The Christian Scholar :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Christian Scholar

By the Author of "The Cathedral" [i.e. Isaac Williams]

Williams, Isaac (1802-1865)

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[dedication]

CLASSICAL COMPLAINTS AND SCRIPTURAL REMEDIES.

II.

III.

IV.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

XXIV.

XXV.

XXVI.

XXVII.

HEATHEN ORACLES CONFESSING CHRIST.

II.

III.

IV.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

XXIV.

XXV.

XXVI.

XXVII.

XXVIII.

XXIX.

XXX.

XXXI.

XXXII.

XXXIII.

XXXIV.

XXXV.

XXXV. COINCIDENCES.

GREEK PHILOSOPHY.

PLATO.

I. THE DEMON OF SOCRATES.

II.

II. SOCRATES ON JUDGMENT AFTER DEATH.

III.

III. SOCRATES REFUSING TO ESCAPE FROM PRISON.

IV.

IV. THE LAST WORDS OF SOCRATES.

V. EGYPT.

VI.

VI. MYTHOLOGY.

VII.

VII. THE GRECIAN JUPITER.

VIII.

VIII. PLATONISM.

IX.

IX. THE PLATONISTS.

X. THE STOICS.

XI.

XI. THE PYTHAGOREANS.

XII.

XIII.

XIII. THE CHANGE.

XIV.

XIV. POETS ADMITTED TO THE CITY OF GOD.

XV.

XV. PLATO'S MUSIC OF THE SOUL.

XVI.

XVI. PLATO EXPELLING POETS.

XVII.

XVII. ON A FUTURE STATE.

XVIII.

XVIII. ON CONSCIENCE.

II.

II. ATE EXPELLED FROM HEAVEN.

III.

III. ULYSSES AND CALYPSO.

IV.

IV. ULYSSES SHIPWRECKED AND NAUSICAA.

V. THE LOTOPHAGI.

IV.

IV. THE ABODE OF CIRCE.

VII.

VII. WARNING AGAINST THE SIRENS.

VIII.

VIII. SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS.

IX.

IX. THE RECOGNITION OF ULYSSES.

II.

III.

IV.

IV. THE PATH OF VIRTUE.

V. THE RIGHTEOUS KING.

ÆSCHYLUS.

I. THE PROMETHEUS.

II.

II. KNOWLEDGE OF GOD BY SUFFERING.

III.

III. SACRILEGE.

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ON THE FOREGOING.

IV.

IV. THE BESETTING SIN.

V. ATE.

VI.

VI. THE FURIES OVERTAKING ORESTES.

[section]

ORESTES AT THE SHRINE.

SONG OF THE FURIES.

VII.

VII. DIVINE POWER.

SIMONIDES.

II.

II. ELEGIAC FRAGMENT.

III.

III. ON THE LIFE OF MAN.

IV.

IV. MUTABILITY.

V. DANAE AND HER CHILD.

II.

II. THE BIRTH OF HERCULES.

[section]

THE CONTRAST.

III.

III. TRIAL AND REWARD.

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REFLECTION ON THE ABOVE.

IV.

IV. BEGINNING WELL.

V. THE FOUNDLING ON EARTH.

VI.

VI. ASPIRATIONS OF EARTH.

SOPHOCLES.

I. GRECIAN TRAGEDY.

II.

II. THE TRAGIC CHORUS AND THE MORAL LAW.

III.

III. SIGHT OF ATHENS.

EURIPIDES.

I. ALCESTIS RETURNING FROM THE GRAVE.

II.

II. THE GARLAND OF HIPPOLYTUS.

BION.

THE EVENING STAR.

MOSCHUS.

[“When the calm wind upon the dark-blue sea]

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THE CONTRAST.

CALLIMACHUS.

I. FROM THE HYMN TO APOLLO.

II.

II. VANITY OF HUMAN LIFE.

III.

III. EFFECTS OF SIN IRREMEDIABLE.

IV.

IV. BIRTH AND REARING OF MAN.

V. DREAD OF ANNIHILATION.

VI.

VI. OCULAR DECEPTIONS.

VII.

VII. TRUE PHILOSOPHY.

VIII.

VIII. ATHEISM CORRECTED.

CATULLUS.

I. THE PINNACE.

II.

II. HOME.

III.

III. THE FADED FLOWER.

IV.

