XVI. Then thus in homely guise I featly framed That you so far from haunt of mortals stray? Here have I dwelt for many a lingering day, Nor trace of man have seen; but how! methought Thou wert the youth on whom God's holy ray I saw descend in Jordan, when John taught That he to fallen man the saving promise brought." XVII. "I am that man," said Jesus, "I am He! But truce to questions-Canst thou point my feet To some low hut, if haply such there be In this wild labyrinth, where I may meet With homely greeting, and may sit and eat; For forty days I have tarried fasting here, Hid in the dark glens of this lone retreat, And now I hunger; and my fainting ear Longs much to greet the sound of fountains gushing near." XVIII. Then thus I answer'd wily:-" If, indeed, Son of our God thou be'st, what need to seek For food from men?-Lo! on these flint stones feed, Bid them be bread! Open thy lips and speak, And living rills from yon parch'd rock will break." Instant as I had spoke, his piercing eye Fix'd on my face;—the blood forsook my cheek, Then he rebuked me with the holy word- Bright sparkling in the sunbeams, were descried; XX. "Behold," I cried, "these glories! scenes divine! Oh! leave his temples, shun his wounding ways: XXI. "Is it not written," sternly he replied, "Tempt not the Lord thy God?" Frowning he spake, And instant sounds, as of the ocean tide, Rose, and the whirlwind from its prison brake, And caught me up aloft, till in one flake, The sidelong volley met my swift career, And smote me earthward.-Jove himself might quake At such a fall: my sinews crack'd, and near Obscure and dizzy sounds seem'd ringing in mine ear. XXVIII. which lost us Heaven, that we are inferior to the "This comes," at length burst from the furious chief, Thunder-bearer: In subtlety-in subtlety alone we "This comes of distant counsels! Here behold are his equals. Open war is impossible. The fruits of wily cunning! the relief Which coward policy would fain unfold, Thus we shall pierce our conqueror, through the race Which as himself he loves; thus if we fall, Of falling unrevenged. The stirring call Be now our standard!-Be our torch the glare cloves And cinnamon upheap'd the sacred pyre, And nightly magi watch'd the everlasting fire. Or, He waved his robe of flame, he cross'd his breast, I. Thus far have I pursued my solemn theme On the dark cypress! and the strings which rung With Jesus' praise, their harpings now are o'er, when the breeze comes by, moan, and are heard no more. Ye powers of Hell, I am no coward. I proved this of old. Who led your forces against the armies of Jehovah? Who coped with Ithuriel and the thunders of the Almighty? Who, when stunned and confused ye lay on the burning lake, who first awoke and collected your scattered powers? Lastly, who led you across the unfathomable abyss to this delightful world, and established that reign here which now totters to its base? How, therefore, dares yon treacherous fiend to cast a stain on Satan's bravery? he who preys only on the defenceless-who sucks the blood of infants, and delights only in acts of ignoble cruelty and unequal contention. Away with the boaster who never joins in action, but, like a cormorant, hovers over the field to feed upon the wounded, and overwhelm the dying. True bravery is as remote from rashness as from hesitation; let us counsel coolly, Ere I with Death shake hands, and smile that I am free. but let us execute our counselled purposes determinately. In power we have learnt, by that experiment And must the harp of Judah sleep again? Oh! thou who visitest the sons of men, One little lapse suspend thy last decree! THE END. 496 |