VII.
MEN DEIFIED.
“Sive mutatâ juvenem figurâ
Ales in terris imitaris, almæ
Filius Maiæ.”
Lib. i. Od. ii. 41.
“Deus nobis hæc otia fecit,
Namque erit ille mihi semper Deus; illius aram
Sæpe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus.”
Virgil's Ecl i.
“They lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of
Lycaonia, The Gods are come down to us in the likeness
of men.”
Acts xiv. 11.
When God in Canaan spake with men,
By tree or mount or glen,
Then erst in Homer's early song
Gods walk'd mankind among;
And worship mix'd with Gods on high
The heroes as they die.
But what time on this world of woes
The Sun of glory rose,
Then kings on earth in their own pride
Themselves were deified;
And the prerogatives of Heaven
To earth and ashes given.
As if in souls with flesh inwreath'd
A sense was stilly breath'd
Of God Himself invisible
Come down in flesh to dwell;
Or evil spirits at the time
O'er-heard th' angelic chime
Of truth emerging,—at the birth
Of God Himself on earth.
Thence in men's souls the unconscious news
With poison they infuse,
And blend with their idolatries
The secrets of the skies.