IV. A BROTHER'S DEATH.

II.

III.

III. ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE.

IV.

VI.

I. LUCRETIUS AND HORACE COMPARED.

II.

II. THE WORLD RENOUNCED.

III.

III. ECCLESIA LABORANS.

IV.

IV. ECCLESIA MIGRATURA.

V. PROTECTING PROVIDENCE.

VI.

VI. THE SICILIAN FEAST.

VII.

I. THE METAMORPHOSIS.

II.

II. OVID'S EPISTLES.

III.

III. OVID'S TRISTIA, OR LAMENTATIONS.

JUVENAL.

I. GUILT THE SELF-AVENGER.

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THE SAME ILLUSTRATED BY REVELATION.

II.

II. RURAL IMAGES IN THE SATIRIST.

PERSIUS.

I. SUFFERINGS OF CONSCIENCE.

II.

II. THE FAITHFUL INSTRUCTOR.

LIVY.

I. THE ROMAN CHARACTER.

II.

II. NUMA POMPILIUS.

III.

III. THE FAITHLESS GUARDIAN.

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CLASSICAL COMPLAINTS AND SCRIPTURAL REMEDIES.

“THE LEAVES OF THE TREE WERE FOR THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS.”

“IN VALLEM ÆGERIÆ DESCENDIMUS, ET SPELUNCAS DISSIMILES VERIS”

I.

“κακους δε θνητων εξεφην', οταν τυχη,
προσθεις κατοπτρον, ωστε παρθενος νεα,
χρονος .”
Eurip. Hip. 429.

Time holds to me his silent glass,
Wherein myself I view,
As there from sin to sin I pass,
An image sad and true.

And since that now to manhood grown
I bear no goodly sign,
Hath God's displeasure o'er me gone,
I hasten to decline.

“Time, like a youthful maiden, holds his glass,
And shews forth evil men.”

“We all with open face beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image.” 2 Cor. iii. 18.

But in another glass I scan,
Hiding His heavenly rays,
The image of the Son of Man,
And kindle as I gaze.

In deepest sense of my desert
Thus daily let me die,
If so I may but touch the skirt
Of His great charity!

II.

“Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus
Tam cari capitis ?”
Hor. Od I. xxiv. 1.

If I forget thee for awhile
Then, like some mournful strain,
Thine image seems to chide my smile
And o'er me comes again.

O'er each still hour it comes from far,
With thoughts of childish years,
Reflected, like a heavenly star,
In the deep fount of tears.

“What measure can there be to our laments
For one so dear?”

“Concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” I Thess. iv. 13

That fount of tears it hidden lies
Within my Saviour's breast,
And I will leave thee in the skies
And that deep fount to rest.

O Thou, who know'st our secret frame,
And every inmost grief,
In Thee I leave that long-lov'd name,
And find in Thee relief.

III.

“Ουδε παις ευδαιμων εστιν: ουπω γαρ πρακτικος των τοιουτων: οι δε λεγομενοι, δια την ελπιδα μακαριζονται .” Arist. Eth. i. 9.

Still Virtue labours mid the sky
To set her citadel,
Where visitants may come from high,
And Contemplation dwell.

She climbs; hill rises after hill,
The sun seems to alight
Ever before, but distant still
It sinks, and leaves to night.

“Children cannot attain this perfection of virtue and happiness; we call them happy in hope.”

“Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven.” S. Mark x. 14.

The weary, weak, and leaning child,
Upon a parent's breast
Which lays, o'ercome with wanderings wild,
Its head, and is at rest:

Sole emblem such to young or old
Of all on earth we find,
Which angels may with joy behold,
Faith's meek reposing mind.

IV.

“Quæ caput e cœli regionibus ostendebat,
Horribili super aspectu mortalibus instans .”
Lucret. i. 65.

Religion clad in storms of yore
Unveil'd her awful mien,
And in dread lightnings oped the door
Of the eternal scene.

Sad shades and shapes were there reveal'd
In dismal vision clear,
While conscious Guilt the pencil held,
And dark-portending Fear.

“Religion shewed her head from realms above,
Threatening mankind with visage horrible.”

“Mercy and truth are met together . . . . and Righteousness hath looked down from Heaven.” Ps. lxxxv. 10, 11.

But Abram saw his children throng
Like stars in heaven at night,
Those stars they heard the angelic song,
And from their orbs of light

Came Bethlehem's star, which with us dwells;
Since then they nearer roam,
And seem to walk, like sentinels,
Around our earthly home.

V.

“Immortalia ne speres monet annus et almum
Quæ rapit hora diem .”
Hor., lib. iv. Od. vii. 7.

Yes, years, days, hours, that wave their wing
Through this our mortal span,
With changes on each outward thing,
And in the heart of man,

As with a thousand tongues they preach
No more, so frail and vain,
To build upon a sandy beach,
Where nothing can remain.

“Immortal things are out of reach,
Years, days, and hours this lesson teach.”

“My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” Ps. lxxiii. 25.

Yet why do these so fleet appear
And wake the heart's deep sigh,
But that within a spark we bear
Of immortality?

With multitudinous voice they cry
For some more sure abode,
To labour everlastingly,
That we may dwell with God.

VI.

“------Diffugiunt cadis
Cum fæce siccatis amici,
Ferre jugum pariter dolosi .”
Hor., lib. i Od. xxxv. 26.

The darkest cloud that marks below
Misfortune's alter'd scene,
Is in affection's changing brow,
And cold averted mien.

Then friends depart, and by and bye,
All one by one are gone,
Like swallows from a wintry sky,
And we are left alone.

“The cask is empty—friends are gone.”

“Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” Is. xlix. 15.

There is a Friend that draws more near
As other friends depart,
And enters with a warmer cheer
Into a broken heart.

When from a stricken deer they flee,
And leave alone to die,
He opes His bosom unto thee,
In endless bliss to lie.

VII.

“Viâ Lavicanâ ad Fanum Quietis .” Liv., b. iv. ch. 41.

Rest had no place amid that throng,
Where multitudinous rise
Rome's stately temples, which belong
To evil deities.

Her Temple is without the gate,
Beyond the Esquiline;
No Rest but is beyond the state
Wherein the dead recline.

“The Temple of Rest on the Via Lavicana beyond the Esquiline gate.” See Aug. Civ. Dei, iv. xvi.

“Come unto Me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden; and I will give you rest.” S. Matt. xi. 28.

Many the gold-paved streets Divine
By meek obedience trod,
But Rest is as the inmost shrine
In city of our God.

Within—within—yea, further still
By energy of woes,
By prayers, and alms, and bearing ill
We find in Christ repose.

VIII.

“Το δε προπηλακιζομενον ανεχεσθαι, ανδραποδωδες .” Arist. Eth. iv. 5.

Revenge inspires the poet's song,
And decks the warrior's brow,
When Nature's self doth plead the wrong,
And Justice deals the blow.

Retaliation is the plea
Which human judgment arms,
E'en own'd by stern philosophy,
And clothed with awful charms.

“To be reviled and to submit to it is slavish.”

“Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again.” 1 Pet. ii. 23.

There is a fairer righteousness
That cometh from above,
Which the reviler turns to bless,
And overcomes with love.

The soul with self-reproach oppress'd
Seizes that chain from Heaven,
And climbs unto her place of rest,
Forgiving as forgiven.

IX.

“Τον φιλεοντα φιλειν, και τω προσιοντι προσειναι
Και δομεν ος κεν δω, και μη δομεν ος κεν μη δω .”
Hesiod. Works and Days. b. i. 1. 350.

Self is the centre whence around
Such love and bounty flows,—
Self whose horizon there doth bound
This universe of woes.

But all that's built on self alone
With man's own self must fail,
All that to human sense is known,
And fills our vision frail.

“Love him that loves thee, give to one that gives,
Give not to him that gives not.”

“But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again.” S. Luke vi. 35.

God is the centre, on which move
More stable charities,
Founded on that eternal love
Whose orbit is the skies.

Till man's own self is lost within
The everlasting light,
Which swallows up both self and sin
In goodness infinite.

X.

“Ridet argento domus . . . .
Cuncta festinat manus, huc et illuc
Cursitant .”
Hor., lib. iv. Od. xi. 6. 9.

When men unto some honour'd guest
Would open wide their gate,
They bring around and manifest
Their riches, power, and state.

That such their welcome may discern
As in a mirror bright,
See all things fair at every turn,
And costly to their sight.

Hastes, here and there attendants run.”

“To-day I must abide at thy house.” . . . . “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.” S. Luke xix. 5, 8.

Who wish the Lord of earth and skies
Should enter at their door,
Must throw away what most they prize,
And empty all their store.

He loveth most our want to see
Expressive of good will,
That He may so our poverty
With His own fulness fill.

XI.

“Τον φιλεοντ' επι δαιτα καλειν . . .
Τον δε μαλιστα καλειν οστις σεθεν εγγυθι ναιει .”
Hesiod, Works and Days, b. i. 1. 339.

Such is the wisdom of the wise
Their fellow-men above,
Which brings around home-charities,
Delighting in their love.

But self is thus reflected seen,
Of earth in its reward,
Though purest of the joys of sight,
And best it can afford.

But most of all a neighbour dwelling near.”

“When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours.” S. Luke xiv. 12.

Blest spirit, which with love imbued
And fearing recompense,
Turns to the Giver of all good
From things of sight and sense!

How great is thy reward in store
To whom e'en now 'tis given
Christ to receive in His own poor,
And make thy house a heaven!

XII.

“Ελευθεριου δε εστι σφοδρα και το υπερβαλλειν εν τη δοσει .” Arist. Eth. iv. 1,

To give away and nothing leave
Is like the sun to shine;
For it is human to receive,
But to bestow divine:—

Thus reason'd well the sage; but then
Howe'er can bounty live,
And grow in living progress, when
It nothing hath to give?

“The liberal man is apt to exceed greatly in giving so as to leave but little for himself. For not to look to himself is part of his character.”

“I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all.” S. Luke xxi. 3.

Come, bring the scales wherein are weighed
The actions of the just,
When all things shall be open laid,
And riches turn to dust.

The poor the kingdom have;—their store
By giving larger grows,
Possessing less they have still more,
The poorest most bestows.

XIII.

“Compositum jus, fasque animo, sanctosque recessus
Mentis, et incoctum generoso pectus honesto:
Hæc cedo, ut admoveam templis, et farre litabo .”
Pers. ii. 73.

Thus Reason argued not amiss—
That, in the all-seeing eyes,
The heart itself the altar is
The gift which sanctifies.

Cleanness of hands and the pure heart
Is the best sacrifice,
No treasur'd work of labour'd art
Is of such cherish'd price.

My sacrifice.”

See Ecclus. xxxv. 2.

“Neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing.” 2 Sam. xxiv.

But costly was the offering raised
By saintly Magdalene;
And on the gift the Judge hath praised
The eternal seal is seen.

Love stored her precious gift;—and such
The princely-hearted king;
Who loveth much he giveth much,
And hastes the best to bring.

XIV.

“Haud facile emergunt quorum virtutibus obstat
Res angusta domi .”
Juv. iii. 165.

The Satirist in Rome's decline
Made this our world the stage
Of Virtue, there to walk and shine
In glitt'ring pilgrimage.

The world for all of mortal birth
Doth still this judgment hold,
And puts aside as nothing worth
What is not set in gold.

Slow rises worth by poverty depress'd.”

“Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” S. Luke vi. 20.

But He who for a holier place
Would cleanse our path from sin,
For habitation of His grace
A kingdom builds within.

His city's gates He hath rehears'd,
The first is poverty,
The Satirist's words hath He revers'd,
And changed the world's decree.

XV.

“Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se
Quam quod ridiculos homines facit .”
Juv. iii. 152

The bitterest cup in all life's ills
Is poverty and want;—
The bitterest drop that cup that fills
Is the world's jeer and taunt.

The barb most wrankling in the breast
Is scorn and ridicule,
Although to be of one the jest,
Whom God hath deem'd a fool .

Greatest is ridicule.”

Luke xii. 20.

“The Pharisees, who were covetous, heard these things, and they derided Him.” S. Luke xvi. 14.

Such ills on earth the Son of God
Did round Him closely bind;
And they by whom His way is trod
Therein no sting shall find.

On such from Heaven He looketh down;
Such near His Throne shall be;
Lord, of beatitudes the crown
Is to be like to Thee.

XVI.

“Libido pereundi et perdendi .” Liv. Præf.

“Men cannot their own vices bear,
Nor bear their remedies:”
Alas, that we such things should hear
Beneath the pitying skies!

To breathe of Heaven the genial breath,
To walk in Christian light,
And yet to be in love with death,—
O wondrous, awful sight!

“The lust of dying and destroying.”

“Ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him; but, if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us.” S. Mark ix. 22.

With man—'tis madness, sense-bereft,
Destroying and destroy'd;
With God—the soul which He hath left,
Where Satan fills the void.

Deeper to die man seems to strive,
With his own self at strife;
Lord, teach us in Thy love to live,
And love in Thee our life.

XVII.

“μη φυναι τον απαντα νι-
κα λογον: το δ', επει φανη,
βηναι κειθεν οθεν περ ηκει
πολυ δευτερον ως ταχιστ .”
Soph. Œd. Col. 1225.

Oh yes, if what this world can give
Were all our destiny,
Indeed 'twere better not to live,
Or being born to die.

And I too from the eternal sleep
Woke to this world of strife,
Could like a Thracian mother weep
O'er this poor gift of life.

As soon as born to die.”

“She remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.” S. John xvi 21.

But on thy face, my little one,
There is a drop of dew,
Which from the everlasting Sun
Hath caught a living hue.

With that may blend a mother's tear
Till both in hope may shine,
To wake in Heaven, and find thee there
To share the life Divine.

XVIII.

“Optima quæque dies miseris mortalibus ævi
Prima fugit; subeunt morbi tristisque senectus .”
Virg. Geor. iii. 66.

The glory of our days is past,
A light which was on things;—
The thousand brilliant hues she cast
As Childhood waved her wings.

The light without—within is o'er—
The bloom—the undefiled—
To be—oh, never, never more,
The happy—happy child!

Disease ensues and sad old age behind.”

“His flesh shall be fresher than a child's; he shall return to the days of his youth.” Job xxxiii. 25.

There is a happier childhood still,
A childhood which is love,
A nobler vision to fulfil,
Whose manhood is above.

Its golden hues may earth invest,
On faith and hope they feed,
And learn upon a Parent's breast
To lay the feebler head.

XIX.

“Hæc satis est orare Jovem quæ donat et aufert;
Det vitam, det opes; æquam mi animam ipse parabo .”
Hor. Ep. i. 18.

Alas, what, God give days to live
And soul-debasing wealth;
But hath the best no power to give—
The immortal spirit's health!

Then thou thyself art more than God,
Wrapt in thy Stoic's fur,
And independent of His rod
Thine Heaven within prefer!

Content of mind myself will gain.”

“When I perceived that I could not obtain her, except God gave her me; and that was a point of wisdom to know whose gift she was; I prayed unto the Lord, Give me wisdom.” Wisd. viii. ix.

Oh, no—our best life is to know
In Him we live and move;
We lose ourselves in Him below,
Our very life is love.

To know our weakness is our strength,
Our wealth our want to feel,
Our peace of soul that He at length
This inward want reveal.

XX.

“Αι, αι, ται μαλαχαι μεν επαν κατα καπον ολωνται.”
Mosch. Epit. in Bion. v. 106.

“Ah, mallows in the garden die,
Parsley, and blooming dill,
Yet waken'd by the vernal sky
Again their course fulfil.

While we, the wise, the strong, the brave,
Have no fresh spring in store;
But silent in the hollow grave
Sleep on for evermore.”

“Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs.” Is. xxvi. 19.

O mole-eyed slow philosopher,
Is this thy wisdom's reach,
To read thus wrong each character
Which Nature's self doth teach!

When resurrection is the tale
Writ on the sky and earth,
Creation's lord alone to fail,
And have no second birth!

XXI.

“Οιη περ φυλλων γενεη, τοιηδε και ανδρων.”
Hom. Il. vi. 146.

“Men fade like leaves” that drop away
Beneath the parent shade,
Others again succeed, but they
Are in oblivion laid.

So spake the sire of Grecian song;—
Through each succeeding age
The words are caught and borne along
By poet, saint, and sage.

“Behold the fig-tree and all the trees, when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your ownselves that summer is now nigh at hand.” S. Luke xxi. 29.

The parable of Autumn's tale
Before us open lies,
We feel, alas, how fast we fail;—
Yet dim our hope to rise—

And it required a Saviour's voice
To read aright the spring;—
That faith with nature might rejoice
When brush'd by Winter's wing.

XXII.

“------Usque ego posterâ
Crescam laude recens.”
Hor, lib iii. Od. xxx.

[_]

Epigram on the grave of Sophocles.

