Rachel/Leah

One 20th-century poet, not without reason, found the Rachel/Leah struggle a hopeless dilemma, which she describes with sadness and satire:¹

Rachel

My father came and bid me stay,

Enjoined the women bar my way.

And dumb to all entreaty, led

My sister Leah in my stead.

Where Jacob waited for his bride.

I heard the revelry subside,

The guests depart. I slept alone,

Dreamt Leah slept beneath a stone.

Leah

My father did it to be kind,

And I who knew the dark was blind.

Who loved in silence, hoped, believed,

But Jacob mocked me, Rachel grieved.

And kinsmen turned away in scorn.

I grazed the flock, I shucked the corn.

Fled Jacob’s wrath. Fulfilled, reviled,

When autumn came, I bore his child.