'Tis he th' obstructed paths of sound shall clear,
And bid new music charm th' unfolding ear;
The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting, like the bounding roe.
No sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear,
From every face he wipes off every tear.
In adamantine chains shall death be bound,
And hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture, and the purest air;
Explores the lost, the wandering sheep directs,
By day o'ersees them, and by night protects;
The tender lambs he raises in his arms,
Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms;
Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage,
The promis'd father of the future age.
No more shall nation against nation rise,
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes.
Nor fields with gleaming steel be cover'd o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But useless lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad falchion in a plough-share end.
Then palaces shall rise; the joyful son
Shall finish what his short-liv'd sire begun;
Their vines a shadow to their race shall yield,
And the same hand that sow'd, shall reap the field.
The swain in barren deserts with surprise
Sees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise;
And starts, amidst the thirsty wilds to hear
New falls of water murmuring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragons' late abodes,
The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods.
Waste sandy valleys, once perplex'd with thorn,
The spiry fir and shapely box adorn:
To leafless shrubs the flowery palms succeed,
And odorous myrtle to the noisome weed.
The lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead,
And boys in flowery hands the tiger lead.
The steer and lion at one crib shall meet,
And harmless serpents lick the pilgrim's feet.
The smiling infant in his hand shall take
The crested basilisk and speckled snake,
Pleas'd, the green lustre of the scales survey,
And with their forky tongues shall innocently play.
Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise!
Exalt thy towery head, and lift thy eyes!
See a long race thy spacious courts adorn;
See future sons and daughters, yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on every side arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barbarous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend;
See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabean springs.
For thee Idume's spicy forests blow,
And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heaven its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day!
No more the rising sun shall gild the morn,
Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn;
But lost, dissolv'd in thy superior rays,
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze
O'erflow thy courts, the Light himself shall shine
Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine!
The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his saving power remains;
Thy realm for ever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns.
FROM AN UNPUBLISHED TRANSLATION OF
O FIRST BORN of creation, glad wert thou,
O heaven, when, from the night of ages down
Descending, God first chose thee for his home,
And built thee in his glory, while his voice
Spoke in the first swell of thy crystal sea!
Worlds rose on worlds, but mortal or immortal
Were not! and thou sat'st, Father, all alone
On thy eternal throne, shrouding thyself
In silent majesty of thought! O shout,
Shout with a mighty voice, unto your God,
Ye seraphs, and ye hosts of heaven, for then
Men did he first create you, and instill
Thought into you, and majesty, and praise. O shout
Glory to God, and to him halleluia!
Thee will we praise, Creator, thee alone
Triumphant glorify, whose voice proclaimed,
Be thou no more chaotic night, and, ye
Created beings, waken into life!'
While through the heavens the halleluia rose,
Alighted now the messenger of Christ,
Bright glistering, on a neighbouring sun, and now
The song was still, and silence fell on all,
While to reward the choir, the Almighty shone
Benignant, pleased to hear the holy strain!
Now from the sun approached the seraph bright; God saw him, and all heaven. He knelt, and prayed;
And for a space in which a cherub's tongue
Might twice Jehovah name, God on him smiled!
Then rose a spirit to lead him to the throne,
Eloa, Him had God his chosen named,
Eloa, first create of all, and all
Excelling in glory, next alone to God;
Pregnant with Godhead are his heavenly thoughts,
Such as when, freed from earth, the rapt soul feels
On the first dawn of her immortal life !
Fairer his face than morning hour of spring,
More lovely than the stars, when, young in bloom
And clothed in light, with all their days, they first
Sprung from the throne of God. Of all, him first
Did God create; resplendent from a beam
Of rosy morn, his body etherial formed!
A heaven of clouds rolled round him; from the clouds
God raised him in his arms, and blessing spoke,
Seraph, behold thy God! Eloa saw
His God enraptured, and in conscious bliss
Sank all entranced before the eternal face!
Then spoke, and first declared the new-born thoughts
That swelled his angel breast. But worlds shall fade,
Dissolved in dust, and new ones rise to light,
And ages in eternity be lost,
Ere mortal hearts may taste such heavenly joy!
Eloa now descended from his seat,
Fresh glories beaming in his path, to meet
The ambassador of Christ, and him to guide
To the Redeemer's altar, and few steps
Had passed, ere he the approaching seraph knew!
High throbbed his heart in rapture, as he saw
The immortal, erst his heavenly comrade, when
In aëry voyage, new worlds they visited,
Blessing the inhabitants with God-like deeds.
Glorified in their love, with open arms
Swift each embraced the other, that with joy
The seraphs trembled. So two brothers meet,
Fresh from the battle-field, in bloom of youth,
Embracing underneath their father's eye,
While their bright wounds attest their glorious deeds
And conquering country. God the seraphs saw
From far, and blessed them! So passed they both,
In friendship locked, forth to the heavenly throne.
Thus came they to the sanctuary of God
But o'er the mount celestial, where dwells
The glory of God, thrice hallowed night presides,
A beam of increate light at distance plays,
But sacred darkness hides the sanctuary
From angel's eyes, save when the Almighty hand
In thunder draws the veil, and Heaven adores!
HE cometh! he cometh! the death dealing king;
His pale steed is fleet as the hurricane's wing:
Around him are ravening the monsters of hell,
Earth shrinks from their aspect, and shakes with their
He cometh! he cometh! with sword dripping gore:
Desolation behind him, and terror before:
His banner of darkness above him is spread,
With pestilent vapour earth smokes at his tread.
Her kings and her captains oppose him in vain;
Her mantle no longer can cover her slain;
The great are down-trampled, the mighty ones fail,
. And their armies are scattered like leaves on the gale.
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