Poem Catechetical: Jehovah wounded the River Nile

I composed this for children to memorize. Your feedback, especially technical, is welcome.

Water Is Changed Into Blood, James Tissot c. 1903

One of the pastors at my church, Ben Merkle, is preaching through Exodus. Today he preached through Exodus 7, and made much of wanting the children of the congregation to memorize the ten plagues God sent against the Egyptians (Exodus 7-11).

I decided on the spot to try to compose something for the kidlets. The ten plagues are laid out below in twelve quatrains and a final cinquain of loose (always) tetrameter.

I tried to make it very biblical, using language and phrasing not only from English Bibles, but which makes reference to the Hebrew.

In talking over the project at Sunday lunch with the family, I decided to go with a more narrative format than a simple list with rhyming as an aid. That being said, I may still compose some version of this that is simply rhyming couplets listing the plagues, perhaps for younger children.

Your feedback is welcome, both technically (a lot of this is forced; is it fun?), and pedagogically. You should know that I want this thing to be kind of gross; the Bible is not delicate, and we should embrace that. Also know that as a teacher I am always walking a line: I want to elevate kids, so I always aim just above their heads to make them reach up. That being said, one can overshoot sometimes, and you’re welcome to point that out if you see it.

Jehovah wounded the River Nile

Jehovah wounded the River Nile,
And all the water turned to blood.
He frightened away the crocodile,
The fish all drowned and stank the flood.

Then Moses spoke some words of dread
And stretched his hand above the water,
So frogs streamed up into their beds
And grossed out all of Egypt’s daughters.

The frogs and fish smelled up the land,
But Pharaoh would not let them go;
So Aaron struck the dusty sand,
And lice crawled up each head and toe.

The fourth plague was the plague of flies
That drove all Egypt mad with pain.
The fifth was where the cattle die,
The horses, camels, asses slain.

But still the Pharaoh’s heart was hard,
So Moses threw some ashy dust,
And by it beast and man were marred
With bleeding boils and scabby crust.

The seventh plague was hail and fire,
which fell from sky and ran the ground;
There never was a plague so dire
In Egypt’s annals to be found.

Jehovah punished Egypt all,
And man and beast and stalk cut low;
Did never on Israel’s Goshen fall,
From ice or fire, a single blow.

Plague number eight then swarmed the ground
With locust wings and locust claws;
They ate whatever could be found,
Devouring with their clicking jaws.

Thus Egypt’s families were bereft,
By flood and fire, by ice and louse.
In all of Egypt none was left,
Except their sons, to any house.

Then Moses reached to heaven’s dome
And brought down dark for three whole days.
The children of God have light at home,
But Egypt’s sons at darkness gaze.

Yet stiff was still the Pharaoh’s heart,
Jehovah was his enemy.
There was no science, there was no art,
To make him set our people free.

So Moses said we shall not see
Each other on this earth again.
The firstborn of the land will be
All slain abed, the boys and men.

Jehovah brings down low the proud!
Death’s angel passes not their door.
Such was the wail, so great and loud,
That none was like it ever before,
Nor shall be like it ever more.