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Elias: An Epic of the Ages

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CANTO NINE
Upon The Shoulders of The Philistine[1]

 
The Eaglet's nest is empty[2]—void the lair
Of the young Lion. Where, O Ephraim, where?
 
 
Where billows break along a storied strand[3],
Heroic wave, a fair and favored land.
Realm of a rising glory—this thy name!
The cradle of the Kingdom—this thy fame!
 
 
There rose the morn—though flecked with fire and blood—
The morn benign of human brotherhood,
Foredestined to a passing cloud's eclipse. 2730
 
 
Self-trammeled cause, harried by hounds and whips
Of persecution, whose infuriate maw,
Usurping oft the form and force of law,—
To lawless hands a far too ready rod,—
Had fain engulfed the growing work of God.
 
 
Widowed, bereft, a land left desolate,
A wounded bird that mourns a driven mate,
The plumage from its bleeding body torn,
And scattered wide o'er realms remote, forlorn.
 
 
On, Ephraim, on! thy pilgrim flight renew. 2740
Land of the Sun—Shinea's land[4]—adieu!
 
 
Yet stay! Ere storm could burst, was visioned there,
Within the portal of the House of Prayer,
A promise, a fulfillment, long foretold:
Elias and Messias there behold!
With angel keepers of the ancient keys
Of gathering and of sealing mysteries.
Haloed with fire, while burns the heavenly glow,
Upon the Prophet they their powers bestow[5].
 
 
Speed then swift messengers his face before, 2750
To blaze his sacred name on every shore;
Chosen and missioned from the sending skies,
The slumbering nations to evangelize.
Resounds 'gainst error's shield truth's ringing lance,
Unlettered light 'gainst learned ignorance;
Priestcraft dethroned, by Priesthood downward hurled,
While ancient thunder shakes the modern world.
 
 
Already, to redeem red Laman's bands[6],
Have virile footprints prest those virgin lands,
Where westering empire, in creative might, 2760
Rolls a new world upon the wondering sight;
Where flower-starred prairies, in the far extent,
Kiss with soft lips the bending firmament,
And sea-like rivers, solitary, lone,
Pour their proud waters toward the burning zone.
 
 
Land of all lands the rarest[7], where shall rise,—
Mirrored magnificence of earth and skies,
Each gate a pearl, each pinnacle a gem,—
The jasper walls of New Jerusalem;
The golden glory of the hemispheres, 2770
Jehovah's throne through all the Thousand Years.
The land where Adam fell, where Enoch rose,
Where time began and history shall close.
 
 
Thereto and thence, by brand and fagot driven,
His fault to man, his fealty to heaven,
With here and there, perchance, an idle word
Vainglorious zeal or vengeful might afford,
Flies Ephraim, scorched and scourged, from Japheth's
      wrath[8],
Pushed on and on o'er steep and thorny path, 2780
Whipt, plundered, wounded, bleeding, to the goal,
Where joy in fullness crowns the conquering soul.
 
 
Then hath not war, that bringeth woe and pain,
The right betimes, like gentle peace, to reign?
What strife, what tempest, wreaks its wrath in vain?
Prosperity and persecution blend,
As sun and storm, faith's branch with fruit to bend.
Twain are the shoulders[9] of the Philistine,
That Israel onward bear, as breeze and brine
The tempest-driven bark that safe o'er sea 2790
Carried calm Caesar[10] and his destiny.
Progression fails with opposition's flight,
And darkness is but handmaid unto light.
 
 
Mistrustful of "the law of liberty[11],"
Sounding from far the doom of slavery,
Maddened by jealous fear, the Gentile sees
Peril in purling stream, in whispering breeze,
Telling of wondrous thrift, of mystic power,
Of spirit gifts—the Bride's becoming dower;
Sees menace[12] in that migrant fold's increase, 2800
A menace to his power, his pride, his peace;
And, as of old, when Egypt's despot frowned
On Jacob's increase, growth from fruitful ground,
Or when fell Herod, fain to slay life's Lord,
Pierced Rachel's bosom with unpitying sword;
With feigned or real suspicion of intent
That could but lurk in minds by malice bent,
And ne'er found lodgment in the dreams of those
Now fearfully beset by whelming foes,
Force joins with fraud, impelled by lust of crime, 2810
And innocence bewails the evil time.
 
 
A second Pharaoh now o'er Israel see!
A Herod[13] in the home of Liberty!
Where wingĕd Nemesis shall find her own,
Gathering the whirlwind[14] where the wind was sown.
 
 
Friendless, unsheltered, forth the exiles go,
Lit by their burning homes athwart the snow,
Till crimson footprints stamp the frozen path,
And icy billows bar them from the wrath
Of cruel fiends, whose fellows, masked as men, 2820
Where languish sons of light in darksome den,
Gloat, while they guard, and flout with jest obscene
The helpless victims of that heartless scene;
Exulting foully, boastingly, the while,
O'er deeds none else than devils would defile.
 
 
Till patience, past enduring, dures no more;
Heard, above jackal's yell, the lion's roar.
Thunders and flames Jehovah's threatening rod,
And shakes the dungeon[15] with the wrath of God—
A lightning tongue to scorch His cowering foes, 2830
And scourge them to the kennels whence they rose.
When known such power, such might of word and will,
Since Christ bade tempest sleep and waves be still?
 
 
Free, whereso'er he wends, is hope renewed,
Demons unhoused, disease and death subdued[16].
 
 
Where Sire of Waters[17] sweeps o'er silvery sands,
Prest by the pilgrim feet of many lands,
Aloft, alone, a sacred city stands.
City, mother of many[18], none more rare,
A blossoming waste shall yield, now burnt and bare; 2840
City, mother of empire, famed as fair,
Whose birth the solemn muse must yet declare.
 
 
Where groaned the land with dread malarial ill,
Healed by a hand divine, o'er vale and hill
See roof and dome and glittering fane arise!
Unworldly link[19], rewelding Earth and Skies!
 
 
Then comes Elijah's mightier mission[20] forth,
And mortal vows take on immortal worth,
Kindling anew hope's ever living fires,
Turning the mutual hearts of sons and sires, 2850
While doors to spirit dungeons open swing,
That love to light the living dead may bring!
 
 
But gaze from sinking unto soaring sun!
Beyond the wave the conquering word hath won
Past horrent hosts of Lucifer that rose,
With wrath of man, the message to oppose.
Vain strife, where fiends archangels would assail,
Warring 'gainst mightiness that must prevail—
Prevail to save a periled ship. 'Tis done;
The crisis past[21] with Albia stormed and won; 2860
East floweth West—"The Gathering" hath begun.
 
 
And now, to fruitful lands, 'neath favoring skies,
Befriended by the just[22], the brave, the wise,
Till truth, too mighty for the common ken,
Hath put a sword betwixt the souls of men,
Fares garnered Ephraim, earliest offering[23]
Of Israel's hope, Idumea's harvesting.
 
 
Nations besprent with Abrahamic blood
Meet there and mingle in that widening flood.
Impelled by helping hand or hostile power, 2870
By friendly looks or frowns that darkly lower,
Gathers the flock of faith from every land
Where roving Ephraim mixt with Japheth's band;
Philistia's shoulder bearing Israel's flight,
That Japheth, too, may come to Zion's light,
And Joseph be o'er all his brethren blest,
A saviour in his Egypt of the West[24],
Where corn and wine, 'mid famine, comfort life,
Where peace and plenty shame a world at strife,
And, bending from the ice-barred North, shall come— 2880
As bent their stars in his, the dreamer's dome—
Assyria's long lost captives[25], wending home.
 
 
Westward, far westward, chase the lingering night,
Impelling Spirit! Angel of the Light!
Westward, still westward, till the morn shall burn
In high meridian glory; till shall turn
Fate's restless tide, re-rolling o'er the East,
Spoiling the spoiler, spreading freedom's feast,
Foiling dark anarchy, thy fellest foe,
Land, chosen land! stunned, staggering 'neath its blow; 2890
Rallying the loyal[26] in a common cause,
Rending the eagle from the bear's red claws;
Hurling invasion backward o'er the Isles,
Building anew upon the olden piles,
Beginnings of the crowning commonhood—
A modern Zion where the ancient stood.
 
 
Backward, roll backward, river of the blood!
Back to thy fountain, hurrying human flood—
To Adam's land, the far Edenic shore;
For last is first and old is new once more, 2900
And nations rise where nations fell before!
 
 
Joseph, uprisen from the grave-like mound,
His ancient and inglorious battle ground[27],
Retreads with modern step the painful path
Where erst he fled[28], a fugitive from wrath;
Fated to flee till ebbs that westward flow,
Bearing from Japheth bitter curse and blow,
While patient heaven holds off the woeful fate
That cometh swift and layeth desolate
The powers that prey on Jacob—all that hate 2910
The God of Joseph, and the just decree
That builds him here a boundless destiny.
 
 
Westward, burn westward, morn divinely bright!
Morn of Jehovah, morn of Jacob's might!
But stand thou still on Zion, glorious light!
For there must dawn the day that knows no night.
 
 
Beginnings that have here in beauty stood,
Prone, as from withering fire or wasting flood,
A little season wrecked and ruined lie[29],
Till they that build put pride and passion by, 2920
And, taught by pain, through suffering's fiercest fires,
Part with all lustful, covetous desires.
 
 
When faith shall wear the armor without flaw,
And union such as sainted Enoch saw[30]
Honors the fullness of celestial law,
Then—sword of God and blade of Gideon,
Dazzling, confounding, driving on and on,
Till besomed as with fire the fated land,
Where Zion, guileless, glorious, shall stand,
A terror only to her trembling foes[31], 2930
Ensign of peace and Eden of repose,
Where life's tree blossoms and light's fountain flows.
 
 
Meanwhile her valiant ones, her tried and true
Daughters and sons, shall they not dare and do?
In vain, alas! in vain of such to sing,
With trembling hand a tuneless harp I string.
For who can count the cost, the painful price,
Measure the sorrow and the sacrifice,
Rare spirits of a more than Spartan race
Compelled their souls of halting dread to face? 2940
Harp of the Hebrew seer! Be thine to break
The muse's slumber, bid the world awake,
And glow o'er deeds yet done for conscience' sake.
What tongue than Zion's own can loose the spell?
Whose voice than modern Leah's, Rachel's, tell
The story of a burden borne so well?
 
 
Bending, not breaking, 'neath thy load of care,
Sowing to joy, thou shalt not reap despair!
Planting the hope of human purity,
That righteousness may crown futurity,– 2950
Patience! endure! for pain shall bring thee power[32].
Time but a dream—eternity thy dower.
Where perfect love casts forth the jealous fear,
A diamond in thy diadem each tear;
And every sigh that rent thy suffering breast,
A wave of rapture on the shores of rest.
My lot as thine, purest of pure-in-heart!
Be mine the bitter as the better part.
 
 
But sorrows else have shadowed all things there;
The voice of mourning drowns the voice of prayer. 2960
Dampened e'en now with death's prophetic dew,
Thy cold, pale brow, O fated, fair Nauvoo!
 
 
Remains for thee no peace, for thine no rest,
Till on the parching plain, the frozen crest;
A desert land of unlocked mystery,
Frowning on hope, and dumb to history.
 
 
Yet ere the burning wilderness be won,
Shines down on other deeds the shuddering sun.
City of Joseph[33]! Look! from 'leaguered walls,
Where Calvary's crimson light on Carthage falls! 2970
 
 
Ere murderous fate the martyr's bolt hath sped,
While deepening darkness glooms a sky of lead,
And thundrous threatenings tone their notes of dread,
Looms to the fore an archangelic form,
A sunlit summit shining o'er the storm;
A towering rock above the rushing tide
Of eager souls that surge on every side,
Where living waters from the fountain play,
And glowing words light up the darkened way.
 
 
Undaunted 'neath the shadow of his doom, 2980
Calm as a statue, solemn as a tomb,
Heedless of self, while hoarsely rumbles near
Hate's fiery flood, that alien to all fear,
That more than man, nor less than godlike soul,
Erect upon life's summit, at death's goal,
Unlocks time's portal, swings the future's gate,
And opes to Ephraim's gaze his glorious fate.
 
 
O diver in the days and years to be!
Searching the caves of that prophetic sea,
What bringest from the deeps of destiny? 2990
 

CANTO TEN
The Parted Veil[1]

 
  Choice Seer, with spirit eye did he behold
  The sanguine scene that told his tragic fate?
  Surged by the flood of grief and shame that rolled
  Above the murdered honor of a State[2],
  Where innocence again fell prey to hate?
  There be who say he visioned all to come—
  Forsaken cities, weeping, desolate,
  The desecrated fane, the blazing dome[3],
The weary wanderings far in quest of peace and home.
 
 
  Saw, then, a tender hopeful tragedy 3000
  (Pathetic omen of his tribe's increase)
  Uncurtained 'neath the star-hung canopy:
  Babes, new-born babes[4], there slumbering in a fleece
  Of moon-lit frost, as buds that bide release,
  When winter casts its mantle white and cold,
  Protecting life where life hath seemed to cease;
  Frail lambs, fresh penned within the Saviour's fold,
And, like Him, manger-nurst, homeless on earth's threshold.
 
 
  Homeless a nursing nation, born e'en so—
  Born in a day. O Day! and eyes of Night! 3010
  Watch now the "little one" "a thousand"[5] grow,
  As grows the torrent from the trickling height,
  The blaze of noonday from the dawning light;—
  The birth-throes of an empire, whose blest reign,
  Bounding from lowliness, soars past the sight
  Of all save prophecy, while cities twain[6]
Sceptre the universe, with foot on land and main!
 
 
  Whose but a prophet's eye such end could see?
  Whose but a prophet's tongue the issue tell?—
  A modern march of ancient destiny, 3020
  Another Exodus and Israel,
  Bidding his bonds, his all, save hope, farewell;
  Widening, 'mid alien wastes, true freedom's fame,
  Where bondage, chained to darkness, fain would dwell[7];
  And rearing temples to Jehovah's name,
Where looms the Aztec's altar[8], quenched of its ancient flame.
 
 
  There bringing forth the promise of thy land,
  O rare and wondrous West!—the prophecy
  Of glittering cities strewn along thy strand,
  O golden empire[9] of the sunset sea! 3030
  God-gifted Seer, while gazing endlessly,
  Sawest thou an Eden on the desert brine[10],
  Begirt with desolation's mystery,
  Ere gusht the riven rock with milk and wine,
Where all was treeless waste and sun-baked alkaline?
 
 
  Sawest thou, O prophet! till the pioneer
  Builded his eagle nest, and pure and brave
  Homed on the white-helmed peak and crystal mere?
  O matchless land—the home their valor gave,
  Mighty in will to bless, in work to save, 3040
  Redeemed, redeeming, all must own thy worth!
  Slander may wound thee, tyranny enslave,
  Still thou art mine, loved land of all the earth,
Land of the honey-bee[11], land of my mortal birth!
 
 
  Land prest by footprint of my pilgrim sire[12];
  Land visioned by my more than sire, whose soul
  Swept the far future with a glance of fire,
  Bade hope, as memory, her page unroll;
  Beheld uplifting, as a parted scroll,
  The curtain from a kingdom yet to be, 3050
  Binding in one world-realms from pole to pole;
  Saw monarchs bow, saw nations bend the knee,
Saw dead and risen time take on eternity.
 
