 | Miscellaneous poems and translations |  |
170
IRREGULAR ODE
And it came to pass when the People heard the Sound of the Trumpet, and the People shouted
with a great Shout; that the Wall fell down flat.
On Joshua VI. 20.
I.
Jordan! what ail'd thy trembling Brook?Big with Omnipotence no Rod
Wav'd by the unseen Arm of God
Thy wond'ring Channel strook.
Was Moses risen in the Son of Nun,
Efficient in the Ark his mystic Wand,
171
And own no less than an Almighty's Hand?
No—one than Moses greater far,
Ev'n Moses's I AM,
Henceforth of saving to be nam'd, conducts the War,
And faithful to his Name,
Bids Vict'ry lead the Way,
While Joshua's mighty Power the Winds and Seas obey.
Blest Flock! whose Shepherd the great King
Folds you beneath the Shadow of his Wing,
And while the hov'ring Presence wards your Harms,
One constant Miracle still consecrates your Arms.
II.
Whom then does Jericho derideFond of her Ramparts, and entrench'd in Pride?
172
When fierce Jehovah's all-commanding Breath
Glows in the Trump's destructive Voice,
And lends to tuneful Sounds the Blast of Death.
Rous'd with a just Disdain,
And grasping in his Hand ten thousand Fates
He hurl'd his redden'd Vengeance o'er the Plain,
And curs'd in Anger the devoted Gates.
Now on the seventh Day's Morn,
Hark! how the fated Music of each feeble Horn
Like baleful Lightning thro' the frighted Bulwark flies,
The Wall at that triumphant Noise
Starts into Ruins—God was in the Voice.
173
III.
Hail Music! Sister of the Soul!Pervading Cement of this beauteous Whole!
Pow'rful Effluence of the Mind Divine!
Shall I not say Omnipotence is thine?
Thee do the Heav'ns declare,
While pois'd in Chords and measur'd Sound
In his own Orbit ev'ry Sphere
Dances a glad Seraphic Round.
Thy sympathetic Balm
Saul's frantic Dæmon could serenely calm,
Charm Stones into a Wall,
And the same Art that builds, can make the Structure fall.
174
IV.
Ah! dreadful glorious Voice!Lo! a blue Tempest of consuming Fire
Out from his flaming Nostrils flies,
And everlasting Mountains melt before his Ire.
See! Ocean starts, and shrinks beneath his Caves,
An awful Fear confounds the shuddering Waves.
Shield me, some Angel, from his kindling Wrath,
Thro' my stunn'd Limbs celestial Warmth dispense,
Soft Numbers round me breath,
And to its former Seat reduce my scatter'd Sense.
V.
'Tis thus th'Almighty speaks,'Tis thus his Voice in Terror breaks,
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Exprest in Smoke, and Peals of Thunder saw,
Did not his agonizing Sides in throws of Travail shake,
And at the stormy Presence quake?
Did not the harder Hearts of an unbending Crew
Soften, and tremble, and refuse the View?
Tho' Legislative Accents loud proclaim'd
The Tumult peaceful, and no Vengeance aim'd.
So with a tenfold Pomp of Terror rob'd
God shall unhinge the tuneful Joints of All,
The crumbling Mass of Earth unglob'd
Crush'd by th'Almighty Voice like Jericho shall fall.
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