Hymns and Poems :: :: University of Virginia Library

Summit of the Mount of Vision as before; Mary on her throne, with Adam and Eve on either side.
Peal of trumpets, and enter first part of Procession: Abel, bearing a lamb in his bosom; then Seth, Henoch with his Book, Mathusala, and other antediluvian Patriarchs, with long white beards; last of all Noe, walking as it were in the midst of a rainbow, and carrying a pattern of the Ark in gold, with a dove upon its roof. On arriving before the throne, the Procession stops.
HENOCH.
Hail, Desire of the first world!

THE REST.
Hail, Amaze of the ages to come!

NOE.

Daughter of prophecy and Virgin true,
Hope of both worlds—the ancient and the new,

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Mother of day, and Queen of golden morn,
From whom the sole-begotten Son is born!
Here, lowly bending at thy feet, behold
The Blest who lived before the deluge roll'd;
And see before thee, Olive-branch of grace,
The second Father of the human race.

Ah, why, O Lady dear,
On earth's terraqueous sphere
So late in time did thy sweet form appear?
Hadst thou but earlier come,
Not then the first-created world had been
Into destruction swept beneath a watery doom;
Thy smile had soothed the wrath of God,
And stay'd His dread descending rod.
Hail, Ark of Life!
Floating unharm'd above the surging strife
Of Hell and human crime!
So to preserve that promised Seed
The Hope of after time;
From whence shall come a new creation,
A holy spotless generation,
A race and kingdom all divine,
Children of th' eternal Trine;
A royal race, with promise sure
Through everlasting ages to endure!
Hail, Rainbow bright,
From the pure Fount of Light
In variegated hues of grace array'd;
Glistening sublime
Upon the verge of time,
Where spreads eternity its awful shade!

Now, therefore, bend thine ear,
O Daughter fair, and hear,
And grant this favour we entreat,
Queen of Patriarchs, at thy feet;—

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That, since on earth thy face we might not see
While wrapt around in our mortality,
Now, in return for our long sighs,
Beaming down with thy bright eyes,
Thou suffer us to hear that voice
At which the circling spheres rejoice;
Which all the earth with gladness fills,
And through the womb of nature thrills,
Robbing with its delicious strain
E'en Purgatory of its pain.

[Mary smiles a gracious assent; and giving her sceptre to Eve, rises and sings.

MARY'S SONG.

While I was yet a little one
I pleased the Lord of grace,
And in His holy Sanctuary
He granted me a place.

There, shelter'd by His tender care,
And by His love inspired,
I strove in all things to fulfil
Whatever He desired.

I wholly gave myself to Him,
To be for ever His;
I meditated on His law
And ancient promises.

And oft at my embroidery,
Musing upon the Maid
Of whom Messias should be born,—
Thus in my heart I pray'd:

‘Permit me, Lord, one day to see
That Virgin ever dear
Predestinated in the courts
Of Sion to appear.

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‘O blest estate, if but I might
Among her handmaids be!
But such a favour, O my God,
Is far too high for me.’

Thus unto God I pour'd my prayer;
And He that prayer fulfill'd,
Not as my poverty had hoped,
But as His bounty will'd.

Erewhile a trembling child of dust,
Now robed in heavenly rays,
I reign the Mother of my God
Through sempiternal days.

To me the nations of the world
Their grateful tribute bring;
To me the Powers of darkness bend;
To me the Angels sing.

[The Procession moves on.
Peal of trumpets, and enter Melchisedech, gorgeously vested as High Priest and King of Salem, bearing a Paten and Chalice of gold; whom follows the Father of the Faithful, attended by Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph; then, between Aaron and their sister Mary, Moses, bearing the two tables of stone; after whom Josue and warriors, succeeded by Ruth and maidens as gleaners. Last of all King David as a shepherd-boy, with his harp.
MELCHISEDECH.
Hail, Queen of Salem!

THE REST.
Hail, Vision of peace!

DAVID
(accompanying himself on his harp).

Daughter of a royal line,
Noble shoot of Jesse's rod,
Flower immortal and divine,
First among the works of God!

333

As I watch'd my flock by night,
Musing over Israel's woes,
Oft of old thy Vision bright,
Child of grace, before me rose.

Lulling nature's angry storm,
Oft I saw with prophet eye
Thy imperial radiant form
On the moonbeam glancing by;

All in robes of orient light,
Tinted from the azure skies,
Breathing o'er chaotic night
Perfume fresh from Paradise.

Ah, how then, O Queen of day,
I for thee would pour my tears;
Mourning o'er the long delay
Of a thousand coming years:

Yearning with a strong desire
Thy vivific birth to see;
All my spirit's depth on fire
For the times that were to be.

Those triumphant days below
Not permitted to behold,
Waiting long, while, ebb and flow,
Restlessly the ages roll'd,—

Now at last, in realms serene
Of immortal life and love,
I salute thee as the Queen
Of Jerusalem above;

Thee with joy ecstatic greet,
Glist'ning in a golden crown,
And before thy sacred feet
Lay my harp in homage down.

[The Procession moves on.

334

Peal of trumpets, and enter King Ezechias, bearing a lily-like flower; succeeded by other Kings of Judah, all royally arrayed; after whom Judith and attendant women, with cymbals and timbrels, moving to a solemn measure.
EZECHIAS.
Hail, Glory of Jerusalem!

