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23
THE RAISING OF TABITHA.
So, after they had closed her dying eyes,And balmed her with perfumes which they had brought
From Gilead, they then sent, anon, two men
To Peter, that he might arrive in haste;
For, he had opened Saul of Tarsus' eyes,
And raised up Enaus from the dead, and now
They waited that he might restore her too.
So, after they arrived, he rose in haste,
And entered into Joppa where she was;
And when he entered into where she lay,
Seeing the women standing by in tears,
He lifted up her hand from off her breast,
And, pressing its cold, pulseless chill with his,
Felt the congealing shock drive back the blood
Recurrent through his tingling veins, as if
Each timid pulse sought rescue in his heart.
And after he had felt her pulseless wrist,
And prest the cold indifference of the palm
Of her unsocial hand with his, he laid,
With cautious ease, the stiffening fingers back,
And on her marble forehead laid it now—
The sometime kingdom of immortal thought—
And felt, by its soft coldness, that her soul
Had just sped home to glory!—All was still.
Not even the whispers of the odorous Breeze,
Lifting her raven locks with spirit-hands,
And weaving, with their glossy curls, the woof
Wherein to hide the fragrance he had stolen—
Disturbed the stillness of that awful hour!
So, after he had found that she was dead,
He lifted up his hands to God in Heaven,
And, praying, breathed his soul out over her,
24
Breaks through the sable curtains of the night,
Impatient for the day, there stole upon
Her bloodless cheeks the same soft, gentle hue,
That she had worn in childhood, like that Heaven
Puts on when Winter has been driven from earth,
And Spring, arrayed in all her bridal robes,
Weds Summer on the mountains. Then, as flowers,
That long have waited for the coming shower,
Lift up their drooping heads, revived again,
In tenfold purity—“she oped her eyes!”
And feeling now the newness of new life,
A vigorous pulse ran through her glowing heart,
“And, when she saw 'twas Peter, she sat up!”
New York, June 8, 1834.
The Disciple mentioned in Acts, 30: 34, who was raised to life in Joppa, was called Tabitha, which, being interpreted, signifies Dorcas, or the Gazelle, from the beauty of her eyes. This is still a comparison in the East; and the greatest compliment you can pay to a fine woman is to say, Aine el Czazel—you have the eyes of the Gazelle.
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