The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“The Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
—Epistle for the Day.
Begun by Gabriel, hark! how echoing time
Thrill'd by the magic of Almighty love,
Deepens the cadence of that “hail! sublime
“Mother of Him Whom heaven enshrines above.”—
Weak in thyself, but high o'er women blest
When God was cradl'd on thy heart at rest.
What bright emotions trembl'd o'er his wings
When quiv'ring downward with celestial play
They waft a plum'd ambassador, who brings
The great announcement of Earth's bridal Day,
While more commenc'd, than man could seek by sign
From depths eternal, or from heights divine.
Four thousand years of prophecy enclose
Their vast fulfilment in the Virgin's womb,
When He, who ransom'd Nature from her woes
And from hereafter roll'd away its gloom,—
The living substance of his mother took
As He was member'd in Jehovah's book.
Bone of our bone and flesh of ours become,
A perfect Man with perfect God combin'd,—
Here can the Church perceive her central Home
And source of all which sanctifies mankind;
While God's elect in born Emanuel see
The lineage of the Lord by faith, are we.
Yet coldly her magnificat we chant,
Whose heart was bathed with superhuman bliss
When to her God, with rapture jubilant,
The Virgin mounted in a strain like this—
“The Lord hath magnified my low estate
And deathless time shall call his Handmaid great.”
Well may we crown this Miracle of days,
When God and Man, Eternity and Time
Blend in dread unity of love and praise,
Till language trembles o'er such theme sublime:—
Like baffled eagles ere they reach the sky,
Our words sink downward when they soar too high.
The woes of Woman as pronounced on Eve,
Reversed in Mary, now pure blessings prove
Since He who said “A virgin shall conceive,
For ever consecrates connubial love
And breathes o'er Wedlock sacramental charms
Which serve to shield it from defiling harms.
Not from mere dust, as primal Adam came,
Messiah's Flesh was organised for man;
Nor from the angels sprang that sinless Frame
In which God realised Redemption's plan;
But, “made of woman,” by the Holy Ghost,—
Here is the mercy which redeems the lost!
The sainted Mother of incarnate God!
Well may transcendency to her belong
And Fancy dream that in such heart abode
Secrets, which found no syllable or song
To echo what that vestal Mother knew
Under whose smile th' Eternal Infant grew!
