Poems and miscellanies selected from the writings of Miss Eliza Townsend Printed but not published |
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THE RAINBOW. |
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 | Poems and miscellanies selected from the writings of Miss Eliza Townsend |  |
133
THE RAINBOW.
[1813.]
Seen through the misty southern air,
What painted gleam of light is there,
Luring the charmed eye?
Whose mellowing shades of different dyes
In rich profusion gorgeous rise,
And melt into the sky?
What painted gleam of light is there,
Luring the charmed eye?
Whose mellowing shades of different dyes
In rich profusion gorgeous rise,
And melt into the sky?
Higher and higher still it grows,
Brighter and clearer yet it shows,
It widens, lengthens, rounds;
And now that gleam of painted light,
A noble arch, confessed to sight,
Spans the empyreal bounds.
Brighter and clearer yet it shows,
It widens, lengthens, rounds;
And now that gleam of painted light,
A noble arch, confessed to sight,
Spans the empyreal bounds.
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What curious mechanician wrought,
What viewless hands, as swift as thought,
Have bent this flexile bow?
What seraph touch these shades could blend,
Without beginning, without end?
What sylph such tints bestow?
What viewless hands, as swift as thought,
Have bent this flexile bow?
What seraph touch these shades could blend,
Without beginning, without end?
What sylph such tints bestow?
If Fancy's telescope we bring
To scan withal this peerless thing,
The Air, the Cloud, the Water King,
'Twould seem their treasures joined,
And the proud monarch of the day,
Their grand ally, his splendid ray
Of eastern gold combined.
To scan withal this peerless thing,
The Air, the Cloud, the Water King,
'Twould seem their treasures joined,
And the proud monarch of the day,
Their grand ally, his splendid ray
Of eastern gold combined.
Vain vision, hence! that will reverse,
Which in Creation's infant year,
Bade, in compassion to our fear,
(Scarce spent the deluge rage,)
Each elemental cause combine,
Whose rich effect should form this sign,
Through every future age.
Which in Creation's infant year,
Bade, in compassion to our fear,
(Scarce spent the deluge rage,)
Each elemental cause combine,
Whose rich effect should form this sign,
Through every future age.
O, Peace! the rainbow-emblemed maid,
Where have thy fairy footsteps strayed?
Where hides thy seraph form?
What twilight caves of ocean rest?
Or in what island of the blest
Sails it on gales of morn?
Where have thy fairy footsteps strayed?
135
What twilight caves of ocean rest?
Or in what island of the blest
Sails it on gales of morn?
Missioned from heaven in early hour,
Designed through Eden's blissful bower
Delightedly to tread,
Till exiled thence in evil time,
Scared at the company of crime,
Thy startled pinions fled.
Designed through Eden's blissful bower
Delightedly to tread,
Till exiled thence in evil time,
Scared at the company of crime,
Thy startled pinions fled.
E'er since that hour, alas, the thought!
Like thine own dove, who vainly sought
To find a sheltered nest,
Till from the East, the South, the North,
Doomed to be driven a wanderer forth,
And find not where to rest;
Like thine own dove, who vainly sought
To find a sheltered nest,
Till from the East, the South, the North,
Doomed to be driven a wanderer forth,
And find not where to rest;
Till when the west its world displayed
Of hiding hills and sheltering shade,
Thither thy weary flight was stayed,
Here fondly fixed thy seat;
Our valleys and our desert caves,
Our wall of interposing waves,
Seemed a secure retreat.
In vain! from this thy last abode
(One pitying glance on earth bestowed)
We saw thee take the heavenward road,
Where yonder cliffs arise;
Saw thee thy tearful features shroud,
Till cradled on the conscious cloud
That to await thy coming bowed,
We lost thee in the skies.
Of hiding hills and sheltering shade,
Thither thy weary flight was stayed,
Here fondly fixed thy seat;
Our valleys and our desert caves,
Our wall of interposing waves,
Seemed a secure retreat.
136
(One pitying glance on earth bestowed)
We saw thee take the heavenward road,
Where yonder cliffs arise;
Saw thee thy tearful features shroud,
Till cradled on the conscious cloud
That to await thy coming bowed,
We lost thee in the skies.
For now the maniac demon, War,
Whose ravings, heard so long from far,
Convulsed us with their distant jar,
Nearer and louder roars;
His arm, that death and conquest hurled
On all beside of all the world,
Claims these remaining shores.
Whose ravings, heard so long from far,
Convulsed us with their distant jar,
Nearer and louder roars;
His arm, that death and conquest hurled
On all beside of all the world,
Claims these remaining shores.
What though the laurel leaves he tear,
Proud round his impious brow to wear
A wreath that will not fade?
What boots him its perennial power?
These laurels canker where they flower,
They poison where they shade.
Proud round his impious brow to wear
A wreath that will not fade?
What boots him its perennial power?
These laurels canker where they flower,
They poison where they shade.
137
But thou, around whose holy head
The balmy olive loves to spread,
Return, O nymph benign!
With buds that Paradise bestowed,
Whence “healing for the nations” flowed,
Our bleeding temples twine.
The balmy olive loves to spread,
Return, O nymph benign!
With buds that Paradise bestowed,
Whence “healing for the nations” flowed,
Our bleeding temples twine.
For thee our fathers ploughed the strand;
For thee they left that goodly land,
The turf their childhood trod,
The hearths on which their infants played,
The tombs in which their sires were laid,
The altars of their God.
For thee they left that goodly land,
The turf their childhood trod,
The hearths on which their infants played,
The tombs in which their sires were laid,
The altars of their God.
Then, by their consecrated dust,
Their spirits—spirits of the just,
Now near their Maker's face;
By their privations and their cares,
Their pilgrim toils, their patriot prayers,
Desert thou not their race.
Their spirits—spirits of the just,
Now near their Maker's face;
By their privations and their cares,
Their pilgrim toils, their patriot prayers,
Desert thou not their race.
Descend to mortal ken confessed,
Known by thy white and stainless vest,
And let us on the mountain crest
That snowy mantle see;
O, let not here thy mission close!
Leave not the erring sons of those
Who left a world for thee!
Known by thy white and stainless vest,
And let us on the mountain crest
138
O, let not here thy mission close!
Leave not the erring sons of those
Who left a world for thee!
Celestial visitant! again
Resume thy gentle, golden reign,
Our honored guest once more;
Cheer with thy smiles our saddened plain,
And let thy rainbow, o'er the main,
Tell that the storms are o'er!
Resume thy gentle, golden reign,
Our honored guest once more;
Cheer with thy smiles our saddened plain,
And let thy rainbow, o'er the main,
Tell that the storms are o'er!
| Poems and miscellanies selected from the writings of Miss Eliza Townsend | |