Madmoments: or First Verseattempts :: :: University of Virginia Library

Thriceblessed Day! thriceholy is thy Light
To these expectant Eyes! how shall I raise
Not allunworthily, a Hymn of Praise
For this great Triomph o'er the Powers of Night?
Thou makst this common Earth as Eden bright,
With this glad Promise, these Firstfruits of Days
But dreamt of, and of which thy blessed Rays
Are fittest Harbingers: beam on my Sight,
Oh let me fill mine Eyes with Thee, and kneel,
Yet utter no vain Prayer; but only feel
My Blessedness, and make of that my Hymn.
Like to a Prisoner whose sight is dim
With long, long watching, and whose senses reel
When Freedom's radiant smile first breaks on him!

2.

Thriceblessed Day! in this great Jubliee,
I feel that Nature's Universal Heart
In all its thousand Pulses takes a Part:
Again it breathes, again, in holy Glee,
The lifeblood gushes thro' it strong and free.
Like to a Giant wakened, didst thou start
From out thy sleep, my Country, and thou art
Now broadawake and long, I trust, wilt be;
The Power of God was on thee in thy Sleep,
And troubled Dreams of Blood not washed away,
Disturbed thy slumbers, but within thy deep
And mighty Heart, still conscience held her Sway,
And at th' Allmighty's voice thou forth didst leap
To hallow unto Her this blessed Day!

3.

Unto the Lord of Hosts be given the Praise,
For mighty is He what can he not do!
The changing Mists of Time are rent, and thro'
That opening, the Ether clear displays
Its Glories, and the gathered Angels raise
A Hymn of Promise, that Earth shall renew
Herself; then ye, ye flowers hear it too,
Put forth your Blossoms, and make sweet Her ways,
For love and Mercy will descend on Earth!
It was a Godlike Thought! thou gav'st it Birth,
Oh God! thy spirit stirred Men's Hearts; the Flame
Of Sacred Indignation and deep shame,
That fused so many thousand Souls in one
Resistless Feeling of pure Justice, came
From thy sole Inspiration, thine alone!
And nobly has it testified its Worth.
All separate Thoughts, Wills, Voices, all were blent
Into one mighty wish, Intelligent
And instinct with the Power of thy name,
One mighty Heart; yea! God! it was thine own;

Its Hope was thine, and with thy Voice it spake;
And silence followed in the thunder's wake,
So soulssubduing, solemn, and so deep,
The pause of Feeling, and the holy calm,
As at some wonder worked by Divine Charm,
That Earth lay like a Flower hushed in Sleep,
Or Bade scarcebreathing on his Mother's Arm!
'Twas no faint Purpose of a single Breast;
In th' universal Bosom did it take
Its sublime Origin; and was exprest
In that eternal language, in which Love
Kneels at thy throne, and prays to theeabove
To stretch thy Righthand forth, for Mercyssake!

4.

And next to God! Praise, Praise, be to thy Name,
Glory and Blessings everlastingly,
To thee, Apostle of Humanity,
Who made thy Life a Hymn unto the Same!
Thy Name should be inscribed with Living Flame
And run, like Lightning seen of every Eye,
Round the vast Dome of God's own blessed Sky,
The Polestar for each Godlike Thought and Aim!
But thou shalt have a nobler Recompense,
Dearer and bettersuited to such Mind;
Thou shalt in every Heart a Temple find;
On every Lip, in every Tongue, from hence-
-Forth shall thy Name become a Household-Word,
So holy, that like God's, it shall be heard
Never without deep Awe and Reverence,
By Any worthy to be called a Man!
And on the Page of History thy name
Far, Far too mighty for the Trump of Fame,
In Front of this great chapter, with a Span
Of Rainbowglory wove from Heavenslight,
Like that shall stand, and like that too in Height,

Bove king and Conqueror towering thro' the sky,
A Sign and Token to Eternity!