 | The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery |  |
DIVINE WALK.
“Enoch walked with God.”—Gen. v. 24.
And didst thou choose the narrow path
Which sainted feet have ever trod,
And know the peace high Virtue hath
When pillow'd on the breast of God?
Which sainted feet have ever trod,
And know the peace high Virtue hath
When pillow'd on the breast of God?
Though all around thee crime and sin
Their moral desert made and threw,
Was thy religion felt within,
And outwardly embodied, too?
Their moral desert made and threw,
Was thy religion felt within,
And outwardly embodied, too?
Primeval saint! seraphic man!
By ardent grace so fill'd and fired,
Thy blest eternity began
Before the common age expired.
By ardent grace so fill'd and fired,
Thy blest eternity began
Before the common age expired.
No spectral glooms, no pangs of death,
No hollow cheek, no sunken eye,
Nor pallid swoon, nor panting breath
Betray'd the King of Terrors nigh:
No hollow cheek, no sunken eye,
Nor pallid swoon, nor panting breath
Betray'd the King of Terrors nigh:
Bright trophy of atoning Blood!
Thy doom escaped them, one and all;
As if thou wert for earth too good
Thy native heaven did thee recall.
Thy doom escaped them, one and all;
As if thou wert for earth too good
Thy native heaven did thee recall.
At once to glory upward soar'd
Thy being, with unwav'ring flight;
No kindred heart thy death deplored,
No grave inhumed thee out of sight.
Thy being, with unwav'ring flight;
No kindred heart thy death deplored,
No grave inhumed thee out of sight.
Thou wert not!—this seems all we know
Of thine unview'd ascent to bliss;
What more relates to thee below,
Belongs not to a state like this.
Of thine unview'd ascent to bliss;
What more relates to thee below,
Belongs not to a state like this.
In flaming cars with steeds of fire
Rapt in a whirlwind, didst thou rise,
To mingle with that harping Choir
Who worship God with wing-veil'd eyes?
Rapt in a whirlwind, didst thou rise,
To mingle with that harping Choir
Who worship God with wing-veil'd eyes?
Or, did some mission'd angel-bands
Speed from the bowers of blissful love,
To waft thee with encircling hands
To thy pure home prepared above?
Speed from the bowers of blissful love,
To waft thee with encircling hands
To thy pure home prepared above?
In vain of this and more we dream,
Nor how can sainted fancy tell
Thy soar outwing'd the solar beam,
And vanish'd through the visible!
Nor how can sainted fancy tell
Thy soar outwing'd the solar beam,
And vanish'd through the visible!
Yet, could we, like an Enoch walk
And closely with our God commune,
With more than angels men might talk,
And earth itself to heaven attune.
And closely with our God commune,
With more than angels men might talk,
And earth itself to heaven attune.
53
We should not seek for temple-roof
To overarch our heads in prayer,
But find in ev'ry scene a proof
Jehovah was enshrouded there.
To overarch our heads in prayer,
But find in ev'ry scene a proof
Jehovah was enshrouded there.
The poet's walk through pensive scenes
Companion'd with God's love would be,
When doubt, nor darkness, intervenes
To hide his heart from Deity.
Companion'd with God's love would be,
When doubt, nor darkness, intervenes
To hide his heart from Deity.
All beauty would more beauteous grow,
All music more melodious sound,
Did moral hues of heaven below
More freshly in our ways abound.
All music more melodious sound,
Did moral hues of heaven below
More freshly in our ways abound.
It is because the Cain-like heart
To selfish pride retreats alone,
That God and glory dwell apart
From that cold bliss we call our own.
To selfish pride retreats alone,
That God and glory dwell apart
From that cold bliss we call our own.
But when, like Enoch, men can muse,
And with our Maker's smile array
The path of life they rightly choose,
What gleams from heaven adorn their way!
And with our Maker's smile array
The path of life they rightly choose,
What gleams from heaven adorn their way!
Jehovah's will, Jehovah's word,
Within, without, rules everywhere;
And conscience is obey'd and heard
Till man becomes incarnate prayer.
Within, without, rules everywhere;
And conscience is obey'd and heard
Till man becomes incarnate prayer.
Abroad, at home, in sun, or shade,
By rocky shore, or mountain-stream,
Divinest thoughts the soul invade,
And nowhere can we orphans seem;
By rocky shore, or mountain-stream,
Divinest thoughts the soul invade,
And nowhere can we orphans seem;
Since Faith applies vast providence
To each peculiar grief and groan,
And grasps believed omnipotence
As though it ruled for Her alone.
To each peculiar grief and groan,
And grasps believed omnipotence
As though it ruled for Her alone.
Awake, and sing then, christian soul!
If, like yon saint before the flood,
Under the Spirit's true control
A frowning world thou hast withstood.
If, like yon saint before the flood,
Under the Spirit's true control
A frowning world thou hast withstood.
Enoch was not;—to God he soar'd,
Left a low earth defiled like this,
Sought the bright Parent he adored
And melted in almighty bliss!
Left a low earth defiled like this,
Sought the bright Parent he adored
And melted in almighty bliss!
Thus, more and more to yonder fount
Of perfect glory thou may'st glide;
And nearer still like Enoch mount
To regions ne'er by sin descried.
Of perfect glory thou may'st glide;
And nearer still like Enoch mount
To regions ne'er by sin descried.
As He was not, thou shalt not be
Discern'd by what the world calls sense—
Thy dwelling-place is Deity,
And simple Faith thy sure defence.
Discern'd by what the world calls sense—
Thy dwelling-place is Deity,
And simple Faith thy sure defence.
| The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery | |