The Christian year thoughts in verse for the Sundays and holidays throughout the year ... hundredth edition [by John Keble] |
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Eighth Sunday after Trinity.
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 | The Christian year |  |
171
Eighth Sunday after Trinity.
It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of
the Lord. 1 Kings xiii. 26.
Prophet of God, arise and take
With thee the words of wrath divine,
The scourge of Heaven to shake
O'er yon apostate shrine.
With thee the words of wrath divine,
The scourge of Heaven to shake
O'er yon apostate shrine.
Where Angels down the lucid stair
Came hovering to our sainted sires,
Now, in the twilight, glare
The heathen's wizard fires.
Came hovering to our sainted sires,
Now, in the twilight, glare
The heathen's wizard fires.
Go, with thy voice the altar rend,
Scatter the ashes, be the arm,
That idols would befriend,
Shrunk at thy withering charm.
Scatter the ashes, be the arm,
That idols would befriend,
Shrunk at thy withering charm.
Then turn thee, for thy time is short,
But trace not o'er the former way,
Lest idol pleasures court
Thy heedless soul astray.
But trace not o'er the former way,
Lest idol pleasures court
Thy heedless soul astray.
172
Thou know'st how hard to hurry by,
Where on the lonely woodland road
Beneath the moonlight sky
The festal warblings flow'd;
Where on the lonely woodland road
Beneath the moonlight sky
The festal warblings flow'd;
Where maidens to the Queen of Heaven
Wove the gay dance round oak or palm,
Or breath'd their vows at even
In hymns as soft as balm.
Wove the gay dance round oak or palm,
Or breath'd their vows at even
In hymns as soft as balm.
Or thee, perchance, a darker spell
Enthralls: the smooth stones of the flood ,
By mountain grot or fell,
Pollute with infant's blood;
Enthralls: the smooth stones of the flood ,
By mountain grot or fell,
Pollute with infant's blood;
The giant altar on the rock,
The cavern whence the timbrel's call
Affrights the wandering flock:—
Thou long'st to search them all.
The cavern whence the timbrel's call
Affrights the wandering flock:—
Thou long'st to search them all.
Trust not the dangerous path again—
O forward step and lingering will!
O lov'd and warn'd in vain!
And wilt thou perish still?
O forward step and lingering will!
O lov'd and warn'd in vain!
And wilt thou perish still?
Thy message given, thine home in sight,
To the forbidden feast return?
Yield to the false delight
Thy better soul could spurn?
To the forbidden feast return?
Yield to the false delight
Thy better soul could spurn?
173
Alas, my brother! round thy tomb
In sorrow kneeling, and in fear,
We read the Pastor's doom
Who speaks and will not hear.
In sorrow kneeling, and in fear,
We read the Pastor's doom
Who speaks and will not hear.
The grey-hair'd saint may fail at last,
The surest guide a wanderer prove;
Death only binds us fast
To the bright shore of love.
The surest guide a wanderer prove;
Death only binds us fast
To the bright shore of love.
| The Christian year | |