Minor Poems, including Napoleon :: :: University of Virginia Library

I stood, in thought, on Shinar's plain,
And saw that tower arise,
Whose height so vast, by builders vain,
Was meant to reach the skies:
It seem'd to stand before my sight,
Like phantoms which, in dreams of night,
We see with wond'ring eyes;
Distrusted, when they meet our view,
But gazed at, till we think them true.

156

II

I will not say that thought could cheat
My judgment so to deem
Of this ideal counterfeit;
Nor was it slumber's dream:
But in imagination's hour
The past, by her creative power,
May like the present seem;
And make us for the time compeers
Of them who lived in distant years.

III

And thus I thought before me stood
That tower of early fame,
Rear'd by the erring multitude
To make themselves a name:
Of lofty height and ample base,
Though boasting little finished grace,
Seem'd its gigantic frame;
Surpassing, in its wondrous size,
All Egypt's later prodigies.

157

IV

It rose, until its massy form
Far length'ning shadows cast;
Bidding defiance to the storm,
And smiling at the blast:
And even to Euphrates' wave
Its lofty summit lustre gave,
The loveliest, and the last,
Which, borrow'd from the sun's last gleam,
It shed upon that distant stream.

V

And Shinar's plain was throng'd around
With earth's primeval race,
Who all alike intent were found,
Each lab'ring in his place,
To rear the tower, whose deathless fame
Should be their own enduring name,
Their city's chiefest grace:
For to one common home they clung,
And spoke but in one common tongue.

158

VI

But God came down to see the tower,
And city they had made;
And by his overwhelming power
Their policy gainsay'd;
Giving to each a tongue unknown,
Their plans and counsels were o'erthrown,
His sovereignty display'd;
And what they eagerly had sought
To shun, their own presumption wrought.

VII

O then, in that discordant crowd,
What wild confusion rose!
As each, in accents fierce and loud,
Attempted to disclose
The aid he proffer'd, help he sought;
Till they who were together brought
As friends, were turn'd to foes;
Desirous but apart to roam,
And seek a widely sever'd home!

159

VIII

The vision pass'd! crowd, tower, and plain
Fleeted in thought away:
Imagination's power again
Resum'd her dream-like sway;
And as her magic spell prevail'd,
I stood amid the throng who hail'd
The church's earlier day;
Nor greater contrast could be known
Than was by such transition shown.

IX

Around me were the gathered host
Who came to seek their Lord;
Owning, that solemn Pentecost,
One place with one accord:
And, for the time, I seem'd to stand
Spectator of that Christian band,
By Gentile tribes abhorr'd,
Chosen to publish, far and wide,
The Gospel of the Crucified!

160

X

When, on a sudden, came a sound,
As of a wind from heaven,
Which sweeps o'er ocean's depths profound,
Or is through forests driven!
And on each head, in rev'rence bar'd,
Bright cloven tongues of fire declar'd
The gift which God had given:
The power, in tongues unknown till then,
To make salvation known to men.

XI

Well might that miracle then plead
With hearts untouch'd before;
As Parthian, Elamite, and Mede,
Crete, Arab, Roman, Moor,—
Each in his native tongue address'd
With deep surprise and awe confess'd
That every doubt was o'er;
And eagerly preferr'd his claim
To be baptiz'd in Jesus' name.

161

XII

This vision also pass'd away;
Yet did it first disclose
How diff'rent is the scope and sway
Of boons that God bestows.
The varying tongues which, heretofore,
On Shinar's plain, with loud uproar,
Converted friends to foes,
Here seem'd like manna to descend,
And made a foe far more than friend!

XIII

Thus talents, gifts, and graces prove
Of present good, or ill,
As given by God in wrath, or love,
To work his gracious will:
Man cannot claim them as his own;
They come from God, and best are known
His purpose to fulfil,
When the Receiver's humble aim
Would glorify the Giver's name!