Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Wraps round her mantle, and in wild affright
Flies shrieking downward to congenial night;
No more beneath her knife the victim reels;
No more bedews with blood her chariot wheels;
No more, torn reckless from the light of day,
Pines in the hopeless grave a living prey;
But light all pure, ineffably serene,

Illumes mankind, and brightens every scene;
At the same altar, tribes by every sea
In sacred adoration bend the knee.-
Far in the wilds of Afric's torrid zone,
Mid burning sands, where verdure is unknown,
At vesper hour, when all around is mute,
Save sullen sound of camel's wearied foot,
Kneels, by the scanty well, the Arab dun,
And, in the broad light of the setting sun,
Pours out, all glowing as the cloudless west,
The fears, the hopes, the wishes of his breast,
And lifts, in holy dread, his mental eye

To him, his God, who bled on Calvary!

While, lo! the voice of psalms, the tones of praise,

Hard by the icy pole, believers raise.

Though Day upon the waste and wildering scene
Shuts up, and howl afar the billows green,
And the sad night of desolation drear

Glooms o'er their world, and saddens half the year;
Beneath impending storms, and circling snows,
No chilling doubts the fur-clad shiverer knows ;
With Faith's unfaltering eye he looks abroad,
Through the wild storm, to mark the works of God;
Beholds the traces of his power afar

In the blue sky, and each revolving star ;

Trusts, with a hope that softens, yet sublimes,
For happier seasons, and serener climes,

And knows that He, who form'd this rolling ball,
Is still the Lord, and shall be Judge, of all!

Oh happy time, when crimeless all shall be, And in the spirit's sunshine walking free, No more by vice degraded and deprest! No thought but peace awaking in the breast; Earth, calm'd to beauty, shall again resume Primeval bliss, and Eden's forests bloom, Bright as when Adam, with a holy kiss, Embraced his chosen in the bowers of bliss! Love o'er the world shall spread his halcyon sway, The weak shall own it, and the wise obey; The summit of the hills shall murmur love, And echo catch the sound in glen and grove; Creatures that, far from human face exiled, Prowl'd the dim forest or unpeopled wild,

Shall leave their dwellings, and, with meekness bland,

Crouch at the feet of man, or lick his hand,
And Nature, all his errors past forgiven,

Proclaim him Lord, and own the loved of Heaven!
From shore to shore, from isle to isle around,
Shall spread of holy peace the welcome sound;
Far on the deep, where nought but wave and sky
Extends, and scarce is heard the sea-bird's cry,
The streamer'd flags of far-spread realms shall meet,
And hail each other in communion sweet;
Brothers in heart, all jealous fears subdued,
Love's sever'd links harmoniously renew'd,
The South shall hail the North, and East with West
Embracing, own one feeling, and be blest!

BOWRING.

THE TEACHING OF JESUS.

How sweetly flow'd the gospel's sound From lips of gentleness and grace, When listening thousands gather'd round, And joy and reverence fill'd the place!

From heaven he came-of heaven he spoke, To heaven he led his followers' way; Dark clouds of gloomy night he broke, Unveiling an immortal day.

"Come, wanderers, to my Father's home, "Come, all ye weary ones and rest !" Yes! sacred Teacher-we will come

Obey Thee,-love Thee, and be blest!

Decay, then, tenements of dust!
Pillars of earthly pride, decay!
A nobler mansion waits the just,
And Jesus has prepared the way.

AN EVENING SERVICE.

THE cold wind strips the yellow leaf,
The stars are twinkling faintly o'er us;
All nature wears her garb of grief,

While day's fair book is closed before us.

The songs have ceased,—and busy men
Are to their beds of silence creeping;
The pale, cold moon looks out again
On the tired world so softly sleeping.

O! in an hour so still as this,

From care, and toil, and tumult stealing, I'll consecrate an hour to bliss

To meek devotion's holy feeling;

And rise to Thee-to Thee, whose hand
Unroll'd the golden Lamp of heaven;
Mantled with beauty all the land;
Gave light to morn, and shade to even.

Being, whose all-pervading might

The laws of countless worlds disposes; Yet gives the sparkling dews their lightTheir beauty to the blushing roses :

Thou, Ruler of our destiny!

With million gifts hast Thou supplied us, Hidden from our view futurity,

Unveiling all the past to guide us.

Tho' dark may be earth's vale, and damp,
A thousand stars shine sweetly o'er us,
And immortality's pure lamp

Gladdens and gilds our path before us.

SOTHEBY.

SONG OF THE VIRGINS OF ISRAEL.

DAUGHTERS of Israel! praise the Lord of Hosts!
Break into song! with harp and tabret lift
Your voices up, and weave with joy the dance;
And to your twinkling footsteps toss aloft
Your arms; and from the flash of cymbals shake
Sweet clangour, measuring the giddy maze.

Shout ye! and ye! make answer, Saul hath slain
His thousands; David his ten thousands slain.
Sing a new song. I saw them in their rage,
I saw the gleam of spears, the flash of swords,
That rang against our gates! The warder's watch
Ceased not.
Tower answer'd tower: a warning

voice

Was heard without; the cry of woe within!
The shriek of virgins, and the wail of her,
The mother, in her anguish, who fore-wept,
Wept at the breast her babe, as now no more.

Shout ye! and ye! make answer, Saul hath slain His thousands; David his ten thousands slain. Sing a new song. Spake not th' insulting foe? I will pursue, o'ertake, divide the spoil.

My hand shall dash their infants on the stones :
The ploughshare of my vengeance shall draw out
The furrow, where the tower and fortress rose.
Before my chariot Israel's chiefs shall clank
Their chains.

Each side, their virgin daughters

groan; Erewhile to weave my conquest on their looms.

Shout ye! and ye! make answer, Saul hath slain His thousands; David his ten thousands slain.

« AnteriorContinuar »