 | Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious |  |
And Jesus wandered silently away,
And climbed a snowy mountain height—the same
Whereon, before He died, He met and spake
With Moses and Elijah—and He fell
Into a trance; and, in a vision, saw
The glory of the realms of all the world
Spread out beneath Him:—Palestine, and Greece,
Egypt, and Rome, and all that Roman arms
Had won; nor only these, but lands unknown
Beyond where Alexander's conquest paused,
Beyond the source of Nile, beyond the plain
Where Cyrus perished, and beyond the sea
West of the pillars named of Hercules;—
He saw their glory, and He saw their guilt;
He saw the temples of their idol gods,
He saw the bloodshed of their wars, the smoke
Of ruined homesteads, and the captives borne
Away to bondage.
And climbed a snowy mountain height—the same
Whereon, before He died, He met and spake
With Moses and Elijah—and He fell
Into a trance; and, in a vision, saw
The glory of the realms of all the world
Spread out beneath Him:—Palestine, and Greece,
Egypt, and Rome, and all that Roman arms
Had won; nor only these, but lands unknown
Beyond where Alexander's conquest paused,
Beyond the source of Nile, beyond the plain
Where Cyrus perished, and beyond the sea
West of the pillars named of Hercules;—
He saw their glory, and He saw their guilt;
He saw the temples of their idol gods,
He saw the bloodshed of their wars, the smoke
Of ruined homesteads, and the captives borne
Away to bondage.
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And a Voice again—
Or was it only thoughts within His heart?—
Whispered—
Or was it only thoughts within His heart?—
Whispered—
“Thou art the Christ, the Lord of all!
Thou art the Son of David, Thou the Priest
After the order of Melchizedec;
Thy God hath sworn to make Thine enemies
The footstool of Thy feet, and Thou shalt rule
The nations with an iron rod, and break
Their idols like a potsherd. Fire from heaven
Fell at Elijah's bidding to consume
His enemies; and fire from heaven shall fall,
And utterly destroy Thine enemies,
Thou greater than Elijah!—I ord and Christ,
Why tarriest Thou? all these by right are Thine;
Thy Father hath ordained Thee Heir of all;
Go, enter on Thine own inheritance!”
Thou art the Son of David, Thou the Priest
After the order of Melchizedec;
Thy God hath sworn to make Thine enemies
The footstool of Thy feet, and Thou shalt rule
The nations with an iron rod, and break
Their idols like a potsherd. Fire from heaven
Fell at Elijah's bidding to consume
His enemies; and fire from heaven shall fall,
And utterly destroy Thine enemies,
Thou greater than Elijah!—I ord and Christ,
Why tarriest Thou? all these by right are Thine;
Thy Father hath ordained Thee Heir of all;
Go, enter on Thine own inheritance!”
| Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious | |