 | Poems of the day and year |  |
130
THE COMING DAY
On Sinai's steep I saw the morning cloud,
Shattered with light, roll off on either hand,
And on the topmost peak an Angel stand,
That lifted up his arms, and cried aloud,
And shook the sea and land.
Shattered with light, roll off on either hand,
And on the topmost peak an Angel stand,
That lifted up his arms, and cried aloud,
And shook the sea and land.
The Night is ended, and the Morning nears:
Awake, look up! I hear the gathering sound
Of coming cycles, like an ocean round;
I see the glory of a thousand years
Lightening from bound to bound.
Awake, look up! I hear the gathering sound
Of coming cycles, like an ocean round;
I see the glory of a thousand years
Lightening from bound to bound.
Woe, woe! the earth is faint; its heart is old,
And none look upward. Where is one who saith,
‘Forgive my sins by reason of my faith?’
Where is one truthful bard, one prophet bold,
One heart that listeneth?
And none look upward. Where is one who saith,
131
Where is one truthful bard, one prophet bold,
One heart that listeneth?
One holy soul that prayeth night and morn,
One kindly hermit, or one lowly sage,
One adamantine warrior, who can wage
A steadfast war, without the arms of scorn,
Against a scornful Age?
One kindly hermit, or one lowly sage,
One adamantine warrior, who can wage
A steadfast war, without the arms of scorn,
Against a scornful Age?
Where is the promise of the world's great youth,
The sunrise of the soul, when God's own eye
Scattered the darkness of futurity,
And kings bowed down, and caught the light of truth
Directly from on High?
The sunrise of the soul, when God's own eye
Scattered the darkness of futurity,
And kings bowed down, and caught the light of truth
Directly from on High?
The hour is come again; the world-wide voice
Of God shall cry unto the ears of time:
Scorners shall seek, and saints shall welcome Him,
And know the ancient Presence, and rejoice,
As in the days of prime.
Of God shall cry unto the ears of time:
Scorners shall seek, and saints shall welcome Him,
132
As in the days of prime.
And they that dwell apart shall know each other;
And they that hymn their solemn songs alone
Shall hear far voices mingling with their own,
And understand the utterance of a brother
In every tongue and tone.
And they that hymn their solemn songs alone
Shall hear far voices mingling with their own,
And understand the utterance of a brother
In every tongue and tone.
And countless tongues upon a note of praise
Shall hang, until, like thunder in the hills
Redoubled and redoubled, it fulfils
The earth, and heaven, and everlasting days,
And drowns the noise of ills.
Shall hang, until, like thunder in the hills
Redoubled and redoubled, it fulfils
The earth, and heaven, and everlasting days,
And drowns the noise of ills.
133
That note shall soar from every living heart;
That endless note shall never die away:
God, only God, to-day as yesterday!
Thou wert from everlasting, and thou art
For ever and for aye!
That endless note shall never die away:
God, only God, to-day as yesterday!
Thou wert from everlasting, and thou art
For ever and for aye!
| Poems of the day and year | |