University of Virginia Library

O'er our thoughtless heads aloof
Hangs the Heaven's o'erarching roof;
Distinct therein our shadows pass,
As in a molten looking-glass.

And around in silence dread,
All unseen above our head,
Like an amphitheatre,
Stand the Angelic inmates there,
Watching how we do our part,
Hands and feet and wandering heart.
In the awful stillness then
Comes the Angel up from men,
With the incense from afar,
Brought from this our fallen star;
In the watches of the sky,
Before the dreadful Majesty.

Emerald gates and golden street,
Where the shining inmates fleet,
Meeting pass and passing meet,
Wandering by the jasper wall!
Yet in solemn stillness all
Watch around our little ball;
Ninety-nine those folds of day
Watch for one that's gone astray.

And more things than here we know
Are around us e'en below,
For the Heavenly tabernacle
Hath come down with man to dwell;—
Ways of varied Providence
Greater than the things of sense,
Like a world beneath the sea
In the realms of phantasy.
Fancy's key to my wild theme
Opes the door as to a dream.

Through the ivory gate of sleep,
Lo, I pass'd into that deep,
Where Truth strips the outward show,
Bathing things that are below
With her light, and opes the eyes
To unseen realities.
By the road which mortals trod,
Leading to their long abode,
Sat an Angel with a scroll,
And men's deeds did there enrol,
Like a bird upon a tree,
So unseen and silently.

There an evil spirit too
With his record came to view,
Like a reptile by the way,
Which unmark'd doth watch his prey.

Then were writ the deeds of men,
With a diamond-pointed pen,
On a plate of adamant,
For eternity to chant.

With me went a Child of air,
Like a little maiden fair,
The expanse of whose blue eye
Passion's billow ne'er had woke,
Nor the face of Heaven had broke,
Mirror'd there so tranquilly.

Starry gates we pass'd, and then
Came to scenes where mortal men
Of the cup of being quaff:—
Doors flew open to his staff,—
“Heard ye not that evil laugh?”
Said the Angel as we past,
“It is writ and it shall last,
Dipp'd in colours of the heart,
Nor from his own doom shall part.
Hark! that word of injur'd love
It is syllabled above,
And Angelic courts among,
It doth find a trumpet-tongue.
See the guests at yonder board!
Lightly sounds the passing word,
But the secrets of the breast
There are veil'd—yet manifest
They as shapes embodied stand,
In the sky's more stable strand.
There is one in silence there,
Unmark'd, unheeded; by his care,
And the words his heart express'd,
He shall be an Angel's guest:
Beams from the sun his head shall borrow,
And his feet tread stars to-morrow.
Look, how black Heaven's shadow falls
On the loveliest in those halls!

Now to other scenes away
Through the courts of night and day,
Hear'st thou now those melodies?
Stop thine ears full quick, for Hell
Doth to them in chorus swell,
Loves and battles are their theme.”
Then we pass'd as in a dream.

“Now to other scenes away,
Through the courts of night and day,
Now we breathe a lighter air,
We are near the haunts of prayer.”
Then I saw a little child
Singing hymns in morning mild:—
“Those pure notes,” said he, “to hear,
Heaven itself doth lend an ear.”
Then we pass'd, and Evening's gleam
Came upon my fancy's theme.
“Who is that in yonder cell?”
“Contemplation there doth dwell,
Like a hermit in his shed.”
“Who doth yonder lift his head,
Working by yon sunny hill,
Where the sunbeam lingers still?
One busy at his trade I ween.”
“'Tis Time, who digs thy grave unseen,
For he sees, that on thy race
Death doth follow thee apace,
And anon from place to place
Gains upon thee every hour,
Gathering something of thy power.
Close his spectral shape I see,
Ghastly grim anatomy.”
Then I cried, “What things most true
Thy stern mirror brings to view,
All around, though hid from sense,
Peopled with intelligence!
Nothing seems unreal here,
Save what worldlings hope and fear.
O'er a gulf I seem to pass,
On a bridge of brittle glass;
I would hide me from the crowd,
If it might but be allow'd,
To the hermit's cell to steal;
Or at altars ever kneel:
And with Contemplation dwell,
Heeding things of Heaven and Hell.”
“Nay,” said he, “where duty lies,
There is highest sacrifice;
Oft in lowliest tasks on earth,
Faith doth shew her genuine birth,
Giving them immortal worth;
And with incense fills the urn,
Which before the Throne doth burn.
All around His Temple is,
Here whate'er is done is His,
Therefore all things 'neath the skies
Are replete with auguries.
‘Holiness unto the Lord’
Marks the staff, the scrip, the board,
Harp, and spade, and book, and sword,—
All the Royal Priesthood use,—
Faith in all doth worth infuse.
'Tis God's temple all around,
Upon all His Name is found;
It is the great Sabbath Day,
Lit by the great Morning's ray:
In the things that meanest lie
Hideth best Humility;
And the varied minds of men,
And the varied virtues, when
They are lit by holy Love,
Lustrous are as gems above;
Each with its own colour dight,
All replete with living light;
Unto each its hue is given,
Varied as those stones of Heaven.
Love which, like an Angel's sight,
Sees all things divinely bright,
And each duty fills with rays,
Fairer than the chrysoprase.

