The Altar or, Meditations in Verse On The Great Christian Sacrifice By The Author of "The Cathedral," [i.e. Isaac Williams] |
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 | The Altar |  |
5.
“I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily.”
“My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.”
“My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.”
The lily, some lone fountain's favoured child,
Holds all aloof from intercourse of earth,
Wherein it has below its secret birth;
But in some watery hollow, free and wild,
Lifts up its virgin whiteness, undefiled,
Suffused with blushes; when the sun grows warm
Stretches its stalk erect, and lifts its form
Above the pool's calm face awhile beguiled;
But when night's shades come on, its air-borne crest
Contracts again, folds up its blooming breast,
And on the watery surface is at rest.
Thus though awhile the spirit proudly shows,
Yet only, when the shades around her close,
On her baptismal waters finds repose.
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