Judas Iscariot A Miracle Play. In Two Acts. With other poems. By R. H. Horne |
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A THOUGHT FOR MICHAEL ANGELO. |
 | Judas Iscariot |  |
64
A THOUGHT FOR MICHAEL ANGELO.
Mighty, yet reverent is the Sculptor's mind,
That in the solid quarry can conceive
Heroes imprisoned—statues of the gods—
And prophets locked up in the marble deep:
Distinguishing, and seeing with closed eyes,
Form midst confusion—midst the darkness light—
And through the density, an atmosphere.
That in the solid quarry can conceive
Heroes imprisoned—statues of the gods—
And prophets locked up in the marble deep:
Distinguishing, and seeing with closed eyes,
Form midst confusion—midst the darkness light—
And through the density, an atmosphere.
To free these images of Power and Truth,
Of Grace, and Majesty, to take their stand
Within the temple, or among the clouds,
He meditates; while aspirations, hopes,
And energies flash through his glowing frame,
As doth a fire-brand in besieging hands,—
Or rather, like a multitude devout
That rush in a cathedral up and down,
Before the hour of some high ceremony.
Of Grace, and Majesty, to take their stand
Within the temple, or among the clouds,
He meditates; while aspirations, hopes,
And energies flash through his glowing frame,
As doth a fire-brand in besieging hands,—
Or rather, like a multitude devout
That rush in a cathedral up and down,
Before the hour of some high ceremony.
But when Supreme Creation from itself
Stupendous dreams to equal substance calls,
Filling imagination's utmost moulds
With mind, form, colour, life, and active power,—
No further force of effluence, O, Great God,
Originates the whole than serves to waft
The pregnant fabric from infinity
Unto these human shores,—where time and space
Teach us to work, that so we may enlarge
Our soul's abode in the ascending Scheme.
Stupendous dreams to equal substance calls,
Filling imagination's utmost moulds
With mind, form, colour, life, and active power,—
No further force of effluence, O, Great God,
Originates the whole than serves to waft
The pregnant fabric from infinity
Unto these human shores,—where time and space
Teach us to work, that so we may enlarge
Our soul's abode in the ascending Scheme.
Finchley, 1848.
| Judas Iscariot | |