 | Scenes from Scripture with Other Poems |  |
180
THE EMPEROR AND THE RABBI.
“Old Rabbi, what tales dost thou pour in mine ear,
What visions of glory, what phantoms of fear.”
Of a God, all the Gods of the Romans above,
A mightier than Mars, a more ancient than Jove.
What visions of glory, what phantoms of fear.”
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A mightier than Mars, a more ancient than Jove.
“Let me see but his splendours, I then shall believe.
'Tis the senses alone that can never deceive.
But show me your Idol, if earth be his shrine,
And your Israelite God shall, old dreamer, be mine!”
'Tis the senses alone that can never deceive.
But show me your Idol, if earth be his shrine,
And your Israelite God shall, old dreamer, be mine!”
It was Trajan that spoke, and the stoical sneer
Still played on his features, sublime and severe,
For, round the wide world, that stooped to his throne,
He knew but one God, and himself was that one!
Still played on his features, sublime and severe,
For, round the wide world, that stooped to his throne,
He knew but one God, and himself was that one!
“The God of our forefathers,” low bowed the Seer,
Is unseen by the eye, is unheard by the ear;
He is Spirit, and knows not the body's dark chain;
Immortal His nature, eternal His reign.
Is unseen by the eye, is unheard by the ear;
He is Spirit, and knows not the body's dark chain;
Immortal His nature, eternal His reign.
“He is seen in His power, when the storm is abroad;
In His justice, when guilt by His thunders is awed;
In His mercy, when mountain and valley and plain
Rejoice in His sunshine, and smile in His rain.”
In His justice, when guilt by His thunders is awed;
In His mercy, when mountain and valley and plain
Rejoice in His sunshine, and smile in His rain.”
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“Those are dreams,” said the monarch, “wild fancies of old;
But, what God can I worship, when none I behold?
Can I kneel to the lightning, or bow to the wind?
Can I worship the shape, that but lives in the mind?”
But, what God can I worship, when none I behold?
Can I kneel to the lightning, or bow to the wind?
Can I worship the shape, that but lives in the mind?”
“I shall show thee the herald He sends from His throne.”
Through the halls of the palace the Rabbi led on,
Till above them was spread but the sky's sapphire dome,
And, like surges of splendour, beneath them lay Rome;
Through the halls of the palace the Rabbi led on,
Till above them was spread but the sky's sapphire dome,
And, like surges of splendour, beneath them lay Rome;
And towering o'er all, in the glow of the hour,
The Capitol shone, Earth's high centre of power:
A thousand years glorious, yet still in its prime;
A thousand years more, to be conqueror of Time.
The Capitol shone, Earth's high centre of power:
A thousand years glorious, yet still in its prime;
A thousand years more, to be conqueror of Time.
But the West was now purple, the eve was begun;
Like a monarch at rest, on the hills lay the sun;
Above him the clouds their rich canopy rolled,
With pillars of diamond, and curtains of gold.
Like a monarch at rest, on the hills lay the sun;
Above him the clouds their rich canopy rolled,
With pillars of diamond, and curtains of gold.
The Rabbi's proud gesture was turned to the orb:
“O King! let that glory thy worship absorb!”—
“What, worship that sun, and be blind by the gaze;
No eye but the eagle's could look on that blaze.”—
“O King! let that glory thy worship absorb!”—
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No eye but the eagle's could look on that blaze.”—
“Ho! Emperor of Earth, if it dazzles thine eye
To look on that orb, as it sinks from the sky,”
Cried the Rabbi, “what mortal could dare but to see
The Sovereign of him, and the Sovereign of thee!”
To look on that orb, as it sinks from the sky,”
Cried the Rabbi, “what mortal could dare but to see
The Sovereign of him, and the Sovereign of thee!”
| Scenes from Scripture with Other Poems | |