 
  "Hear me, my people[13]! I shall not be slain
  While unfulfilled my mission? Then, like Him
  Who holds my hand, linked in an endless chain,
  Which cannot die, whose light can ne'er grow dim,
  Must I return to Home and Elohim.
  Though here I fain would linger—human choice!
  If weal to friend or foe—ay, e'en to them, 3060
  Might purchased be, with my poor life the price,
Welcome, thrice welcome death. I will the sacrifice.
 
 
  "Nor marvel at my mood. Could you but gaze
  Upon the wonders of the worlds of God,
  Where burn, amid the universal blaze,
  The Father's fullness and the Son's abode,
  Won by their feet who walk the rightful road,
  Nor weary in well-doing; 'twere alone
  Reward for all that here hath been your load.
  Forgive—leave all to heaven, whose highest Throne 3070
Made endless love to endless life the stepping stone.
 
 
  "Hearken, O House of Joseph! Here must end
  My mortal toil. Now, as from Nebo's height[14],
  I see, like him of old, my day descend.
  But looms afar upon my sinking sight
  Another Canaan. Clothe for pilgrim flight.
  A Joshua cometh! Him let Israel heed,
  And loyal be unto that council's right
  On whom the Kingdom rolls; for they must lead
To where privation's hand shall sow dominion's seed. 3080
 
 
  "A glacier's might, your gathered strength shall stand,
  Stalwart upon the mountains[15], and shall send
  Swift messengers to sound o'er sea and land
  Last warning to the nations. Hither wend
  Awakening hosts, who eager hearing lend
  While yet the voice of grace, the voice of God,
  Summons the house of Abraham his friend;
  Calls them the wave to cleave, the wild to plod,
On, on to that safe rest, ere falls the reckoning rod.
 
 
  "For war shall wound[16] this nation—rend it wide, 3090
  And trample nations all. Anon shall slaves
  'Gainst masters rise, and anarchy o'erride
  Till tyranny be trodden as the paves,
  Till patriot might puts forth its hand and saves
  The crimsoned land from chaos. Hearken, all!
  When ruin's host the blood-red banner waves,
  Who heeded first the Gospel's warning call
Shall be the last of realms to crumble and to fall.
 
 
  "Britannia! Thou among the during ones,
  A nursing mother unto Israel's might; 4000
  Foremost to send thy daughters and thy sons
  From shores afar, from darkness unto light.
  As thou hast favored truth and 'friended right,
  Their tongues shall plead for thee in time to come,
  And nerve thine arm when perilous thy plight.
  Borne on thy shoulder o'er the billowing foam,
Joseph and Judah find their heritage, their home.
 
 
  "I saw, while justice showed the vision dire,
  Till mercy's hand let fall the lifted veil,
  The goal of the ungodly—blood and fire, 4010
  Earthquake and whirlwind, pestilential hail
  Smiting earth's face with desolating flail.
  And this, the mere beginning of their woe,
  Whose final fate a doom the damned bewail;
  While they that follow Christ, anon shall go
To guide and save lost souls, groping in shades below.
 
 
  "Good fears not evil—grapples with it strong,
  Hell turns to heaven, the unclean purifies;
  For evil is but good, the right bent wrong.
  No weakling unto loftiest worlds can rise; 4020
  No coward e'er hath scaled celestial skies;
  'Tis strength that wins the goal of blessedness,
  'Tis knowledge saves, 'tis wisdom glorifies;
  Intelligence alone can lift and bless
The fallen, innocent till snared in sin's duress.
 
 
  "What matter, if my mortal race be run,
  Where earth enfolds me to her mother breast?
  While ye, my people—yonder setting sun
  Points out your path. For you, no peace, no rest,
  Till firm your weary feet upon the West, 4030
  Where, moveless as yon snowy spine of hills,
  Befriended by the tempest, unopprest,
  And bounteous as the sun that sends the rills
To bless the vales, God's first-born fold[17] His purpose fills.
 
 
  "Affliction here, but friendship there and peace;
  (More cruel Christian white than savage red),
  And in a day when warning tongues shall cease,
  And plain be seen what prophets all have said;
  When peace shall have no pillow for her head,
  Save lofty heights where loyal hosts abound; 4040
  Brave sons of battling sires[18], who toiled and bled
  That this might evermore be freedom's ground,
Shall give to you their strength God's Kingdom here to found.
 
 
  "Bide mountain-walled, my people! stalwart, strong,
  Till poureth down from hallowed founts on high,
  The might that doth to righteousness belong,
  The might of faith, the power of purity—
  Despair and terror to iniquity.
  Then, Ephra-Judah, who the hand shall bind
  That clears thy path before thee? Foes shall fly 4050
  As driven dust, as ashes in the wind;
The crouching Lion springs, and He the prey shall find.
 
 
  "And by that power[19] shall Zion be redeemed,
  Yea, with a mighty hand, an out-stretched arm,
  With marvels, miracles, ne'er done nor dreamed
  Since wonder oped her eyes. The world's alarm
  Shall surge, an angry sea; but fear nor harm
  Can hover near the conquering host of God.
  'Gainst Lucifer's shall Michael's legions form,
  Besoming the chosen soil with chastening rod, 4060
Till sainted towers arise on Eden's ancient sod.
 
 
  "The place appointed. Naught else is designed;
  Naught else can heaven accept. Put forth the hand,
  Plant stakes of Zion, tight her cords to bind,
  Where'er ye move, O fated pilgrim band!
  But bring forth Zion's self on Zion's land[20];
  The consecrated soil, whereon ye stood
  With me, of late, loyal while treason fanned
  The flame still thirsting for a martyr's blood.
There build, in time to be, a city unto God. 4070
 
 
  "Nor there alone; for all is Zion's land,
  North unto South, East unto Western wave,
  Far as the hemisphere's wide wings expand,
  She sits, a sovereign queen, ice-crowned, to lave
  Her glowing hands in tropic tides, while brave
  Her snowy feet in faith the southern sea.
  Arm patient, slow to smite, yet swift to save,
  A friend to right, a foe to tyranny.
And there be living now who then shall live and see.
 
 
  "While here the glory of the Common Good[21], 4080
  Shadowed and symboled by a patriot band,
  Whose triumph wrought for human brotherhood,
  Extending that high cause from strand to strand,
  Shall bring deliverance unto every land.
  But anarchy would foil the lofty aim,
  The peace, the union, by Jehovah planned;
  Wherefore 'tis doomed to failure and to shame,
With all unrighteous rule, whate'er its place or name.
 
 
  "The sceptered harlot,[22] throned on human seas,
  Chief link of Satan's world-encircling chain; 4090
  The secret craft and crime—iniquities
  Whereby the Wicked One extends his reign;
  All these must perish from the Lord's domain,
  Nor aught of guile be found His Kingdom through.
  Truth's sun hath risen—all lesser lights must wane;
  And wrong and false that masks as right and true,
Shall feel the scourge of flame that Sodom's sin o'erthrew.
 
 
  "More would I tell that in my bosom burns,
  But bigot fires would flame as ne'er before;
  For truth, rejected, friend to traitor turns, 5000
  And damns where fain 'twould save. Six mounting o'er,
  My spirit to a seventh realm[23] did soar,
  And saw and heard—Ah, would that I might say!
  Though memory but renewed a former lore,
  What all may learn when full the dawning day,
When twinkling, twilight faith to knowledge shall give way.
 
 
  "Hope not till then to have my history,
  What life hath scribed to scan; nor tongue nor pen
  Can tell the tale, dispel the mystery,
  That hides me from the dim, dull gaze of men. 5010
  Sojourning here, within this shadowed scene,
  A medial stage, a mortal compromise,
  The spirit's might, the body's weight, between,
  Deem not that e'en earth's wisest can be wise,
Till heaven the blindness touch that seals all human eyes.
 
 
  "One little fold I lift of that vast veil:
  How came he God, to whom all gods must bow—
  The very Sire, whom all the sons now hail
  As mightiest of the mighty? I avow
  That even He was once as we are now; 5020
  That we like Him can be—yea, by degrees,
  Mount unto loftiest heights, till on each brow
  Be writ the Name of Names. Not angels these,
But Gods, e'en Sons of God, through all eternities.
 
 
  "Weighed in the balance here, nor wanting found;
  Tried in the fire, triumphant from the test;
  Though wrung their hearts, their finest feelings ground,
  Betwixt life's upper, nether, millstones prest,
  Till proved, of good and brave, the bravest, best.
  Less faith than theirs who follow Abraham, 5030
  Honoring o'er all Jehovah's high behest,
  Uplifts no gate of that Jerusalem—
The Bosom of the Gods—the Glory of I AM.[24]
 
 
  "Bide valiant here, as ye were valiant there.
  Whence came delightsome bodies, soaring minds,
  Aspiring thrones to win and crowns to wear?
  Spring not all seeds according to their kinds?
  Each act, each word, each thought, delivers, binds,
  Dwarfs or develops. Man's all-crowning state
  His own creation. What the Judgment finds, 5040
  The soul reveals; and weal or woe the fate,
'Tis freedom's chainless choice, for all on will must wait.
 
 
  "Stand as ye stood, my legion brave, what time
  The starry host, celestial symphony,
  Choraled the anthem seraphic, sublime,
  To the spelled ear of all eternity!
  Lifted your hands for light and liberty[25],
  When fraud with force progression's path would pave.
  Fought we with Michael, drove the dragon, he
  Who planned to seize all worlds, all worlds enslave, 5050
And would have damned, destroyed, what Christ came down
      to save.
 
 
  "As now, in lesser liberty's abode,
  Incarnate spirit of fell tyranny
  Would trample on the type of Freedom's Code[26],
  Befriending human right where'er it be.
  But hear me, Heaven! Come life, come death, to me,
  Jehovah's captain, in His name and fear,
  I vow to Him His people shall be free—
  Ay, free all men, as in that former sphere, 5060
When hurled from yon dread height the power of Lucifer.
 
 
  "Fear not—Truth's cause shall triumph. Sown the seed
  Whose harvest knows no failure, no delay.
  Crooked shall straighten to the future need,
  And crudeness unto culture shall give way;
  And part shall change to perfect in that day.
  Firm, strong—not smooth, the building's basic stone,
  Hidden from view; while rests the heavenly ray
  On polished wall, on gleaming spire and cone:
Jacob's, not Esau's hand[27] shall rear Messiah's throne. 5070
 
 
  "Great the beginning—glorious the end;
  Elijah comes, the Kingdom to complete[28].
  Farewell! This from your father, brother, friend.
  No more your prophet, patriarch, ye meet,
  Till here all prophets, patriarchs, ye greet,
  Mingling with Gods, while heaven on earth shall dwell,
  To drink the wine of wisdom at His feet,
  The Husbandman and Vine of Israel.
Thus saith the God of Jacob—Joseph's God. Farewell!"
 
 
—-
 
 
  Then sank to rest, his mortal mission done. 5080
  Hark to those shouts that hail a homing king!
  A crimson aureole rounds the sinking sun,
  Omen of golden dawn swift following;
  Death's winter promise of eternal spring—
  Celestial Edens, empires, throne on throne,
  And worlds once waste, redeemed, there blossoming.
  Future now present, and the past unflown,
While all unguised, unveiled, life, death, earth, time, are known.