²²     And when I finished, they did not hurry to speak again.
        They waited while my words dropped like dew upon them.
²³     Indeed, they waited for me as one waits for a good rain,
        and they opened their mouths as if to catch spring showers on their tongues.
²⁴     I smiled upon them when their confidence flagged,
        and they took comfort in my beaming face.^[a]