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By Jacob's Well - The Samaritan Woman
The sun of high noon beat down upon her,
Her shabby sandals pounded heavily
Upon the ancient cobblestone, - the air
Was hot, her garb of crash was of coarse quality
The well was of a distance from the town
Of Sychem were she lived, and gossips ran
Five husbands she had had, and with a frown
They whispered: “Now she has another man“.
Her body had been once voluptuous,
Some time ago, her face so bright and fair,
But now her smile had lost its cheerfulness
And aging did oppress and frighten her
At high noon’s heat the woman did go out
To draw her water, all alone she trod,
For at that time she could avoid the crowd
Whose whipers irritated her a lot.
She reached the well at last, fatigued and spent,
Would draw her water and fill up the jug
Unnoticed and without an incident
To chagrin her, but oh! there was a snag!
A man sat by the well, she wondered who?
And strained her eyes,- who could the fellow be,
Then with alarm she saw he was a Jew,
Close by the well, beneath an ancient tree.
Jews have no dealings with Samaritans,
Old hatred smoldered, - animosities,
Between pure Jew and blood Assyrian,
Their loathome cult with its impurities.
“Give me to drink!” - the man asked suddenly,
To which the woman, much surprised, replied:
“You are a Jew, and I Samaritan,
To chat and give you drink does not seem right“.
The man spoke: “Woman! if you only knew
God‘s gift and him that asks you drink to give
You‘d have asked him, and he‘d have given you
The water that makes men forever live.”.
“Give me this water that you speak of Sir"-
The woman begged, but he revealed her past,
And all that ever happened unto her
And laid it bare- now she was flabbergast.
But Jesus spirit’s spell made her forget
Her thirst and burning feet entirely,
With spiritual food the woman had been fed,
And filled with nourishment abundantly.
“God is a Spirit” - he revealed to her,-
In spirit and in truth to be adored”-
These words uncovered only unto her,.
The chosen one to hear them from the Lord.
“Messiah will come and tell us all” - spoke she,
Then unto her alone the Lord made clear
The one that speaketh unto Thee is He
Messiah has arrived and He is here”.
Disciples with some food arrived at length
The conversation stopped, - the woman sped
To tell her neighbors in the Spirit's strength
And power that she had Messiah met.
Forgetting water jug she ran apace
Back to the town of Sychem hastily,
To spread the news with flushed and radiant face:
"I met the promised one,- come hear and see!"
Immortal place in our Holy Book
This jaded woman of so common clay,
Who parching thirst and water jug forgot
To announce Christ who does all thirst allay;.
This outcast was the first that recognized,
The first to spread the news of Jesus Christ.
© Elizabeth Dandy
