University of Virginia Library

The translation of Elijah.

His lecture to the sad young prophets done,
And last adieus, the rev'rend seer goes on,
Obedient as the sacred instinct guides,
And now advanc'd to Jordan's verdant sides;
Elijah, with his great successor stood,
And gave a signal to the passing flood;
Th' obsequious waters stay, for well they know
What to his high authority they owe.
While wave on wave, with silent awe, crowds back,
To leave a clean, and spacious sandy track,
Elijah on with his companion goes,
Behind 'em soon the crystal ridges close,
No more revers'd, the troubled current flows.
Then forward still they went, discoursing high
Of heav'nly bliss, and immortality,
When from a cloud breaks, (like the purple dawn)
By fiery steeds a fiery chariot drawn;
A glittering convoy, swift as that descends,
And in an instant parts th' embracing friends;
To the bright car conducts the man of God,
And mounts again the steep ethereal road.
The passing triumph lightens all the air
With ruddy lustre, than high noon more fair,
And paints the clouds, than evening beams more gay,
Thro' which, with wond'rous speed, they cut their way.
Now lofty piles of thunder, hail, and snow,
Th' artillery of heav'n they leave below;
Below the glimm'ring moon's pale regency
They leave, and now more free ascend the sky.
Breathing again immortal air, nor here
Resent the pressure of the atmosphere.
By holy ecstasies, and flames intense,
Here purg'd from all the dregs of mortal sense;
With heav'nly lustre, eminently gay,
Elijah wond'ring, does himself survey;
All o'er surveys himself, and then the skies,
While new stupendous objects meet his eyes.
With his new being pleas'd, thus, the first man
As just to live and reason he began,
On hills, and valleys, groves and fountains, gaz'd;
With skies and light thus ravish'd, thus amaz'd.
But now the utmost firmament they cleave,
And all the starry worlds behind them leave;
Hark, angels sing! of light appear new streaks!
Celestial day, with gaudy splendor breaks!
On heaven's rich solid azure now they tread,
The blissful paths that to God's presence lead;
While to the new inhabitant all the way
Loud welcomes, on their harps, his guardians play:
A thousand joyful spirits crowd to meet
The glorious saint, and his arrival greet.