Paced up and down the sands, and bared his head to the east-wind,

Cooling his heated brow, and the fire and fever within him.

Slowly, as out of the heavens, with apocalyptical splendors,

Sank the City of God, in the vision of John the Apostle, So, with its cloudy walls of chrysolite, jasper, and

sapphire,

345

Sank the broad red sun, and over its turrets uplifted Glimmered the golden reed of the angel who measured the city.

f: Welcome, O wind o

Welcome, O wind of the East!" he exclaimed in his wild exultation,

"Welcome, O wind of the East, from the caves of the misty Atlantic!

Blowing o'er fields of dulse, and measureless meadows

of sea-grass,

350

Blowing o'er rocky wastes, and the grottos and gardens

of ocean!

Lay thy cold, moist hand on my burning forehead, and wrap me

844 Look up Revelation xxi. 10-21.

849 Caves: in mythology the winds are supposed to be kept in

caves.

Close in thy garments of mist, to allay the fever within me!"

Like an awakened conscience, the sea was moaning

and tossing,

Beating remorseful and loud the mutable sands of the

sea-shore.

355

Fierce in his soul was the struggle and tumult of pas

sions contending;

Love triumphant and crowned, and friendship wounded 7 and bleeding,

Passionate cries of desire, and importunate pleadings of duty!

"Is it my fault," he said, "that the maiden has chosen between us?

Is it my fault that he failed, my fault that I am the

victor?"

360

Then within him there thundered a voice, like the voice of the Prophet:

"It hath displeased the Lord!" and he thought of David's transgression,

862 David, king of Israel, fell in love with Bathsheba, the beautiful wife of his friend Uriah. And he sent Uriah away to the war that he might be killed. Afterward the king married Bathsheba. But Nathan, the prophet, announced to David, "It hath displeased the Lord!"

What resemblance is there between this situation and that of John Alden?

Bathsheba's beautiful face, and his friend in the front of the battle!

Shame and confusion of guilt, and abasement and selfcondemnation,

Overwhelmed him at once; and he cried in the deepest contrition:

365

"It hath displeased the Lord! It is the temptation of Satan!"

Then, uplifting his head, he looked at the sea, and beheld there.

Dimly the shadowy form of the Mayflower riding at anchor,

Rocked on the rising tide, and ready to sail on the

morrow;

Heard the voices of men through the mist, the rattle

of cordage

370

Thrown on the deck, the shouts of the mate, and the sailors' "Ay, ay, Sir!"

Clear and distinct, but not loud, in the dripping air of the twilight.

Still for a moment he stood, and listened, and stared at the vessel,

Then went hurriedly on, as one who, seeing a phantom, Stops, then quickens his pace, and follows the beckon

ing shadow.

375

"Yes, it is plain to me now," he murmured; "the hand of the Lord is

Leading me out of the land of darkness, the bondage

of error,

Through the sea, that shall lift the walls of its waters around me,

Hiding me, cutting me off, from the cruel thoughts that pursue me.

Back will I go o'er the ocean, this dreary land will

abandon,

380

Her whom I may not love, and him whom my heart has offended.

Better to be in my grave in the green old churchyard in England,

Close by my mother's side, and among the dust of my kindred;

Better be dead and forgotten, than living in shame and dishonor!

Sacred and safe and unseen, in the dark of the narrow

chamber

385

With me my secret shall lie, like a buried jewel that glimmers

Bright on the hand that is dust, in the chambers of silence and darkness,

876-878 Look up Exodus xiv. 21-29.

ป

Yes, as the marriage ring of the great espousal hereafter!"

Thus as he spake, he turned, in the strength of his

strong resolution,

Leaving behind him the shore, and hurried along in the twilight,

390

Through the congenial gloom of the forest silent and

sombre,

Till he beheld the lights in the seven houses of
Plymouth,

Shining like seven stars in the dusk and mist of the
evening.

Soon he entered his door, and found the redoubtable

Captain

Sitting alone, and absorbed in the martial pages of

Cæsar,

395

Fighting some great campaign in Hainault or Brabant or Flanders.

"Long have you been on your errand," he said with a cheery demeanor,

Even as one who is waiting an answer, and fears not the issue.

388 The great espousal : look up Revelation xix. 7.

396 Hainault, Brabant, Flanders: all counties of the Netherlands which are now incorporated in Belgium and Holland.

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