 | The Literary Works of James Smetham |  |
PARAPHRASE—JOB XXXVIII.
When down beneath the lowest deep,
Earth's central mass all formless lay
In swaddling bands of ancient sleep,
Gigantic whispers far away
Of coming order fanned the brow
Of Chaos, while the corner-stone
Was meted out by hands unknown
And mystic plummets, where wast thou?
Earth's central mass all formless lay
In swaddling bands of ancient sleep,
Gigantic whispers far away
Of coming order fanned the brow
Of Chaos, while the corner-stone
Was meted out by hands unknown
And mystic plummets, where wast thou?
When with a vague and golden stream,
The wondering light gazed softly down;
When pealed a fresh and awful hymn,
And heavenly trumpets loudly blown
Rang out from many a shining row
Of seraphs wheeling round the sphere
Before the forming of the year—
Before the sunrise, where wast thou?
The wondering light gazed softly down;
When pealed a fresh and awful hymn,
And heavenly trumpets loudly blown
Rang out from many a shining row
Of seraphs wheeling round the sphere
Before the forming of the year—
Before the sunrise, where wast thou?
Before the ever-murmuring Sea
Rolled in its first inquietude,
While all its gaping chasms were free
From gurgling wave and boiling flood,
Shut up behind its dusky bars,
Unconscious of its human prey,
Unstained with blood the monster lay,
Nor trembled to the trembling stars,
Rolled in its first inquietude,
While all its gaping chasms were free
From gurgling wave and boiling flood,
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Unconscious of its human prey,
Unstained with blood the monster lay,
Nor trembled to the trembling stars,
Where thou? Did ever thy commands
Give vast effulgence to the morn
When to the expectant shepherd bands
It rose o'er pastured hills forlorn—
O'er eastern heights of pearly snow,
O'er budding copse and breathing mead,
Did heavenly daysprings ever heed,
Or upward at thy bidding go?
Give vast effulgence to the morn
When to the expectant shepherd bands
It rose o'er pastured hills forlorn—
O'er eastern heights of pearly snow,
O'er budding copse and breathing mead,
Did heavenly daysprings ever heed,
Or upward at thy bidding go?
Or have thy prying eyeballs seen
The folded shadows hovering round
Those mournful doors where all within
Rest in one wide oblivion bound;
Where towering ghosts with stony gaze
Enwrapped in vital silence stand
To take thee by thy freezing hand
And lead thee down their darkening ways?
The folded shadows hovering round
Those mournful doors where all within
Rest in one wide oblivion bound;
Where towering ghosts with stony gaze
Enwrapped in vital silence stand
To take thee by thy freezing hand
And lead thee down their darkening ways?
When Winter's wealth of sparkling flakes
Engendered in the womb of heaven,
Down from its lofty treasury breaks,
When dews fall soft, when thunder-riven
Wild clouds were shattered in the sky,
And east winds chase their vagrant bands—
Was it that with thy haughty hands
Thou didst lift up thy voice on high?
Engendered in the womb of heaven,
Down from its lofty treasury breaks,
When dews fall soft, when thunder-riven
Wild clouds were shattered in the sky,
And east winds chase their vagrant bands—
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Thou didst lift up thy voice on high?
When was it that thine ordinance
Wheeled up Orion from the deep,
Or stayed the light entangled dance
Of Pleiades, who ever keep
Their dreamy watchfires quivering o'er
The dim abysses of the sky,
While great Arcturus wanders by,
And slumber broods from shore to shore?
Wheeled up Orion from the deep,
Or stayed the light entangled dance
Of Pleiades, who ever keep
Their dreamy watchfires quivering o'er
The dim abysses of the sky,
While great Arcturus wanders by,
And slumber broods from shore to shore?
When Summer splits the gasping fields,
And river shallows noiseless run,
And every herb thy pasture yields
Lies sick beneath the blinding sun,
Speak thou and stay the sobbing cloud
In the swollen South that mourns the dearth,
And send it from the panting earth
To plunge beneath its ocean shroud!
And river shallows noiseless run,
And every herb thy pasture yields
Lies sick beneath the blinding sun,
Speak thou and stay the sobbing cloud
In the swollen South that mourns the dearth,
And send it from the panting earth
To plunge beneath its ocean shroud!
Go, curb yon banded unicorn,
Soothe those wild asses of the hill;
Go, see the ostrich laugh to scorn
The javelin'd horseman and his skill;
Go, hold the thundering charger's rein,
And bid him stand when captain's shout,
And shuddering clarions round about
With echoes fill the reeling plain!
Soothe those wild asses of the hill;
Go, see the ostrich laugh to scorn
The javelin'd horseman and his skill;
Go, hold the thundering charger's rein,
And bid him stand when captain's shout,
And shuddering clarions round about
With echoes fill the reeling plain!
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Bid the strong eagle fan the storm,
And hawks cleave southward with the wind;
Entrap the vast behemoth's form,
Or with thy snares his sinews bind;
Pierce thou that strong leviathan
With spears, his fiery snortings face,
Or, fierce, his gleaming terrors chase,
And prove the perfect strength of man!
And hawks cleave southward with the wind;
Entrap the vast behemoth's form,
Or with thy snares his sinews bind;
Pierce thou that strong leviathan
With spears, his fiery snortings face,
Or, fierce, his gleaming terrors chase,
And prove the perfect strength of man!
Oh, wilt thou with thy Lord contend,
Poor fluttering moth which yesterday
Could scarce the filmy barriers rend
Of that dark chamber where it lay?
Nay, rather hide thee in the dust
Beneath the eternal might of God,
Who wields the sceptre, shakes the rod,
And own that all His ways are just.
Poor fluttering moth which yesterday
Could scarce the filmy barriers rend
Of that dark chamber where it lay?
Nay, rather hide thee in the dust
Beneath the eternal might of God,
Who wields the sceptre, shakes the rod,
And own that all His ways are just.
| The Literary Works of James Smetham | |