“Lagging hours they seem to linger,
Yet thus each may have a finger,
Whereby it may point to Heaven;
While the lengthening shades of even
On life's dial fall, and now
Darker shadows round thee go,
Yet thy works may pass before,
Waiting thee,—a blessed store,—
In their number, weight, and measure,
Laid up in enduring treasure.”

Then there pass'd an Angel mild,
Like a flaxen-hairèd child,
Singing sweet in accents wild—
“Here, where darkness o'er thee lies,
Great the boon, in Wisdom's eyes,
In the steps of Saints to tread,
Like the stars above thy head!”
Then another answering cried,
“In this scene where man is tried,
Great the boon to mortal given,
To follow Christ the Lord of Heaven.
While His footsteps still dispense
Bright and hallow'd effluence;
Fair as the illumin'd moon
Lighting up the midnight noon.”

Then I heard another song,
“Though the way be dark and long,
Think of them that now on high
Have attain'd the victory.
In a moment it is past,
And the endless die is cast.”

Oh, how little mortals deem
What a deep absorbing theme
Are the feeble days they spend,
In the worlds that have no end!

Meanwhile Heaven above our head
Watches us in silence dread;
Solemn awe and stillness lies
On those vast societies.
While the Angels stand around,
Breathless in suspense profound,
Looking down on human life,
With its mirth and with its strife;
And the deeds of mortal men
Pass into that mirror's ken.
In that place where Time is not,
Things that are on earth forgot
Take their place, and ever dwell
Set in calm unspeakable,
And enshrined in silence stay
To abide the dreadful Day.
All is light, and stillness all,
Like an ice-bound waterfall,
Where the waves, all bright and hoar,
Seem to pass, and be no more,
But there fix'd in durance dwell,
Solid and unmoveable.

Ice-chain'd in its headlong tract
Have I seen a cataract,
Caught, as by a magic spell,
Like a downward falling well,
All throughout a wintry noon,
Hanging in the silent moon;
All throughout a sun-bright even,
Like the sapphire gate of Heaven.
Spray and wave, and drippings frore,
For a hundred feet and more,
As the river swift descended,
There in middle air suspended,
Deep ravines around it blended.
Icicles, and hanging flake,
From a bridge , and rock, and brake,
And the woodland's snowy tress,
In its pensive loveliness,
O'er them hung, in silent trance
Witnessing their headlong dance
Caught in air, there to remain
Bound in Winter's crystal chain;
Like a spell-bound falling main;
All above still Silence sleeps,
While in the transparent deeps,
Far below the current creeps.

Thus methought men's actions here,
In their headlong full career,
Were passing into adamant,
Hopes and fears, love, hate, and want,
And the thoughts like shining spray,
Which above their pathway play,
Standing in the eye of day,
In the changeless Heavenly noon,—
Things done here beneath the moon.

Thus above our heads aloof
Hangs the Heaven's o'erarching roof,
And upon the golden strand
Angels round in stillness stand,
And behold our actions pass
Into the transparent glass.