Sacred Meditations and Moral Themes In Verse By the Rev. Robert Montgomery ... Third Edition--Revised and Enlarged |
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ON CONCLUDING “THE MESSIAH.” |
 | Sacred Meditations and Moral Themes In Verse |  |
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ON CONCLUDING “THE MESSIAH.”
My theme is o'er, the great Messiah sung,
And this attempt, whose vast persuasion filled
My being with a dread delight, concludes.
How often, in some pause of holy fear,
Hath Fancy folded her advent'rous wing,
And my soul bowed with this unuttered thought,—
That He, whose mediatorial love I sang,
Beheld me, fathoming my spirit's depth!
And now, as girt with glory, in the Heaven
Of Heavens, the Son of Man His throne resumes,
A dread comes round me, like a shadow cast
From waning tempest o'er a tranced sea.
And this attempt, whose vast persuasion filled
My being with a dread delight, concludes.
How often, in some pause of holy fear,
Hath Fancy folded her advent'rous wing,
And my soul bowed with this unuttered thought,—
That He, whose mediatorial love I sang,
Beheld me, fathoming my spirit's depth!
And now, as girt with glory, in the Heaven
Of Heavens, the Son of Man His throne resumes,
A dread comes round me, like a shadow cast
From waning tempest o'er a tranced sea.
Thou Land sublime! of miracles and men,
Where poetry from God on earth came down
In warbled echoes of celestial song;
Where Hebron, Tabor, and Mount Carmel, lift
Their silent vastness in the sultry air,
Divinely haunted; where the Jordan rolls,
Where rock, and cavern, grotto, cell, and cave,
Are mighty; where the curse of Heaven has graved
Terrific warning on thy blasted trees,
And haggard vales, all fountainless and dry,—
The stately vision of thy mingled scene
Departeth; he whose spirit oft has heard
The thunder-music of thy tempests roll,
Beheld thy sun-blaze, seen thine eagles mount,
And, dream-led, roved beside that mournful lake
Where man's Redeemer, in His days of earth
And anguish wander'd, bids thee now farewell.
Where poetry from God on earth came down
In warbled echoes of celestial song;
Where Hebron, Tabor, and Mount Carmel, lift
Their silent vastness in the sultry air,
Divinely haunted; where the Jordan rolls,
Where rock, and cavern, grotto, cell, and cave,
Are mighty; where the curse of Heaven has graved
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And haggard vales, all fountainless and dry,—
The stately vision of thy mingled scene
Departeth; he whose spirit oft has heard
The thunder-music of thy tempests roll,
Beheld thy sun-blaze, seen thine eagles mount,
And, dream-led, roved beside that mournful lake
Where man's Redeemer, in His days of earth
And anguish wander'd, bids thee now farewell.
Autumnal morning in my chamber gleamed,
When tremblingly, as though th' Almighty's glance
My mind had bared,—I struck the chorded lyre
Of sacred truth, to this surpassing theme.
But ever, as the waves of moving life
From England's capital, with heave and swell
Came surging from afar, my soul partook
A deep communion with the fate of Man,—
Amid a sea of wide existence tossed,
Whose billows only the Redeemer trod
Secure; but left along the stormy wild
A track of glory, for terrestrial feet
To follow, guided by the star of Heaven.
When tremblingly, as though th' Almighty's glance
My mind had bared,—I struck the chorded lyre
Of sacred truth, to this surpassing theme.
But ever, as the waves of moving life
From England's capital, with heave and swell
Came surging from afar, my soul partook
A deep communion with the fate of Man,—
Amid a sea of wide existence tossed,
Whose billows only the Redeemer trod
Secure; but left along the stormy wild
A track of glory, for terrestrial feet
To follow, guided by the star of Heaven.
But now, the spirit of mysterious night
Comes forth, and, like a ruined angel, seems
All dimly glorious, and divinely sad;
While Earth, forgetful of her primal fall,
Lies in the beauty of reflected heaven.—
Oh! night creates the paradise of thought,
Enchanting back whatever time has wronged
Or exiled, touched with that celestial hue
Which faith and fancy on the dead bestow.
