The Parable of the Old Man and the Young
PETER SCHICKELE
So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went
And took the fire with him, and a knife
And as they sojourned both of them together
Isaac the first-born spake and said
My Father
Behold the preparations, fire and iron
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth
With belts and straps
And builded parapets and trenches there
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son
When lo! an Angel called him out of heaven
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad
Neither do anything to him, thy son
Behold! Caught in a thicket by it's horns
A Ram offer the Ram of Pride instead
But the old man would not so
But slew his son
And half the seed of Europe, one by one