Mine be that holy, humble tribulation—
No longer feigned distress-fantastic woe,I know my griefs, but then my consolationMy trust, and my immortal hopes, I know.
"And I saw another mighty Angel come down from Heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head; and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth, and cried with a loud voice. And the Angel which I saw stand upon the sea, and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to Heaven; and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created Heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things that therein are, that there should be time no longer!"
I SAW an Angel on a cloud,
Come floating through the air ;
The Heavens looked like the world's dark shroud, All blackened with despair: With mighty stride he stalked forth, Encompassing the south and north,
And eke the middle clime;
Earth reeled beneath his ponderous weight, The ocean rolled, all agitate,
Tumultuous and sublime.
A garb of light he round him cast, Blended with Heaven's pure blue; And thunder's blighting, withering blast, He round his pathway threw :
Heaven's radiant arch entwined his brow (Which shone forth with a heavenly glow
Of majesty divine),
Seal of the Covenant firm and sure, That through all ages shall endure, Until the end of time.
The Heavens drew back to let him pass,- With terror hence they fled; All withered was the vernal grass,- The sea lay bare its bed:
The mountains skipped to and fro, Threatening the vales to overthrow,- The troubled world did groan ; The sun withdrew his glittering rays, Quenched beneath the brighter blaze, That round the Angel shone.
Upon a mountain's rugged height He fixed his left foot sure,— And on the ocean's waves so bright Planted his right secure : With arms uplifted to the sky, He swore, by Him who reigns on high, Girded with might and power:
And who created earth and sea In all their vast immensity,-
That-Time should be no more!
Earth quaked at the fatal sound, And to its centre shook,- It reached creation's utmost bound; Then with majestic look,
He stretched his arm up to the sun,
And thence pulled forth that mighty one,
And hurled him to the sea:
The moon grew pale with wild affright, The stars withdrew their glimmering light,- For light no more could be!
The mountains melted to their base, The Heavens fled away; The sea could find itself no place, Where it might longer stay: Mankind in wild confusion fled, The living mingling with the dead,- Thrones and dominions fell: The huge ship sank into the wave, Engulfed in ocean's yawning grave,— Buried beneath its swell!
The light still dim and dimmer grew, Till swallowed up in night; And then the Angel, to my view, Shone like a meteor bright; The tempest ceased its raging breath,-- All nature yielded up to death,
The earth, the sky, the sea; A dark cloud rose upon my sight, And shrouded all in tenfold night,- "Twas blank Eternity!
THE rose was in rich bloom on Sharon's plain, When a young mother, with her first-born, thence Went up to Zion; for the boy was vowed Unto the temple service. By the hand
She led him, and her silent soul, the while, Oft as the dewy laughter of his eye
Met her sweet serious glance, rejoiced to think That aught so pure, so beautiful, was hers, To bring before her God.
O'er Judah's hills; and wheresoe'er the leaves, Of the broad sycamore made sounds at noon, Like lulling raindrops on the olive-boughs, With their cold dimness, crossed the sultry blue Of Syria's heaven, she paused, that he might rest; Yet from her own meek eyelids chased the sleep That weighed their dark fringe down, to sit and watch The crimson deepening o'er his cheek's repose, As at a red flower's heart; and where a fount Lay, like a twilight star, midst palmy shades Making its banks green gems along the wild, There too she lingered, from the diamond wave Drawing clear water for her rosy lips,
And softly parting clusters of jet curls, To bathe his brow.
At last the Fane was reached, The earth's one sanctuary: and rapture hushed Her bosom, as before her through the day It rose, a mountain of white marble, steeped In light like floating gold.-But when that hour Waned to the farewell moment, when the boy Lifted, through the rainbow-gleaming tears, his eye Beseechingly to hers, and, half in fear,
Turned from the white-robed priest, and round her arm Clung e'en as ivy clings; the deep spring-tide Of nature then swelled high; and o'er her child Bending, her soul brake forth, in mingled sounds Of weeping and sad song-" Alas!" she cried,
"Alas, my boy! thy gentle gasp is on me, The bright tears quiver in thy pleading eyes, And now fond thoughts arise,
And silver cords again to earth have won me, And like a vine thou claspest my full heart- How shall I hence depart
How the lone paths retrace, where thou wert playing So late along the mountains at my side?
By every place of flowers my course delaying, Wove, e'en as pearls, the lilies round thy hair, Beholding thee so fair!
And, oh! the home whence thy bright smile hath parted!
Will it not seem as if the sunny day
Turned from its door away,
While, through its chambers wandering weary hearted, I languish for thy voice, which past me still, Went like a singing rill?
Under the palm-trees thou no more shalt meet me, When from the fount at evening I return,
Nor will thy sleep's low dove-like murmurs greet me, As midst the silence of the stars I wake,
And watch for thy dear sake.
And thou, will slumber's dewy cloud fall round thee, Without thy mother's hand to smooth thy bed? Wilt thou not vainly spread
Thine arms, when darkness as a veil hath wound thee, To fold my neck; and lift up, in thy fear,
A cry which none shall hear?
What have I said, my child?-will He not hear thee, Who the young ravens heareth from their nest? Will He not guard thy rest,
And, in the hush of holy midnight near thee, Breathe o'er thy soul, and fill its dreams with joy? Thou shalt sleep soft, my boy!
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