THE REST.
Hail, Delight of Israel!

JUDITH.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem!
Arise thee now and shine;
Put on, put on thy purple robe
And diadem divine;
For by a woman's feeble arm
The Lord hath fought for thee,
And in the cause of his elect
Hath triumph'd gloriously.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem!
Thy streets are paved with gold;
Thy pearly halls and palaces
Are glorious to behold;
Thy walls of jasper are inlaid
With every precious gem;
How pure, how lovely is the sight
Of our Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, Jerusalem!
No tear in thee is known;
Thy bright and fragrant courts were made
For happiness alone;
The Lord alone thy Temple is,
And calls thee by His name;
The Lamb alone is all the light
Of our Jerusalem!

335

Jerusalem, Jerusalem!
Thou City of the skies;
Dear City of our King and God;
Dear object of our sighs!
How blest, how blest are thy abodes,
And those who dwell in them!
Thrice welcome here, O Virgin dear,
To thy Jerusalem!

[The Procession moves on.

Peal of trumpets, and enter to martial music, with banners, escorted by troops of war diversly arrayed, Allegorical Personifications of the Four Great Empires, on triumphal Cars drawn by yoked lions, leopards, and other emblematic animals; then Isaias and the other Prophets; Daniel last, bearing a scroll in his hand.
ISAIAS.
Hail Virgin who shalt conceive! Alleluia.

THE REST.
And bear a Son. Alleluia.

DANIEL.

God who guides the wheeling spheres,
Keeping still His promise firm;
Lo, the Seventy Weeks of years
Speed to their prophetic term.

Vainly strove Assyria's pride,
Persian wealth, or Grecian power;
Vainly each in turn defied
Its inevitable hour.

Rome herself so strong to-day,
Greatest empire of them all,
Of her very strength the prey,
Marches onward to her fall.

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Other kingdoms, Lord, than Thine,
To eternity pretend;
One alone, by right divine,
Sees of each in turn an end.

One alone, while others fade,
Growing with the growing years,
Undecaying, undecay'd,
Ever in its prime appears!

Hail, of that high Kingdom Queen!
Fairest Form that earth has trod!
Hail, Inheritance of men!
Glory of the Church of God!

At the end of the procession appear, with palms in their hands, the Hermits of Mount Carmel, conducting six ethereal steeds, which draw after them the Car of Elias, marvellously glistering. Seated in the car is seen the Archangel Gabriel.

SONG OF THE HERMITS OF MOUNT CARMEL.

Hail to the Flower of pure delight,
Blooming on sacred Carmel's height!

Flower of Carmel,
Flowering Vine,
Shed thy sweets
On us who are thine!
Virginal Mother,
Star of the sea;
Glory of Heaven,
We glorify thee!

[On arriving in front of the throne, the Car stops.
GABRIEL
(descending).
O brighter than all brightness, living Altar
Of light's pure temple, Joy exuberant
Of all the patriarchs, Queen of Palestine,
And splendour of the New Jerusalem!

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Know that in honour of thy birth this day
Thy loving Angels and true Guardians hold
In Paradise High Feast, which in their name
I supplicate thy sceptred majesty
With its imperial presence to adorn.
In hope whereof, this empyrean car
(Once only touch'd by mortal foot, what time
It bore Elias through the fields of space)
Attends thy bidding. See, its fiery steeds,
Already, of their happy task aware,
Curvet, impatient for their precious freight.

MARY.
My soul hath fainted for the living Courts
Of my eternal King. Most joyfully
I go with you; this only boon entreating,
That I may bring with me these sacred Parents
Here seated at my side.

GABRIEL.
Lady, not yet is it permitted them
To pass beyond this outer vestibule;
But when the long-desired Emmanuel,
Of them through Thee hereafter to be born,
In his atoning life-blood shall have paid
For Thee and them and all of human kind
Super-exceeding ransom on the Cross;
And re-estated all things in Himself,
Opening to life eterne the door long closed;
Then shalt Thou have thy will, O Heavenly Bride,
And see these Parents ever at thy side.

[Mary, with a tender smile of pity and hope embracing our First Parents, ascends the Car, which majestically moves forward, Adam and Eve gazing wistfully after her.
EVE.
Farewell, O bright Perfection! vain it were
To follow after thee. O Adam, mark

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How o'er our Mount of Vision
Dim monitory clouds come stealing down;
And all its tinted glories pale away
So exquisite before. 'Tis time, methinks,
That we descend.

ADAM.
Yes, it is even so.
Dense and more dense the vapour gathers fast,
From th' upper air insensibly distill'd,
As 'twere a veil let down to segregate
From sublunary gaze immortal things.
Give me thy hand, O Eve, my sole beloved,
And ere within its folds voluminous
The storm our perilous descent obscure,
Leave we Moria's enigmatic hill,
Hereafter by the grace of our dear Heir
From Mary born, hoping to be received
Into the sacred Sion of the skies,
When turn'd in death to our original dust
Again from dust we rise, created new
For new and more divine felicity
(Such my reliance on redeeming love)
Than that by disobedience forfeited.
At present in the world our portion lies
There to toil on in faith and hopeful love
Through good and evil mingled; till at length
Our lifelong penance o'er we go our way
Into the place appointed; there to wait,
In patience of subdued expectancy,
The joyful coming of Salvation's Morn!

[They descend the hill.