“Gently above the silent grave
Where Sophocles doth sleep,
Soft Ivy, let thy green leaves wave,
Around it gently creep.

There let the blooming Rose arise,
And branching Vine find place,
For honey-sweet, fair-worded, wise,
He blends both Muse and Grace.”

“All the glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever.” 1 Pet. i. 24.

A churchyard was all wrapt in gloom
Except one early ray,
Which lit a Cross upon a tomb,
And far Its shadow lay.

I noted long—my heart it fill'd,
Not unmix'd with a tear,
A solemn awe my bosom still'd,—
It was a grave most dear.

XXIII.

“Αθλα δε των κοτινος, μηλα, σελινα, πιτυς .”
Archias. Gr. Epig.

When Greece was all-contending seen
For an Olympic prize,
A little branch of wintry green
Exalted to the skies.

The human breast thus well divin'd
When all mankind shall strive,
That naught can fill the immortal mind
Of all the world can give.

“Their crowns the olive-branch, the apple, parsley, pine.”

“They do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.” 1 Cor. ix. 25.

But even while it fades and dies,
That long-enduring leaf
Speaks of an amaranthyne prize
Untouch'd by winter's grief.

And of that blessed company
With victory crown'd, that stands
Beside the glass-illumin'd sea
With palm-branch in their hands.

XXIV.

“Nam veluti Pueri trepidant atque omnia cæcis
In tenebris metuunt, sic nos in luce timemus.”
Lucret. iii. 87.

“As children fear the dark, and feign
All dreadful things therein;
Through life thus empty terrors vain
Still haunt the man within.

Yet not the sun's bright arrows keen
Can chase those fears away,
But in the soul the clear Serene
Of intellectual Day.”

“When I was a child . . . I thought as a child: but when I became a man I put away childish things.” 1 Cor. xiii. 11.

We must in wisdom be as men,
As children now no more,
Nor fear the ills of life again
As heathen men of yore.

How dread—by these mysterious fears
Let Heaven-taught childhood tell,
To be shut out from Him who bears
The keys of Death and Hell!

XXV.

“Nequaquam nobis divinitus esse creatam
Naturam mundi, quæ tantâ est prædita culpâ .”
Lucret ii. 180.

But who of ought can judge aright
Unless ye see the whole;—
Or circumscribe the Infinite
Within the human soul?

Or if in all this worldly show
Such imperfection reigns,
Who gave to man a soul to know
The faults which he disdains?

Divinely made.”

“He hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find put the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” Eccles. iii. 11.

God look'd on all that He had made
And, lo, 'twas very good,
But all is now by sin decay'd,
Of guilt and death the food.

Yet in man live in this his fall
Wrecks of immortal mind,
Which in this varied beauteous ball
Can naught responsive find.

XXVI.

“Βουλοιμην κ' επαρουρος εων θητευεμεν αλλω,
Η πασιν νεκυεσσι καταφθιμενοισιν ανασσειν .”
Hom. Od. xi. 488, 490.

So doth man's sinful nature deem
With ill-foreboding gloom,
And strays as in a fearful dream
In realms beyond the tomb.

For want, disgrace, and servitude
Seem nothing in that hour,
When Death's huge pinions o'er us brood,
We feel his chilling power.

Of some poor hind than king of all the dead.”

“Then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.” Job xxxiii. 24.

Like Ocean rocking pole to pole
Eternity draws nigh,
The firm-set anchor of the soul
Quivers all tremblingly.

How blest as then we turn from earth
To touch the absolving key,
Far better than the day of birth
That light beyond the sea.

XXVII.

“Τον δε μετ', εισενοησα βιην Ηρακληειην,
Ειδωλον: αυτος δε μετ' αθανατοισι θεοισι . . .”
Hom. Od xi. 600

Thus even to good Homer then
A better hope was given,
A brighter vision broke again
Of Hercules in Heaven.

But yet that hope was wan and weak,
As moon-beams in the storm;
While from Heaven's face the shadows break
Which clouds again deform.

He was himself among the gods in Heaven.”

“Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better.” Phil. i. 23.

When Death our sins hath open laid,
And Light makes manifest,
Then, Rock of Ages, in Thy shade
Thy chosen ones find rest.

Until Thy Presence for our shame
The robe of light hath wove;
And Thy redeem'd releas'd from blame
Shall mirror all Thy love.