# Moses — Poetry character guide

> Moses in Poetry by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** The Parting Moses

**First appearance:** 0025-moses

## Snapshot

The deliverer who leads a people out of bondage, invoked throughout these poems as the great pattern of emancipation and divine justice.

## Who they are

He stands at the far edge of the book's imagination, the liberator whose story of plagues, parting waters, and a freed people shadows every cry for justice in the American present. Harper returns to him as proof that God hears the groaning of the oppressed and that tyrants do not last. His presence turns contemporary suffering into sacred history still unfolding.

## Relationships

### [Pharaoh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/characters/pharaoh)

_rivalry_

Moses confronts Pharaoh as a divine adversary, demanding the release of Israel amidst plagues and hardened resistance.

### [The People](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/characters/the_people)

_professional_

Moses leads and mediates for the People of Israel, acting as their prophet and judge.

### [Egypt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/characters/egypt)

_psychological_

Egypt represents both Moses's birthplace and a oppressive force he must reject and flee.

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_psychological_

The narrator reflects on Moses as a central symbolic figure of struggle and faith.

### [Jethro](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/characters/jethro)

_family_

Jethro is Moses's father-in-law, offering counsel and hospitality.

### [Israel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/characters/israel)

_professional_

Israel as a nation is led and represented by Moses in their journey from bondage.

### [Pharaoh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/characters/pharaoh)

_rivalry_

Moses confronts Pharaoh as a divine adversary, demanding the release of Israel amidst plagues and hardened resistance.

### [The People](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/characters/the_people)

_professional_

Moses leads and mediates for the People of Israel, acting as their prophet and judge.

### [Egypt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/characters/egypt)

_psychological_

Egypt represents both Moses's birthplace and a oppressive force he must reject and flee.

## In the story

### [Moses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/moses)

Central figure; renounces Egyptian royalty to lead his people, witnesses oppression, kills an Egyptian, flees to Midian, receives divine calling at the burning bush, and dies on Nebo after viewing the Promised Land.

### [The Parting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/i-the-parting)

Resolves to leave the palace and share the fortunes of his enslaved race, guided by faith in God's promise of deliverance.

### [The Parting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/i-the-parting)

Recalls his mother's teachings about Abraham's sacrifice and the promise of freedom for their people.

### [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/ii)

Recalls his temptation in the temple of On and his decision to forswear Egypt's gods and royal lineage, choosing to share the lot of his enslaved people.

### [Flight Into Midian](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/iii-flight-into-midian)

Moses witnesses the oppression of Israel, kills an Egyptian taskmaster, and flees to Midian.

### [The Burning Bush and the Commission](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/iv)

Moses, now a shepherd in Midian, receives his divine commission at the burning bush and returns to Egypt to confront Pharaoh.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/v)

Moses delivers God's message, performs the sign of the rod turning into a serpent, and endures the people's blame as God's anointed one.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/vi)

Leads Israel with faith, parts the Red Sea by God's command, and reassures the fearful people.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/viii)

Moses bears the burden of leading a rebellious race, enduring their murmurs and forgetfulness of God.

### [The Death of Moses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/ix-the-death-of-moses)

The aging leader who, after a life of sacrifice for his people, climbs Mount Nebo alone, views the Promised Land, and dies peacefully, his soul taken by angels.

### [The Jewish Grandfather’s Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/the-jewish-grandfather-s-story)

Grandfather recalls Moses as the grand old leader who led the Israelites out of Egypt.

### [Deliverance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/chapters/deliverance)

Remembered as the leader who led the ransomed hosts through the sea.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/characters/moses
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_7_se/characters