The Gospel Miracles In A Series of Poetical Sketches: With Illustrative Conversations. By Richard Mant |
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THE MAN BORN BLIND. |
 | The Gospel Miracles |  |
178
THE MAN BORN BLIND.
“I never saw the cheerful light;
On these sad eyes it never shone:
A veil impervious clos'd my sight;
Darkness and light to me were one.
On these sad eyes it never shone:
A veil impervious clos'd my sight;
Darkness and light to me were one.
“From infancy to youth I grew,
From youth to manhood: but the while,
Altho' a mother's love I knew,
I never saw a mother's smile.
From youth to manhood: but the while,
Altho' a mother's love I knew,
I never saw a mother's smile.
“My father, brethren, neighbours dealt
Their kindly care, and still were nigh:
But tho' the guiding hand I felt,
I never saw the sparkling eye.
Their kindly care, and still were nigh:
But tho' the guiding hand I felt,
I never saw the sparkling eye.
“They told me of the Almighty's Word,
Recorded in our sacred Law:
Attent, the truth reveal'd I heard,
But the lov'd record never saw.
Recorded in our sacred Law:
Attent, the truth reveal'd I heard,
But the lov'd record never saw.
“They told me of the house of God,
Which crowns our Sion's holy height:
With them the marble floor I trod,
But witness'd not each solemn rite.
Which crowns our Sion's holy height:
With them the marble floor I trod,
But witness'd not each solemn rite.
179
“They talk'd to me of meadows green;
The winding coombe; the mountain high;
The lake, outspread with mirrour sheen;
The lustre of the azure sky;
The winding coombe; the mountain high;
The lake, outspread with mirrour sheen;
The lustre of the azure sky;
“The golden sun; the silver moon;
The expanse, with brilliant stars besprent;
The colours of the ethereal zone,
Which the Creator's hand had bent:
The expanse, with brilliant stars besprent;
The colours of the ethereal zone,
Which the Creator's hand had bent:
“But hill, nor vale, nor vernal flower,
Nor lucid lake, nor azure skies,
I saw, bright signs of sovereign power;
Nor, pledge of love, the rainbow's dyes.
Nor lucid lake, nor azure skies,
I saw, bright signs of sovereign power;
Nor, pledge of love, the rainbow's dyes.
“Alike the sun's meridian light,
The morning's dawn, the evening's fall,
Were gloom to my unconscious sight:—
'Twas dark, dark, dark, and dreary all!
The morning's dawn, the evening's fall,
Were gloom to my unconscious sight:—
'Twas dark, dark, dark, and dreary all!
“'Twas dreary all!—'Tis joyous now!
I now creation's light behold:
The heav'n above, the earth below,
And all the wonders they unfold.
I now creation's light behold:
The heav'n above, the earth below,
And all the wonders they unfold.
“Securely now I roam abroad,
Unguided move, and walk, and run:
And gaze upon the works of God;
This pleasant earth, that glorious sun;
Unguided move, and walk, and run:
And gaze upon the works of God;
This pleasant earth, that glorious sun;
“The treasures of our sacred book;
On Sion's height that holy pile;
On all with ease, with joy, I look;
My father's eye, my mother's smile!
On Sion's height that holy pile;
On all with ease, with joy, I look;
My father's eye, my mother's smile!
180
“Ask ye, to whom the boon I owe?
Ask ye, what means the blessing gave?
A man, so seem'd he, bade me go,
And in Siloam's fountain lave.
Ask ye, what means the blessing gave?
A man, so seem'd he, bade me go,
And in Siloam's fountain lave.
“But first, with earth at random found,
And moisten'd from his mouth, he made
Of clay an ointment on the ground,
And on my sightless eyeballs laid.
And moisten'd from his mouth, he made
Of clay an ointment on the ground,
And on my sightless eyeballs laid.
“ ‘Go, wash,’ he said: with hope and awe,
Unknowing who that man might be,
The fount I sought; I wash'd; and saw:
I saw; and still, like you, I see.
Unknowing who that man might be,
The fount I sought; I wash'd; and saw:
I saw; and still, like you, I see.
“Ask ye, from whom the blessing came?
What pow'r but His, who made the day,
And gave the eye its curious frame,
Can light it with the visual ray?
What pow'r but His, who made the day,
And gave the eye its curious frame,
Can light it with the visual ray?
“What man, since first the world began,
Gave sight to one by nature blind?
What man shall give?—Save he, the man,
By seers of old to come design'd.
Gave sight to one by nature blind?
What man shall give?—Save he, the man,
By seers of old to come design'd.
“Stamp'd on the works of God, inroll'd
In God's own Book, I note the sign,
Which bids me in the man behold,
Who gave me sight, the Pow'r Divine.
In God's own Book, I note the sign,
Which bids me in the man behold,
Who gave me sight, the Pow'r Divine.
“O, ever on Siloam's fount,
While beats my heart, shall memory dwell;
That act of might my lips recount,
And of the promis'd Shiloh tell.
While beats my heart, shall memory dwell;
That act of might my lips recount,
And of the promis'd Shiloh tell.
181
“And ever, as my sight I send
O'er earth, or sea, or heav'n abroad,
My knee shall low in worship bend,
My tongue confess the Son of God.
O'er earth, or sea, or heav'n abroad,
My knee shall low in worship bend,
My tongue confess the Son of God.
“'Twas he, my darkling eyeballs blind
Enlighten'd with the pow'r of sight:
'Twas he, the darkness of my mind
Illumin'd with his heav'nly light.
Enlighten'd with the pow'r of sight:
'Twas he, the darkness of my mind
Illumin'd with his heav'nly light.
“Thus, thus, thou Life and Light of men,
Grant me thy healing rays to see!
'Tis day, where thou vouchsaf'st to reign;
'Tis darkness all, bereft of Thee!”
Grant me thy healing rays to see!
'Tis day, where thou vouchsaf'st to reign;
'Tis darkness all, bereft of Thee!”
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