Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. Would I wander far off - He did escape; and yet his enemies were so near, as to throw stones at him: but he escaped beyond Jordan. 2 Samuel 17:22, 2 Samuel 17:23.
A passage in the Octavia of Seneca has been referred to as being parallel to this of David. It is in the answer of Octavia to the Chorus, Acts v., ver. 914-923.
Quis mea digne deflere potest Mala?
Quae lacrymis nostris quaestus
Reddet Aedon? cujus pennas
Utinam miserae mihi fata darent!
Fugerem luctus ablata meos
Penna volucri, procul et coetus
Hominum tristes sedemque feram.
Sola in vacuo nemore, et tenui
Ramo pendens, querulo possem
Gutture moestum fundere murmur.
My woes who enough can bewail?
O what notes can my sorrows express?
Sweet Philomel's self e'en would fail
To respond with her plaintive distress.
O had I her wings I would fly
To where sorrows I ne'er should feel more,
Upborne on her plumes through the sky,
Regions far from mankind would explore.
In a grove where sad silence should reign,
On a spray would I seat me alone;
In shrill lamentations complain,
And in wailings would pour forth my moan.
J. B. Clarke.