The Judgement of the Flood :: :: University of Virginia Library

How sweetly breathes the Angel of the Morn—
How beautiful the smile upon his face;
And as he whispers in the rising breeze,
What music in the mercy of his voice,
The dewy tones compassionate: the drops,
That hang the leaves, and grasses, are the tears
Wept from the eyes of Pity. Lovelily,
To him who looks his last upon her face,
Beams the great mother; and his heart is touched
With sympathies celestial—nay, divine.
Nor Earth less sympathizes, and her Sons,
Who in the sight of Heaven had found grace,
Feel in their souls her passion; and come forth
To tend yon mystic Ark, that shall for her
Preserve a race alive; while she, baptized,
Wash off corruption, dying to be born
Anew . . to her old glory, nay, to more,
Redeemed, so that no spot upon her orb
Should be that was not holy, capable
Of consecration, or even needing none.
—Noah with Chava, mid their duteous Sons,
Each with his Bride, stood at the guarded door
Of the appointed Ark, and thence they gazed
For the last morn on the devoted Earth.

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Then in the presence of the Cherubim,
Even on that Mount their Sacrifice they lay,
Accepted soon of that enkindling Cone,
That fiery pillar, templed wherein dwelt
The Image of the Majesty Divine;
While on their faces the Noachidæ
Adoring fell; and thus the Patriarch prayed:

‘God of our Fathers; God of Adam; God
Of Abel; God of Seth, and Enosh; hear.
Hear, God of Cainan, and Mahalaleel,
Of Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah.
O God of Lamech: listen to our prayer.
—Wisdom of old with thee pronounced the Light,
And Laws Eternal to the Worlds prescribed,
Thy making. Wilt thou mar what thou hast made,
And, o'er the fair face of thy Universe,
Bid Ruin pass in Deluge, like the Deep
Ere Order was? Have Mercy yet on Earth:
Mercy on Man who in her bosom dwells.
—But Doom is said, and none may refuge find
Save in the Ark, and only Eight Souls there,
Of all Mankind. There comfort thou our Souls,
O God of Consolation: comfort us,
For the destruction of our Brethren; for
The peril which will threat us round about—
And for the doubts that may perplex our souls.
Save us, deliver us, from out the Flood,
And set our feet upon the ample round
Of earth again. Save us, deliver us—
O by the Sorrows of our Sire forgiven:
O by the Blood of Abel: by the Truth
Of Seth; and Enoch's Immortality.
We pray thee; we intreat thee; we implore.
Us guard—us guide—and from the waters bring.
So that Creation perish not, for lack
Of Man to contemplate her countenance,

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And call upon the works of thy great hand,
The Sun, and Moon, and Stars, and Heaven, and Earth,
And the wide Sea, to praise and magnify
Thy Wisdom, and thy Power, and thy Love.’

Such was the prayer of Noah, while the Fire
From the immediate Cherubim replied,
And kindled into flame the Sacrifice,
That on that hill, as on an Altar, lay;
And when it was consumed, the Eight arose
Cheered, but yet felt a sadness in their joy.