The Sanctuary A Companion in Verse for the English Prayer Book. By Robert Montgomery |
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Marriage.
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 | The Sanctuary |  |
320
Marriage.
“An honourable estate, instituted of God in the time of man's
innocency, signifying unto us the mystical union that is
betwixt Christ and his Church.”
—Form of Solemnization of Matrimony.
Around the cradle of this new-born earth
Though harping seraphs came to sing
Whose choral ecstasies proclaim'd its worth
And caused heaven's crystal arch to ring,
All was unmeaning, till creation saw
A human monarch, and obey'd his law.
Though harping seraphs came to sing
Whose choral ecstasies proclaim'd its worth
And caused heaven's crystal arch to ring,
All was unmeaning, till creation saw
A human monarch, and obey'd his law.
321
Vain seem'd the splendour, which no eye could see,
The melody, that none could hear;
But when God utter'd “Let Mine Image be,”
Creation thrill'd as Man drew near!
And what was meaningless and mute and dead
Warm'd into life, and glow'd beneath his tread.
The melody, that none could hear;
But when God utter'd “Let Mine Image be,”
Creation thrill'd as Man drew near!
And what was meaningless and mute and dead
Warm'd into life, and glow'd beneath his tread.
As man for earth, so woman was required
The crowning grace of man to form;
Alone, not even Adam was inspired
To feel creation's godlike charm:—
And thus, faith hears this fiat from The Throne,
“It is not good for man to be alone.”
The crowning grace of man to form;
Alone, not even Adam was inspired
To feel creation's godlike charm:—
And thus, faith hears this fiat from The Throne,
“It is not good for man to be alone.”
So ere the fall, a Priest almighty brought
His bridal Eve to Adam's heart,—
A living echo for the love he sought,
A help-meet never to depart,
A true companion for the soul to be,
Fresh from her God in faultless purity.
His bridal Eve to Adam's heart,—
A living echo for the love he sought,
A help-meet never to depart,
A true companion for the soul to be,
Fresh from her God in faultless purity.
Marriage is holy. May no heathen-fire
Around the christian altar flame;
Impassion'd souls let saintliness inspire
And hallow hymeneal claim:
Belials in sense are minds by flesh o'erruled,
And love is vice, unless by virtue school'd.
Around the christian altar flame;
Impassion'd souls let saintliness inspire
And hallow hymeneal claim:
Belials in sense are minds by flesh o'erruled,
And love is vice, unless by virtue school'd.
How hush'd and holy is yon bridal-scene
In yon pure temple!—view'd by one
Who e'er by faith in Cana's home hath been,
That marriage-group to gaze upon
Where the pale water blush'd itself to wine
Moved by a miracle of grace divine
In yon pure temple!—view'd by one
Who e'er by faith in Cana's home hath been,
That marriage-group to gaze upon
Where the pale water blush'd itself to wine
Moved by a miracle of grace divine
Stainless in vesture as the lily white,
With flower-buds in her wreathèd hair,
Fearful and trepid, awed with new delight
Lo! the young bride is kneeling there,
Her dropping lids in mild dejection bent
And young heart with a holy conflict rent.
With flower-buds in her wreathèd hair,
Fearful and trepid, awed with new delight
Lo! the young bride is kneeling there,
Her dropping lids in mild dejection bent
And young heart with a holy conflict rent.
322
In that pure breast what garner'd feelings play
Like pulses with mysterious beat!
To think, sweet girlhood now hath wing'd away
And love must quit a calm retreat,—
Sacred to thought through friends and forms no more,
And truths, which made the reeling heart run o'er!
Like pulses with mysterious beat!
To think, sweet girlhood now hath wing'd away
And love must quit a calm retreat,—
Sacred to thought through friends and forms no more,
And truths, which made the reeling heart run o'er!
It is not, that a voiceless dread awakes
Suspicion, lest her choice be wrong;
No blighting vision o'er the future breaks
To which both guilt and grave belong:
Yet sadness haunts around her like a spell,—
As oft in marriage-chime there seems a knell.
Suspicion, lest her choice be wrong;
No blighting vision o'er the future breaks
To which both guilt and grave belong:
Yet sadness haunts around her like a spell,—
As oft in marriage-chime there seems a knell.
Our life is myst'ry; and the brightest joy
That flushes round a feeling heart
Seems coldly shaded by some dim alloy
Doom'd never from man's world to part:—
True mirth with mournfulness is oft allied
As living babes suggest the babe who died.
That flushes round a feeling heart
Seems coldly shaded by some dim alloy
Doom'd never from man's world to part:—
True mirth with mournfulness is oft allied
As living babes suggest the babe who died.
And she, yon bridal star of beauty now
Oh marvel not, as there she kneels,
That ere the wife can dawn upon her brow
Back to bright girlhood fancy steals;
Dead joys revive in tombs to fancy dear,
Melt through the heart and mingle with a tear!
Oh marvel not, as there she kneels,
That ere the wife can dawn upon her brow
Back to bright girlhood fancy steals;
Dead joys revive in tombs to fancy dear,
Melt through the heart and mingle with a tear!
Last eve, at halycon twilight's dreamful hour
When none but God the soul could see
She pray'd and ponder'd in her girlish bower,
And sigh'd, dead Past! her thoughts o'er thee;—
Flower, fruit, and pathways, all instinct with truth,
Seem'd to accost her like the tones of Youth.
When none but God the soul could see
She pray'd and ponder'd in her girlish bower,
And sigh'd, dead Past! her thoughts o'er thee;—
Flower, fruit, and pathways, all instinct with truth,
Seem'd to accost her like the tones of Youth.
She mused on what her spousal life might fold
Within its undevelop'd scene;
On wings of love recall'd the times of old
And wept o'er all bright hearts had been;
And scarce perceived the pensive moonlight throw
Its calm cold lustre on the lake below.
Within its undevelop'd scene;
On wings of love recall'd the times of old
And wept o'er all bright hearts had been;
And scarce perceived the pensive moonlight throw
Its calm cold lustre on the lake below.
323
But maiden! ere thy sacred ring be worn,
Beyond a mother's purest gift
The Church hath up to heaven's high portals borne
A prayer,—which shall thy soul uplift
To heights of bliss serene as brides attain
Whose wedded hearts are thrones where Christ will reign.
Beyond a mother's purest gift
The Church hath up to heaven's high portals borne
A prayer,—which shall thy soul uplift
To heights of bliss serene as brides attain
Whose wedded hearts are thrones where Christ will reign.
Souls are espoused by ev'ry hallow'd claim,
If wedlock far diviner prove
Than flesh-born ties, which boast the common name
Of what sense means by mortal “love:”—
Christ and the Church are shadow'd out by this
And cast heaven's radiance round an earthly bliss.
If wedlock far diviner prove
Than flesh-born ties, which boast the common name
Of what sense means by mortal “love:”—
Christ and the Church are shadow'd out by this
And cast heaven's radiance round an earthly bliss.
| The Sanctuary | |