Emotions which the tyrant day destroys
Can now awaken, like reviving flowers;
And, oh, the darkest of unheavenly souls
Must feel immortal, as his eye receives
From all its views, a loveliness, that comes
To light the dimness of the spirit's depth.—
As when at morning, oft a sunrise pours
A stream of splendour through the window-panes
Of temple vast, to cheer its barren aisles,
And on the gloom of monumental sleep
To glitter, like a resurrection morn.
Comes forth, and, like a ruined angel, seems
All dimly glorious, and divinely sad;
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Lies in the beauty of reflected heaven.—
Oh! night creates the paradise of thought,
Enchanting back whatever time has wronged
Or exiled, touched with that celestial hue
Which faith and fancy on the dead bestow.
Emotions which the tyrant day destroys
Can now awaken, like reviving flowers;
And, oh, the darkest of unheavenly souls
Must feel immortal, as his eye receives
From all its views, a loveliness, that comes
To light the dimness of the spirit's depth.—
As when at morning, oft a sunrise pours
A stream of splendour through the window-panes
Of temple vast, to cheer its barren aisles,
And on the gloom of monumental sleep
To glitter, like a resurrection morn.
Thus, life is charter'd for a nobler fate
Than glory, by the breath of man bestowed:
A living world reflects a living God,—
Morn, noon, and night, with everlasting change!
And who can dim the universe, o'erawe
The elements, unseat the sun, or mar
That mighty Poem which the heavens and earth
Exhibit, written by Eternal hands?—
The sense of beauty, which is so divine,
Lives in the spirit like a burning spell;
And while the wonders of creation teem,
To love and worship their majestic power,
Lifts the lone spirit into purer light
Than ever canopied the throne of Fame!
Than glory, by the breath of man bestowed:
A living world reflects a living God,—
Morn, noon, and night, with everlasting change!
And who can dim the universe, o'erawe
The elements, unseat the sun, or mar
That mighty Poem which the heavens and earth
Exhibit, written by Eternal hands?—
The sense of beauty, which is so divine,
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And while the wonders of creation teem,
To love and worship their majestic power,
Lifts the lone spirit into purer light
Than ever canopied the throne of Fame!
And cold the heart, whose Aspirations wing'd
Their flight from thee, my own inviolate Land!
Whom night and beauty have apparelled now.
Thy heaven is glassy as the molten blue
Of ocean, in the noontide's dazzling sleep;
Thy starry multitudes their thrones have set,
And the young moon looks on the quiet sea,
Tranced like a mother, with her doating eye
Intently fixed upon a cradled child:
While, round, and full, and ravishingly bright,
A planet, here and there, the sky adorns.
A path of lustre has o'erlaid the deep
That heaves, and glitters, like a wizard shore
For sea-Enchanters, when they rise and walk
The waves in glory;—voice nor foot profanes
This dreaming silence; but the mellow lisp
Of dying waters on the beach dissolved,
Makes ocean-language for the heart and hour.
Their flight from thee, my own inviolate Land!
Whom night and beauty have apparelled now.
Thy heaven is glassy as the molten blue
Of ocean, in the noontide's dazzling sleep;
Thy starry multitudes their thrones have set,
And the young moon looks on the quiet sea,
Tranced like a mother, with her doating eye
Intently fixed upon a cradled child:
While, round, and full, and ravishingly bright,
A planet, here and there, the sky adorns.
A path of lustre has o'erlaid the deep
That heaves, and glitters, like a wizard shore
For sea-Enchanters, when they rise and walk
The waves in glory;—voice nor foot profanes
This dreaming silence; but the mellow lisp
Of dying waters on the beach dissolved,
Makes ocean-language for the heart and hour.
Now thought is heaven-like; and our earthly frame
Of purity beyond the Day to bring,
Is conscious;—from the uncreated fount
Of glory, may not emanations steal,
By night absorbed, and mystically felt?
Or creatures, such as once the mental eye
Of seraph-haunted Milton saw descend,
Like sunbeams darted from a riven cloud
On Eden's mount,—with viewless wing career
Around us, charming with a gaze unseen
Whate'er the beauty of their glances touch?
Of purity beyond the Day to bring,
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Of glory, may not emanations steal,
By night absorbed, and mystically felt?
Or creatures, such as once the mental eye
Of seraph-haunted Milton saw descend,
Like sunbeams darted from a riven cloud
On Eden's mount,—with viewless wing career
Around us, charming with a gaze unseen
Whate'er the beauty of their glances touch?
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