  Praise you, proclaiming your glory revealed 395

  In the wealth of the world, in bright nature’s

  Bountiful being, in each creature’s song.

  Your hands hold each heart’s virtue,

  Each mind’s making, each soul’s yearning.

  We three children of God speak out 400

  With a singular voice rising from the flames—

  Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael together.

  We glorify God in the sanctity of our hearts.

  We bless you forever, Lord of all nations,

  Almighty Father, true Son of the Creator, 405

  Savior of souls, Healer of hearts,

  Holy Spirit, and all-knowing God.

  We celebrate your vision in our way of seeing,

  Your powerful truth in our best way of being.