University of Virginia Library

THE SABBATH.

O sweet, and calm, and solemn day of rest!
The deafening din, and reckless hum of man,
And all the tumult of mercantile life,
And cheering mirth of worldly pleasure, cease.
Thy legates, Lord! develope, in the dome
To holy adoration consecrate,
The mediatorial mission of the skies,
And point the sentient powers unto the throne
Of Immortality, and the mansions
By the hand of Calvary's sacred King
Prepared on high for praising saints below.
The sapphire sky, o'er which a topaz veil
Is flung by gentle morn, and fleecy clouds
Float in transparent silvery whiteness,
Smiles on the lifted eye of devotion
Viewing, through the azure fields, angels bright
Gazing, as they tune their strung golden lyres
To heavenly adoration, on the saint
Kneeling before the shrine all unadorned,
And wafting on the wings of spirits pure
The incense of faith, and love, and gratitude.
Unlike the day, when Sinai heard the tread
Of the Almighty Being, at whose word
Emulgent chaos felt the massive wheels
Of revolution roll, and order, time,
Existence, nature, sprung from the abyss
Of anarchy—and lovely hope, not bred
In famed Pandora's fabled box of yore,
Arrayed the scene, and love flew laughing round.
O how unlike the day—loud thunders dread
Sublimely heralded the grand descent
Of heaven's high King, and lightenings paved his track,
And the earthquake was the voice with which he spake.
Appalling terror shook the bosom then,
And thronging millions, prostrate, then beheld
The awful God, they dared not look upon.