Master and Scholar etc. etc. By E. H. Plumptre: Second edition with notes |
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“AND THERE WAS NO MORE SEA.”
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 | Master and Scholar |  |
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“AND THERE WAS NO MORE SEA.”
“And there was no more sea:”
So spake the Prophet of the golden lips,
Whose vision, clear and free,
Saw the far depths of that Apocalypse.
So spake the Prophet of the golden lips,
Whose vision, clear and free,
Saw the far depths of that Apocalypse.
From each cavernous deep,
Where storms come not, and tempest wave is dumb,
The forms of them that sleep
Shall rise undying when the Judge shall come.
Where storms come not, and tempest wave is dumb,
The forms of them that sleep
Shall rise undying when the Judge shall come.
And then, its history o'er,
The great, wide sea shall flee and pass away,
And many a golden shore,
Long hidden, greet the bright, eternal day.
The great, wide sea shall flee and pass away,
And many a golden shore,
Long hidden, greet the bright, eternal day.
“No sea!” .... And shall the earth
Lose his loved bride, with all her countless smiles?
Shall that diviner birth
Destroy the beauty of her myriad isles?
Lose his loved bride, with all her countless smiles?
Shall that diviner birth
Destroy the beauty of her myriad isles?
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Shall that rich voice of praise,
Wide Ocean's anthem echoing to her Lord—
That hymn of ancient days,
A thousand parts all met in sweet accord—
Wide Ocean's anthem echoing to her Lord—
That hymn of ancient days,
A thousand parts all met in sweet accord—
Shall that be heard no more?
Shall all the beauty, all the glory flee?
Shall the new earth's rich store
Lack the bright marvels of th' encircling sea?
Shall all the beauty, all the glory flee?
Shall the new earth's rich store
Lack the bright marvels of th' encircling sea?
No! Far as man may dream
The wondrous glory yet to be revealed,
Still on the eye shall gleam
The emerald waters as a crystal field;
The wondrous glory yet to be revealed,
Still on the eye shall gleam
The emerald waters as a crystal field;
Still on the golden isles
The brightness of the Lord of light shall shine,
And still the countless smiles
Illume the face of that clear hyaline.
The brightness of the Lord of light shall shine,
And still the countless smiles
Illume the face of that clear hyaline.
Only the drear expanse
Of waters barren, stormy, fathomless,
Shall meet no more our glance,
Shall leave the new-born earth our souls to bless.
Of waters barren, stormy, fathomless,
Shall meet no more our glance,
Shall leave the new-born earth our souls to bless.
No more the treacherous wave
Shall whelm poor wanderers in the homeless deep,
The dark and lonely grave
Where thousand shipwrecked souls have slept their sleep.
Shall whelm poor wanderers in the homeless deep,
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Where thousand shipwrecked souls have slept their sleep.
No more the billows wild
Shall hurl white breakers on the rock-bound coast;
By mightiest spell beguiled,
Slumbers each form of all the monster host.
Shall hurl white breakers on the rock-bound coast;
By mightiest spell beguiled,
Slumbers each form of all the monster host.
Leviathan is tamed
Who scorned the waters in his pride of strength;
And now no more is named
Where once he measured all his monstrous length.
Who scorned the waters in his pride of strength;
And now no more is named
Where once he measured all his monstrous length.
But still the ear shall greet
The music of the ever-rippling wave,
And where the waters meet,
The crystal tide the palm-girt shore shall lave.
The music of the ever-rippling wave,
And where the waters meet,
The crystal tide the palm-girt shore shall lave.
Crowned high with amaranth grove,
The hills shall rise by man and angels trod;
The ocean of His love
Shall still make glad the city of our God.
The hills shall rise by man and angels trod;
The ocean of His love
Shall still make glad the city of our God.
When Eden's bowers were green,
We knew not how the four great rivers wound
Those glorious fields between,
Or circling took their wide majestic round
We knew not how the four great rivers wound
Those glorious fields between,
Or circling took their wide majestic round
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To lands renowned of old—
Cush, Asshur, Havilah, whence came the spice,
The onyx, and the gold—
Yet watered still the groves of Paradise.
Cush, Asshur, Havilah, whence came the spice,
The onyx, and the gold—
Yet watered still the groves of Paradise.
We know not how the light
Shall flow when neither sun nor moon shall shine;
And yet no shade of night
Shall mar the glory of the blaze divine.
Shall flow when neither sun nor moon shall shine;
And yet no shade of night
Shall mar the glory of the blaze divine.
We know not how the streams
Of those great rivers shall flow wide and free;
And yet the Prophet's dreams
Proclaim aloud, “There shall be no more sea.”
Of those great rivers shall flow wide and free;
And yet the Prophet's dreams
Proclaim aloud, “There shall be no more sea.”
We know not ... but the veil
Which hides it from our sight shall one day lift,
And, where in vision pale
As yet the darkness and the storm-clouds drift,
Which hides it from our sight shall one day lift,
And, where in vision pale
As yet the darkness and the storm-clouds drift,
God shall make all things new,
And shoreless sea shall join with sealess shore;
And cleansèd eyes shall view
Might, wisdom, mercy, met for evermore.
And shoreless sea shall join with sealess shore;
And cleansèd eyes shall view
Might, wisdom, mercy, met for evermore.
April 1865.
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