The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery Collected and Revised by the Author |
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HUMAN NEED, AND DIVINE SUPPLY. |
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 | The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery |  |
HUMAN NEED, AND DIVINE SUPPLY.
E'en like an instrument, whose chorded depth
Enwraps the unheard music, but awaits
A master-touch of some awaking hand
To make it vibrate, did the high-strung world
Of truth and feeling for impulsive souls
In solemn hush abide, beneath whose sway
The moral harmonies of ransom'd mind
In mingling swell of holiness, and love,
Once more should waken.—Luther was that soul
Predestined! he, by grace divinely arm'd,
From the foul grave of papal sin and gloom
The buried Gospel came to disinter.
And let us laurel his intrepid brow
Who faced alone (by all save Heaven unarm'd)
That priestly Giantess of pamper'd sin,
Whose throne was blasphemy by pride upheld;
That brazen Arbitress, whose sceptre robb'd
The King almighty of the soul's domain,
Even papal Rome! who still her wine-cup drugs
With damning charms, and deadly spells; and dares
Within the heart's pantheon yet to shrine
Dark falsehoods, which redeeming truth bemock,
The soul profane, and parody our God.
Enwraps the unheard music, but awaits
A master-touch of some awaking hand
To make it vibrate, did the high-strung world
Of truth and feeling for impulsive souls
In solemn hush abide, beneath whose sway
The moral harmonies of ransom'd mind
In mingling swell of holiness, and love,
Once more should waken.—Luther was that soul
186
From the foul grave of papal sin and gloom
The buried Gospel came to disinter.
And let us laurel his intrepid brow
Who faced alone (by all save Heaven unarm'd)
That priestly Giantess of pamper'd sin,
Whose throne was blasphemy by pride upheld;
That brazen Arbitress, whose sceptre robb'd
The King almighty of the soul's domain,
Even papal Rome! who still her wine-cup drugs
With damning charms, and deadly spells; and dares
Within the heart's pantheon yet to shrine
Dark falsehoods, which redeeming truth bemock,
The soul profane, and parody our God.
Eternal hallelujahs rise! and ring
That Grace around, which call'd the champion forth,
And with heaven's panoply his spirit clad
For combat. With the energies of hell
To grapple, with incarnate fiends to fight,
Behold him summon'd! On that lifted brow
Heroic calm indomitably smiles;
And in that lion heart each pulse which beats
Throbs like an echo to the cheer of heaven.
Behold him! grateful Mem'ry, come and gaze;
See Luther, from eternity decreed,
Rise in the majesty of moral force
From superstition's grave to heave the world,
And bid it look upon the Cross, and live.
That Grace around, which call'd the champion forth,
And with heaven's panoply his spirit clad
For combat. With the energies of hell
To grapple, with incarnate fiends to fight,
Behold him summon'd! On that lifted brow
Heroic calm indomitably smiles;
And in that lion heart each pulse which beats
Throbs like an echo to the cheer of heaven.
Behold him! grateful Mem'ry, come and gaze;
See Luther, from eternity decreed,
Rise in the majesty of moral force
From superstition's grave to heave the world,
And bid it look upon the Cross, and live.
And oh! what marvels did that Mind achieve,
Which in itself a Reformation was.
For cent'ries, deep the night of falsehood reign'd,
Mildew'd the Soul, and manacled her powers
With fett'ring darkness; cloister'd Learning pined
In cell monastic; Science grew extinct;
The Bible moulder'd in scholastic rust;
That Fountain, from the Saviour's wounded side
For sin once ope'd, by sealing lies was shut;
And, 'stead of His bright garb which Mercy wove
Of perfect righteousness, by Jesu wrought,
Spangled with graces, rich as God's own smiles,
The filthy rags of ineffectual works
Clad the cold skeleton of naked souls:
While on his throne of sacerdotal lies,
The arch impostor, Satan's rival, sat
Self-deified, and ripen'd earth for hell.
Then, Luther rose; and Liberty and Light
The soul unbarr'd, and let salvation in.
Hark! the dead Scriptures, into life recall'd,
Harangue the conscience; lo, the Gospel lives;
Swift from the Cross infernal darkness flies:
Martyrs and Saints, like baffled mock'ries sink
To nothing, by victorious truth dispersed;
O'er fancied merit free redemption reigns;
And in the temple of a soul illumed
No venal priesthood, with parade of lies,
And sacraments of sin, can enter now:
There, Christ Himself by triple office rules,
King, Priest, and Prophet, on the Spirit's throne.
Which in itself a Reformation was.
For cent'ries, deep the night of falsehood reign'd,
Mildew'd the Soul, and manacled her powers
With fett'ring darkness; cloister'd Learning pined
In cell monastic; Science grew extinct;
The Bible moulder'd in scholastic rust;
That Fountain, from the Saviour's wounded side
For sin once ope'd, by sealing lies was shut;
And, 'stead of His bright garb which Mercy wove
Of perfect righteousness, by Jesu wrought,
Spangled with graces, rich as God's own smiles,
The filthy rags of ineffectual works
Clad the cold skeleton of naked souls:
While on his throne of sacerdotal lies,
The arch impostor, Satan's rival, sat
Self-deified, and ripen'd earth for hell.
Then, Luther rose; and Liberty and Light
The soul unbarr'd, and let salvation in.
Hark! the dead Scriptures, into life recall'd,
Harangue the conscience; lo, the Gospel lives;
Swift from the Cross infernal darkness flies:
Martyrs and Saints, like baffled mock'ries sink
To nothing, by victorious truth dispersed;
O'er fancied merit free redemption reigns;
And in the temple of a soul illumed
No venal priesthood, with parade of lies,
And sacraments of sin, can enter now:
There, Christ Himself by triple office rules,
King, Priest, and Prophet, on the Spirit's throne.
| The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery | |