 | The Poetical Works of Robert Story |  |
XIII.
As round the fair and winding shores we went,Rose on our right, the wood-crowned hills of Kent.
The Essex marshes chanced that morn to be
A bluely-sparkling, spacious, inland sea—
For as the tides their daily changes make,
Those grounds are sometimes land, and sometimes lake.
Faint o'er the vapour—mist and cloud between—
A Rainbow lent its beauty to the scene,
Which I observing, to the Monarch told
Its name and use affirmed by credence old—
The arch of Bifrost, built across the sky,
By which the gods descend, or mount on high.
“A fanciful conceit,” he said, “in sooth,
But not more beautiful than is the truth,—
391
It hath been rendered into Saxon rhyme:
Song.
THE BIRTH OF THE RAINBOW.
The Flood was o'er. The earth began
Its wonted garb to don;
And all that now survived of Man,
From Ararat looked on.
Thence looked the white-haired Patriarch,
Begirt with sons and daughters—
Afraid as yet to disembark,
And trust receding waters.
Its wonted garb to don;
And all that now survived of Man,
From Ararat looked on.
Thence looked the white-haired Patriarch,
Begirt with sons and daughters—
Afraid as yet to disembark,
And trust receding waters.
For still, upon the verge of sight,
Where sky and land combine,
He fancied billows gleamed in light,
And begged of Heaven a sign.
“O God!” he cried, “whose Mercy saves,
Assure my sons and daughters,
That they may trust yon distant waves,
Nor fear returning waters!”
Where sky and land combine,
He fancied billows gleamed in light,
And begged of Heaven a sign.
“O God!” he cried, “whose Mercy saves,
Assure my sons and daughters,
That they may trust yon distant waves,
Nor fear returning waters!”
No form or shape appeared thereat,
God hath no shape or form;
But a Voice came, more soft than that
Of gale at ended storm!
“Turn, second sire of men,” it said,
“Turn ye, his sons and daughters,
See on the cloud my sign displayed,
Nor fear returning waters!”
God hath no shape or form;
But a Voice came, more soft than that
Of gale at ended storm!
“Turn, second sire of men,” it said,
“Turn ye, his sons and daughters,
See on the cloud my sign displayed,
Nor fear returning waters!”
| The Poetical Works of Robert Story | |