University of Virginia Library

LATRIA.

Amid the joyless scenes of life, we gaze
With kindling fondness on the realms above,
And catch the faintest spark from those sheen rays,
That seem to canopy descending love.
O our fond vision kens the vapoury folds,
That wave in radiance round the aerial bow,
Our tireless eye espies the raptured souls,
Whose dome is heaven, and who 'mid glory's glow
Attune their golden wires in ceaseless praise;
Upon the waking ear falls every strain,
That wanders from heaven's pure seraphic lays,
And oh! we seem to linger on the plain
With lucid beauty, and perfection rife,
Imbibe the glories of bright Zion hill,
Burst from our bands to renovated life,
And spring to brighter being. Gales distil
A mellow balm o'er every baneful wound,
And all the sad attendants of our course,
Pale grief, desolate despair, disease, that bound
Our pleasures—the furies murmuring hoarse,
The shroud, the bier, the tomb, the chilling dread
Of an unknown future, all forgotten lie
In latent mystery;—our footsteps tread
With gladness the ethereal plains on high,
That spread around in holy loveliness,
And beauty, lilies amaranthine bloom,
And wave their pensile tendrils, like a tress
Of a wandering Naiad in the gloom
Of Daphne's groves of myrtle and of palm,
Or floating, in her pygmy bark, o'er waves,
That chime along, curled by the breeze of balm
Into cincturing ripples. The bed of flowers paves
The golden dome, and diamonds flash around
In sheeny splendour kindled by the blaze,
That emanates from the high Lord supreme,
Who smiles in calm benignity at the sound
Of the seraphic harps, that tune His praise,
And own His glory their immortal theme.
Time wears the robe of bright eternity!
Ere disembodied, on the rapid wings
Of sacred vision, o'er the arching sky
We rove, and drink the light that Eden flings
To wrap our souls elastic, and awake
The rays of heaven within the darkling breast.
Laid on the banks of the translucent lake,
O'er which sweet nature flings her silver vest,
A thrilling wildfire flashes in the eye,
When in sublimity, and grandeur soar
Majestic mountains, columns of the sky,
O'er sunken glens, and lonely dells, and dales
Expanding in luxuriance along the shore,
Where eddying seagulls throng, and shrilly wails
The startled kittywake; where the raven wing
Of the indulgent pelican is heard,
Like rushing winds, that sigh along, and fling
The deep-blue foliage on the arching sky.
O then we live in nature's charms—the word,
That called her into life, and from on high
Sent forth the winged hosts, embalmed, comes o'er
The revelling senses—and awakes the soul
To all the beauties of the outward form
Of pure religion's handmaid; and the shore,
The forest, and the city—the wild storm,
And cloudless sunshine—fair scenes, that unroll
The happiness of olive Peace—and all
The deadly din of dread and wasting war,
The flaunting robe of grandeur, and the pall
Of death—the slow dark bier, and the fleet car,
Derive their pomp, or terror, from the King
Of worlds unnumbered, and every scene of earth
Displays the impression of primeval birth—
Nature in gentle homage owns her Sire,
And points her silver sceptre to the throne
Of God, as upward burns the volcan's fire,
Or as the magnet seeks the frigid zone.
Oh! when the soul asserts her godlike powers,
And Fancy, winging her celestial flight,
Invokes the sainted shades of bliss from bowers
Tapestried in heaven with flowers for ever bright,
The mental eye dwells not upon the scene
Of drear oblivion, and forgetfulness,
But oh! intensely gazes on the sheen
Of glory, opening on the world to bless
The reckless vision—fondly pants the heart
To join in beatific anthems sweet—
Where the high Paraclete doth love impart,
And He, who erst did death in triumph meet,
From the eternal throne serenely smiles,
And wo is unknown, and its wanton wiles.