The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan In Two Volumes. With a Portrait |
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 | The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan |  |
XVI.
Far as the sight
Could penetrate the blackness of the Night,
Stretchèd the multitudinous living Sea,
The angry waters of Humanity,
And lo! their voice was as the ocean's roar
Thund'rously beating on some sleepless shore;
And He, the Man Divine, whose eyes were dim
With shining down on those who worshipt Him,
Seem'd as a lonely pharos on a rock,
Firm in its place, yet shaken by the shock,
And ever blinded by the pitiless foam
Of waves that surge and thunder as they come!
And as I have seen, on some lone oceanisle
Where never Summer lights or flowers may smile,
But where the fury of the Tempest blows,
The ocean birds in black and shivering rows
Huddle along the rocks; now one, alone,
Plunges upon the whirlwind, and is blown
Hither and thither as a straw, and then
Struggles back feebly to his rocky den,
There still to shiver and eye the dreadful flood
And with his comrades hungering for food
Ruffle the feathery crest and brood in fear:—
Ev'n so, those lonely Saints who gather'd near
The Man forlorn, seem'd to the Sea of Life
Which rose around with ceaseless stress and strife,
And ever one of these, as if to face
The angry blast, would flutter from his place,
And driven hither and thither be backward blown,
And fall again with faint despairing moan
At his sad Master's feet!
Could penetrate the blackness of the Night,
Stretchèd the multitudinous living Sea,
The angry waters of Humanity,
And lo! their voice was as the ocean's roar
Thund'rously beating on some sleepless shore;
And He, the Man Divine, whose eyes were dim
With shining down on those who worshipt Him,
Seem'd as a lonely pharos on a rock,
Firm in its place, yet shaken by the shock,
And ever blinded by the pitiless foam
Of waves that surge and thunder as they come!
And as I have seen, on some lone oceanisle
Where never Summer lights or flowers may smile,
But where the fury of the Tempest blows,
The ocean birds in black and shivering rows
Huddle along the rocks; now one, alone,
Plunges upon the whirlwind, and is blown
Hither and thither as a straw, and then
Struggles back feebly to his rocky den,
There still to shiver and eye the dreadful flood
And with his comrades hungering for food
239
Ev'n so, those lonely Saints who gather'd near
The Man forlorn, seem'd to the Sea of Life
Which rose around with ceaseless stress and strife,
And ever one of these, as if to face
The angry blast, would flutter from his place,
And driven hither and thither be backward blown,
And fall again with faint despairing moan
At his sad Master's feet!
Then as the Storm
Raged ever louder round His lonely form,
The Jew uplifted hands and cried aloud!
Raged ever louder round His lonely form,
The Jew uplifted hands and cried aloud!
And in a moment, Darkness like a cloud
Cover'd Him, the great whirlwinds ceased to roar,
And all those Waves of Life were still once more.
Cover'd Him, the great whirlwinds ceased to roar,
And all those Waves of Life were still once more.
| The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan | |