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 CHOOL EDITION 
 
 THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME 
 
 : ! 
 
 A POEM 
 
 BY 
 
 ROi3^RT POLLOK, A.M. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY CLARK, AUSTIN <& CO. 
 
 i!05 BROADWAY. 
 
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 .,: 
 
104 
 
 Book -fc C- fa 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME 
 
 A POEM, 
 
 BY ROBERT POLLOK, A.M 
 
 A COPIOUS INDEX, 
 
 ANALYSIS PREFIXED TO BACH BOOK. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 CLARK, AUSTIN $ SMITH, 
 
 3 PARK ROW <fe 3 ANN-STREET. 
 
 1856. 
 

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 ... ^ 
 
 
 
A SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 FROM THE ' CHRISTIAN REVIEW.' 
 
 The Rev. Robert Pollok, was born at Muir- 
 house, parish of Eaglesham, in North Britain, 
 October 19, 1798. His father still occupies the 
 same farm, and is esteemed by his neighbours 
 as a very worthy and intelligent person. Robert 
 was the youngest of the family ; and his early 
 days were spent on the farm with his father, in 
 such labours as the seasons called for. He was 
 always fond of reading; and the winter's eve- 
 nings were employed in this manner, when his 
 companions were perhaps engaged in some tri- 
 lling amusement. He is not known to have 
 made any attempts at poetry when very young. 
 At fourteen years of age, he commenced the 
 study of the Latin language ; and, a (ew months 
 after this, he produced the first poem which he 
 is known to have committed to paper. In Oc- 
 tober, 1815, when seventeen years of age, lie 
 
4 LIFE OF THE JiUTlIOK. 
 
 entered the University of Glasgow, where he 
 studied five years; at the end of which time he 
 obtained the degree of Master of Arts. While 
 at college, he was a very diligent and exemplary 
 student, and distinguished himself so far as V) 
 have several prizes awarded him by the suffrage 
 of his fellows : besides the regular exercises, he 
 composed a number for his own pleasure and 
 improvement, and several of these were poeti- 
 cal. Before he had finished his curriculum, his 
 health was considerably impaired. 
 
 In the autumn of 1822, he entered the United 
 Secession Divinity Hall, under the care of Dr. 
 Dick. Here his discourses attracted consider- 
 able notice, and called forth some severe criti- 
 cisms from his fellow-students. A mind like 
 his could not submit to the trammels of common 
 divisions: the form of an essay suited better the 
 impetuosity of his genius; and he occasionally 
 indulged in lofty descriptions, both of character 
 and external nature. Tn May, 1827, he received 
 license to preach, from the United Secession 
 Presbytery of Edinburgh. During hi? previous 
 trials, he was employed in superintending the 
 printing of his poem. His first public discourse 
 is said to have produced a powerful sensation 
 on the audience. The text was, " How long 
 halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be 
 God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." 
 Some descriptive parts, respecting those whu 
 
LIFE OF THK AUTHOE. 5 
 
 serve Baal rather than God, are said to have 
 been awfully grand. He preached only fhree 
 other times, when he was obliged to retire 
 from public service. His labours had been too 
 great for his constitution, in which the seeds of 
 consumption had long before been sown. By 
 some medical gentlemen of eminence in Edin- 
 burgh, he was advised to try the effects of a 
 warmer climate : Italy was hisjntended retreat: 
 and, after providing himself with letters of in- 
 troduction to some learned men on the conti- 
 nent, he set out, accompanied by a sister. He 
 had got as far as the neighbourhood of South- 
 ampton, when, overpowered with the fatigues 
 of travelling, he was compelled to desist. He 
 here fevered, and after a few days expired, far 
 from the scenes of his birth and his studies. It 
 is comforting to learn, that Mr. Pollok's death 
 was that of a true saint ; his last moments being 
 characterized by patience, resignation, and faith. 
 Mr. Pollok's mind was certainly of a very su- 
 perior character; of this there need no other 
 proof be given than the encomiums which his 
 " Course of Time" has called forth — encomiums, 
 many of them penned before his death was 
 known, but which did not appear till after he. 
 had gone beyond the reach of earthly applause. 
 His habits were those of a close student: his 
 reading was extensive: he could converse on 
 almost every subject : he had great facility in 
 •V a 2 
 
6* LIFE OF THE AUTHOR, 
 
 composition ; in confirmation of which, he is 
 said to have written nearly a thousand line? 
 weekly of the last four books of the " Course of 
 Time." The poem, as a whole, was, however, 
 no hasty performance : it had engaged his atteu- 
 tion long. His college acquaintances could per 
 ceive that his mind was not wholly devoted to 
 the business of the classes; he was constantly 
 writing or reading on other subjects. Having 
 his time wholly to himself, he amassed a pro- 
 digious store of ideas. It was his custom to 
 commit to the flames, every now and then, a 
 great number of papers. He had projected a 
 prose work of some magnitude — a review of Lite- 
 rature in all ages — designed to show that litera 
 ture must stand or fall in proportion as it har- 
 monizes with Scripture Revelation. But deatn 
 has put an end to this, as to many other projects. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Eteknal Spirit! God of truth! to whom 
 All tilings seem as they are; thou who of old 
 The prophet's eye unsealed, that nightly saw, 
 While heavy sleep fell down on other men, 
 In holy vision tranced, the future pass 
 Before him, and to Judah's harp attuned 
 Burdens which made the pagan mountains shake 
 And Zion's cedars how — inspire my song ; 
 My eye unscale ; me what is substance teach, 
 And shadow what, while I of things to come, 
 As past, rehearsing, sing the Course of Time, 
 The second Birth, and final Doom of man. 
 
 The muse, that soft and sickly woos the ear 
 Of love, or chanting loud in windy rhyme 
 Of fabled hero, raves through gaudy tale 
 Not overfraught with sense, I ask not ; such 
 A strain befits not argument so high. 
 Me thought, and phrase, severely sifting out 
 The whole idea, grant — uttering as 'tis 
 The essential truth — Time gone, the Righteous saved, 
 The Wicked damned, and Providence approved. 
 
 Hold my right hand, Almighty ! and me teach 
 To strike the lyre, but seldom struck, to notes 
 Harmonious with the morning stars, and pure 
 As those by sainted hards, and angels sung 
 Which wake the echoes of eternity — 
 7 
 
8 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Thai fools may hear and tremble, and the wise 
 Instructed listen, of ages yet to come. 
 
 Long was the day, so long expected, past 
 Of the eternal doom, that gave to each 
 Of all the human race his due reward. 
 The sun — earth's sun, and moon, and stars, had ceased 
 To number seasons, days, and months, and years 
 To mortal man : hope was forgotten, and fear ; 
 And Time, with all its chance, and change, and smiles, 
 And frequent tears, and deeds of villany, 
 Or righteousness — once talked of much, as things 
 Of great renown, was now but ill remembered; 
 In dim and shadowy vision of the past, 
 Seen far remote, as country, which has left 
 The traveller's speedy step, retiring back 
 From morn till even ; and long Eternity 
 Had rolled his mighty years, and with his years 
 Men had grown old : the saints, all home returned 
 From pilgrimage, and war, and weeping, long 
 Had rested in the bowers of peace, that skirt 
 The stream of life ; and long — alas, how long — 
 To them it seemed ! the wicked who refused 
 To be redeemed, had wandered in the dark 
 Of hell's despair, and drunk the burning cup 
 Their sins had filled with everlasting wo ! 
 
 Thus far the years had rolled, which none but God 
 Doth number, when two sons, two youthful sons 
 Of Paradise, in conversation sweet, 
 (For thus the heavenly muse instructs me, wooed 
 At midnight hour with offering sincere 
 Of all the heart, poured out in holy prayer,) 
 High on the hills of immortality, 
 Whence goodliest prospect looks beyond the walls 
 Of heaven, walked, casting oft their eye far through 
 The pure serene, observant, if returned 
 From errand duly finished, any came 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 Or any, first in virtue now complete, 
 
 From other worlds arrived, confirmed in good. 
 
 Thus viewing, one they saw, on hasty whig 
 Directing towards heaven his course ; and now, 
 His flight ascending near the battlements 
 And lofty hills on which they walked, approached. 
 For round and round, in spacious circuit wide, 
 Mountains of tallest stature circumscribe 
 The plains of Paradise, whose tops, arrayed 
 In uncreated radiance, seem so pure, 
 That nought but angel's foot, or saint's, elect 
 Of God, may venture there to walk ; here oft 
 The sons of bliss take morn or evening pastime, 
 Delighted to behold ten thousand worlds. 
 Around their suns revolving in the vast 
 External space, or listen the harmonies 
 That each to other in its motion sings. 
 And hence, in middle heaven remote, is seen 
 The mount of God in awful glory bright. 
 Within, no orb create of moon, or star, 
 Or sun gives light ; for God's own countenance, 
 Beaming eternally, gives light to all ; 
 But farther than these sacred hills his will * 
 Forbids its flow — too bright for eyes beyond. 
 This is the last ascent of Virtue ; here 
 All trial ends, and hope ; here perfect joy, 
 With perfect righteousness, which to these heights 
 Alone can rise, begins, above all fall. — 
 
 And now, on wing of holy ardour strong, 
 Hither ascends the stranger, borne upright ; 
 For stranger he did seem, with curious eye 
 Of nice inspection round surveying all, 
 And at the feet alights of those that stood 
 His coming, who the hand of welcome gave, 
 And the embrace sincere of holy love ; 
 A.nd thus, with comely greeting kind, began. 
 
fefl THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Hail, crother ! hail, thou son of happiness ! 
 Thou sen beloved of God ! welcome to hsaven 1 
 To bliss that never fades ! thy day is past 
 Of trial, and of fear to fall. Well done, 
 Thou good and faithful servant ; enter now 
 Into the joy eternal of thy Lord. 
 Come with us, and behold far higher sight 
 Than e'er thy heart desired, or hope conceived. 
 See, yonder is tiie glorious hill of God, 
 "Bove angel's gaze in brightness rising high. 
 Come, join our wing, and we will guide thy fligh* 
 To mysteries of everlasting bliss ; — 
 The tree, and fount of life, the eternal throne. 
 And presence chamber of the King of kings. 
 But what concern hangs on thy countenance. 
 Unwont within this place ? perhaps thou deemsl 
 T!i} T seIf unworthy to be brought before 
 The always Ancient One ? so are we too 
 Unworthy ; but our God is all in all, 
 And gives us boldness to approach his throne. 
 
 Sons of the highest ! citizens of heaven ! 
 Began the new arrived, right have ye judged : 
 Unworthy,*most unworthy is your servant, 
 To stand in presence of the King, or hold 
 Most distant and most humble place in this 
 Abode of excellent glory unrevealed. 
 But God Almighty be for ever praised, 
 Who, of his fulness, fills me with all grace 
 And ornament, to make me in his sight 
 Well pleasing, and accepted in his court. 
 But, if your leisure waits, short narrative 
 Will tell, why strange concern thus overhangs 
 My face, ill seeming here; and haply, too, 
 Your elder knowledge can instruct my youth, 
 Of what seems dark and doubtful unexplained. 
 
 Our leisure waits thee: sptak; and what we em 
 
BOOK I. 11 
 
 Delighted most to give delight — we will ; 
 Though much of mysterj? yet to us remains. 
 
 Virtue — I need not tell, when proved, and full 
 Matured — inclines us up to God, and heaven, 
 By law of sweet compulsion, strong and sure ; 
 As gravitation to the larger orb 
 The less attracts, through matter's whole domain. 
 Virtue in me was ripe — I speak not this 
 In boast, for what I am to God I owe, 
 Entirely owe, and of myself am nought. 
 Ermipped, and bent for heaven, I left yon world, 
 My native seat, which scarce your eye can reach, 
 Rolling around her central sun, far out, 
 On utmost verge of light. But first to see 
 What lay beyond the visible creation 
 Strong curiosity my flight impelled. 
 Long was my way, and strange. I passed the bound? 
 Which God doth set to light, and life, and love ; 
 Where darkness meets with day, where order meets 
 Disorder, dreadful, waste, and wild ; and down 
 The dark, eternal, uncreated night 
 Ventured alone. Long, long, on rapid wing, 
 [ sailed through empty, nameless regions vast. 
 Where utter Nothing dwells, unformed and void. 
 There neither eye, nor ear, nor any sense 
 Of Being most acute, finds object ; there 
 For aught external still you search in vain. 
 Try touch, or sight, or smell ; try what you will. 
 You strangely find nought but yourself alone. 
 But why should I in words attempt to tell 
 What that is like which is — and yet — is not ? 
 This past, my path, descending, still me led 
 O'er unclaimed continents of desert gloom 
 Immense, where gravitation, shifting, turns 
 The other way; and to some dread, unknown, 
 Infernal centre downward weighs : and now. 
 
12 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Far travelled from the edgt, of darkness, far 
 
 As from that glorious mount of God to light's 
 
 Remotest limb — dire sights I saw, dire sounds 
 
 I heard ; and suddenly before my eye 
 
 A wall of fiery adamant sprung uj> — 
 
 Wall mountainous, tremendous, flaming high 
 
 Above all flight of hope. I paused, and looked ; 
 
 And saw, where'er I looked upon that mound, 
 
 Sad figures traced in fire — not motionless, 
 
 But imitating life. One I remarked 
 
 Attentively ; but how shall I describe 
 
 What nought resembles else my eye hath seen? 
 
 Of worm or serpent kind it something looked, 
 
 But monstrous, with a thousand snaky heads, 
 
 Eyed each with double orbs of glaring wrath ; 
 
 And with as many tails, that twisted out 
 
 In horrid revolution, tipped with stings; 
 
 And all its mouths, that wide and darkly gaped, 
 
 And breathed most poisonous breath, had each a sting 
 
 Forked, und long, and venomous, and sharp ; 
 
 And, in its writhings infinite, it grasped 
 
 Malignantly what seemed a heart, swollen, black, 
 
 And quivering with torture most intense ; 
 
 And still the heart, with anguish throbbing high, 
 
 Made effort to escape, but could not ; for 
 
 Howe'er it turned, and ofl it vainly turned, 
 
 These complicated foldings held it fast. 
 
 And still the monstrous beast with sting of head 
 
 Or tail transpierced it, bleeding evermore. 
 
 What this could image, much I searched to know ■ 
 
 And while I stood, and gazed, and wondered long, 
 
 A voice, from whence I knew not, for no one 
 
 I saw, distinctly whispered in my ear 
 
 These words — This is the Worm that never dies 
 
 Fast by the side of this unsightly thing 
 Another was portrayed, more hideous still : 
 
BOOK I. 13 
 
 Who sees it once shall wish to see't no more. 
 For ever undescribed let it remain ! 
 Only this much I may or can unfold — 
 Far out it thrust a dart that might have made 
 The knees of terror quake, and on it hung, 
 Within the triple barbs, a being pierced 
 Through soul and body both : of heavenly make 
 Original the being seemed, but fallen, 
 And worn and wasted with enormous wo. 
 And still around the everlasting lance 
 t writhed convulsed, and uttered mimic groans ; 
 ind tried and wished, and ever tried and wished 
 To die ; but could not die. — Oh, horrid sight ! 
 I trembling gazed, and listened, and heard this voice 
 Approach my ear — This is Eternal death. 
 
 Nor these alone. — Upon that burning wall, 
 In horrible emblazonry, were limned 
 All shapes, all forms, all modes of wretchedness, 
 And agony, and grief, and desperate wo. 
 And prominent, in characters of fire, 
 Where'er the eye could light, these words you reaa . 
 " Who comes this way — behold, and fea? to sin !" 
 Amazed I stood ; and thought such imagery 
 Foretokened, within, a dangerous abode. 
 But yet to see the worst a wish arose : 
 For virtue, by the holy seal of God 
 Accredited and stamped, immortal all, 
 And all invulnerable, fears no hurt. 
 As easy as my wish, as rapidly 
 I through the horrid rampart passed, unscathed 
 And unopposed ; and, poised on steady wing, 
 I hovering gazed. Eternal Justice ! Sons 
 Df God ! tell me, if ye can tell, what then 
 I saw, what then I heard. — Wide was the place, 
 And deep as wide, and ruinous as deep. 
 Rtmeath, I saw a lake of burning fire, 
 B 
 
14 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 With tempest tost perpetually, and still 
 
 The waves of fiery darkness, 'gainst the rocks 
 
 Of dark damnation broke, and music made 
 
 Of melancholy sort; and over head, 
 
 And all around, wind warred with wind, storm howled 
 
 To storm, and lightning, forked lightning, crossed, 
 
 And thunder answered thunder, muttering sounds 
 
 Of sullen wrath ; and far as sight could pierce, 
 
 Or down descend in caves of hopeless depth, 
 
 Through all that dungeon of unfading fire, 
 
 I saw most miserable beings walk, 
 
 Burning continually, yet unconsumed ; 
 
 For ever wasting, yet enduring still ; 
 
 Dying perpetually, yet never dead. 
 
 Some wandered lonely in the desert flames, 
 
 And some in fell encounter fiercely met, 
 
 With curses loud, and blasphemies, that made 
 
 The cheek of darkness pale ; and as they fought, 
 
 And cursed, and gnashed their teeth, and wished to die, 
 
 Their hollow eyes did utter streams of wo. 
 
 And there were groans that ended not, and sighs 
 
 That always sighed, and tears that ever wept, 
 
 And ever fell, but not in Mercy's sight. 
 
 And Sorrow, and Repentance, and Despair, 
 
 Among them walked, and to their thirsty lips 
 
 Presented frequent cups of burning gall. 
 
 And as I listened, I heard these beings curse 
 
 Almighty God, and curse the Lamb, and curse 
 
 The Earth, the Resurrection morn, and seek, 
 
 And ever vainly seek, for utter death. 
 
 And to their everlasting anguish still, 
 
 The thunders from above responding spoke 
 
 These words, which, through the caverns of perditin* 
 
 Forlornly echoing, fell on every ear : 
 
 " Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not." 
 
 And back again recoiled a deeper groan. 
 
BOOK I. 15 
 
 A deeper groan ! Oh, what a groan was that ! 
 I waited not, but swift on speediest wing, 
 With unaccustomed thoughts conversing, back 
 Retraced my venturous path from dark to light : 
 Then up ascending, long ascending up, 
 I hasted on ; though whiles the chiming spheres, 
 By God's own finger touched to harmony, 
 Held me delaying — till I here arrived, 
 Drawn upward by the eternal love of God, 
 Of wonder full and strange astonishment, 
 At what in yonder den of darkness dwells, 
 Which now your higher knowledge will unfold. 
 
 They answering said : to ask and to bestow 
 Knowledge, is much of Heaven's delight ; and now 
 Most joyfully what thou requirest we would ; 
 For much of new, and unaccountable, 
 Thou bring'st : something indeed we heard before, 
 In passing conversation slightly touched, 
 Of such a place ; yet, rather to be taught, 
 Than teaching, answer what thy marvel asks, 
 We need; for we ourselves, though here, are but 
 Of yesterday — creation's younger sons. 
 But there is one, an ancient bard of Earth, 
 Who, by the stream of life, sitting in bliss, 
 Has oft beheld the eternal years complete 
 The mighty circle round the throne of God ; 
 Great in all learning, in all wisdom great, 
 And great in song ; whose harp in lofty strain 
 Tells frequently of what thy wonder craves, 
 While round him, gathering, stand the youth of heaven, 
 With truth and melody delighted both ; 
 To him this path directs, an easy path, . 
 And easy flight will bring us to his seat. 
 
 So saying, they linked hand in hand, spread out 
 Their golden wings, by living breezes fanned, 
 And r/er heaven's broad champaign sailed serene. 
 
16 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 O'er hill and valley, clothed with verdure green 
 That never fades ; and tree, and herb, and flower 
 That never fades ; and many a river, rich 
 With nectar, winding pleasantly, they passed ; 
 And mansion of celestial mould, and work 
 Divine. And oft delicious music, sung 
 By saint and angel bands that walked the vales, 
 Or mountain tops, and harped upon their harps, 
 Their ear inclined, and held by sweet constraint 
 Their wing ; not long, for strong desire awaked 
 Of knowledge that to holy use might turn, 
 Still pressed them on to leave what rather seemed 
 Pleasure, due only when all duty's done. 
 
 And now beneath them lay the wished for spot. 
 The sacred bower of that renowned bard ; 
 That ancient bard, ancient in days and song; 
 But in immortal vigour young, and young 
 In rosy health — to pensive solitude 
 Retiring oft, as was his wont on earth. 
 
 Fit was the place, most fit, for holy musing. 
 Upon a little mount, that gently rose, 
 He sat, clothed in white robes ; and o'er his head 
 A laurel tree, of lustiest, eldest growth, 
 Stately and tall, and shadowing far and wide — 
 Not fruitless, as on earth, but bloomed, and rich 
 With frequent clusters, ripe to heavenly taste — 
 Spread its eternal boughs, and in its arms 
 A myrtle of unfading leaf embraced ; 
 The rose and lily, fresh with fragrant dew, 
 And every flower of fairest cheek, around 
 Him, smiling, flocked; beneath his feet, fast by, 
 And round his sacred hill, a streamlet walked, 
 Warbling the holy melodies of heaven ; 
 The hallowed zephyrs brought him Incense sweet 
 And out before him opened, in prospect long, 
 The river of life, in many a winding mazo 
 
BOOK I. 17 
 
 Descending from the lofty throne of God, 
 That with excessive glory closed the scene. 
 
 Of Adam's race he was, and lonely sat, 
 By chance that day, in meditation deep, 
 Reflecting much of Time, and Earth, and Man : 
 And now to pensive, now to cheerful notes, 
 He touched a harp of wondrous melody ; 
 A golden harp it was, a precious gift, 
 Which, at the day of judgment, with the crown 
 Of life, he had received from God's own hand, 
 Reward due to his service done on earth. 
 
 He sees their coming; and with greeting kind, 
 And welcome, not of hollow forged smiles, 
 And ceremonious compliment of phrase, 
 But of the heart sincere, into his bower 
 Invites. Like greeting they returned ; not bent 
 In low obeisancy, from creature most 
 Unfit to creature ; but with manly form 
 Upright, they entered in ; though high his rank, 
 His wisdom high, and mighty his renown. 
 And thus, deferring all apology, 
 The two their new companion introduced. 
 Ancient in knowledge ! — bard of Adam's race ! 
 We bring thee one of us, inquiring what 
 We need to learn, and with him wish to learn. 
 His asking will direct thy answer best. 
 
 Most ancient bard ! began the new arrived, 
 Few words will set my wonder forth, and guide 
 Thy wisdom's light to what in me is dark. 
 
 Equipped for heaven, I left my native place; 
 But first beyond the realms of light I bent 
 My course ; and there, in utter darkness, far 
 Remote, I beings saw forlorn in wo, 
 Burning continually, yet unconsumed. 
 And there were groans that ended not, and sighs 
 That always sighed, and tears that ever wept, 
 b2 
 
16 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And ever fell, but not in Mercy's sight ; 
 
 And still I heard these wretched beings curse 
 
 Almighty God, and curse the Lamb, and curse 
 
 The Earth, the Resurrection morn, and seek. 
 
 And ever vainly seek, for utter death : 
 
 And from above the thunders answered still, 
 
 " Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not." 
 
 And every where throughout that horrid den, 
 
 I saw a form of excellence ; a form 
 
 Of beauty without spot, that nought could see 
 
 And not admire — admire, and not adore. 
 
 And from its own essential beams it gave 
 
 Light to itself, that made the gloom more dark 
 
 And every eye in that infernal pit 
 
 Beheld it still ; and from its face — how fair ! 
 
 O how exceeding fair ! — for ever sought, 
 
 But ever vainly sought, to turn away. 
 
 That image, as I guess, was Virtue ; for 
 
 Nought else hath God given countenance so fair. 
 
 But why in such a place it should abide ? 
 
 What place it is ? What beings there lament ? 
 
 Whence came they ? and for what their endless gruan ' 
 
 Why curse they God ? why seek they utter death i 
 
 And chief, what means the Resurrection morn ? 
 
 My youth expects thy reverend age to tell. 
 
 Thou rightly deem'st, fair youth, began the bard : 
 The form thou saw'st was Virtue, ever fair. 
 Virtue, like God, whose excellent majesty, 
 Whose glory virtue is, is omnipresent. 
 No being, once created rational, 
 Accountable, endowed with moral sense, 
 With sapience of right and wrong endowed, 
 A.nd charged, however fallen, debased, destroyed; 
 However lost, forlorn, and miserable ; 
 In guilt's dark shrouding wrapt, however thick; 
 However drunk, delirious, and mad, 
 
BOOK I. 19 
 
 With sin's full cup ; and with whatever damned, 
 Unnatural diligence it work and toil, 
 Can banish virtue from its sight, or once 
 Forget that she is fair. Hides it in night, 
 In central night.; takes it the lightning's wing, 
 And flies for ever on, beyond the bounds 
 Of all ; drinks it the maddest cup of sin ; 
 Dives it beneath the ocean of despair ; 
 It dives, it drinks, it flies, it hides in vain : 
 For still the eternal beauty, image fair, 
 Once stampt upon the soul, before the eye 
 All lovely stands, nor will depart ; so God 
 Ordains : and lovely to the worst she seems, 
 And ever seems ; and as they look, and still 
 Must ever look upon her loveliness, 
 Remembrance dire of what they were, of what 
 They might have been, and bitter sense of what 
 They are, polluted, ruined, hopeless, lost, 
 With most repenting torment rend their hearts. 
 So God ordains — their punishment severe, 
 Eternally inflicted by themselves. 
 'Tis this — this Virtue hovering evermore 
 Before the vision of the damned, and in 
 Upon their monstrous moral nakedness 
 Casting unwelcome light, that makes their wo, 
 That makes the essence of the endless flame : 
 Where this is, there is Hell — darker than aught 
 1'hat he, the bard three-visioned, darkest saw. 
 
 The place thou saw'st was Hell ; the groans thou 
 heard'st 
 The wailings of the damned — of those who would 
 Not be redeemed — and at the judgment day, 
 Long past, for unrepented sins were damned. 
 The seven loud thunders which thou heard'st, declare 
 The eternal wrath of the Almighty God. 
 But whence, or why they came to dwell in wo, 
 
20 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Why they curse God, what means the glorious mom 
 Of Resurrection, — these a longer tale 
 Demand, and lead the mournful lyre far back 
 Through memory of sin, and mortal man. 
 Yet haply not rewardless we shall trace 
 The dark disastrous years of finished Time. 
 Sorrows remembered sweeten present joy. 
 Nor yet shall all be sad ; for God gave peace, 
 Much peace, on earth, to all who feared his name 
 
 But first it needs to say, that other style, • 
 And other language than thy ear is wont, 
 Thou must expect to hear — the dialect 
 Of man: for each in heaven a relish holds 
 Of former speech, that point3 to whence he came. 
 But whether I of person speak, or place, 
 Event or action, moral or divine ; 
 Or things unknown compare to things unknown ; 
 Allude, imply, suggest, apostrophize ; 
 Or touch, when wandering through the past, on mood9 
 Of mind thou never felt'st, the meaning still, 
 With easy apprehension, thou shalt take ; 
 So perfect here is knowledge, and the strings 
 Of sympathy so tuned, that every word 
 That each to other speaks, though never heard 
 Before, at once is fully understood, 
 And every feeling uttered, fully felt. 
 
 So shalt thou find, as from my various song, 
 That backward rolls o'er many a tide of years, 
 Directly or inferred, thy asking, thou, 
 And wondering doubt, shalt learn to answer, while 
 I sketch in brief the history of Man. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 This said, he waked the golden harp, and thus 
 While on him inspiration breathed, began. 
 As from yon everlasting hills, that gird 
 Heaven northward, I thy course espied, I judge 
 Thou from the arctic regions came ? Perhaps 
 Thou noticed on thy way a little orb, 
 Attended by one moon — her lamp by night ; 
 With her fair sisterhood of planets seven, 
 Revolving round their central sun — she third 
 In place, in magnitude the fourth — that orb, 
 New made, new named, inhabited anew, 
 (Though whiles we sons of Adam visit still, 
 Our native place ; not changed so far but we 
 Can trace our ancient walks — the scenery 
 Of childhood, youth, and prime, and hoary age — 
 But scenery most of suffering and woj 
 That little orb, in days remote of old, 
 When 'angels yet were young, was made for man. 
 And titled Earth — her primal virgin name : 
 Created first so lovely, so adorned 
 With hill, and dale, and lawn, and winding vale : 
 Woodland, and stream, and lake, and rolling seas, 
 Green mead, and fruitful tree, and fertile grain, 
 And herb and flower : so lovely, so adorned 
 With numerous beasts of every kind, with fowl 
 Of every wing and every tuneful note ; 
 21 
 
22 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And with all fish that in the multitude 
 
 Of waters swam : so lovely, so adorned, 
 
 So fit a dwelling place for man, that, as , 
 
 She rose, complete, at the creating word, 
 
 The morning stars — the Sons of God, aloud 
 
 Shouted for joy ; and God beholding, saw 
 
 The fair design, that from eternity 
 
 His mind conceived, accomplished ; and, well pleased, 
 
 His six days finished work most good pronounced, 
 
 And man declared the sovereign prince of all. 
 
 All else was prone, irrational, and mute, 
 And unaccountable, by' instinct led : 
 But man He made of angel form erect, 
 To hold communion with the heavens above, 
 And on his soul impressed His image fair, 
 His own similitude of holiness, 
 Of virtue, truth, and love ; with reason high 
 To balance right and wrong, and conscience quick 
 To choose or to reject ; with knowledge great, 
 Prudence and wisdom, vigilance and strength, 
 To guard all force or guile ; and last of all, 
 The highest gift of God's abundant grace, 
 With perfect, free, unbiassed will. — Thus man 
 Was made upright, immortal made, and crowned 
 The king of all; to eat, to drink, to do 
 Freely and sovereignly his will entire- — 
 By one command alone restrained, to prove, 
 As was most just, his filial love sincere, 
 His loyalty, obedience due, and faith. 
 And thus the prohibition ran, expressed, 
 As God is wont, in terms of plainest truth. 
 
 Of every tree that in the garden grows 
 Thou mayest freely eat ; but of the tree 
 That knowledge hath of good and ill, eat not, 
 Nor touch ; for in the day thou eatest, thou 
 Shalt die. Go, and this ona command obey ; 
 
BOOK II. 23 
 
 Adam, live and be happy, and, with thy Eve, 
 Fit consort, multiply and fill the earth. 
 
 Thus they, the representatives of men, 
 Were placed in Eden — clyicest spot on earth; 
 With royal honour, and with glory crowned, 
 Adam, the Lord of all, majestic walked, 
 With godlike countenance sublime, arid form 
 Of lofty towering strength ; and by his side 
 Eve, fair as morning star, with modesty 
 Arrayed, with virtue, grace, and perfect love : 
 In holy marriage wed, and eloquent 
 Of thought and comely words, to worship God 
 And sing his praise — the giver of all good. 
 Glad, in each other glad, and glad in hope ; 
 Rejoicing in their future happy race. 
 
 O lovely, happy, blest, immortal pair ! 
 Pleased with the present, full of glorious hope. 
 But short, alas, the song that sings their bliss . 
 Henceforth the history of man grows dark : 
 Shade after shade of deepening gloom descends 
 And Innocence laments her robes defiled. 
 Who farther sings, must change the pleasant lyre 
 To heavy notes of wo. Why ? — dost thou ask, 
 Surprised ? The answer will surprise thee more 
 Man sinned : tempted, he ate the guarded tree 
 Tempted of w r hom thou afterwards shalt hear 
 Audacious, unbelieving, proud, ungrateful, 
 He ate the interdicted fruit, and fell ; 
 And in his fall, his universal race ; 
 For they in him by delegation were, 
 In him to stand or fail — to live or die. 
 Man most ingrate ! so full of grace ! to sin- 
 Here interposed the new arrived — so full 
 Of bliss — to sin against the Gracious One ! 
 The holy, jv^t, and good ! the Eternal Love ! 
 Unseen, unheard, unthought of wickedness! 
 
24 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Why slumbered vengeance ? No, it slumbered not 
 The ever just and righteous God would let 
 His fury loose, and satisfy his threat. 
 
 That had been just, repliedfthe reverend bard : 
 But done, fair youth, thou ne'er hadst met me here : 
 I ne'er had seen yon glorious throne in peace. 
 Thy powers are great, originally great, 
 And purified even at the fount of light. 
 Exert them now ; call all their vigour out ; 
 Take room, think vastly ; meditate intensely , 
 Reason profoundly ; send conjecture forth ; 
 Let fancy fly ; stoop down ; ascend ; all length. 
 All breadth explore ; all moral, ali divine ; 
 Ask prudence, justice, mercy ask, and might ; 
 Weigh good with evil, balance right with wrong , 
 With virtue vice compare — hatred with love ; 
 God's holiness, God's justice, and God's truth, 
 Deliberately and cautiously compare 
 With sinful, wicked, vile, rebellious man, 
 And see if thou can'st punish sin, and let 
 Mankind go free. Thou fail'st — be not surpris'd- 
 I bade thee search in vain. Eternal love — 
 Harp, lift thy voice on high — eternal love, 
 Eternal, sovereign love, and sovereign grace, 
 Wisdom, and power, and mercy infinite, 
 The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God, 
 Devised the wondrous plan — devised, achieved; 
 And in achieving made the marvel more. 
 Attend, ye heavens ! ye heaven of heavens, attend. 1 
 Attend, and wonder ! wonder evermore ! 
 When man had fallen, rebelled, insulted God ; 
 Was most polluted, yet most madly proud ; 
 Indebted infinitely, yet most poor ; 
 Captive to sin, yet willing to be bound ; 
 To God's incensed justice, and hot wrath 
 Exposed ; due victim of eternal death 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 And utter wo — Harp, lift thy voice on high ! 
 
 Ye everlasting hills ! — ye angels, bow ! 
 
 Bow, ye redeemed of men ! God was made flesh, 
 
 And dwelt with man on earth ! the Son of God, 
 
 Only begotten, and well beloved, between 
 
 Men and his Father's justice interposed ; 
 
 Put human nature on ; His wrath sustained ; 
 
 And in their name suffered, obeyed, and died, 
 
 Making his soul an offering for sin ; 
 
 Just for unjust, and innocence for guilt. 
 
 By doing, suffering, dying unconstrained, 
 
 Save by omnipotence of boundless grace, 
 
 Complete atonement made to God appeased; 
 
 Made honourable his insulted law, 
 
 Turning the wrath aside from pardoned man. 
 
 Thus Truth with Mercy met, and Righteousness, 
 
 Stooping from highest heaven, embraced fair Peace 
 
 That walked the earth in fellowship with Love. 
 
 O love divine ! O mercy infinite ! 
 The audience here in glowing rapture broke — 
 O love, all height above, all depth below, 
 Surpassing far all knowledge, all desire, 
 All thought, the. Holy One for sir.ners dies ! 
 The Lord of life for guilty rebels bleeds — 
 Quenches eternal fire with blood divine. 
 Abundant mercy ! overflowing grace ! 
 There whence I came, I something heard of men 
 Their name had reached us, and report did speak 
 Of some abominable horrid thing, 
 Of desperate offence they had committed 
 And something too of wondrous grace we heard ; 
 And oft our celestial visitants 
 
 What man, what God had done, inquired : but they, 
 Forbid, our asking never met directly, 
 Exhorting still to persevere upright, 
 And we should hear in heaven, though greatly blest 
 
2G THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Ourselves, new wonders of God's wondrous love. 
 
 This hinting, keener appetite to know 
 
 Awaked ; and as we talked, and much admired 
 
 What new we there should learn, we hasted each 
 
 To nourish virtue to perfection up, 
 
 That we might have our wondering resolved, 
 
 And leave of louder praise, to greater deeds 
 
 Of loving kindness due. Mysterious 1o* t c : 
 
 God was made flesh, and dwelt with men on earth . 
 
 Blood holy, blood divine for sinners shed ! 
 
 My asking ends — but makes my wonder more. 
 
 Saviour of men ! henceforth be thou my theme : 
 
 Redeeming love, my study day and night. 
 
 Mankind were lost, all lost, and all redeemed ! 
 
 Thou err'st again — but innocently err'st ; 
 Not knowing sin's depravity, nor man's 
 Sincere and persevering wickedness. 
 All were redeemed ? — Not all — or thou had'st heard 
 No human voice in hell. Many refused, 
 Although beseeched, refused to be redeemed ; 
 Redeemed from death to life, from wo to bliss ! 
 
 Canst thou believe my song when thus I sing ? 
 When man had fallen, avas ruined, hopeless, lost — 
 Ye choral harps ! ye angels that excel 
 In strength ! and loudest, ye redeemed of men ! 
 To God — to Him that sits upon the throne 
 On high, and to the Lamb, sing honour, sing 
 Dominion, glory ; blessing sing, and praise — 
 When man had fallen, was ruined, hopeless, lost, 
 Messiah, Prince of Peace, Eternal King, 
 Died, that the dead might live, the lost be saved. 
 Wonder, O heavens ! and be astonished, earth ! 
 Thou ancient, thou forgotten earth ! Yc worlds admire ! 
 Admire, and be confounded ! and thou, Hell ! 
 Deepen thy eternal groan — men would not be 
 Redeemed — I speak of many, not of all — 
 Would not be saved for lost, have life for death J 
 
BOOK II. T. 
 
 Mysterious song ! the new arrived exclaimed ; 
 Mysterious mercy ! most mysterious hate ' 
 To disobey was mad ; this madder far, 
 Incurable insanity of will. 
 
 What now but wrath could guilty men expect ? 
 What more could love, what more could mercy do? 
 
 No more, resumed the bard, no more they could. 
 Thou hast seen hell — the wicked there lament ; 
 And why ? — For love and mercy twice despised. 
 The husbandman, who sluggishly forgot 
 In spring to plough and sow, could censure none, 
 Though winter clamoured round his empty barns. 
 But he who having thus neglected, did 
 Refuse, when Autumn came, and famine threatened 
 To reap the golden field that charity 
 Bestowed — nay, more obdurate, proud, and blind, 
 And stupid still, refused, though much beseeched, 
 And long entreated, even with Mercy's tears, 
 To eat what to his very lips was held, 
 Cooked temptingly — he certainly, at least, 
 Deserved to die of hunger, unbemoaned. 
 So did the wicked spurn the grace of God ; 
 And so were punished with the second death. 
 The first, no doubt, punition less severe 
 Intended, death belike of all entire- ; 
 But this incurred by God discharged, and life 
 Freely presented, and again despised — 
 Despised, though bought with Mercy's proper blood 
 'Twas this dug hell, and kindled all its bounds 
 With wrath and inextinguishable fire. 
 
 Free was the offer, free to all, of life 
 And of salvation ; but the proud of heart, 
 Because 'twas free, would not accept ; and still 
 To merit wished : and choosing, thus unshipped, 
 Uncompassed, unprovisioned, and bestormed, 
 To swim a sea of brea'dth immeasurable, 
 
28 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 They scorned the goodly bark, whose wings the breath 
 
 Of God's eternal Spirit filled for heaven, 
 
 That stopped to take them in ! and so were lost. 
 
 What wonders dost thou tell '? to merit, how 1 
 Of creature meriting in sight of God, 
 As right of service done, I never heard 
 Till now. We never fell ; in virtue stood 
 Upright, and persevered in holiness; 
 But stood by grace, by grace we persevered • 
 Ourselves, our deeds, our holiest, highest deeds 
 Unworthy aught — grace worthy endless praise. 
 If we fly swift, obedient to his will, 
 He gives us wings to fly ; if we resist 
 Temptation, and ne'er fall, it is his shield 
 Omnipotent that wards it off'; if we, 
 With love unquenchable, before him burn, 
 'Tis he that lights and keeps alive the flame. 
 Men surely lost their reason in their fall, 
 And did not understand the offer made. 
 
 They might have understood, the bard replied. 
 They had the Bible. Hast thou ever heard 
 Of such a book? the author, God himself; 
 The subject, God and man; salvation, life 
 And death — eternal life, eternal death — 
 Dread words ! whose meaning has no end, no bonnes— » 
 Most wondrous, book ! bright candle of the Lord: 
 Star of eternity ! the only star 
 By which the bark of man could navigate 
 The sea of life, and gain the coast of bliss 
 Securely : only star which rose on Time, 
 And, on its dark and troubled billows, still, 
 As generation, drifting swiftly by, 
 Succeeded generation, threw a ray 
 Of heaven's own light, and to the hills of God, 
 The everlasting hills, pointed the sinner's eye : 
 By prophets, seers, and priests, and sacred bards, 
 
BOOK II. 29 
 
 Evangelists, apostles, men inspired, 
 And by the Holy Ghost anointed, set 
 Apart and consecrated to declare 
 To earth the counsels of the Eternal One, 
 This oook, this holiest, this sublimest book, 
 Was $eiiL — Heaven's will, Heaven's code of laws entire 
 To man, this book contained ; denned the bounds 
 Of vice and virtue, and of life and death ; 
 And what was shadow, what was substance taught. 
 Much it revealed ; important all ; the least 
 Worth more than what else seemed of highest worth : 
 But this of plainest, most essential truth — 
 That God is one, eternal, holy, just, 
 Omnipotent, omniscient, infinite; 
 Most wise, most good, most merciful and true ; 
 In all perfection most unchangeable : 
 That man — that every man of every clime 
 And hue, of every age, and every rank, 
 Was bad — by nature and by practice bad ; 
 In understanding blind, in will perverse, 
 In heart corrupt ; in every thought, and word, 
 Imagination, passion, and desire, 
 Most utterly depraved throughout, and ill, 
 In sight of Heaven, though less in sight of man i 
 At enmity with God his maker born, 
 And by his very life an heir of death: 
 That man — that every man was, farther, most 
 Unable to redeem himself, or pay 
 One mite of his vast debt to God — nay, more, 
 Was most reluctant and averse to be 
 Redeemed, and sin's most voluntary slave : 
 That Jesus, Son of God, of Mary bcrn 
 In Bethlehem, and by Filate crucified 
 On Calvary for man thus fallen and lost, 
 Died ; and, by death, life and salvation bought, 
 And perfect righteousness, for all who should 
 c2 
 
30 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 In ms great name believe : that He, the third 
 
 In the eternal Essence, to the prayer 
 
 Sincere should come, should come as soon as asked 
 
 Proceeding- from the Father and the Son, 
 
 To give faith and repentance, such as God 
 
 Accepts — to open the intellectual eyes, 
 
 Blinded by sin ; to bend the stubborn will, 
 
 Perversely to the side of wrong inclined, 
 
 To God and his commandments, just and good ; 
 
 The wild rebellious passions to subdue, 
 
 And bring them back to harmony with heaven ; 
 
 To purify the conscience, and to lead 
 
 The mind into all truth, and to adorn 
 
 With every holy ornament of grace, 
 
 And sanctify the whole renewed soul, 
 
 Which henceforth might no more fall totally 
 
 But persevere, though erring oft, amidst 
 
 The mists of time, in piety to God, 
 
 And sacred works of charity to men : 
 
 That he, who thus believed, and practised thus, 
 
 Should have his sins forgiven, however vile ; 
 
 Should he sustained at mid-day, morn, and even, 
 
 By God's omnipotent, eternal grace ; 
 
 And in the evil hour of sore disease, 
 
 Temptation, persecution, war, and death — 
 
 For temporal death, although unstinged, remained — 
 
 Beneath the shadow of the Almighty % s wings 
 
 Should sit unhurt, and at the judgment-day, 
 
 Should share the resurrection of the just, 
 
 And reign with Christ in bliss for evermore : 
 
 That all, however named, however great, 
 
 Who would not thus believe, nor practice thus. 
 
 But in their sins impenitent remained, 
 
 Should in perpetual fear and terror live; 
 
 Should die unpardoned, Unredeemed, unsaved ' 
 
 And at the hour of doom, should be cast out 
 
BOOK II. 31 
 
 To utter darkness in the night of hell, 
 By mercy and by God abandoned, there 
 To reap the harvests of eternal wo. 
 
 This did that book declare in obvious phrase, 
 In most sincere and honest words, by God 
 Himself selected and arranged ; so clear, 
 So plain, so perfectly distinct, that, none 
 Who read with humble wish to understand, 
 And asked the Spirit, given to all who asked, 
 Could miss their meaning, blazed in heavenly lignt. 
 
 This book — this holy book, on every line 
 Marked with the seal of high divinity, 
 On every leaf bedewed with drops of love 
 Divine, and with the eternal heraldry 
 And signature of God Almighty stampt 
 From first to last — this ray of sacred light, 
 This lamp, from off the everlasting throne, 
 Mercy took down, and, in the night of time 
 Stood, casting on the dark her gracious bow ; 
 And evermore beseeching men, with tears 
 And earnest sighs, to read, believe, and live : 
 And many to her voice gave ear, and read, 
 Believed, obeyed ; and now, as the Amen, 
 True, Faithful Witness swore, with snowy robes 
 And branchy palms surround the fount of life, 
 And drink the streams of immortality, 
 For ever happy, and for ever young. 
 
 Many believed ; but more the truth of God 
 Turned to a lie, deceiving'and deceived ; — 
 Each, with the accursed sorcery of sin, 
 To his own wish and vile propensity 
 Transforming still the meaning of the text. 
 
 Hear, while I briefly tell what mortals proved, 
 By effort vast of ingenuity, 
 
 Most wondrous, though perverse and damnable ; — 
 Proved from the Bible, which, as thou hast heard. 
 
32 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 So plainly spoke that all could understand. 
 
 First, and not least in number, argued sonve 
 
 From out this book itself, it was a lie, 
 
 A fable framed by crafty men to cheat 
 
 The simple herd, and make them bow the knee 
 
 To king's and priests. These in their wisdom left 
 
 The light revealed, and turned to fancies wild ; 
 
 Maintaining loud, that ruined, helpless man. 
 
 Needed ~\o saviour. Otbers proved that men 
 
 Might live and die in sin, and yet be saved, 
 
 For so it was decreed ; binding the will, 
 
 By God left free, to unconditional, 
 
 Unreasonable fate. Others believed 
 
 That he who was most criminal, debased, 
 
 Condemned, and dead, unaided might ascend 
 
 The heights of virtue ; to a perfect law 
 
 Giving a lame, half-way obedience, which 
 
 By useless effort only served to show 
 
 The impotence of him who vainly strove 
 
 With finite arm to measure infinite ; 
 
 Most useless effort ! when to justify 
 
 In sight of God it meant, as proof of faith 
 
 Most acceptable, and worthy of all praise. 
 
 Another held, and from the Bible held, 
 
 He was infallible, — most fallen by such 
 
 Pretence — that none the Scriptures, open to all, 
 
 And most to humble-hearted, ought to read, 
 
 But priests ; that all who ventured to disclaim 
 
 His forged authority, incurred the wrath 
 
 Of Heaven ; and he who, in the blood of such, 
 
 Though father, mother, daughter, wife, or son 
 
 Imbrued his hands, did most religious work, 
 
 Well pleasing to the heart of the Most High. 
 
 Others, in outward rite devotion placed ; 
 
 In meats, in drinks; in robe of certain shane-^ 
 
 In bodily abasements, bended knees ; 
 
BOOK II. 33 
 
 Days, numbers, places, vestment?, words, and name*— 
 
 Absurdly in their hearts imagining 1 , 
 
 That God, like men, was pleased with outward show. 
 
 Another, stranger and more wicked still, 
 
 With dark and dolorous labour, ill applied, 
 
 With many a gripe of conscience, and with most 
 
 Unhealthy and abortive reasoning, 
 
 That brought his sanity to serious doubt, 
 
 'Mong wise and honest men, maintained that He, 
 
 First Wisdom, Great Messiah, Prince of Peace, 
 
 The second of the uncreated Three, 
 
 Was nought but man — of earthly origin ; 
 
 Thus making void the sacrifice Divine, 
 
 And leaving guilty men, God's holy law 
 
 Still unatoned, to work them endless death. 
 
 These are a part; but. to relate thee all 
 
 The monstrous, unbaptized phantasies, 
 
 Imaginations fearfully absurd, 
 
 Hobgoblin rites, and moon-struck reveries » 
 
 Distracted creeds, and visionary dreams, 
 
 More bodiless and hideously misshapen 
 
 Than ever fancy, at the noon of night, 
 
 Playing at will, framed in the madman's* brain, 
 
 That from this book of simple truth were proved, 
 
 Were proved, as foolish men were wont to prove, 
 
 Would bring my word in doubt, and thy belief 
 
 Stagger, though here I sit and sing, within 
 
 The pale of truth, where falsehood never came. 
 
 The rest, who lost the heavenly light revealed 
 Not wishing to retain God in their minds, 
 In darkness wandered on : yet could they not, 
 Though moral night around them drew her pall 
 Of blackness, rest in utter unbelief. 
 The voice within, the voice of God, that nought 
 Could bribe to sleep, though steeped in sorcorio*- 
 Of Hell, and much abused by whisperings 
 
34 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of evil spirits in the dark, announced 
 
 A day of judgment, and a judge, — a day 
 
 Of misery, or biiss; — and, being ill 
 
 At ease, lor god3 they chose them stocks and stones, 
 
 Reptiles, and weeds, and beasts, and creeping things, 
 
 And spirits accursed — ten thousand deities ! 
 
 (Imagined worse than he who craved their peace,) 
 
 And, bowing, worshipped these as best beseemed, 
 
 With midnight revelry, obscene and loud, 
 
 With dark, infernal, devilish ceremonies, 
 
 And horrid sacrifice of human flesh, 
 
 That made the fair heavens blush. So bad was Sin ! 
 
 So lost, so ruined, so depraved was man ! 
 
 Created first in God's own image fair ! 
 
 Oh, cursed, cursed Sin ! traitor to God, 
 And miner of man ! mother of Wo, 
 And Death, and Hell, — wretched, yet seeking worse • 
 Polluted most, yet wallowing in the mire ; 
 Most mad, yet drinking Frenzy's giddy cup ; 
 Depth ever deepening, darkness darkening still , 
 Folly for wisdom, guilt for innocence ; 
 Anguish for rapture, and for hope despair ; 
 Destroyed, destroying ; in tormenting pained ; 
 Unawed by wrath ; by mercy unreclaimed ; 
 Thing most unsightly, most forlorn, most sad — 
 Thy time on earth is past, thy war with God 
 And holiness : but who, oh who shall tell, 
 Thy unrepentable and ruinous thoughts ! 
 Thy sighs, thy groans ? Who reckon thy burning tear?, 
 And damned looks of everlasting grief, 
 Where now, with those who took their part with thee. 
 Thou sitt'st m Hell, gnawed by the eternal Worm — 
 To hurt no more on all the holy hills ? 
 
 That those, deserting once the lamp of trutlu 
 Should wander ever on, from worse to worse 
 Erroneously, thy wonder needs not ask : 
 
BOOK IT. 33 
 
 But that enlightened, reasonable men, 
 
 Knowing themselves accountable, to whom 
 
 God spoke from heaven, and by his servants warned, 
 
 Both clay and night, with earnest, pleading voice, 
 
 Of retribution equal to their works. 
 
 Should persevere in evil, and be lost — 
 
 This strangeness, this unpardonable guilt, 
 
 Demands an answer, which my song unfolds, 
 
 In part, directly ; but hereafter more, 
 
 To satisfy thy wonder, thou shalt learn, 
 
 Inferring much from what is yet to sing. 
 
 Know then, of men who sat in highest place 
 Exalted, and for sin by others done 
 Were chargeable, the king and priest were chief 
 Many were faithful, holy, just, upright, 
 Faithful to God and man — reigning renowned 
 In righteousness, and, to the people, loud 
 And fearless, speaking all the words of life. 
 These at the judgment-day, as thou shalt hear. 
 Abundant harvest reaped; but many, too, 
 Alas, how many ! famous now in Hell, 
 Were wicked, cruel, tyrannous, and vile ; 
 Ambitious of themselves, abandoned, mad ; 
 And still from servants hasting to be gods, 
 Such gods as now they serve in Erebus. 
 I pass their lewd example by, that led 
 So many wrong, for courtly fashion lost, 
 And prove them guilty of one crime alone. 
 Of every wicked ruler, prince supreme, 
 Or magistrate below, the one intent, 
 Purpose, desire, and struggle day and night; 
 Was evermore to wrest the crown from off 
 Messiah's head, and put it on his own ; 
 \nd in His place give spiritual laws to men ; 
 To bind religion — free by birth, by God, 
 And nature free, and made accountable 
 
&} THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 To none but God — behind the wheels of state 
 To make the holy altar, where the Prince 
 Of life, incarnate, bled to ransom man, 
 A footstool to the throne. For this they met. 
 Assembled, counselled, meditated, planned; 
 Devised in open and secret ; and for this 
 Enacted creeds of wondrous texture, creeds 
 The Bible never owned, unsanctioned too, 
 And reprobate in heaven ; but by the power 
 That made, (exerted now in gentler form, 
 Monopolizing rights and privileges, 
 Equal to all, and waving now the sword 
 Of persecution fierce, tempered in hell,) 
 Forced on the conscience of inferior men : 
 The conscience, that sole monarchy in man, 
 Owing allegiance to no earthly prince ; 
 Made by the edict of creation free ; 
 Made sacred, made above all human laws ; 
 Holding of heaven alone ; of most divine 
 And indefeasible authority ; 
 An individual sovereignty, that none 
 Created might, unpunished, bind or touch ; 
 Unbound, save by the eternal laws of God, 
 And unamenable to all below. 
 
 Thus did the uncircumcised potentates 
 Of earth debase religion in the sight 
 Of those they ruled — who, looking up, beheld 
 The fair celestial gift despised, enslaved : 
 And, mimicking the folly of the great, 
 With prompt docility despised her too. 
 
 The prince or magistrate, however named 
 Or praised, who, knowing better, acted thus, 
 Was wicked, and received, as he deserved, 
 Damnation. But the unfaithful priest, what toagua 
 Enough shall execrate? His doctrine may 
 Be passed, though mixed with most unhallowed i« eh 
 
BOOK II. 37 
 
 That proved to those who foolishly partook, 
 
 Eternal bitterness : — but this was still 
 
 His sin — beneath what cloak soever veiled, 
 
 His ever growing and perpetual sin, 
 
 First, last, and middle thought, whence every wish, 
 
 Whence every action rose, and ended both — 
 
 To mount to place, and power of worldly sort; 
 
 To ape the gaudy pomp and equipage 
 
 Of earthly state, and on his mitred brow 
 
 To place a royal crown : for this he sola 
 
 The sacred truth to him who most would giv*-. 
 
 Of titles, benefices, honours, names: 
 
 For this betrayed his Master ; and for this 
 
 Made merchandise of the immortal souls 
 
 Committed to his care — this was his sin. 
 
 Of all who office held unfairly, none 
 Could plead excuse ; he least, and la$t of all. 
 By solemn, awful ceremony, he 
 Was set apart to speak the truth entire, 
 By action, and by word ; and round him stooa 
 The people, from his lips expecting knowledge 
 One day in seven, the Holy Sabbath termed, 
 They stood ; for h« had sworn, in face of God 
 And man, to deal sincerely with their souls ; 
 To preach the gospel for the gospel's sake ; 
 Had sworn to hate and put away all pride, 
 All vanity, all love of earthly pomp ; 
 To seek all mercy, meekness, truth, and grace : 
 And being so endowed himself, and taught, 
 In them iike works of holiness to move ; 
 Dividing faithfully the word of life. 
 And oft indeed the word of life he taught ; 
 But practising, as thou hast heard, who could 
 Believe ? Thus was religion wounded sore 
 At her own altars, and among her friends. 
 The people went away, and, like the priest, 
 D 
 
3S THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Fulfilling what the prophet spoke before, 
 For honour strove, and wealth, and place, as if 
 The preacher had rehearsed an idle tale. 
 The enemies of God rejoiced, and loud 
 The unbeliever laughed, boasting a life 
 Of fairer character than his, who owned, 
 For king and guide, the undefiled One. 
 
 Most guilty, villanous, dishonest man ! 
 Wolf in the clothing of the gentle lamb ! 
 Dark traitor in Messiah's holy camp ! 
 Leper in saintly garb ! — assassin masked 
 In Virtue's robe ! vile hypocrite accursed ! 
 I strive in vain to set his evil forth. 
 The words that should sufficiently accursc. 
 And execrate such reprobate, had need 
 Come glowing from the lips of eldest hell. 
 Among the saddest in the den of wo, 
 Thou saw'st him saddest, 'mong the damned, ?nos< 
 damned. 
 
 But why should I with indignation burn, 
 Not well beseeming here, and long forgot? 
 Or why one censure for another's sin ? 
 Each had his conscience, each his reason, will, 
 And understanding, for himself to search, 
 To choose, reject, believe, consider, act : 
 And God proclaimed from heaven, and by an oath 
 Confirmed, that each should answer for himself; 
 And as his own peculiar work should be, 
 Done by his proper self, should live, or die. 
 But sin, deceitful and deceiving still, 
 Had gained the heart, and reason led astray. 
 
 A strange belief, that leaned its idiot back 
 On folly's topmost twig — belief that God, 
 Most wise, had made a world, had creatures maaa. 
 Beneath his care to govern, and protect, — 
 Devoured its thousands. Reason, not the true, 
 Learned, deep, sober, comprehensive* sound ; 
 
BOOK II. 39 
 
 But bigoted, one-eyed, short-sighted Reason, 
 Most zealous, ar>d sometimes, no doubt, sincere, 
 Devoured its thousands. Vanity to be 
 Renowned for creed eccentrical — devoured 
 Its thousands : butm lazy, corpulent, 
 And over-credulous faith, that leaned on all 
 It met, nor asked if 'twas a reed or oak ; 
 Stepped on, but never earnestly inquired 
 Whether to heaven or hell the journey led, 
 Devoured its tens of thousands, and its hands 
 Made reddest in the precious blood of souls. 
 
 In Time's pursuits men ran till out of breath. 
 The astronomer soared up, and counted stars, 
 And gazed, and gazed upon the Heaven's bright face 
 Till he dropt down dim-eyed into the grave: 
 The numerist in calculations deep 
 Grew gray : the merchant at his desk expired : 
 The statesman hunted for another place, 
 Till death o'ertook him, and made him his prey : 
 The miser spent his eldest energy, 
 In grasping for another mite : the scribe 
 Rubbed pensively his old and withered brow, 
 Devising new impediments to hold 
 In doubt the .suit that threatened to end too soon : 
 The priest collected tithes, and pleaded rights 
 Of decimation to the very last. 
 In science, learning, all philosophy, 
 Men laboured all their days, and laboured hard, 
 And dying, sighed how little they had done : 
 But in religion they at once grew wise. 
 A creed in print, though never understood ; 
 A theologic system on the shelf, 
 Was spiritual lore enough, and served their turn ; 
 But served it ill. They sinned, and never xnew ; 
 For what the Bible said of good and bad, 
 Of holiness and sin, they never asked. 
 
 Absurd, prodigiously absurd, to think 
 
40 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 That man's minute and feeble faculties, 
 
 Even in the very childhood of his being-, 
 
 With mortal shadows dimmed, and wrapt around 
 
 Could comprehend at once the mighty scheme, 
 
 Where rolled the ocean of eternal $ve ; 
 
 Where wisdom infinite its master stroke 
 
 Displayed ; and where omnipotence, opprest, 
 
 Did travel in the greatness of its strength; 
 
 And everlasting justice lifted up 
 
 The sword to smite the guiltless Son of God ; 
 
 And mercy, smiling, bade the sinner go ! 
 
 Redemption is the science, and the song 
 
 Of all eternity : archangels day 
 
 And night into its glories look: the saints, 
 
 The elders round the throne, old in the years 
 
 Of heaven, examine it perpetually; 
 
 And, every hour, get clearer, ampler views 
 
 Of right and wrong — see virtue's beauty more, 
 
 See vice more utterly depraved, and vile ; 
 
 And this with a more perfect hatred hate, 
 
 That daily love with a more perfect love. 
 
 But whether I for man's perdition blame 
 Office administered amiss; pursuit 
 Of pleasure ^dse; perverted reason blind ; 
 Or indolence that ne'er inquired — I blame 
 Effect and consequence ; the branch, the leaf. 
 Who finds the fount and bitter root, the first 
 And guiltiest cause whence sprung this endless* * 
 Must deep descend into the human heart, 
 And find it there. Dread passion ! making men 
 On earth, and even in hell, if Mercy yet 
 Would stoop so low, unwilling to be saved, 
 If saved by grace of God. — Hear then, in brief., 
 What peopled hell, what holds its prisoners ther* 
 
 Pride self-adoring pride, was primal cause 
 Of all sin past, all pain, all woe to come. 
 Unconquerable pride ! first, eldest sin ; 
 
BOOK II. 41 
 
 Great fountain-head of evil ; highest source, 
 
 Whence flowed rebellion 'gainst the Omnipotent, 
 
 Whence hate of man to man, and all else ill. 
 
 Pride at the bottom of the human heart 
 
 Lay, and gave root and nourishment to all 
 
 That grew above. Great ancestor of vice ! 
 
 Hate, unbelief, and blasphemy of God ; 
 
 Envy and slander ; malice and revenge ; 
 
 And murder, and deceit, and every birth 
 
 Of damned sort, was progeny of pride. 
 
 It was the ever-moving, acting force, 
 
 The constant aim, and the most thirsty wish 
 
 Of every sinner unrenewed, to be 
 
 A. god : — in purple or in rags, to have 
 
 Himself adored : whatever shape or form 
 
 His actions took : whatever phrase he threw 
 
 About his thoughts, or mantle o'er his life, 
 
 To be the highest, was the inward cause 
 
 Of all — the purpose of the heart to be 
 
 Set up, admired, obeyed. But who would bow 
 
 The knee to one who served and was dependent 7 
 
 Hence man's perpetual struggle, night and day, 
 
 To prove he was his own proprietor, 
 
 And independent of his God, that what 
 
 He had might be esteemed his own, and praised 
 
 As such. — He laboured still, and tried to stand 
 
 Alone unpropped — to be obliged to none ; 
 
 And in the madness of his pride he bade 
 
 His God farewell, and turned away to be 
 
 A god himself; resolving to rely, 
 
 Whatever came, upon his own right hand. 
 
 O desperate frenzy ! madness of the will ! 
 And drunkenness of the heart ! that nought could quench 
 But floods of woe, poured from the sea of wrath. 
 Behind which mercy set. To think to turn 
 The back on life original, and live — 
 d2 
 
42 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The creature to set up a rival throne 
 
 In the Creator's realm — to deify 
 
 A worm — and in the sight of God be proud — 
 
 To lift an arm of flesh against the shafts 
 
 Of the Omnipotent, and midst his wrath 
 
 To seek for happiness — insanity 
 
 Most mad ! guilt most complete ! Seest thou those worlds 
 
 That roll at various distance round the throne 
 
 Of God, innumerous, and fill the calm 
 
 Of heaven with sweetest harmony, when saints 
 
 And angels sleep — as one of these, from love 
 
 Centripetal withdrawing, and from light, 
 
 And heat, and nourishment cut off, should rush 
 
 Abandoned o'er the line that runs between 
 
 Create and increate ; from ruin driven 
 
 To ruin still, through the abortive waste ; 
 
 So pride from God drew off the bad ; and so 
 
 Forsaken of him, he lets them ever try 
 
 Their single arm against the second death , 
 
 Amidst vindictive thunders lets them try 
 
 The stoutness of their hearts ; and lets them try 
 
 To quench their thirst amidst the unfading fire ; 
 
 And to reap joy where he has sown despair ; 
 
 To walk alone, unguided, unbemoaned, 
 
 Where Evil dwells, and Death, and moral Night; 
 
 In utter emptiness to find enough ; 
 
 1 1 utter dark find light ; and find repose 
 
 Where God with tempest plagues fur evermore : 
 
 For so they wished it, so did pride desire. 
 
 Such was the cause that turned so many off 
 Rebelliously from God, and led themvm 
 From vain to vainer still, in endless chase. 
 And such the cause that made so many cheeks 
 Pale, and so many knees to shake, when men 
 Rose from the grave; as thou shalt hear anon. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE *0F TIME. 
 
 BOOK Hi. 
 
 Behold'st thou yonder, on the crystal sea, 
 Beneath the throne of God, an image fair, 
 And in its hand a mirror large and bright ?— 
 'Tis truth, immutable, eternal truth, 
 In figure emblematical expressed. 
 Before it Virtue stands, and smiling sees, 
 Well pleased, in her reflected soul, no spot. 
 The sons of heaven, archangel, seraph, saint, 
 There daily read their own essential worth ; 
 And, as they read, take pjace among the just; 
 Or high, or low, each as his value seems. 
 There each his certain interest learns, his true 
 Capacity : and, going thence, pursues, 
 Unerringly through all the tracts of thought, 
 As God ordains, best ends by wisest means. 
 
 The Bible held this mirror's place on earth: 
 But, few would read, or, reading, saw themselves 
 The chase was after shadows, phantoms strange, 
 That in the twilight walked of Time, and mocked 
 The eager hunt, escaping evermore ; 
 Yet with so many promises and looks 
 Of gentle sort, that he whose arms returned 
 Empty a thousand times, still stretched tjiem out, 
 And, grasping, brought them back again unfilled. 
 
 In rapid outline thou hast heard of man ; 
 His death ; his offered life; that life by most 
 
 43 
 
44 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Despised; the Star of God — the Bible, scorned, 
 That else to happiness and heaven had led, 
 And saved my lyre from narrative of woe. 
 Hear now more largely of the, ways of Time; 
 The fond pursuits and vanities of men. 
 
 Love God, love truth, love virtue, and he happy :— 
 These were the words first uttered in the ear 
 Of every being rational made, and made 
 For thought, or word, or deed accountable. 
 Most men the first forgot, the second none. 
 Whatever path they took, by hill or vale, 
 By night or day, the universal wish, 
 The aim, and sole intent, was happiness : 
 But, erring from the heaven-appointed path, 
 Strange tracks indeed they took through barren wastea 
 And up the sandy mountain climbing toiled, 
 Which, pining, lay beneath the curse of God, 
 And nought produced : yet did the traveller look, 
 And point his eye before him greedily, 
 As if he saw some verdant spot, where grew 
 The heavenly flower, where sprung the well of life, 
 Where undisturbed felicity reposed ; 
 Though Wisdom's eye no vestige could discern, 
 That happiness had ever passed that way. 
 
 Wisdom was right : for still the terms remained 
 Unchanged, unchangeable; the terms on which 
 True peace was given to man ; unchanged as God, 
 Who, in his own essential nature, binds 
 Eternally to virtue happiness, 
 Nor lets them part through all his Universe 
 
 Philosophy, as thou shalt hear, when she 
 Shall have her praise — her praise and censure too, 
 Did much, refining and exalting man ; 
 But could not nurse a single plant that bore 
 True happiness. — From age to age she toiled; 
 Shed from her eyes the mist that dimmed them still, 
 
BOOK III. 45 
 
 Looked forth on man ; explored the wild and tame, 
 
 The savage and polite, the sea and land, 
 
 And starry heavens; and tnen retired far back 
 
 To meditation's silent shady seat; 
 
 And there sat pale, and thoughtfully, and weighed 
 
 With wary, most exact and scrupulous care, 
 
 Man's nature, passions, hopes, propensities, 
 
 Relations, and pursuits, in reason's scale ; 
 
 And searched and weighed, and weighed and searched 
 
 again, 
 And many a fair and goodly volume wrote, 
 That seemed well worded too, wherein were found 
 Uncountable receipts, pretending each, 
 If carefully attended to, to cure 
 Mankind of folly ; — to root out the briers, 
 And thorns, and weeds that choked the grow.th of joy : 
 And showing too, in plain and decent phrase, 
 Which sounded much like wisdom's, how to plant, 
 To shelter, water, culture, prune, and rear 
 The tree of happiness ; and oft their plans 
 Were tried; — but still the fruit was green and sour. 
 
 Of all the trees that in Earth's vineyard grew, 
 And with their clusters tempted man to pull 
 And cat, — one tree, one tree alone, the true 
 Celestial manna bore, which filled the soul — 
 The tree of Holiness — of heavenly seed ; 
 A native of the skies; though stunted much, 
 And dwarfed, by Time's cold, damp, ungenial soil- 
 And chilling winds, yet yielding fruit so pure, 
 So nourishing and sweet, as, on his way* 
 Refreshed the pilgrim; and begot desire 
 Unquenchable to climb the arduous path 
 To where her sister plants, in their own clime, 
 Around the fount, and by the stream of life, 
 Blooming beneath the Sun that never s3ts. 
 Bear fruit of perfect relish^ fully ripe 
 
46 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Ta plant this tree, uprooted by the fall, 
 To earth the Son of God descended, shed 
 His precious blood ; and on it evermore, 
 From oft' his living- wings, the Spirit shook 
 The dews of heaven, to nurse and hasten its growth 
 Nor was this care, this infinite expense, 
 Not needed to secure the holy plant. 
 To root it out, and wither it from earth, 
 Hell strove with all its strength, and blew with all 
 Its blasts ; and Sin, with cold, consumptive breath, 
 Involved it still in clouds of mortal damp. 
 Yet did it grow, thus kept, protected thus : 
 Ai»d bear the only fruit of true delight; 
 The only fruit worth plucking under heaven. 
 
 But few, alas ! the holy plant could see, 
 For heavy mists that Sin around it threw 
 Perpetually ; and few the sacrifice 
 Would make by which alone its clusters stooped, 
 And came within the reach of mortal man. 
 For this, of him who would approach and eat, 
 Was rigorously exacted to the full : — 
 To tread and bruise beneath the foot, the world 
 Entire ; its prides, ambitions, hopes, desires ; 
 Its gold, and all its broidered equipage ; 
 To loose its loves and friendships from the heart, 
 And cast them off; to shut the ear against 
 Its praise, and all its flatteries abhor; 
 And having thus behind him thrown what secmeo 
 So good and fair, then must he lowly kneel, 
 And with sincerity, in which the Eye 
 That slumbers not, nor sleeps, could see no lack, 
 This prayer pray : — " Lord God ! thy will be done 
 Thy holy will, howe'er it cross my own." 
 Hard labour this for flesh and blood! too hard 
 For most it seemed : so, turning, they the tree 
 Derided, as mere bramble, that could bear 
 
BOOK III. 47 
 
 No fruit of special taste ; and so set out 
 
 Upon ten thousand dilfercnt routes to seek 
 
 What they had left behind ; to seek what they 
 
 Had lost — for still as something once possest, 
 
 And lost, true happiness appeared : all thought 
 
 They once were happy ; and even while they smoker 1 
 
 And panted in the chase, believed themselves 
 
 More miserable to-day than yesterday — 
 
 To-morrow than to day. When youth complained, 
 
 The ancient sinner shook his hoary head, 
 
 As if he meant to say : Stop till you come 
 
 My length, and then you may have cause to sigh. 
 
 At twenty, cried the boy, who now had seen 
 
 Some blemish in his joys: How happily 
 
 Plays yonder child that busks tlie mimic babe, 
 
 And gathers gently flowers, and never sighs ! 
 
 At forty in the fervour of pursuit, 
 
 Far on in disappointment's dreary vale, 
 
 The grave and sage-Iiko man looked back upon 
 
 The stripling youth of plump unseared hope, 
 
 Who galloped gay and briskly up behind ; 
 
 And, moaning,, wished himself eighteen again. 
 
 And he of threescore years and ten, in whose 
 
 Chilled eye, fatigued with gaping after hope, 
 
 Earth's freshest verdure seemed but blasted leaves, — 
 
 Praised childhood, youth, and manhood, and denounced 
 
 Old age alone as barren of all joy. 
 
 Decisive proof that men had left behind 
 
 The happiness they sought, anoVtaken a most 
 
 Erroneous path ; since every step they took 
 
 Was deeper mire. Yet did they onward run, 
 
 Pursuing hope that danced before them still, 
 
 And beckoned them to proceed ;■ and with their hands, 
 
 That shook and trembled piteously with age, 
 
 Grasped at the lying Shade, even till the earth 
 
 Beneath them broke, and wrapt them in the grave. 
 
48 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Sometimes, indeed, when wisdom in their ear 
 Whispered, and with its disenchanting wand 
 Effectually touched the sorcery of their eyes, 
 Directly pointing to the holy tree, 
 Where grew the food they sought, they turned, surprise 
 That they had missed so long what now they found. 
 As one upon whose mind some new and rare 
 Idea glances, and retires as quick, 
 Ere memory have time to write it down ; 
 Stung with the loss, into a thoughtful cast, 
 He throws his face, and rubs his vexed brow ; 
 Searches each nook and corner of his soul 
 With frequent care; reflects, and re-reflects, 
 And tries to touch relations that may start 
 The fugitive again: and oft is foiled; 
 Till something like a seeming chance, or flight 
 Of random fancy, when expected least, 
 Calls back the wandered thought — long sought in vain 
 Then does uncommon joy fill all his mind; 
 And still he wonders, as he holds it fast, 
 What lay so near he could not sooner find : 
 So did the man rejoice, when from his eye 
 The film of folly fell, and what he day 
 And night, and far and near, had idly searched, 
 Sprung up before him suddenly displayed ; 
 So wondered why he missed the tree so long. 
 But, few returned from folly's giddy chase* 
 Few heard the voice of wisdom, or obeyed. 
 Keen was the searci^, and various, and wide r 
 Without, within, along the flowery vain, 
 And up the rugged cliff, and on the top 
 Of mountains high, and on the ocean wave. 
 Keen was the search, and various, and wide, 
 And ever and anon a shout was heard : 
 Ho ! here's the tree of life ; come, eat, and live ! 
 And round the new discoverer quick they flocked 
 
BOOK III. 49 
 
 In multitude?,, and plucked, and with great haste 
 Devoured ; and sometimes in the lips 'twas sweet, 
 And promised well ; but in the belly, gall. 
 Yet after him that cried again : Ho ! here's 
 The tree of life ; again they run, and pulled, 
 And chewed again, and found it bitter still. 
 From disappointment on to disappointment. 
 Year after year, age after age pursued : 
 The child, the youth, the hoary headed man, 
 Alike pursued, and ne'er grew wise : for it 
 Was folly's most peculiar attribute, 
 And native act, to make experience void. 
 
 But hastily, as pleasures tasted turned 
 To loathing and disgust, they needed not 
 Even such experiment to prove them vain. 
 In hope or in possession, Fear, alike, 
 Boding disaster, stood. Over the flower 
 Of fairest sort, that bloomed beneath the sun, 
 Protected most, and sheltered from the storm, 
 The Spectre, like a dark and thunderous cloud 
 Hung dismally, and threatened, before the hand 
 Of him that wished could pull it, to descend, 
 And o'er the desert drive its withered leaves; 
 Or, being pulled, to blast it unenjoyed, 
 While yet he gazed upon its loveliness, 
 And just began to drink its fragrance up. 
 
 Gold many hunted — sweat and bled for gold ; 
 Waked all the night, and laboured all the day. 
 And what was this allurement, dost thou ask ? 
 A dust dug from the bowels of the earth, 
 Which, being cast into the fire, came out 
 A shining thing that fools admired, and called 
 A god; and in devout and humble plight 
 Before it kneeled, the greater to the less ; 
 And on its altar sacrificed ease, peace, 
 Truth, faith, integrity; good conscience, friends, 
 E 
 
oO THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Love, charity, benevolence, and all 
 
 The sweet and tender sympathies of life : 
 
 And, to complete the horrid murderous rite 
 
 And signalize their folly, offered up 
 
 Their souls, and an eternity of bliss, 
 
 To gain them — what? an hour of dreaming joy: 
 
 A feverish hour that hasted to be done, 
 
 And ended in the bitterness of wo. 
 
 Most, for the luxuries it bought — the pomp, 
 The praise, the glitter, fashion, and renown — 
 This yellow phantom followed and adored. 
 But there was one in folly farther gone ; 
 With eye awry, incurable and wild, 
 The laughing-stock of devils and of men, 
 And by his guardian angel quite given up — 
 The miser, who with dust inanimate 
 Held wedded intercourse. Ill guided wretch ! 
 Thou might'st have seen him at the midnight hour, 
 When good men slept, and in light winged dreams 
 Ascended up to God, — in wasteful hall, 
 With vigilance and fasting worn to skin 
 And bone, and wrapt in most debasing rags, — 
 Thou might'st have seen him bending o'er his heaps 
 And holding strange communion with his gold ; 
 And as his thievish fancy seemed to hear 
 The night-man's foot approach, starting alarmed, 
 And in his old, decrepit, withered hand, 
 That palsy shook, grasping the yellow earth 
 To make it sure. Of all God made upright, 
 And in their nostrils breathed a living soul, 
 Most fallen, most prone, most earthly, most debased. 
 Of all that sold Eternity for Time 
 None bargained on so easy terms with death. 
 Illustrious fool ! Nay, most inhuman wretch ! 
 He sat among his bags, and with a look 
 Which hell might be ashamed of, drove the poor 
 
HOOK III. 51 
 
 Away unalmsed ; and midst abundance died — 
 Sorest of evils ! died of utter want. 
 
 Before this Shadow in the vales of earth, 
 Fools saw another glide, which seemed of more 
 Intrinsic worth. Pleasure her name — good name, 
 Though ill applied. A thousand forms she took, 
 A thousand garbs she wore ; in every age 
 And clime changing, as in her votaries changed 
 Desire : but, inwardly, the same in all. 
 Her most essential lineaments we trace ; 
 Her general features every where alike. 
 
 Of comely form she was, and fair of face ; 
 And underneath her eyelids sat a kind 
 Of witching sorcery that nearer drew 
 Whoever with unguarded look beheld ; 
 A dress of gaudy hue loosely attired 
 Hei loveliness ; her air and manner frank, 
 And seeming free of all disguise ; her song 
 Enchanting ; and her words, which sweetly dropt, 
 As honey from the comb, most large of promise, 
 Still prophesying days of new delight, 
 And rapturous nights of undecaying joy ; 
 And in her hand, where'er she went, she held 
 A radiant cup that seemed of nectar full — 
 And by her side danced fair delusive Hope. 
 The fool pursued, enamoured; and the wise 
 Experienced man who reasoned much, r.nd thought, 
 Was sometimes seen laying his wisdom down, 
 And vying with the stripling in the chase. 
 
 Nor wonder thou : for she was really fair ; 
 Decked to the very taste of flesh and blood, 
 And many thought her sound within ; and gay 
 And healthy at the heart ; but thought amiss: 
 For she was full of all disease : her bones 
 Were rotten; consumption licked her blood, and drank 
 Her marrow up ; her breath smelicd mortaliy ; 
 
52 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And in her bowels plague and fever lurked ; 
 And in her very heart, and reins, and life, 
 Corruption's worm gnawed greedily unseen. 
 
 Many her haunts. Thou might'st have seen her now 
 With Indolence, lolling on the mid-day couch, 
 And whispering drowsy words; and now at (hxwn, 
 Loudly and rough, joining the sylvan horn ; 
 Or sauntering in the park, and to the tale 
 Of slander giving ear ; or sitting fierce, 
 Rude, blasphemous, malicious, raving, mad, 
 Where fortune to the fickle die was bound. 
 
 But chief she loved the scene of deep debauch, 
 Where revelry, and dance, and frantic song, 
 Disturbed the sleep of honest men. And where 
 The drunkard sat, she entered in, well pleased, 
 With eye brimful of wanton mirthfulness, 
 And urged him still to fill another cup. 
 
 And at the shadowy twilight — in the dark 
 And gloomy night, I looked, and saw her come 
 Abroad, arrayed in harlot's soft attire ; 
 And walk without in every street, and lie 
 In wait at every corner, full of guile : 
 And, as the unwary youth of simple heart, 
 And void of understanding, passed, she caught 
 And kissed him, and, with lips of lying, said : 
 I have peace-offerings with me ; I have paid 
 My vows this day; and therefore came I forth 
 To meet thee, and to seek thee diligently, 
 To seek thy face, and I have found thee here. 
 My bed is decked with robes of tapestry, 
 With carved work, and sheets of linen fine ; 
 Perfumed with aloes, myrrh, and cinnamon. 
 Sweet are stolen waters ! pleasant is the bread 
 In secret eaten ! the good man is from home. 
 Come, let us take our fill of love till morn 
 Awake , let us delight ourselves with loves. 
 
BOOK III. 53 
 
 With much fair speech she caused the youth to yield ; 
 
 And forced him with the flattering- of her tongue. 
 
 I looked, and saw him follow to her house, 
 
 As goes the ox to slaughter ; as the fool 
 
 To the correction of the stocks ; or bird 
 
 That hastes into the subtle fowler's snare, 
 
 And knows not, simple thing, 'tis for its life. 
 
 I saw him enter in, and heard the door 
 
 Behind them shut ; and in the dark, still night, 
 
 When God's unsleeping eye alone can see, 
 
 He went to her adulterous bed. At morn 
 
 I looked, and saw him not among the youths. 
 
 I heard his father mourn, his mother weep : 
 
 For none returned that went with her. The dead 
 
 Were in her house-; her guests in depths of hell; 
 
 She wove the winding-sheet of souls, and laid 
 
 Them in the urn of everlasting death. 
 
 Such was the Shadow fools pursued on earth, 
 Under the name of pleasure, — fair outside, 
 Witnin corrupted, and corrupting still : 
 Ruined, and ruinous : her sure reward, 
 Her total recompense, was still, as he, 
 The bard, recorder of Earth's Seasons, sung, 
 " Vexation, disappointment, and remorse." 
 Yet at her door the young and old, and some 
 Who held high character among the wise, 
 Together stood, — and strove among themselves, 
 Who first should enter, and be ruined first. 
 
 Strange competition of immortal souls ! 
 To sweat for death! to strive for misery ! 
 But think not Pleasure told her end was death 
 Even human folly then had paused at least, 
 And given some signs of hesitation ; nor 
 Arrived so hot, and out of breath at wo. 
 Though contradicted every dny by fuels, 
 That sophistry itself would stumble o'er, 
 
 E 2 
 
51 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And to the very teeth a liar prove 
 
 Ten thousand times, as if unconscious still 
 
 Of inward blame, she stood, and waved bet hand, 
 
 And pointed to her bower, and said to all 
 
 Who passed : Take yonder flowery path ; my steps 
 
 Attend ; I lead the smoothest way to heaven ; 
 
 This world receive as surety for the next. 
 
 And many simple men, most simple, though 
 
 Renowned for learning' much, and wary skill, 
 
 Believed, and turned aside, and were undone. 
 
 Another leaf of finished Time we turn, 
 And read of Fame, terrestrial Fame, which died. 
 And rose not at the Resurrection morn. 
 Not that by virtue earned, the true renown, 
 Begun on earth, and lasting in the skies, 
 Worthy the lofty wish of seraphim, — 
 The approbation of the Eye that sees 
 The end from the beginning, sees from cause 
 To most remote effect : of it we read 
 In book of God's remembrance, in the book 
 Of life, from which the quick and dead were judged 
 The book that lies upon the throne, and tells 
 Of glorious acts by saints and angels done ; 
 The record of the holy, just, and good. 
 
 Of all the phantoms fleeting in the mist 
 Of Time, though meagre all, and ghostly thin, 
 Most unsubstantial, unessential shade, 
 Was earthly Fame. She was a voice alone, 
 And dwelt upon the noisy tongues of men. 
 She never thought ; but gabbled ever on ; 
 Applauding most what least deserved applause ; 
 The motive, the result was nought to her : 
 The deed alone, though dyed in human gore. 
 And steeped in widow's tears, if it stood out 
 To prominent display, she talked of much. 
 And roared around it with a thousand tongues. 
 
BOOK III. 55 
 
 As changed the wind her organ, so she changed 
 Perpetually ; and whom she praised to-day, 
 Vexing his ear with acclamations loud, 
 To-morrow hlamed, and hissed him out of sight. 
 
 Such was her nature, and her practice such : 
 But, O ! her voice was sweet to mortal ears; 
 And touched so pleasantly the strings of pride 
 And vanity, which in the heai-t of man 
 Were ever strung harmonious to her note, 
 That many thought, to live without her song 
 Was rather death than life : to live unknown, 
 Unnoticed, un renowned ! to die unpraised ! 
 Unepitaphed ! to go down to the pit, 
 ,And moulder into dust among vile worms, 
 And leave no whispering of a name on earth! 
 Such thought was cold about the heart, and chilled 
 The blood. Who could endure it ? who could choose. 
 Without a struggle, to be swept away 
 From all remembrance, and have part no more 
 With living men? Philosophy failed here; 
 And self-approving pride. Hence it became 
 The aim of most, and main pursuit, to win 
 A name — to leave some vestige as they passed, 
 That following ages might discern they once 
 Had been on earth, and acted something there. 
 Many the roads they took, the plans they tried. 
 The man of science to the shade retired, 
 And laid his hedd upon his hand, in mood 
 Of awful thoughtfulness ; and dived, and dived 
 Again — deeper and deeper still, to sound 
 The cause remote — resolved, before he died 
 To make some grand discovery, by which 
 He should be known to all posterity. 
 
 And in the silent vigils of the night, 
 When uninspired men reposed, the bard, 
 Ghastly of countenance, and from his eye 
 
56 . THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Oft streaming wild unearthly fire, sat up 
 
 And sent imagination forth ; and searched 
 
 The far and near — heaven, earth, and gloomy hell— 
 
 For fiction new, fbr thought, unthought he fore ; 
 
 And when some curious rare idea peered 
 
 Upon his mind, he dipped his hasty pen, 
 
 And by the glimmering lamp, or moonlight beam, 
 
 That through his lattice peeped, wrote fondly down 
 
 What seemed in truth imperishable song. 
 
 And sometimes too, the reverend divine, 
 In meditation deep of holy things, 
 And vanities of Time, heard Fame's sweet voice 
 Approach his ear — and hung another flower, 
 Of earthly sort, about the sacred truth ; 
 And ventured whiles to mix the bitter text, 
 With relish suited to the sinner's taste. 
 
 And ofttimes too, the simple hind, who seemed 
 Ambitionless, arrayed in humble garb, 
 While round him, spreading, fed his harmless flock 
 Sitting was seen, by some wild warbling brook, 
 Carving his name upon his favourite staff; 
 Or, in ill favoured letters, tracing it 
 Upon the aged thorn ; or on the face 
 Of some conspicuous oft frequented stone, 
 With persevering wondrous industry ; 
 And hoping, as he toiled amain, and saw 
 The characters take form, some other wight, 
 Long after he was dead, and in the grave, 
 Should loiter there at noon and read his name. 
 
 In purple some, and some in rags, stood forth 
 For reputation ; some displayed a limb 
 Well-fashioned : some of lowlier mind, a cane 
 Of curious workmanship, and marvellous twist. 
 In strength some sought it, and in beauty more 
 Long, long the fair one laboured at the glass, 
 And, beincr tired, called in auxiliar skill 
 
BOOK III. 57 
 
 To have her sails, before she went abroad, 
 Full spread, and nicely set, to catch the gale 
 Of praise. And much she caught, and much deserved, 
 When outward loveliness was index fair 
 Of purity within: but oft, alas ! 
 The bloom was on the skin alone ; and when 
 She saw, sad sight ! the roses on her cheek 
 Wither, and heard the voice of fame retire 
 And die away, she heaved most piteous sighs, 
 And wept most lamentable tears : and whiles, 
 In wild delirium, made rash attempt — 
 Unholy mimickry of Nature's work — 
 To re-create, with frail and mortal things, 
 Her withcr'd face. Attempt how fond and vain ! 
 Her frame itself soon mouldered down to dust ; 
 And, in the land of deep forgetfulness, 
 Her beauty and her name were .aid beside 
 Eternal silence, and the loathsome worm ; 
 Into whose darkness flattery ventured not ; 
 Where none had ears to hear the voice of I 1 ame. 
 Many the roads they took, the plans they tried, 
 And awful oft the wickedness they wrought. 
 To be observed, some scrambled up to thrones, 
 And sat in vestures dripping wet with gore. 
 The warrior dipped his sword in blood, and wrote 
 His name on lands and cities desolate. 
 The rich bought fields, and houses built, and raised 
 The monumental piles up to the clouds, 
 And called them by their names. And, strange to tell ! 
 Rather than be unknown, and pass away 
 Obscurely to the grave, some, small of soul, 
 That else had perished unobserved, acquired 
 Considerable renown by oaths profane, 
 By jesting boldly with all sacred things, 
 And uttering fearlessly whate'er occurred ; — 
 Wild, blasphemous, perditionable thoughts, 
 
IP THE COURSE O* TIME. 
 
 That Satan in them moved ; by wiser men 
 Suppressed* ami quickly banished from the mind. 
 Many the roads they took, the plans they tried : 
 But all in vain. Who grasped at earthly lame, 
 Graspedwind : nay, worse, a serpent grasped, that through 
 His hand slid smoothly, and was gone ; but left 
 A sting behind which wrought him endless pain : 
 For oft her voice was old Abaddon's lure, 
 By which he charmed the foolish soul to death. 
 So happiness was sought in pleasure, gold, 
 Renown — by many sought. But should I sing 
 Of all the trifling race, my time, thy faith, 
 Would fail — of things erectly organized, 
 And having rational, articulate voice, 
 And claiming outward brotherhood with man 
 Of him that laboured sorely, in his sweat 
 Smoking afar, then hurried to the wine, 
 Deliberately resolving to be mad : 
 Of him who taught the ravenous bird to iiy 
 This way or that, thereby supremely blest : 
 Or rode in fury with the howling pack, 
 Affronting much the noble animal, 
 He spurred into such company : of him 
 "Who down into the bowels of the earth 
 Descended deeply, to bring up the wreck 
 Of some old earthen ware, which having stowed. 
 With every proper care, he home returned 
 O'er many a sea, and many a league of land, 
 Triumphantly to show the marvellous priae : 
 And him that vexed his brain, and theories built 
 Of gossamer upon the brittle winds; 
 Perplexed exceedingly why shells were found 
 Upon the mountain tops ; but wondering not 
 Why shells were found at all, more wondrous still! 
 Of him who strange enjoyment took in tales 
 01 fairy folk, and sleepless ghosts, and sounds 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 Unearthly, whispering 1 in the ear of night 
 Disastrous tilings: and him who still foretold 
 Calamity which never came, and lived 
 In terror all his days of comets rude, 
 That should unmannerly and lawless drive 
 Athwart the path of Earth, and burn mankind : 
 As if the appointed hour of doom, by God 
 Appointed, ere its time should come : as if 
 Too small the number of substantial ills, 
 And real fears to vex the sons of men. — 
 These, — had they not possessed immortal souk, 
 And been accountable, might have been past 
 With laughter, and forgot ; but as it w T as, 
 And is — their folly asks a serious tear. 
 
 Keen was the search, and various, and wide, 
 For happiness. Take one example more — 
 So strange, that common fools looked on amazed ; 
 And wise and sober men together drew, 
 And trembling stood; and angels in the heavens 
 Grew pale, and talked of vengeance as at hand — 
 The sceptic's route — the unbeliever's, who, 
 Despising reason, revelation, God, 
 And kicking 'gainst the pricks of conscience, rushed 
 Deliriously upon the bossy shield 
 Of the Omnipotent; and in his heart 
 purposed to deify the idol Chance. 
 And laboured hard — oh, labour worse than nought ! 
 And toiled with dark and crooked reasoning, 
 To make the fair and lovely Earth, which dwelt 
 In sight of Heaven, a cold and fatherless, 
 Forsaken thing, that wandered on, forlorn, 
 Undestined, uncompassioned, unupheld ; 
 A vapour eddying in the whirl of chance, 
 And soon to vanish everlastingly. 
 He travailed sorely, and made many a lack, 
 His sails oft shifting, to arrive — dread thought ! 
 
60 THE COURSE OF TIME 
 
 Arrive at utter nothingness ', and have 
 
 Being no more — no feeling, memory, 
 
 No lingering consciousness that ere he was. 
 
 Guilt's midnight wish ! last, most abhorred thought , 
 
 Most desperate effort of extremest sin ! 
 
 Others, preoccupied, ne'er saw true hope ; 
 
 He, seeing, aimed to stab her to the heart, 
 
 And with infernal chemistry to wring 
 
 The last sweet drop from sorrow's cup of gall ; 
 
 To quench the only ray that cheered the earth, 
 
 And leave mankind in night which had no star. 
 
 Others the streams of pleasure troubled ; he 
 
 Toiled much to dry her very fountain head. 
 
 Unpardonable man ! sold under sin ! 
 
 He was the Devil's pioneer, who cut 
 
 The fences down of virtue, sapped her walls, 
 
 And opened a smooth and easy way to death. 
 
 Traitor to all existence ! to all life ! 
 
 Soul-suicide ! determined foe of being ! 
 
 Intended murderer of God, Most High ! 
 
 Strange road, most strange ! to seek for happiness ! 
 
 Hell's mad-houses are full 01 such ; too fierce, 
 
 Too furiously insane, and desperate, 
 
 To rage unbound 'mong evil spirits damned ! 
 
 Fertile was earth in many things : not least 
 In fools, who mercy both and judgment scorned ; 
 Scorned love, experience scorned : and onward rushed 
 To swift destruction, giving all reproof, 
 And all instruction, to the winds ; and much 
 Of both they had — and much despised of both. 
 
 •Wisdom took up her harp, and stood in place 
 Of frequent concourse — stood in every gate, 
 By every way, and walked in every street ; 
 And, lifting up her voice, proclaimed : Be wise, 
 Ye fools ! be of an understanding heart. 
 Forsake the wicked : come not near his house s 
 
BOOK III. 61 
 
 Pass by : make haste : depart, and turn away. 
 Me follow — me, whose ways are pleasantness, 
 Whose paths are peace, whose end is perfect joy. 
 The Seasons came and went, and went and came, 
 To teach men gratitude ; and as they passed, 
 Gave warning of the lapse of time, that else 
 Had stolen unheeded by : the gentle Flowers 
 Retired, and, stooping o'er the wilderness, 
 Talked of humility, and peace, and love. 
 The Dews came down unseen at evening-tide, 
 And silently their bounties shed, to teach 
 Mankind unostentatious charity. 
 With arm in arm the forest rose on high, 
 And lesson gave of brotherly regard. 
 And, on the rugged mountain-brow exposed, 
 Bearing the blast alone — the ancient oak 
 Stood, lifting high his mighty arm, and still 
 To courage in distress exhorted loud. 
 The flocks, the herds, the birds, the streams, the breez&, 
 Attuned the heart to melody and love. 
 Mercy stood in the cloud, with eye that wept 
 Essential love ; and, from her glorious bow, 
 Bending to kiss the earth in token of peace, 
 With her own lips, her gracious lips, which God 
 Of sweetest accent made, she whispered still, 
 She whispered to Revenge — * Forgive, forgive V 
 The Sun rejoicing round the earth, announced 
 Daily the wisdom, power, and love of God. 
 The Moon awoke, and from her maiden face, 
 Shedding her cloudy locks, looked meekly forth, 
 And with her virgin stars walked in the heavens. 
 Walked nightly there, conversing as she walked, 
 Of purity, and holiness, and God. 
 In dreams and visions, Sleep instructed much. 
 Day uttered speech to day, and night to night 
 Taught knowledge. Silence had a tongue : the grave. 
 F 
 
62 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The darkness, and the lonely waste, had each 
 
 A tongue, that ever said — Man ! think of God ! 
 
 Think of thyself! think of eternity! 
 
 Fear God, the thunders said ; fcar God, the waves ; 
 
 Fear God, the lightning- of the storm replied . 
 
 Fear God, deep loudly answered hack to deep. 
 
 And, in the temples of the Holy One — 
 
 Messiah's messengers, the faithful few — 
 
 Faithful 'mong many false — the Bible opened. 
 
 And cried : Repent ! repent ye sons of men ! 
 
 Believe, be saved: and reasoned awfully 
 
 Of temperance, righteousness, and judgment soon 
 
 To come — of ever-during life and death. 
 
 And chosen bards from age to age awoke 
 
 The sacred lyre, and full on folly's ear, 
 
 Numbers of righteous indignation poured. 
 
 And God, omnipotent, when mercy failed, 
 
 Made bare his holy arm ; and with the stroke 
 
 Of vengeance smote ; the fountains of the deep 
 
 Broke up ; heaven's windows opened, and sent on men 
 
 A flood of wrath ; sent plague and famine forth ; 
 
 With earthquake rocked the world beneath ; with storma 
 
 Above laid cities waste, and turned fat lands 
 
 To barrenness ; and with the sword of war 
 
 In fury marched, and gave them blood to drink. 
 
 Angels remonstrated : Mercy beseeched : 
 
 Heaven smiled, and frowned : Hell groaned : Time fled 
 
 Death shook 
 His dart, and threatened to make repentance vain. — 
 Incredible assertion ! men rushed on 
 Determinedly to ruin : shut their ears, 
 Their eyes to all advice, to all reproof — 
 O'er mercy and o'er judgment, downward rushed 
 To misery : and, most incredible 
 Of all ! to misery rushed along the way 
 Of disappointment and remorse, where still 
 
BOOK III. C3 
 
 X ri.y stop, adders, in Pleasure's form, 
 Stjmg mortally ; and Joys, — whose bloomy cheeks 
 Seemed glowing high with immortality, 
 Whose bosoms prophesied superfluous bliss, 
 While in the arms received, and locked in close 
 And riotous embrace, turned pale, and cold, 
 And died, and smelled of putrefaction rank : 
 Turned, in the very moment of delight, 
 A loathsome, heavy corpse, that with the clear 
 And hollow eyes of Death, stared horribly. 
 
 AH tribes, all generations of the earth, 
 Thus wantonly to ruin drove alike. 
 We heard indeed of golden and silver days ; 
 And of primeval innocence unstained — 
 A pagan tale ! but by baptized bards, 
 Bhilosophers, and statesmen, who were still 
 Held wise and cunning men, talked of so much, 
 That most believed it so, and asked not why. 
 
 The pair, the family first made, were ill ; 
 And for their great peculiar sin incurred 
 The Curse, and left it due to all their race ; 
 And bold example gave of every crime — 
 Hate, murder, unbelief, reproach, revenge. 
 A time, 'tis true, there came, of which thou soon 
 Shalt hear — the Sabbath Day, the Jubilee 
 Of Earth, when righteousness and peace prevailed. 
 This time except, who writes the history 
 Of men, and writes it true, must write them bad. 
 Who reads, must read of violence and blood. 
 The man who could the story of one day 
 Peruse , the wrongs, oppressions, cruelties. 
 Deceits, and perjuries, and vanities, 
 Rewarded worthlessness, rejected worth, 
 Assassinations, robberies, thefts, and wars. 
 Disastrous accidents, life thrown away, 
 Divinity insulted, Heaven despised, 
 Religion scorned ; — and not been sick at night, 
 
61 THE COURSE OF TIME 
 
 And sad, had gathered greater store of mirth, 
 Than ever wise man in the world could find. 
 
 One cause of folly, one especial cause, 
 Was this — few knew what wisdom was, though well 
 Defined in God's own words, and printed large, 
 On heaven and earth in characters of light, 
 And sounded in the ear by every wind. 
 
 Wisdom is humble, said the voice of God. 
 'Tis proud, the world replied. Wisdom, said God. 
 Forgives, forbears, and suffers, not for fear 
 Of man, but God. Wisdom revenges, said 
 The world ; is quick and deadly of resentment ; 
 Thrusts at the very shadow of affront, 
 And hastes, by death, to wipe its honour clean. 
 Wisdom, said God, loves enemies, entreats, 
 Solicits, begs for peace. Wisdom, replied 
 The world, hates enemies ; will not ask peace, 
 Conditions spurns, and triumphs in their fall. 
 Wisdom mistrusts itself, and leans on heaven, 
 Said God. It trusts and leans upon itself, 
 The world replied. Wisdom retires, said God, 
 And counts it bravery to bear reproach, 
 And shame, and lowly poverty upright ; 
 And weeps with all who have just cause to weep 
 Wisdom, replied the world, struts forth to gaze ; 
 Treads the broad stage of life with clamorous foot • 
 Attracts all praises ; counts it bravery 
 Alone to wield the sword, and rush on death; 
 And never weeps, but for its own disgrace. 
 Wisdom, said God, is highest, when it stoops 
 Lowest before the Holy Throne, throws down 
 Its crown abased, forgets itself, admires, 
 And breathes adoring praise. There wisdom stoop* 
 Indeed, the world replied — there stoops, because 
 It must : but stoops with dignity ; and thinks 
 And meditates the while of inward worth. 
 Thus did Almighty God, and thus the world, 
 
BOOK III. 65 
 
 Wisdom define. And moei the world believed, 
 
 And boldly called the truth of God a lie. 
 
 Hence, he that to the worldly wisdom shaped 
 
 His character, became the favourite 
 
 Of men — was honourable termed ; a man 
 
 Of spirit ; noble, glorious, lofiy soul ! 
 
 And as he crossed the earth in chase of dreams, 
 
 Received prodigious shouts of warm applause. 
 
 Hence, who to godly wisdom framed his life, 
 
 Was counted mean, and spiritless, and vile ; 
 
 And as he walked obscurely in the path 
 
 Which led to heaven, fools hissed with serpent tongue 
 
 And poured contempt upon his holy head ; 
 
 And poured contempt on all who praised his name. 
 
 But false as this account of wisdom was — 
 The world's I mean — it was its best : the creed 
 Of sober, grave, and philosophic men, 
 With much research and cogitation framed ; 
 Of men, who with the vulgar scorned to sit. 
 
 The popular belief seemed rather worse, 
 When heard replying to the voice of truth. 
 The wise man, said the Bible, walks with God, 
 Surveys, far on, the endless line of life ; 
 Values his soul ; thinks of eternity ; 
 Both worlds considers, and provides for both ; 
 With reason's eye his passions guards ; abstains 
 From evil ; lives on hope, on hope, the fruit 
 Of faith ; looks upward ; purifies his soul ; 
 Expands his wings, and mounts into the sky ; 
 Passes the sun, and gains his father's house; 
 And drinks with angels from the fount of bliss. 
 
 The multitude aloud replied, (replied 
 By practice, for they were not bookish men, 
 Nor apt to form their principles in words,) 
 The wise man first of all eradicates, 
 As much as possible, from out his mind, 
 f 2 
 
6G THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 All thought of death, God, and eternity ; 
 
 Admires the world, and thinks of Time alone; 
 
 Avoids the Bible, all reproof avoids; 
 
 Rocks conscience, if he can, asleep ; puts out 
 
 The eye of reason ; prisons, tortures, binds ; 
 
 And makes her thus, by violence and force, 
 
 Give wicked evidence against herself: 
 
 Lets passion loose ; the substance leaves ; pursues 
 
 The shadow vehemently, but ne'er o'ertakes ; 
 
 Puts by the cup of holiness and joy ; 
 
 And drinks, carouses deeply in the bowl 
 
 Of death; grovels in dust; pollutes, destroys 
 
 His soul : is miserable to acquire 
 
 More misery ; deceives to be deceived ; 
 
 Strives, labours to the last, to shun the truth ; 
 
 Strives, labours to the last, to damn himself; 
 
 Turns desperate, shudders, groans, blasphemes, and dies, 
 
 And sinks — where could he else ? — to endless wo. 
 
 And drinks the wine of God's eternal wrath. 
 
 The learned thus, and thus the unlearned world. 
 Wisdom defined — in sound they disagreed ; 
 In substance, in effect, in end the same ; 
 And equally to God and truth opposed ; 
 Opposed as darkness to the light of heaven. 
 Yet were there some that seemed well-meaning men, 
 Who systems planned, expressed in supple words, 
 Which praised the man as wisest, that in one 
 United both ; pleased God, and pleased the world ; 
 And with the saint, and with the sinner had, 
 Changing his garb, unseen, a good report. 
 And many thought their definition best, 
 And in their wisdom grew exceeding wise. 
 
 Union abhorred ! dissimulation vain ! 
 Could holiness embrace the harlot sin? 
 Could life wed death ? could God with Mammon uwall! 
 Oh, foolish men *. oh, men for ever lost ! 
 In spite of mercy lost, in spite of wrath I 
 
BOOK III. 67 
 
 In spite of Disappointment and Remorse, 
 Which made the way to ruin ruinous ! 
 
 Hear what they were : — the progeny of sin 
 Alike ; and oft combined ; but differing much 
 In mode of giving pain. As felt the gross, , 
 Material part, when in the furnace cast, 
 So felt the sou! ; the victim of remorse. 
 It was a fire which on the verge of God's 
 Commandments burned, and on the vitals fed 
 Of all who passed. Who passed, there met remorse 
 A violent fever seized his soul ; the heavens 
 Above, the earth beneath, seemed glowing brass, 
 Heated seven times ; he heard dread voices speak, 
 And mutter horrid prophecies of pain, 
 Severer and severer yet to come : 
 And as he writhed and quivered, scorched within, 
 The fury round his torrid temples flapped 
 Her fiery wings, and breathed upon his lips, 
 And parched tongue, the withered blasts of hell. 
 It was the suffering begun, thou saw'st 
 In symbol of the Worm that never dies. 
 
 The other — Disappointment, rather seemed 
 Negation of delight. It was a thing 
 Sluggish and torpid, tending towards death. 
 Its breath was cold, and made the sportive blood 
 Stagnant, and dull, and heavy round the wheels 
 Of life: the roots of that whereon it blew, 
 Decayed, and with the genial soil no more 
 Held sympathy — the leaves, the branches drooped, 
 And mouldered slowly down to formless dust; 
 Not tossed and driven by violence of winds ; 
 But withering where they sprung, and rotting there 
 Long disappointed, disappointed still, 
 The hopeless man, hopeless in his main wish 
 As if returning back to nothing, felt ; 
 In strange vacuity of being hung, 
 And rolled and rolled his eye on UH)<&%M 
 
69 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 That, seemed to grow more empty every hour. 
 
 — One of this mood I do rememhcr well: 
 
 We name him not — what now are earthly names ? 
 
 In humble dwelling born, retired, remote, 
 
 In rural quietude ; 'mong hills, and streams, 
 
 And melancholy deserts, where the sun 
 
 Saw, as he passed, a shepherd only, here 
 
 And there, watching his little flock ; or heard 
 
 The ploughman talking to his steers — his hopes, 
 
 His morning hopes, awoke before him, smiling, 
 
 Among the dews, and holy mountain airs ; 
 
 And fancy coloured them with every hue 
 
 Of heavenly loveliness; but soon his dreams 
 
 Of childhood fled away — those rainbow dreams, 
 
 So innocent and fair, that withered age, 
 
 Even at the grave, cleared up his dusty eye, 
 
 And, passing all between, looked fondly back 
 
 To see them once again ere he departed. 
 
 These fled away — and anxious thought, that wished 
 
 To go, yet whither knew not well to go, 
 
 Possessed his soul, and held it still awhile. 
 
 He listened, and heard from far the voice of Fame — 
 
 Heard, and was charmed ; and deep and sudden vow 
 
 Of resolution made to be renowned ; 
 
 And deeper vowed again to keep his vow, 
 
 His parents saw — his parents, whom God made 
 
 Of kindest heart — saw, and indulged his hope. 
 
 The ancient page he turned ; read much ; thought much 
 
 And with old bards of honourable name 
 
 Measured his soul severely ; and looked up 
 
 To fame, ambitious of no second place. 
 
 Hope grew from inward faith, and promised fair : 
 
 And out before him opened many a path 
 
 Ascending, where the laurel highest, waved 
 
 Her branch of endless green. He stood admiring ; 
 
 But stood, admired, not long. The harp he seized : 
 
 The harp he loved — loved better than his life 
 
ROOK III. 63 
 
 The harp which uttered deepest notes, and held 
 The ear of thought a captive to its song. 
 He searched, and meditated much ; and whiles 
 With rapturous hand in secret touched the lyre, 
 Aiming at glorious strains — and searched again 
 For theme deserving of immortal verse • 
 Chose now, and now refused unsatisfied ; 
 Pleased, then displeased, and hesitating still. 
 
 Thus stood his mind, when round him came a cloud, 
 Slowly and heavily it came ; a cloud 
 Of ills we mention not: enough to say 
 'Twas cold, and dead, impenetrable gloom. 
 He saw its dark approach ; and saw his hopes, 
 One after one, put out, as nearer still 
 It drew his soul ; but fainted not at first ; 
 Fainted not soon. He knew the lot of man 
 Was trouble, and prepared to bear the worst : 
 Endure whate'er should come, without a sigh 
 Endure, and drink, even to the very dregs, 
 The bitterest cup that Time could measure out , 
 And, having done, look up, and ask for more. 
 
 He called Philosophy, and with his heart 
 Reasoned : he called Religion too, but called 
 Reluctantly, and therefore was not heard. 
 Ashamed to be o'er matched by earthly woes, 
 He sought, and sought with eyes that dimmed apace 
 To find some avenue to light, some place 
 On which to rest a hope — but sought in vain. 
 Dark and darker still the darkness grew : 
 At length he sunk, and Disappointment stood 
 His only comforter, and mournfully 
 Told all was past. His interest in life. 
 In being, ceased : and now he seemed to feel. 
 And shuddered as he felt, his powers of mind 
 Decaying in the spring-time of his day . 
 The vigorous weak became ; the clear, obscure 
 Memory gave up her charge ; Decision reeled , 
 
.70 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And from her flight Fancy returned, returned 
 
 Because she found no nourishment abroad. 
 
 The blue heavens withered, and the moon, and sun, 
 
 And all the stars, and the green earth, and morn 
 
 And evening withered ; and the eyes, and smiles, 
 
 And faces of all men and women withered ; 
 
 Withered to him ; and all the universe, 
 
 Like something which had been, appeared ; but now 
 
 Was dead and mouldering fast away. He tried 
 
 No more to hope : wished to forget his vow : 
 
 Wished to forget his harp ; then ceased to wish. 
 
 That was his last Enjoyment now was done. 
 
 He had no hope — no wish — and scarce a fear. 
 
 Of being sensible, and sensible 
 
 Of loss, he as some atom seemed, which God 
 
 Had made superfluously, and needed not 
 
 To build creation with ; but back again 
 
 To Nothing threw, and left it in the void, 
 
 With everlasting sense that once it was. 
 
 Oh, who can tell what days, what nights he spem 
 Of tideless, waveless, sailless, shoreless woe ! 
 And who can tell how many, glorious once, 
 To others and themselves of promise full, 
 Conducted to this pass of human thought, 
 This wilderness of intellectual death, 
 Wasted and pined, and vanished from the earth, 
 Leaving no vestige of memorial there ! 
 
 It was not so with him : when thus he lay 
 Forlorn of heart, withered and desolate, 
 As leaf of Autumn, which the wolfish winds, 
 Selecting from its falling sisters, chase 
 Far from its native grove, to lifeless wastes, 
 And leave it there alone, to be forgotten 
 Eternally — God passed in mercy by — 
 Wis praise be ever new ! — and on him breathed 
 And bade him live ; and put into his hands 
 A holv harp, into his lips a song, 
 
BOOK III. 7i 
 
 Fliat rolled its numbers down tho tide of Time. 
 Ambitious now but little to be praised 
 Of men alone ; ambitious most to be 
 Approved of God, the Judge of all ; and have 
 His name reeorded in the book of life. 
 
 Such things were Disappointment and Remorse ■ 
 And oft united both, as friends severe, 
 To teach men wisdom : but the fool, untaught, 
 Was foolish still. His ear he stopped ; his eyes 
 He shut ; and blindly, deafly obstinate, 
 Forced desperately his way from wo to wo. 
 
 One place, one only place, there was on earth., 
 Where no man ere was fool — however mad. 
 " Men may live fools, but fools they cannot die.' 
 Ah ! 'twas a truth most true ; and sung in Time, 
 And to the sons of men, by one well known 
 On earth for lofty verse, and lofty sense. 
 Much hast thou seen, fair youth! much heard; but tbi.x 
 Hast never seen a death-bed, never heard 
 A dying groan. Men saw it often : 'twas sad, 
 To all most sorrowful and sad — to guilt 
 'Twas anguish, terror, darkness, without bow. 
 But O, it had a most convincing tongue, 
 A potent oratory, that secured 
 Most mute attention : and it spoke the tmth 
 So boldly, plainly, perfectly distinct, 
 That none the meaning could mistake, or doubt : 
 And had withal a disenchanting power, 
 A most omnipotent and wondrous power, 
 Which in a moment broke, for ever broke, 
 And utterly dissolved the charms, and spells, 
 And cunning sorceries of Earth and Hell. 
 And thus it spoke to him who ghastly lay, 
 And struggled for another breath: Earth's cup 
 ts poisoned ; her renown, most infamous ; 
 Her gold, seem as it may, is really dust ; 
 Her titles, slanderous names; her praise, reproach: 
 
72 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Her strength, an idiot's boast ; her wisdom, blind 
 
 Her gain, eternal loss ; her hope, a dream ; 
 
 Her love, her friendship, enmity with God; 
 
 Her promises, a lie ; her smile, a harlot's , 
 
 Her beauty, paint, and ro'.ten within ; her pleasures. 
 
 Deadly assassins masked ; her laughter, grief; 
 
 Her breasts, the sting of Death ; her total sura, 
 
 Her all, most utter vanity ; and all 
 
 Her lovers mad, insane most grievously, 
 
 And most insane, because they know it not. 
 
 Thus did the mighty reasoner, Death, declare ; 
 And volumes more : and in one word confirmed 
 The Bible whole — Eternity is all. 
 But few spectators, few believed 01 those 
 Who staid behind. The wisest, best of men, 
 Believed not to the letter full ; but turned, 
 And on the world looked forth, as if they thought 
 The well-trimmed hypocrite had something still 
 Of inward worth : the dying man alone 
 Gave faithful audience, and the words of Death 
 To the last jot believed ; believed and felt ; 
 But oft, alas ! believed and felt too late. 
 
 And had Earth, then, no joys ? no native sweets. 
 No happiness, that one who spoke the truth 
 Might call her own ? She had ; true, native sweets ! 
 Indigenous delights, which up the Tree 
 Of holiness, embracing as they grew, 
 Ascended, and bore fruit of heavenly taste, 
 In pleasant memory held, and talked of oft, 
 By yonder Saints who walk the golden streets 
 Of New Jerusalem, and compass round 
 The throne, with nearest vision blest — of these 
 Hereafter thou shalt h°.ar, delighted hear, 
 One page of beauty in the life of man. 
 
the 
 COURSE OF TIME.* 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 The world had much of strange and wonderful i 
 In passion much, in action, reason, will ; 
 And much in Providence, which still retired 
 From human eye, and led philosophy, 
 That ill her ignorance liked to own, through dart 
 And dangerous paths of speculation wild. 
 Some striking features, as we pass, we mark, 
 In order such as memory suggests. 
 
 One passion prominent appears — the lust 
 Of power, which ofttimes took the fairer name 
 Of liberty, and hung the popular flag 
 Of freedom out. Many, indeed, its names. 
 When on the throne it sat, and round the neck 
 Of millions rivetted its iron chain, 
 And on the shoulders of the people laid 
 Burdens unmerciful — it title took 
 Of tyranny, oppression, despotism ; 
 And every tongue was weary cursing it. 
 When in the multitude it gathered strength, 
 And, like an ocean bursting from his bounds, 
 Long beat in vain, went forth resistlessly, 
 It bore the stamp and designation, then, 
 Of popular fury, anarchy, rebellion — 
 And honest men bewailed all order void ; 
 All laws, annulled ; all property, destroyed , 
 The venerable, murdered in the streets ; 
 
 G 73 
 
74 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The wise, despised ; streams, red with human blood 
 Harvests, beneath the frantic foot trode down ; 
 Lands, desolate ; and famine, at the door. 
 
 These are a part ; but other names it had, 
 Innumerous is the shapes and robes it wore. 
 But under every name — in nature still 
 Invariably the same, and always bad. 
 We own, indeed, that oft against itself 
 It fought, and sceptre both and people gave 
 An equal aid, as long exemplified 
 In Albion's isle — Albion, queen of the seas — 
 And in the struggle, something like a kind •» 
 Of civil liberty grew up, the best 
 Of mere terrestrial root; but sickly too, 
 And living only, strange to tell ! in strife 
 Of factions equally contending; dead. 
 That very moment dead, that one prevailed. 
 
 Conflicting cruelly against itself, 
 By its own hand it fell ; part slaying part. 
 And men who noticed not the suicide, 
 Stood wondering much, why earth from age to agfe 4 
 Was still enslaved, and erring causes gave. 
 
 This was earth's liberty, its nature this, 
 However named, in whomsoever found — 
 And found it was in all of woman born — 
 Each man to make all subject to his will ; 
 To make them do, undo, eat, drink, stand, move, 
 Talk, think, and feel, exactly as he chose. 
 Hence the eternal strife of brotherhoods, 
 Of individuals, families, commonwealths. 
 The root from which it grew was pride — bad root I 
 And bad the fruit it bore. Then wonder not 
 That long the nations from it richly reaped 
 Oppression, slavery, tyranny, and war ; 
 Confusion, desolation, trouble, shame. 
 And, marvellous though it seem, this monster, wlter 
 
BOOK IV. T5 
 
 It took the name of slavery, as oft 
 
 It did, had advocates to plead its cause ; 
 
 Beings that walked erect, and spoke like men ; 
 
 Of Christian parentage descended too, 
 
 And dipt in the baptismal font, as sign 
 
 Of dedication to the Prince who bowed 
 
 To death, to set the sin-bound prisoner free. 
 
 Unchristian thought ! on what pretence soe'er 
 Of right inherited, or else acquired ; 
 Of loss, or profit, or what plea you name, 
 To buy and sell, to barter, whip, and hold 
 In chains, a being of celestial make — 
 Of kindred form, of kindred faculties ; 
 Of kindred feelings, passions, thoughts, desires. 
 Born free, and heir of an immortal hope :— 
 Thought villanous, absurd, detestable ! 
 Unworthy to be harboured in a fiend ! 
 And only overreached in wickedness 
 By that, birth too of earthly liberty, 
 Which aimed to make a reasonable man 
 By legislation think, and by the sword 
 Believe. This was that liberty renowned, 
 Those equal rights of Greece and Rome, where men> 
 All, but a few, were bought, and sold, and scourged. 
 And killed, as interest or caprice enjoined : 
 In aftertimes talked of, written of so much, 
 That most, by sound and custom led away, 
 Believed the essence answered to the name. 
 Historians on this theme were long and warm. 
 Statesmen, drunk with the fumes of vain debate, 
 In lofty swelling phrase, called it perfection ; 
 Philosophers its rise, advance, and fall, 
 Traced carefully ; and poets kindled still 
 As memory brought it up — their lips were touched 
 With fire, and uttered words that men adored, 
 Even he — true bard of Zion. holy man ! 
 
76 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 To whom the Bible taught this precious verse : 
 '* He is the freeman whom the truth makes free/' 
 By fashion, though by fashion little swayed, 
 Scarce kept his harp from pagan fredom's praise. 
 
 The captive prophet, whom Jehovah gave 
 The future years, described it best, when he 
 Beheld it rise in vision of the night — 
 A dreadful beast, and terrible, and strong 
 Exceedingly, with mighty iron teeth ; 
 And lo, it brake in pieces, and devoured, 
 \nd stamped the residue beneath its feet ! 
 
 True liberty was Christian, sanctified. 
 Baptized, and found in Christian hearts alone. 
 First born of Virtue, daughter of the skies, 
 Nursling of truth divine ; sister of all 
 The graces, meekness, holiness, and love : 
 Giving to God, and man, and all below, 
 That symptom showed of sensible existence, 
 Their due unasked; fear to whom fear was due; 
 To all, respect, benevolence, and love. 
 Companion of religion ! where she came 
 There freedom came : where dwelt, there freedom dwelt : 
 Ruled where she ruled, expired where she expired 
 " He was the freeman whom the truth made free ;" — 
 Who first of all, the bands of Satan broke ; 
 Who broke the bands of Sin; and for his soul, 
 In spite of fools consulted seriously; 
 In spite of fashion persevered in good : 
 In spite of wealth or poverty, upright ; 
 Who did as reason, not as fancy bade ; 
 Who heard temptation sing, and yet turned not 
 Aside; saw sin bedeck her flowery bed, 
 And yet would not go up; felt at his heart 
 The sword unsheathed, yet would not sell the truth ; 
 Who, having power, had not the will to hurt ; 
 Who blushed alike to be, or have a slave ; 
 
 
BOOK IV. 7" 
 
 Who blushed at naught but sin, feared naught bul God , 
 
 Who, finally, in strong integrity 
 
 Of soul, 'midst want, or riches, or disgrace, 
 
 Uplifted calmly sat, and heard the waves 
 
 Of stormy folly breaking at his feet; 
 
 Now shrill with praise, now hoarse with foul reproach 
 
 And both despised sincerely ; seeking this 
 
 Alone — the approbation of his God, 
 
 Which still with conscience witnessed to his peace. 
 
 This, this is freedom, such as angels use, 
 And kindred to the liberty of God. 
 First born of Virtue! daughter of the skies! 
 The man, the state in whom she ruled, was free ; 
 All else were slaves of Satan, Sin, and Death. 
 Already thou hast something heard of good 
 And ill, of vice and virtue, perfect each : 
 Of those redeemed, or else abandoned quite ; 
 And more shalt hear, when, at the judgment day, 
 We the characters of mankind review. — 
 Seems aught which thou hast heard astonishing ? 
 A greater wonder now thy audience asks : 
 Phenomena in all the universe 
 Of moral being most anomalous ; 
 Inexplicable most, and wonderful. 
 Til introduce thee to a single heart; 
 A human heart: we enter not the worst; 
 But one by God's renewing Spirit touched ; 
 A christian heart, awaked from sleep of sin. 
 What seest thou here? what mark'st? observe it well — 
 Will, passion, reason, hopes, fears, joy, distress, 
 Peace, turbulence, simplicity, deceit, 
 Good, ill, corruption, immortality. 
 A temple of the Holy Ghost, and yet 
 Oft. lodging fiends; the dwelling place of al! 
 The heavenly virtues — charity and truth 
 Humility, and holiness, and love 
 g 2 
 
 Ci 
 
 \ 
 
78 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And yet the common haunt of anger, pride, 
 
 Hatred, revenge, and passions foul with lust • 
 
 Allied to heaven, yet parleying- oft with hell • 
 
 A soldier listed in Messiah's band, 
 
 Yet giving quarter to Abaddon's troops: 
 
 With seraphs drinking from the well of life, 
 
 And yet carousing in the cup of death ; 
 
 An heir of heaven, and walking thitherward, 
 
 Yet casting back a covetous eye on earth : 
 
 Emblem of strength, and weakness ; loving now, 
 
 And now abhorring sin ; indulging now, 
 
 And now repenting sore ; rejoicing now 
 
 With joy unspeakable, and full of glory ; 
 
 Now weeping bitterly, and clothed in dust. 
 
 A man willing to do, and doing not ; 
 
 Doing, and willing not ; embracing What 
 
 He hates, what most he loves abandoning-. 
 
 Half saint, and sinner half — half life, half death : 
 
 Commixture strange of Heaven, and Earth, and Hel ! 
 
 What seest thou here ? what mark'st ? A battle-field- 
 Two banners spread ; two dreadful fronts of war 
 In shock of opposition fierce engaged — 
 God, angels, saw whole empires rise in arms ; 
 Saw kings exalted ; heard them tumbled down ; 
 And others raised, — and heeded not ; but here, 
 God, angels, looked ; God, angels, fought ; and Hell, 
 With all his legions fought: here error fought 
 With truth ; with darkness light ; and life with death ; 
 And here not kingdoms, reputations, worlds, 
 Were won; the strife was for eternity ; 
 The victory was never-ending bliss ; 
 The badge, a chaplat from the tree of life. 
 
 While thus within contending armies strove, 
 Without the Christian had his troubles too. 
 For, as by God's unalterable laws, 
 And ceremonial of the heaven of heavens, 
 
BOOK IV. 79 
 
 Virtue takes place of all, and worthiest deeds 
 
 Sitliighest at the feet of bliss; on earth 
 
 The opposite was fashion's rule polite. 
 
 Virtue the lowest place at table took, 
 
 Or served, or was shut out; the Christian still 
 
 Was mocked, derided, persecuted, slain : 
 
 And Slander, worse than mockery, or sword, 
 
 Or death, stood nightly by her horrid forge, 
 
 And fabricated lies to stain his name, 
 
 And wound his peace — but still he had a source 
 
 Of happiness, that men could neither give 
 
 Nor take away : the avenues that led 
 
 To immortality before him lay ; 
 
 He saw, with faith's far reaching eye, the fount 
 
 Of life, his Father's house, his Saviour God, 
 
 And borrowed thence to help his present want. 
 
 Encountered thus with enemies without, 
 Within, like bark that meets opposing winds 
 And floods, this way, now that, she steers athwart j 
 Tossed by the wave, and driven by the storm 
 But still the pilot, ancient at the helm, 
 The harbour keeps in eye; and after much 
 Of danger past, and many a prayer rude, 
 He runs her safely in — So was the man 
 Of God beset, so tossed by adverse winds ; 
 And so his eye upon the land of life 
 He kept. Virtue grew daily stronger, sin 
 Decayed ; his enemies repulsed, retired ; 
 Till at the stature of a perfect man 
 In Christ arrived, and, with the Spirit filled, 
 He gained the harbour of eternal rest. 
 
 But think not virtue, else than dwells in God 
 Essentially, was perfect, without spot- 
 Examine yonder suns ! at distance seen, 
 How bright they burn! how gloriously they shine, 
 Mantling the worlds around in beamy light ! 
 
80 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 But nearer viewed, we through their lustre see 
 
 Some dark behind : so virtue was on earth, 
 
 So is in heaven, and so shall always be. 
 
 Though good it seem, immaculate, and fair 
 
 Exceedingly, to ^aint or angel's gaze, 
 
 The uncreate i Eye, that searches all, 
 
 Sees it imperfect ; sees, but blames not ; sees, 
 
 Well-pleased ; and best with those who deepest dive, 
 
 Into themselves, and know themselves the most : 
 
 Taught thence in humbler reverence to bow 
 
 Before the Holy One ; and oftener view 
 
 His excellence, that in them still may rise, 
 
 And grow his likeness, growing evermore. 
 
 Nor think that any, born of Adam's race, 
 In his own proper virtue entered heaven. 
 Once fallen from God and perfect holiness, 
 No being, unassisted, ere could rise, 
 Or sanctify the sin-polluted soul. 
 Oft was the trial made ; but vainly made 
 So oft as men in Earth's best livery clad, 
 However fair, approached the gates of heaven, 
 And stood presented to the eye of God, 
 Their impious pride so oft his soul abhorred. 
 Vain hope ! in patch-work of terrestrial grain, 
 To be received into the courts above ; 
 As vain, as towards yonder suns to soar, 
 On wing of waxen plumage, melting soon. 
 
 Look round, and see those numbers infinite, 
 That stand before the throne, and in their hands 
 Palms waving high, as token of victory 
 For battles won — these are the sons of men 
 Redeemed, the ransomed of the Lamb of God, 
 All these, and millions more of kindred blood, 
 Who now are out on messages of love — 
 All these — their virtue, beauty, excellence, 
 And joy, are purchase of redeeming blood: 
 
BOOK IV. %1 
 
 Their glory, bounty of redeeming love. — 
 O love divine ! — harp, lift thy voiee on high ! 
 Shout, angels ! shout aloud, ye sons of men ! 
 And burn, my heart, with the eternal flame ! 
 My lyre, be eloquent with endless praise ! 
 O love divine ! immeasurable love ! 
 Stooping from heaven to earth, from earth to hell, 
 Without beginning, endless, boundless love ! 
 Above all asking giving far, to those 
 Who nought deserved, who nought deserved but doath. 
 Saving the vilest ! saving me ! O love 
 Divine ! O Saviour God ! O Land), once slain ! 
 At thought of thee, thy love, thy flowing blood, 
 All thoughts decay ; all things remembered, fade ; 
 All hopes return ; all actions done by men 
 Or angels, disappear, absorbed and lost : 
 All fly — as from the great white throne, which he, 
 The prophet, saw, in vision wrapt — the heavens, 
 And earth, and sun, and moon, and starry host, 
 Confounded fled, and found a place no more. 
 One glance of wonder, as we pass, deserve 
 The books of Time. Productive was the world 
 In many things ; but most in books : like swarms 
 Of locusts, which God sent to vex a land 
 Rebellious long, admonished long in vain, 
 Their numbers they poured annually on man, 
 From heads conceiving still : perpetual birth ! 
 Thou wonderest how the world contained them all ! 
 Thy wonder stay : like men, this was their doom : — 
 That dust, they were, and should to dust return. 
 And oft their fathers, childless and bereaved, 
 Wept o'er their graves, when they themselves were green 
 And on them fell, as fell on every age, 
 As on their authors fell, oblivious Night, 
 Which o'er the past lay darkling, heavy, still 
 Impcnetrabb, motionless, and sad, 
 
82 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Having his dismal leaden plumage, stirred 
 By no remembrancer, to show the men 
 Who after came what was concealed beneath. 
 
 The story- telling tribe, alone, outran 
 All calculation far, and left behind, 
 Lagging, the swiftest numbers : dreadful, even 
 To fancy, was their never-ceasing birth ; 
 And room had lacked, had not their life been short » 
 Excepting some — their definition take 
 Thou thus, exprest in gentle phrase, which leaves 
 Some truth behind : A Novel was a book 
 Three-volumed, and once read, and oft crammed full 
 Of poisonous error, blackening every page ; 
 And oftener still of trifling, second-hand 
 Remark, and old, diseased, putrid thought ; 
 And miserable incident, at war • 
 
 With nature, with itself and truth at war : 
 Yet charming still the greedy reader on, 
 Till, done, lie tried to recollect his thoughts, 
 And nothing found but dreaming emptiness. 
 These, like ephemera, sprung in a day, 
 From lean and shallow soiled brains of sand, 
 And in a day expired : yet while they lived, 
 Tremendous ofttimes was the popular roar ; 
 And cries of — Live for ever ! — struck the skies. 
 
 One kind alone remained, seen through the gloom. 
 And sullen shadow of the past; as lights 
 At intervals they shone, and brought the eye, 
 That backward travelled, upward, till arrived 
 At him, who, on the hills of Midian, sang 
 The patient man of Uz ; and from the lyre 
 Of angels, learned the early dawn of Time. 
 Not light and momentary labour these, 
 But discipline and self-denial long, 
 And purpose stanch, and perseverance, asked, 
 And energy thai inspiration seemed. 
 
BOOK IV. 83 
 
 Composed of many thoughts, possessing, each, 
 
 Innate and under ived vitality : 
 
 Which having fitly shaped, and well arranged 
 
 In brotherly accord, they builded up 
 
 A stately superstructure, that, nor wind, 
 
 Nor wa>ve, nor shock of falling years could move; 
 
 Majestic and indissolubly firm, 
 
 As ranks of veteran warriors in the field ; 
 
 Each, by himself alone, and singly seen — 
 
 A tower of strength ; in massy phalanx knit, 
 
 And in embattled squadron rushing on — 
 
 A sea of valour, dread ! invincible ! 
 
 Books of this sort, or sacred", or profane, 
 Which virtue helped, were titled not amiss, 
 The medicine of the mind: who read them, read 
 Wisdom, and was refreshed ; and on his path 
 Of pilgrimage with healthier step advanced. 
 
 In mind, in matter, much was difficult 
 To understand : but what in deepest night 
 Retired, inscrutable, mysterious, dark, 
 Was evil ; God's decrees ; and deeds decreed, 
 Responsible. Why God, the just, and good, 
 Omnipotent and wise, should suffer sin 
 To rise. Why man was free, accountable ; 
 Yet God foreseeing, overruling all, 
 Where'er the eye could turn, whatever tract 
 Of moral thought it took, by reason's torch, 
 Or Scripture's led,*before it still this mount 
 Sprung up, impervious, insurmountable, 
 Above the human stature rising far ; 
 Horizon of the mind — surrounding still 
 The vision of the soul with clouds and gloom. 
 Yet did they not attempt to scale ; _ts sides, 
 And gain its top. Philosophy, to climb, 
 With all her vigour toiled from age to age ; 
 From age to age, Theology, with all 
 
*4 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Her vigour, toiled ; and vagrant Fancy toiled. 
 Not weak and foolish only, but the wise, 
 Patient, courageous, stout, sound-headed man 
 Of proper discipline, of excellent wind, 
 And strong of intellectual limb, toiled hard ; 
 And oft above the reach of common eye m 
 
 Ascended far, and seemed well nigh the top : 
 But only seemed ; for still another top 
 Above them rose, till giddy grown, and mad, 
 With gazing at these dangerous heights of Grutf, 
 They tumbled down, and in their raving said, 
 They o'er the summit saw : and some believed ; 
 Believed a lie ; for never man on earth, 
 That mountain crossed, or saw its farther side. 
 Around it lay the wreck of many a Sage — 
 Divine — Philosopher ; and many more 
 Fell daily, undeterred by millions fallen ; 
 Each wondering why he failed to comprehend 
 God, and with finite measure infinite. 
 To pass it, was no doubt desirable ; 
 And few of any intellectual size, 
 That did not sometime in their day attempt; 
 But all in vain ; for as the distant hill, 
 Which on the right, or left, the traveller's eye 
 Bounds, seems advancing as he walks, and oft 
 He looks, and looks, and thinks to pass ; but still 
 It forward moves, and mocks his baffled sight, 
 Till night descends and wraps the so*ne in gloom 
 So did this moral height the vision mock; 
 So lifted up its dark and cloudy head, 
 Before tiie eye, and met it evermore. 
 And some, provoked, accused the righteous God 
 Accused of what ? hear human boldness now ; 
 Hear guilt, hear folly, madness, all extreme ! 
 Accused of what ? the God of truth accused 
 Of cruelty, injustice, wickedness! 
 
BOOK IV. 85 
 
 Abundant sin ! Because a mortal man, 
 
 A worm at best of small capacity, 
 
 With scarce an atom of Jehovah's works 
 
 Before him, and with scarce an hour to look 
 
 Upon them, should presume to censure God — 
 
 The infinite and uncreated God ! 
 
 To sit in judgment — on Himself, his works, 
 
 His providence ! and try, accuse, condemn ! 
 
 If there is aught, thought or to think, absurd, 
 
 Irrational, and wicked, this is more — 
 
 This moyt ; the sin of devils, or of those 
 
 To devils growing fast : wise men and good, 
 
 Accused themselves, not God ; and put their hands 
 
 Upon their mouths and in the dust adored. 
 
 The Christian's faith had many mysteries too. 
 The uncreated holy Three in One ; 
 Divine incarnate ; human in divine ; 
 The inward call ; the Sanctifying Dew 
 Coming unseen, unseen departing thence , 
 Anew creating all, and yet not heard ; 
 Compelling, yet not felt : — mysterious these ; 
 Not that Jehovah to conceal them wished ; 
 Not that religion wished. The Christian faith, 
 Unlike the timorous creeds of pagan priests, 
 Was frank, stood forth to view, invited all 
 To prove, examine, search, investigate, 
 And gave herself a light to see her by. 
 Mysterious these — because too large for eye 
 Of man, too long for human arm to mete. 
 
 Go to yon mount, which on the north-side stands 
 Of New Jerusalem, and lifts its head 
 Serene in glory bright, except the hill, 
 The Sacred Hill of God, whereon no foot 
 Must tread, highest of all creation's walks, 
 And overlooking all, in prospect vast, 
 From out the ethereal blue — that cliff ascend * 
 H 
 
86 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Gaze thence; around thee look; nought now impedes 
 
 Thy view : yet still thy vision, purified 
 
 And strong although it be, a boundary meets. 
 
 Or rather thou wilt say, thy vision fails 
 
 To gaze throughout illimitable space, 
 
 And find the end of infinite : and so 
 
 It was with all the mysteries of faith ; 
 
 God sent them forth unveiled to the full gaze 
 
 Of man, and asked him to investigate ; 
 
 But reason's eye, however purified, 
 
 And on whatever tall, and goodly height 
 
 Of observation placed, to comprehend 
 
 Them fully, sought in vain. In vain seeks still ; 
 
 But wiser now and humbler, she concludes 
 
 From what she knows already of his love, 
 
 All gracious, that she cannot understand ; 
 
 And gives him credit, reverence, praise for all. 
 
 Another feature in the ways of God, 
 That wondrous seemed, and made some men complain, 
 Was the unequal gift of worldly things. 
 Great was the difference, indeed, of men 
 Externally, from beggar to the prince. 
 The highest take, and lowest — and conceive 
 The scale between. A noble of the earth, 
 One of its great, in splendid mansion dwelt ; 
 Was robed in silk and gold ; and every day 
 Fared sumptuously ; was titled, honoured, served. 
 Thousands his nod awaited, and his will 
 For law received : whole provinces his march 
 Attended, and his chariot drew, or on 
 Their shoulders bore aloft the precious man. 
 Millions, abased, fell prostrate at his feet ; 
 And millions more thundered adoring praise. 
 As far as eye could reach, he called the land 
 His own, and added ) T early to his fields. 
 Like tree that of the soil took healthy root, 
 
BOOK IV. 87 
 
 He grew on every side, and towered on high, 
 
 And over half a nation shadowing 1 wide, 
 
 He spread his ample boughs ; air, earth, and sea, 
 
 Nature entire, the brute, and rational, 
 
 To please him ministered, and vied among 
 
 Themselves, who most should his desires prevent, 
 
 Watching the moving of his rising thoughts 
 
 Attentively, and hasting to fulfil. 
 
 His palace rose and kissed the gorgeous clouds; 
 
 Streams bent their music to his will ; trees sprung 
 
 The naked waste put on luxuriant robes ; 
 
 And plains of happy cottages cast out 
 
 Their tenants, and became a hunting-field. 
 
 Before him bowed the distant isles, witli fruits 
 
 And spices rare; the south her treasures brought; 
 
 The east and west sent ; and the frigid north 
 
 Came with her ottering of glossy furs. 
 
 Musicians soothed his ear with airs select ; 
 
 Beauty held out her arms ; and every man 
 
 Of cunning skill, and curious device, 
 
 And endless multitudes of liveried wights, 
 
 His pleasure waited with obsequious look. 
 
 And when the wants of nature were supplied, 
 
 And common-place extravagances rilled, 
 
 Beyond their asking ; and caprice itself, 
 
 In all its zitr-7ag appetites, gorged full, 
 
 The man new wants, and new expenses planned : 
 
 Nor planned alone : wise, learned, sober men, 
 
 Of cogitation deep, took up his case, 
 
 And planned for him new modes of folly wild ; 
 
 Contrived ncw.wishes, wants, and wondrous means 
 
 Of spending with despatch : yet after all, 
 
 His fields extended still, his riches grew, 
 
 And what seemed splendour infinite, increased. 
 
 So lavishly upon a single man 
 
 Did Providence his bounties daily shower. 
 
88 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Turn now thy eye, and look on poverty ! 
 Look on the lowest of her ragged sons ! 
 We find him by the way, sitting in dust; 
 He has no bread to eat, no tongue to ask ; 
 No limbs to walk ; no home, no house, no friend. 
 Observe his goblin cheek ; his wretched eye ; 
 See how his hand, if any hand he has, 
 Involuntarily opens, and trembles forth, 
 As comes the traveller's foot ; and hear his groan. 
 His long and lamentable groan, announce 
 The want that gnaws within ; severely now, 
 The sun scorches and burns his old bald head ; 
 The frost now glues him to the chilly earth ; 
 On him hail, rain, and tempest, rudely beat ; 
 And all the winds of heaven, in jocular mood, 
 Sport with his withered rags, that, tossed about. 
 Display his nakedness to passers by, 
 And grievously burlesque the human form. 
 Observe him yet more narrowly: his limbs, 
 With palsy shaken, about him blasted lie ; 
 And all his flesh is full of putrid sores, 
 And noisome wounds, his bones of racking pains. 
 Strange vesture this for an immortal soul ! 
 Strange retinue to wait a lord of earth! 
 It seems as Nature, in some surly mood, 
 After debate and musing long, had tried, 
 How vile and miserable thing her hand 
 Could fabricate, then made this meagre man : 
 A sight so full of perfect misery, 
 That passengers their faces turned away, 
 And hasted to be gone ; and delicate 
 And tender women took another path. 
 
 This great disparity of outward things 
 Taught many lessons; but this taught in chief, 
 Though learned by few ; that God no value set, 
 That man should none, on goods of worldly kind 
 
BOOK IV. 89 
 
 On transitory, frail, external things, 
 Of migratory, ever changing-sort. 
 And farther taught, that in the soul alone, 
 The thinking, reasonable, willing soul, 
 God placed the total excellence of man ; 
 And meant him evermore to seek it there. 
 
 But stranger still the distribution seemed 
 Of intellect ; though fewer here complained ; 
 Each with his share, upon the whole, content. 
 One man there was, — and many such you might 
 Have met — who never had a dozen thoughts 
 In all his life, and never changed their course ; 
 But told them o'er, each in its 'customed place, 
 From morn till night, from youth till hoary age. 
 Little above the ox which grazed the field 
 His reason rose : so weak his memory, 
 The name his mother called him by, he scarce 
 Remembered; and h.is judgment so untaught, 
 That what at evening played along the swamp, 
 Fantastic, clad in robe of fiery hue, 
 He thought the devil in disguise, and fled 
 With quivering heart, and winged footsteps home. 
 The word philosophy he never heard, 
 Or science ; never heard of liberty, 
 Necessity, or laws of gravitation : 
 And never had an unbelieving doubt. 
 Beyond his native vale he never looked ; 
 But thought the visual line, that girt him round, 
 The world's extreme : and thought the silver moon. 
 That nightly o'er him led her virgin host, 
 No broader than his father's shield. He lived — 
 Lived where his father lived — died where he died; 
 Lived happy, and died happy, and was saved. 
 Be not surprised. He loved, and served his God. 
 
 There was another, large of understanding, 
 Oi memory infinite, of judgment deep: 
 h 2 
 
90 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Who knew all learning - , and all science knew"', 
 
 And all phenomena, in heaven and earth, 
 
 Traced to their causes ; traced the labyrinths 
 
 Of thought, association, passion, will ; 
 
 And all the subtile, nice affinities 
 
 Of matter, traced; its virtues, motions, laws ; 
 
 And most familiarly and deeply talked 
 
 Of mental, moral, natural, divine. 
 
 Leaving the earth at will, he soared to heaven, 
 
 And read the glorious visions of the skies ; 
 
 And to the music of the rolling spheres 
 
 Intelligently listened ; and gazed far back 
 
 Into the awful depths of Deity ; 
 
 Did all that mind assisted most could do; 
 
 And yet in misery lived, in misery died, 
 
 Because he wanted holiness of heart. 
 
 A deeper lesson this to mortals taught, 
 And nearer cut the branches of their pride : 
 That not in mental, but in moral worth, 
 God excellence placed ; and only to the good, 
 To virtue, granted happiness alone. 
 
 Admire the goodness of Almighty God ! 
 1 He riches gave, he intellectual strength 
 To few, and therefore none commands to be, 
 Or rich, or learned ; nor promises reward 
 Of peace to these. On all, He moral worth 
 Bestowed ; and moral tribute asked from all. 
 And who that could not pay ? who born so poor, 
 Of intellect so mean, as not to know 
 What seemed the best ; and, knowing, might not do ? 
 As not to know what God and conscience bade ? 
 And what they bade, not able to obey ? 
 And he who acted thus fulfilled the law 
 Eternal, and its promise reaped of peace : 
 Found peace this way alone : who sought it else, 
 Sought mellow grapes beneath the icy pole ; 
 
BOOK IV y] 
 
 Sought blooming roses on the cheek of death: 
 
 Sought substance in a world of fleeting shades 
 
 Take one example — to our purpose quite. 
 
 A man of rank, and of capacious soul; 
 
 Who riches had, and fame beyond desire : 
 
 An heir of flattery, to titles born, 
 
 And reputation, and luxurious life. 
 
 Yet not content with ancestorial name ; 
 
 Or to be known, because his fathers were . 
 
 He on this height hereditary stood, 
 
 And gazing higher, purposed in his heart 
 
 To take another step. Above him seemed 
 
 Alone the mount of Song — the lofty seat 
 
 Of canonized bards ; and thitherward, 
 
 By nature taught, and inward melody, 
 
 In prime of youth, he bent his eagle eye. 
 
 No cost was spared. What books he wished, he read : 
 
 What sage to hear, he heard : what scenes to see, 
 
 He saw. And first in rambling school- boy days, 
 
 Britannia's mountain walks, and heath-girt lakes, 
 
 And story-telling glens, and founts, and brooks, 
 
 And maids, as dew-drops pure and fair, his soul 
 
 With grandeur filled, and melody, and love. 
 
 Then travel came, and took him where he wished. 
 
 He cities saw, and courts, and princely pomp; 
 
 And mused alone on ancient mountain brows ; 
 
 And mused on battle-fields, where valour fought 
 
 In other days ; and mused on ruins gray 
 
 With years : and drank from old and fabulous wells ; 
 
 And plucked the vine that first-born prophets plucked 
 
 And mused on famdUs tombs ; and on the wave 
 
 Of ocean mused ; and on the desert waste. 
 
 The heavens and earth of every country saw: 
 
 Where'er the old inspiring Genii dwelt, 
 
 Aught that could rouse, expand, refine the soul. 
 
 Thither he went, and meditated there. 
 
1)2 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 He touched his harp, and nations heard, entranj-ud 
 As some vast river of unfailing source, 
 Rapid, exhaustless, deep, his numbers flowed, 
 And opened new fountains in the human heart. 
 Where fancy halted, weary in her flight, 
 In other men, his, fresh as morning rose, 
 And soared untrodden heights, and seemed at home 
 Where angels bashful looked. Others, though great, 
 Beneath their argument seemed struggling ; whiles 
 He from above descending, stooped to touch 
 The loftiest thought ; and proudly stooped, as though 
 It scarce deserved his verse. With Nature's self 
 He seemed an old acquaintance, free to jest 
 At will with all her glorious majesty. 
 He laid his hand upon " the Ocean's mane," 
 And played familiar with his hoary locks. 
 Stood on the Alps, stood on the Apennines, 
 And with the Ihunder talked, as friend to friend; 
 And wove his garland of the lightning's wing, 
 In sportive twist — the lightning's fiery wing, 
 Which, as the footsteps of the dreadful God, 
 Marching upon the storm in vengeance, seemed : 
 Then turned, and with the grasshopper, who b^inp 
 His evening song, beneath his feet, conversed. 
 Suns, moons, and stars, and clouds his sisters were ; 
 Rocks, mountains, meteors, seas, and winds, and storriS, 
 His brothers — younger brothers, whom he scarce 
 As equals deemed. All passions of all men — 
 The wild and tame — the gentle and severe ; 
 All thoughts, all maxims, sacred and profane; 
 All creeds ; all seasons, Time, Eternity ; 
 All that was hated, and all that was dear ; 
 All that was hoped, all that was feared by man, 
 He tossed about, as tempest-withered leaves, 
 Then, smiling, looked upon the wreck he made. 
 With terror now he froze the cowering blood, 
 
BOOK IV. 93 
 
 And now dissolved the heart in tenderness ; 
 
 Yetwould not tremble, would not weep himself: 
 
 But baek into his soul retired, alone, 
 
 Dark, sullen, proud : gazing contemptuously 
 
 On hearts and passions prostrate at his feet. 
 
 So Ocean, from the plains his waves had late 
 
 To desolation swept, retired in pride. 
 
 Exulting- in the glory of his might, 
 
 And seemed to mock the ruin he had wrought. 
 
 As some fierce comet of tremendous size, 
 To which the stars did reverence, as it passed ; 
 So he through learning, and through fancy took 
 His flight sublime ; and on the loftiest top 
 Of Fame's dread mountain sat : not soiled, and worn, 
 As if he from the earth had laboured up ; 
 But as some bird of heavenly plumage fair, 
 He looked, which down from higher regions came, 
 And perched it there, to see what lay beneath. 
 
 The nations gazed, and wondered much, and praised 
 Critics before him fell in humble plight; 
 Confounded fell ; and made debasing signs 
 To catch his eye ; and stretched, and swelled themselves 
 To bursting nigh, to utter bulky words 
 Of admiration vast: and many too, 
 Many that aimed to imitate his flight, 
 With weaker wing, unearthly fluttering made. 
 And gave abundant sport to after days. 
 
 Great man ! the nations gazed, and wondered much, 
 And praised : and many called his evil good 
 Wits wrote in favour of his wickedness ; 
 And kings to do him honour took delight. 
 Thus full of titles, flattery, honour, fame ; 
 Beyond desire, beyond ambition full, 
 He died. — He died of what? Of wretchedness. 
 Drank every cup of joy, heard every trump 
 Of fame ; drank early, deeply drank; drank draughts 
 
94 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 That common millions might have quenched — then died 
 
 Of thirst, because there was no more to drink. 
 
 His goddess, Nature, wooed, embraced, enjoyed, 
 
 Fell from his arms, abhorred ; his passions died • 
 
 Died all but dreary solitary pride ; 
 
 And all his sympathies in being died. 
 
 As some ill-guided bark, well built and tall, 
 
 Which angry tides cast out on desert shore, 
 
 And then retiring, left it there to rot 
 
 And moulder in the winds and rains of heaven: 
 
 So he, cut from the sympathies of life, 
 
 And cast ashore from pleasure's boisterous surge — 
 
 A wandering, weary, worn, and wretched tiling ; 
 
 Scorched, and desolate, and blasted soul ; 
 
 A gloomy wilderness of dying thought — 
 
 Repined, and groaned, and withered from the earth 
 
 His groanings filled the land his numbers filled : 
 
 And yet he seemed ashamed to groan. Poor man ' 
 
 Ashamed to ask, and yet he needed help. 
 
 Proof this, beyond all lingering of doubt, 
 That not with natural or mental wealth, 
 Was God delighted, or his peace secured : 
 That not in natural or mental wealth, 
 Was human happiness or grandeur found. 
 Attempt how monstrous ! and how surely vain ! 
 With things of earthly sort, with aught but God, 
 With aught but moral excellence, truth and love, 
 To satisfy and fill the immortal soul ! 
 Attempt, vain inconceivably ! attempt, 
 To satisfy the ocean with a drop ; 
 To marry Immortality lo Death ; 
 And with the unsubstantial Shade of Time, 
 To fill the embrace of all Eternity ! 
 
the 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 Praise God, ye servants of the Lord ! praise God, 
 
 Ye angels strong ! praise God, ye sons of men ! 
 
 Praise him who made, and who redeemed your soula 
 
 Who gave you hope, reflection, reason, will ; 
 
 Minds that can pierce eternity remote, 
 
 And live at once on future, present, past ; 
 
 Can speculate on systems yet to make, 
 
 And back recoil on ancient days of Time. 
 
 Of Time, soon past ; soon lost among the shades 
 
 Of buried years. Not so the actions done 
 
 In Time ; the deeds of reasonable men ; 
 
 As if engraven with pen of iron grain, 
 
 And laid in flinty rock, they stand unchanged, 
 
 Written on the various pages of the past : 
 
 If good, in rosy characters of love ; 
 
 If bad, in letters of vindictive fire. 
 
 God may forgive, but cannot blot them out. 
 Systems begin, and end ; eternity 
 Rolls on his endless years; and men absolved 
 By mercy from the consequence, forget 
 The evil deed ; and God imputes it not : 
 But neither systems ending nor begun, 
 Eternity that rolls his endless years, 
 Nor men absolved, and sanctified, and washed 
 By mercy from the consequence; nor yet 
 Forgetfulness ; nor God imputing not, 
 
 93 
 
96 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Can wash the guilty deed once done, from out 
 The faithful annals of the past; who reads, 
 And many read, there finds it, as it was, 
 And is, and shall for ever be — a dark, 
 Unnatural and loathly moral spot. 
 
 The span of Time was short indeed ; and now 
 Three-fourths were past, the last begun, and on 
 Careering to its close ; which soon we sing : 
 But first our promise we redeem, to tell 
 The joys of Time — her joys of native growth ; 
 And briefly must, what longer tale deserves. 
 
 Wake, dear remembrances i wake, childhood-days. 
 Loves, friendships, wake ! and wake, thou morn and even! 
 Sun ! with thy orient locks ; night, moon, and stars ! 
 And thou, celestial bow ! and ail ye woods, 
 And hills, and vales ; first trod in dawning life ! 
 And hours of holy musing, wake ! wake, earth, 
 And, smiling to remembrance* come; and bring, 
 For thou canst bring, meet argument for song 
 Of heavenly harp; meet hearing for Che ear 
 Of heavenly auditor, exalted high. 
 
 God gave much peace on earth, much holy joy : 
 Oped fountains of perennial spring, whence flowed 
 Abundant happiness to all who wished 
 To drink : not perfect bliss ; that dwells with us, 
 Beneath the eyelids of the Eternal One, 
 And sits at his right hand alone : but such, 
 As well deserved the name — abundant joy. 
 Pleasures, on which the memory of saints 
 Of highest glory, still delights to dwell. 
 
 It was, we own, subject of much debate, 
 And worthy men stood on opposing sides, 
 Whether the cup of mortal life had more 
 Of sour or sweet. Vain question this, when asked 
 In general terms, and worthy to be left 
 Unsolved. If most was sour — the drinker, not 
 
BOOK V. 97 
 
 The cup, we blame. Each in himself the means 
 
 Possessed to turn the bitter sweet, the sweet 
 
 To bitter ; hence from out the self-same, fount, 
 
 One nectar drank, another draughts of gall. 
 
 Hence from the self-same quarter of the sky, 
 
 One saw ten thousand angels look, and smile ; 
 
 Another saw as many demons frown. 
 
 One discord heard, where harmony inclined 
 
 Another's ear. The sweet was in the taste ; 
 
 The beauty in the eye ; and in the ear 
 
 The melody ; and in the man — for God 
 
 Necessity of sinning laid on none — 
 
 To form the taste, to purify the eye, 
 
 And tune the ear, that all he tasted, saw, 
 
 Or heard, might be harmonious, sweet, and fair. 
 
 Who would, might groan : who would, might sing for py 
 
 Nature lamented little ; undevoured 
 By spurious appetites, she found enough, 
 Where least was found : with gleanings satisfied, 
 Or crumbs, that from the hand of luxury fell : 
 Yet seldom these she ate ; but ate the bread 
 Of her own industry, made sweet by toil: 
 And walked in robes that her own hand had spun . 
 And slept on down, her early rising bought. 
 Frugal, and diligent in business, chaste 
 And abstinent, she stored for helpless age ; 
 And keeping in reserve her spring-day health, 
 And dawning relishes of life, she drank 
 Her evening cup with excellent appetite ; 
 And saw her eldest sun decline, as fair 
 As rose her earliest morn, and pleased as well. 
 
 Whether in crowds or solitudes — in streets 
 Or shady groves dwelt Happiness, it seems 
 In vain to ask ; her nature makes it vain : 
 Though poets much, and hermits, talked and sung 
 Of brooks, and crystal founts, and weeping dews, 
 
98 THE COURSE OF TIME, 
 
 And myrtle bowers, and solitary vales ; 
 And with the nymph made assignations there, 
 And wooed her with the love-sick oaten reed ; 
 And sages too, although less positive, 
 Advised their sons to court her in the shade — 
 Delirious babble all ! Was happiness, 
 Was self-approving, God approving joy, 
 In drops of dew, however pure ? in gales, 
 However sweet? in wells, however clear? 
 Or groves, however thick with verdant shade ? 
 
 True, these were of themselves exceeding fair ' 
 How fair at morn and even ! worthy the walk 
 Of loftiest mind; and gave, when all within 
 Was right, a feast of overflowing bliss. 
 But were the occasion, not the cause of joy : 
 They waked the native fountains of the soul, 
 Which slept before; and stirred the holy tides 
 Of feeling up ; giving the heart to drink - 
 From its own treasures, draughts of perfect sweet 
 
 The Christian faith, which better knew the heart 
 Of man, him thither sent for peace; and thus 
 Declared : Who finds it, let him find it there: 
 Who finds it not, for ever let him seek 
 In vain: 'tis God's most holy, changeless will. 
 
 True happiness had no localities ; 
 No tones provincial ; no peculiar garb. 
 Where duty went, she went; with justice went; 
 And went with meekness, charity, and love. 
 Where'er a tear was dried : a wounded heart 
 Bound up ; a bruised spirit with the dew 
 Of sympathy anointed ; or a pang 
 Of honest suffering soothed ; or injury 
 Repeated oft, as oft by love forgiven ; 
 Where'er an evil passion was subdued, 
 Or Virtue's feeble embers fanned ; where'er 
 A sin was heartily abjured, and left; 
 
BOOK V. 39 
 
 Wheie'er a pious act was done, or breathed 
 A pious prayer, or wished a pious wish- — 
 There was a high and holy place, a spot 
 Of sacred light, a most religious lane, 
 Where Happiness, descending, sat and smiled. 
 
 But these apart. In sacred memory lives 
 The morn of life; first morn of endless days. 
 Most joyful morn ! nor yet for nought the joy : 
 A being of eternal date commenced ; 
 A young immortal then was born ; and who 
 Shall tell what strange variety of bliss 
 Burst on the infant soul, when first it looked 
 Abroad on God's creation fair, and saw 
 The glorious earth, and glorious heaven, and face 
 Of man sublime? and saw all new, and felt 
 All new ? when thought awoke ; thought never more 
 To sleep ? when first it saw, heard, reasoned, willed , 
 And triumphed in the warmth of conscious life ? — 
 Nor happy only ; but the cause of joy, 
 Which those who never tasted always mourned. 
 What tongue? — no tongue shall tell what bliss o'erflowed 
 The mother's tender heart, while round her hung 
 The offspring of her love, and lisped her name ; 
 As living jewels dropt unstained from heaven, 
 That made her fairer far, and sweeter seem, 
 Than every ornament of costliest hue. 
 And who hath not been ravished, as she passed 
 With all her playful band of little ones, 
 Like Luna, with her daughters of the sky, 
 Walking in matron majesty and grace ? 
 All who had hearts, here pleasure found : and oft 
 Have I, when tired with heavy task, for tasks 
 Were heavy in the world below, relaxed 
 My weary thoughts among their guiltless sports ; 
 And led them by their little hands afield ; 
 And watched them run and crop the tempting flower, — 
 
100 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 / 
 
 Which oft, unasked, they brought me and bestow'd 
 
 With smiling face, that waited for a look 
 
 Of praise — and answered curious questions, put 
 
 In much simplicity, but ill to solve ; 
 
 And heard their observations strange and new, 
 
 And settled whiles their little quarrels, soon 
 
 Ending in peace, and soon forgot in love. 
 
 And still I looked upon their loveliness ; 
 
 And sought through nature for similitudes 
 
 Of perfect beauty, innocence, and bliss. 
 
 And fairest imagery round me thronged : — 
 
 Dew-drops at day-spring on a seraph's locks ; 
 
 Roses that bathe about the well of life ; 
 
 Young loves, young hopes, "dancing on Morning's cneek* 
 
 Gems leaping in the coronet of love : 
 
 So beautiful, so full of life, they seemed 
 
 As made entire of beams of angels' eyes. 
 
 Gay, guileless, sportive, lovely, little things! 
 
 Playing around the den of Sorrow, clad 
 
 In smiles ; believing in their fairy hopes ; 
 
 And thinking man and woman true ! all joy: 
 
 Happy all day, and happy all the night. 
 
 Hail, holy love ! thou word that sums all bliss ! 
 Gives and receives all bliss ; fullest when most 
 Thou givest. Spring-head of all felicity ! 
 Deepest when most is drawn. Emblem of God ! 
 O'erflowing most when greatest numbers drink. 
 Essence that binds the uncreated Three : 
 Chain that unites creation to its Lord: 
 Centre to which all being gravitates. 
 Eternal, ever-growing, happy love ! 
 Enduring all, hoping, forgiving all ; 
 Instead of law, fulfilling every law : 
 Entirely blest, because thou seekest no more, 
 Hopes not, nor fears; but on the present lives, 
 And holds perfection smiling in thy arms. 
 
BOOK V. 101 
 
 Mysterious, infinite, exhaustless -love ! 
 On earth mysterious, and mysterious still 
 In heaven ; sweet chord, that harmonizes all 
 The harps of Paradise ; the spring, the well. 
 That fills the bowl, and banquet of the sky. 
 
 But why should 1 to thee of love divine ? 
 Who happy, and not eloquent of love ? 
 Who holy, and as thou art, pure, and not 
 A temple where her glory ever dwells, 
 Where burns her fires, and beams her perfect eye ? 
 
 Kindred to this, part of this holy flame, 
 Was youthful love — the sweetest boon of Earth. 
 Elail love ! first love, thou word that sums all bliss . 
 The sparkling cream of all Time's blessedness : 
 The silken down of happiness complete : 
 Discerner of the ripest grapes of joy, 
 She gathered, and selected with her hand. 
 All finest relishes, all fairest sights ; 
 All rarest odours, all divinest sounds ; 
 All thoughts, all feelings dearest to the soul ; 
 And brought the holy mixture home, and filled 
 The heart with all superlatives of bliss. 
 But who would that expound which words transcends, 
 Must talk in vain. — Behold a meeting scene 
 Of earthly love, and thence infer its worth. 
 
 It was an eve of Autumn's holiest mood ; 
 The corn-fields/bathed in Cynthia's silver light, 
 Stood ready for the reaper's gathering hand ; 
 And all the winds slept soundly : nature seemed, 
 In silent contemplation, to adore 
 Its Maker : now and then the aged leaf 
 Fell from its fellows, rustling to the ground , 
 And, as it fell, bade man think on his end. 
 On vale and lake, on wood and mountain high, 
 With pensive wing outspread, sat heavenly Thought 
 Conversing with itself: Vesper looked forth 
 i 2 
 
102 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 From out her western hermitage, and smiled . 
 lnd up the east, unclouded, rode the Moon 
 A^ith all her stars, gazing on earth intense, 
 As if she saw some wonder walking there. 
 
 Such was the night — so lovely, still, serene 
 When, by a hermit thorn that on the hill 
 Had seen a hundred flowery ages pass, 
 A damsel kneeled to offer up her prayer : 
 Hei prayer nightly offered, nightly heard. 
 This ancient thorn had been the meeting place 
 Of love, before his country's voice had called 
 The ardent youth, to fields of honour, far 
 Beyond the wave. And hither now repaired, 
 Nightly, the maid ; by God's all-seeing eye 
 Seen only, while she sought this boon alone : — 
 "Her lover's safety, and his quick return." 
 In holy, humble attitude she kneeled : 
 And to her bosom, fair as moon-beam, pressed 
 One hand, the other lifted up to heaven ; 
 Her eye, upturned, bright as the star of morn, 
 As violet meek, excessive ardour streamed, 
 Wafting away her earnest heart to God. 
 Her voice, scarce uttered, soft as Zephyr sighs 
 On morning lily's cheek ; though soft and low — 
 Yet heard in heaven, heard at the mercy-seat 
 A tear-drop wandered on her lovely face; 
 It was a tear of faith, and holy fear, 
 Pure as the drops that hang at dawning-time, 
 On yonder willows by the stream 6f life. 
 On her the moon looked steadfastly ; the stars, 
 That circle nightly round the eternal throne, 
 Glanced down, well pleased ; and eyerlasting Love 
 Gave gracious audience to her prayer sincere. 
 
 O, had her lover seen her thus alone, 
 Thus holy, wrestling thus, and all for him ! 
 ttor did he not ; for ofttimes Providence, 
 
BOOK V. 103 
 
 With unexpected joy the fervent prayer 
 
 Of faith surprised : — returned from long delay 
 
 With glory crowned of righteous actions won. 
 
 The sacred thorn to memory dear, first sough! 
 
 The youth, and found it at the happy hour, 
 
 Just when the damsel kneeled herself to pray. 
 
 Wrapt in devotion, pleading with her God, 
 
 She saw him not, heard not his foot approach. 
 
 All holy images seemed too impure 
 
 To emblem her he saw. A seraph knee.ed, 
 
 Beseeching for his ward, before the throne, 
 
 Seemed fittest, pleased him best. Sweet was the thaughc 
 
 But sweeter still the kind remembrance came, 
 
 That she was flesh, and blood, formed for himself 
 
 The plighted partner of his future life. 
 
 And as they met, embraced, and sat embowered 
 
 In woody chambers of the starry night, — 
 
 Spirits of love about them ministered, 
 
 And God, approving, blessed the holy joy. 
 
 Nor unremembered is the hour when friends 
 Met, friends but few on earth, and therefore dear: 
 Sought oft, and sought almost as oft in vain: 
 Yet always sought ; so native to the heart, 
 So much desired, and coveted by all. 
 Nor wonder thou — thou wonderest not, nor needat 
 Much beautiful, and excellent, and fair 
 Was seen beneath the sun: but nought was seen 
 More beautiful, or excellent, or fair 
 Than face of faithful friend ; fairest when seen 
 In darkest day. And many sounds were sweet. 
 Most raviphing, and pleasant to the ear ; 
 But sweeter none than voice of faithful friend ; 
 Sweet always, sweetest hear in loudest storm. 
 Some I remember, and will ne'er forget; 
 My early friends, friends of my evil day; 
 Friends in my mirth, friends in my misery too 
 
104 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Friends given by God in mercy and in love ; t . 
 
 My counsellors, my comforters, and guides ; 
 
 My joy in grief, rny second bliss in joy ; 
 
 Companions of my young desires ; in doubt 
 
 My oracles ; my wings in high pursuit. 
 
 O, I remember, and will ne'er forget, 
 
 Our meeting spots, our chosen sacred hours; 
 
 Our burning words, that uttered all the soul ; 
 
 Our faces beaming with unearthly love ; — 
 
 Sorrow with sorrow sighing, hope with hope 
 
 Exulting, heart embracing heart entire. 
 
 As birds of social feather, helping each 
 
 His fellow's flight, we soared into the skies, 
 
 And cast the clouds beneath our feet, and Earth, 
 
 With all her tardy leaden-footed cares, 
 
 And talked the speech, and ate the food of heaven. 
 
 These I remember, these selectest men ; 
 
 And would their names record — but what avails 
 
 My mention of their name : before the throne 
 
 They stand, illustrious, 'mong the loudest harps, 
 
 And will receive thee glad, my friend and theirs. 
 
 For all are friends in heaven ; all faithful friends ; 
 
 And many friendships in the days of Time 
 
 Begun, are lasting here, and growing still ; 
 
 So grows ours evermore, both theirs and mine. 
 
 Nor is the hour of lonely walk forgot, 
 In the wide desert, where the view was large. 
 Pleasant were many scenes, but most to me 
 The solitude of vast extent, untouched 
 By hand of art ; where nature sowed, herself, 
 And reaped her crops ; — whose garments were the clouds; 
 Whose minstrels, brooks ;• whose lamps, the moon and 
 
 stars ; 
 Whose organ-quire, the voice of many waters ; 
 Whose banquets, morning dews ; whose heroes, storms; 
 Whoso warriors, mighty winds ; whose lovers, flowers 
 
BOOK V. 105 
 
 Whose orators, the thunderbolts of God ; 
 Whose palaces, the everlasting 1 hills ; 
 Whose ceiling-, heaven's unfathomable blue 
 And from whose rocky turrets battled high, 
 Prospect immense spread out on all sides round ; 
 Lost now between the welkin and the main — 
 Now walled with hills that slept above the storm. 
 
 Most fit was such a place for musing men ; 
 Happiest sometimes when musing without aim. 
 It was indeed a wondrous sort of bliss 
 The lonely bard enjoyed, when forth he walked 
 Unpurposed ; stood, and knew not why ; sat down, 
 And knew not where ; arose, and knew not when ; 
 Had eyes, and saw not ; ears, and nothing heard , 
 And sought — sought neither heaven nor earth — soughl 
 
 nought, 
 Nor meant to think ; but ran, meantime, through vast 
 Of visionary things, fairer than aught 
 That was ; and saw the distant tops of thoughts, 
 Which men of common stature never saw, 
 Greater than aught that largest words could hold, 
 Or give idea of, to those who read. 
 He entered in to Nature's holy place, 
 Her inner chamber, and beheld her face 
 Unveiled : and heard unutterable things, 
 And incommunicable visions saw : — 
 Things then unutterable, and visions then 
 Of incommunicable glory bright ; 
 But by the lips of after ages formed 
 To words, or by their pencil pictured forth : 
 Who entering farther in beheld again, 
 And heard unspeakable and marvellous things. 
 Which other ages in their turn revealed ; 
 And left to others, greater wonders still . 
 
 The earth abounded much in silent wastes : 
 Nor yet is heaven without its solitudes, 
 Else incomplete in bliss, whither who will 
 
106 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 May oft retire, and meditate alone, 
 
 Of God, redemption, holiness, and love ; 
 
 Nor needs to fear a setting' sun, or haste 
 
 Him home from rainy tempest unforeseen ; 
 
 Or, sighing, leave his thoughts for want uf time. 
 
 But whatsoever was both good and fair, 
 And highest relish of enjoyment gave, 
 In intellectual exercise was found ; 
 When, gazing through the future, present, p;ist, 
 Inspired, thought linked to thought, harmonious flowed 
 In poetry — the loftiest mood of mind. 
 Or when philosophy the reason led 
 Deep through the outward circumstance of things, 
 And saw the master wheels of Nature move ; 
 And travelled far along the endless line 
 Of certain, and of probable ; and made, • 
 At every step, some new discovery, 
 That, gave the soul sweet sense of larger room — 
 High these pursuits — and sooner to be named 
 Deserved ; at present only named : again 
 To be resumed, and praised in longer verso. 
 
 Abundant, and diversified above 
 All number, were the sources of delight ; 
 As infinite as were the lips that drank : 
 And to the pure, all innocent and pure ; 
 The simplest still to wisest men the best. 
 One made acquaintanceship with plants and flowers 
 And happy grew in telling all their names. 
 One classed the quadrupeds ; a third the fowls ; 
 Another found in minerals his joy. 
 And I have seen a man, a worthy man, 
 In happy mood conversing with a fly; 
 And as he throug.li his glass, made by himself, 
 Beheld its wondrous eye, and plumage fine, 
 From leaping scarce he kept for perfect joy. 
 
 And from my path, I with my friend have turned, 
 A man of excellent mind, and excellent heart, 
 
BOOK V. l(T 
 
 And climbed the neighbouring hill, with ardi.ous step, 
 Fetching from distant cairn, or from the earth, 
 Digging, with labour sore, the ponderous stone, 
 Which, having carried to the highest top, 
 We downward lulled ; and as it it:t,7fc at first 
 With obstacles that seemed to match its force, 
 With feeble crooked motion to and fro 
 Wavering-, he looked with interest most intense, 
 And prayed almost; and as it gathered strength, 
 And straightened the current of its furious flow — 
 Exulting in the swiftness of its course, 
 And, rising now with rainbow-bound immense, 
 Leaped down, careering- o'er the subject plain, 
 He clapped his hands in sign of boundless bliss; 
 And laughed and talked, well paid for all his toil : 
 And when at night the story was rehearsed, 
 Uncommon glory kindled in his eye. 
 
 And there were too — harp ! lift thy voice on high. 
 And run in rapid numbers o'er the face 
 Of Nature's scenery — and there were aay 
 And night ; and rising- suns, and setting suns • 
 And clouds, that seemed like chariots ot saints, 
 By fiery coursers drawn — as brightly hued, 
 As if the glorious, bushy, golden locks 
 Of thousand cherubim had been shorn off, 
 And on the temples hung- of morn and even. 
 And there were moons, and stars, ana darkness streaked 
 With light ; and voice of tempest heard secure. 
 And there were seasons coming evermore, 
 And going still, all fair, and always new, 
 With bloom, and fruit, and fields of hoary grain. 
 And there were hills of flock, and groves of song: 
 And flowery streams, and garden walks embowered, 
 Where side by side the rose and lily bloomed. 
 And sacred founts, wild harps, and moonlight glens ; 
 And forests vast, fair lawns, and lonely oaks ; 
 
108 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And little willows sipping at the brook ; 
 Old wizard haunts, and dancing seats of mirth ; 
 Gay festive bowers, and palaces in dust ; 
 Dark owlet nooks, and caves, and battled rocks , 
 And winding valleys, roofed with pendant shade ; 
 And tall, and perilous cliffs, that overlooked 
 The breadth of ocean, sleeping on his waves. 
 Sounds, sights, smells, tastes ; the heaven and earth, pro- 
 fuse 
 In endless sweets, above all praise of song : 
 For not to use alone did Providence 
 Abound, but large example gave to man 
 Of grace, and ornament, and splendour rich; 
 Suited abundantly to every taste, 
 Jn bird, beast, fish, winged and creeping thing , 
 In herb and flower ; and in the restless change, 
 Which on the many-coloured seasons made 
 The annual circuit of the fruitful earth. 
 
 Nor do I aught of earthly sort remember, — 
 If partial feeling to my native place 
 Lead not my lyre astray, — of fairer view, 
 And comelier walk, than the blue mountain-paths 
 And snowy cliffs of Albion renowned ; 
 Albion, an isle long blest with gracious laws, 
 And gracious kings, and favoured much of Heaven ; 
 Though yielding oft penurious gratitude. 
 Nor do I of that isle remember aught 
 Of prospect more sublime and beautiful, 
 Than Scotia's northern battlement of hills, 
 Which first I from my father's house beheld, 
 At dawn of life : beloved in memory still ; 
 And standard still of rural imagery : 
 What most resembles them, the fairest seems. 
 And stirs the eldest sentiments of bliss ; 
 And pictured on the tablet of my heart, 
 Their distant shapes eternally remain, 
 
BOOK V. 109 
 
 And in ray dreams their cloudy tops arise. 
 
 Much of ray native scenery appears, 
 
 And presses forward to be in my song ; 
 
 But must not now ; for much behind awaits 
 
 Of higher note. Four trees I pass not by, 
 
 Whicti o'er our house their evening" shadow threw . — 
 
 Three ash, and one of elm: tall trees they were, 
 
 And old : and had been old a century 
 
 Before my day : none living could say aught 
 
 About their youth; but they were goodly trees: 
 
 And oft I wondered, as I sat and thought 
 
 Beneath their summer shade, or in the night 
 
 Of winter, heard the spirits of the wind 
 
 Growling among their boughs, — how they had grown 
 
 So high, in such a rough tempestuous place : 
 
 And when a hapless branch, torn by the blast, 
 
 Fell down, I mourned, as if a friend had fallen. 
 
 These I distinctly hold in memory still, 
 And all the desert scenery around. 
 Nor strange, that recollection there should dwell, 
 Where first I heard of God's redeeming love; 
 First felt and reasoned, loved and was beloved, 
 And first awoke the harp to holy song. 
 To hoar and green there was enough of joy. 
 Hopes, friendships, charities, and warm pursuit, 
 Gave comfortable flow to youthful blood. 
 And there were old remembrances of days, 
 When on the glittering dews of orient life, 
 Shone sunshine hopes — unfailed, unperjured then : 
 And there were childish sports, and* schocl-boy feats, 
 And school-boy spots, and earnest vows of love, 
 Uttered, when passion's boisterous tide ran high 
 Sincerely uttered, though but seldom kept: 
 And there were angel looks ; and sacred hours 
 Of rapture ; hours that in a moment passed, 
 And yet were wished to last for evermore : 
 K 
 
110 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And venturous exploits; and Hardy deeds-; 
 Avid bargains shrewd, achieved in manhood's prime 
 And thousand recollections, gay and sweet, 
 Which, as the old and venerable man 
 Approached the grave, around him, smiling, flocked 
 And breathed new ardour through his ebbing veins : 
 And touched his lips with endless eloquence ; 
 And cheered, and much refreshed his withered heart 
 Indeed, each thing remembered, all but guilt, 
 Was pleasant, and a constant source of joy. 
 Nor lived the old on memory alone. 
 He in his children lived a second life ; 
 With them again took root; sprang with their hopes 
 Entered into their schemes; partook their fears; 
 Laughed in their mirth ; and in their gain grew ricn. 
 And sometimes on the eldest cheek was seen 
 A smile as hearty as on face of youth, 
 That saw in prospect sunny hopes invite, 
 Hope's pleasures — sung to harp of sweetest note; 
 Harp, heard with rapture on Britannia's hills ; 
 With rapture heard by me, in morn of life. 
 Nor small the joy of rest to mortal men; 
 Rest after labour ; sleep approaching soft, 
 And wrapping all the weary faculties 
 In sweet repose. Then Fancy, unrestrained 
 By sense or judgment, strange confusion made, 
 Of future, present, past; combining things 
 Unseemly, things unsociable in Nature, 
 In most absurd communion, laughable, 
 Though sometimes vexing sore the slumbering so& 
 Sporting at will, she, through her airy halls, 
 With moon-beams paved, and canopied with star,=, 
 And tapestried with marvellous imagery, 
 And shapes of glory, infinitely fair, 
 Moving and mixing in most wondrous dance — 
 Fantastically walked ; but pleased so well, 
 
BOOK V. Ill 
 
 That ill she liked the judgment's voice severe, 
 Which called her home when noisy morn awoke. 
 And oft she sprang beyond the bounds of Time, 
 On her swift pinion lifting up the souls 
 Of righteous men, on high, to God, and heaven. 
 Where they beheld unutterable things; 
 And heard the glorious music of the blest, 
 Circling the throne of the Eternal Three ; 
 And with the spirits uninrarnate, took 
 Celestial pastime, on the hills of God ; 
 Forgetful of the gloomy pass between. 
 
 Some dreams were useless — moved by turbid course 
 Of animal disorder ; not so all : 
 Deep moral lessons some impressed, that nought 
 Could afterwards deface. And oft in dreams, 
 The master passion of the soul displayed 
 His huge deformity, concealed by day — 
 Warning the sleeper to beware, awake. 
 And oft in dreams, the reprobate and vile, 
 Unpardonable sinner — as he seemed 
 Toppling upon the perilous edge of Hell — 
 In dreadful apparition, saw before 
 His vision pass, the shadows of the damned ; 
 And saw the glare of hollow, cursed eyes, 
 Spring'from the skirts of the infernal night; 
 And saw the souls of wicked men, new dead, 
 By devils hearsed into the fiery gulf; 
 And heard the burning of the endless flames : 
 And heard the weltering of the waves of wrath. 
 And sometimes, too, before his fancy passed 
 The Worm that never dies, writhing its folds 
 In hideous sort, and with eternal Death 
 Held horrid colloquy ; giving the wretch 
 Unwelcome earnest of the wo to come. 
 But these we leave, as unbefitting song, ^ 
 
 "Win* promised happy narrative of joy. 
 
1.12 THE COURSE OF TIME. I 
 
 ' But what of all the joys of earth was most 
 Of native growth, most proper to the soil — 
 Not elsewhere known, in worlds that never fell- 
 Was joy that sprung from disappointed wo. 
 The joy in grief; the pleasure after pain; 
 Fears turned to hopes ; meetings expected not ; 
 Deliverances from dangerous attitudes ; 
 Better for worse ; and best sometimes for worst ; 
 And all the seeming ill, ending in good — 
 A sort of happiness composed, which none 
 Has had experience of, but mortal man. 
 Yet not to be despised. Look back, and one 
 Behold, who would not give her tear for all 
 The smiles that dance about the cheek of Mirth. 
 Among the tombs she walks at noon of night, 
 In miserable garb of widowhood. 
 Observe her yonder, sickly, pale, and sad, 
 Bending her wasted body o'er the grave 
 Of him who was the husband of her youth. 
 The moon-beams trembling through these ancient vewa, 
 That stand like ranks of mourners round the bed 
 Of death, fall dismally upon her face ; 
 Her little, hollow, withered face, almost 
 Invisible — so worn away with wo : 
 The tread of hasty foot, passing so late, 
 Disturbs her not ; nor yet the roar of mirth, 
 From neighbouring revelry ascending loud. 
 She hears, sees nought; fears nought; one thought alone 
 Fills all her heart and soul; half hoping, half 
 Remembering, sad, unutterable thought ! 
 Uttered by silence, and by tears alone. 
 Sweet tears ! the awful language, eloquent 
 Of infinite affection; far too big 
 For words. She sheds not many now : that grass, 
 Which springs so rankly o'er the dead, has drunk 
 Already many showers of grief: a drop 
 
BOOK V. J 13 
 
 Or two are all thai now remain behind, 
 
 And from her eye, that darts strange fiery beams, 
 
 At dreary intervals, drip down her cheek, 
 
 Falling- most mournfully from bone to bone. 
 
 But yet she wants not tears : that babe that hangs 
 
 Upon her breast, that babe that never saw 
 
 Its father — he was dead before its birth — 
 
 Helps her to weep, weeping- before its time ; 
 
 Taught sorrow by the mother's melting voice, 
 
 Repeating oft the father's sacred name. 
 
 Be not surprised at this expense of wo ! 
 
 The man she mourns was all she called her own ; 
 
 The music of her ear, light of her eye ; 
 
 Desire of all her heart ; her hope, her fear : 
 
 The element in which her passions lived — 
 
 Dead now, or dying all. Nor long shall she 
 
 Visit that place of skulls : night after night, 
 
 She wears herself away : the moonbeam now 
 
 That falls upon her unsubstantial frame, 
 
 Scarce finds obstruction ; and upon her bones, 
 
 Barren as leaflless boughs in winter-time, 
 
 Her infant fastens his little hands, as oft, 
 
 Forgetful, she leaves him awhile unheld. 
 
 But. look, she passes not away In gloom : 
 
 A light from far illumes her face ; a light 
 
 That comes beyond the moon, beyond the sun — 
 
 The light of truth divine ; the glorious hope 
 
 Of resurrection at the promised morn, 
 
 And meetings then which ne'er shall part again. 
 
 Indulge another note of kindred tone, 
 Where grief was mixed with melancholy joy. 
 
 Our sighs were numerous, and profuse our tears; 
 For she was lost, was lovely, and we loved 
 Her much : fresh in our memory, as f Hfe 
 4s yesterday, is yet the day she die* 
 It was an April day ; and blithe!" ;. 
 k2 
 
114 THE COURSE Ot TIME. 
 
 The youtn of nature leaped beneath the. sun, 
 
 And promised glorious manhood ; and our hearts 
 
 Were glad, and round them danced the lightsome blood, 
 
 In healthy merriment — when tidings came, 
 
 A child was born ; and tidings came again, 
 
 That she who gave it birth was sick to death. 
 
 So swift trode sorrow on the heels of joy ! 
 
 We gathered round her bed, and bent our knees 
 
 In fervent supplication to the Throne 
 
 Of Mercy, and perfumed our prayers with sighs^ 
 
 Sincere, and penitential tears, and looks 
 
 Of self-abasement ; but we sought to stay 
 
 An angel on the earth ; a spirit ripe 
 
 For heaven ; and Mercy, in her love, refused : 
 
 Most merciful, as oft, when seeming least ! 
 
 Most gracious when she seemed the most to frown ! 
 
 The room I well remember ; and the bed 
 
 On which she lay ; and all the faces too, 
 
 That crowded dark and mournfully around. 
 
 Her father there, and mother bending stood, 
 
 And down their aged cheeks fell many drops 
 
 Of bitterness ; her husband, too, was there, 
 
 And brothers ; and they wept — her sisters, too, 
 
 Did weep and sorrow comfortless ; and I, 
 
 Too, wept, though not to weeping given : and all 
 
 Within the house was dolorous and sad : 
 
 This I remember well ; but better still, 
 
 I do remember, and will ne'er forget, 
 
 The dying eye — that eye alone was bright, 
 
 And brighter grew, as nearer death approached : 
 
 Ar I have seen the gentle little flower 
 
 Look fairest in the silver beam, which fell 
 
 Reflected from the thunder cloud that soon 
 
 Came down, and o'er the desert scattered far 
 
 And wide its loveliness. She made a sign 
 
 To bring her babe — 'twas brought, and by her placed. 
 
BOOK V. 115 
 
 She looked upon its face, that neither smiled 
 
 Nor wept, nor knew who gazed upon't, and laid 
 
 Her hand upon its little breast, and sought 
 
 For it, with look that seemed to penetrate 
 
 The heavens — unutterable blessings — such 
 
 As God to dying parents only granted, 
 
 For infants left behind them in the world. 
 
 "God keep my child," we heard her say, and heard 
 
 No more : the Angel of the Covenant 
 
 Was come, and, faithful to his promise, stood 
 
 Prepared to walk with her through death's dark vale. 
 
 And now her eyes grew bright, and brighter still, 
 
 Too bright for ours to look upon, suffused 
 
 With many tears, and closed without a cloud. 
 
 They set as sets the morning star, which goes 
 
 Not down behind the darkened west, nor hides 
 
 Obscured among the tempests of the sky, 
 
 But melts away into the light of heaven. 
 
 Loves, friendships, hopes, and dear remembrances. 
 The kind embracings of the heart — and hours 
 Of happy thought — and smiles coming to tears — 
 And glories of the heaven and starry cope 
 Above, and glories of the earth beneath : 
 These were the rays that wandered through the gloom 
 Of mortal life — wells of the wilderness ; 
 Redeeming features in the face of Time ; 
 Sweet drops, that made the mixed cup of Earth 
 A palatahle draught — too bitter else. 
 
 About the joys and pleasures of the world, 
 This question was not seldom in debate — 
 Whether the righteous man, or sinner, had 
 The greatest share, and relished them the most 7 
 Truth gives the answer thus, gives it distinct, 
 Nor needs to reason long : The righteous man. 
 For what was he denied of earthly growth, 
 Worthy the name of good ? Truth answers — Nought 
 
116 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Had lie not appetites, and sense, and will ? 
 
 Might he not eat, if Providence allowed, 
 
 The finest of the wheat ? Might he not drink 
 
 The choicest wine ? True, he was temperate ; 
 
 But then was temperance a foe to peace ? 
 
 Might he not rise, and clothe himself in gold ? 
 
 Ascend, and stand in palaces of kings ? 
 
 True, he was honest still, and charitable : 
 
 Were then these virtues foes to human peace ? 
 
 Might he not do exploits, and gain a name ? 
 
 Most true, he trod not down a fellow's right, 
 
 Nor walked up to a throne on skulls of men ; 
 
 Were justice, then, and mercy, foes to peace ? 
 
 Had he not friendships, loves, and smiles, and hopes ? 
 
 Sat not around his table sons and daughters ? 
 
 Was not his ear with music pleased ? his eye 
 
 With light ? his nostrils with perfumes ? his lips 
 
 With pleasant relishes ? grew not his herds ? 
 
 Fell not the rain upon his meadows ? reaped 
 
 He not his harvests ? and did not his heart 
 
 Revel at will through all the charities 
 
 And sympathies of nature, unconfincd f 
 
 And were not these all sweetened, and sanctified 
 
 By dews of holiness shed from above ? 
 
 Might he not walk through Fancy's airy halls ? 
 
 Might he not History's ample page survey ? 
 
 Might he not, finally, explore the depths 
 
 Of mental, moral, natural, divine ? 
 
 But why enumerate thus ? One word enough. 
 
 There was no joy in all created things, 
 
 No drop of sweet, that turned not in the end 
 
 To sour, of which the righteous man did not 
 
 Partake — partake, invited by the voice 
 
 Of God, his Father's voice — who gave him all 
 
 His heart's desire. And o'er the sinner still, 
 
 The Christian had this one advantage more, 
 
BOOK V. 1J7 
 
 That when his earthly pleasures failed, and fail 
 They always did to every soul of man, 
 He sent his hopes on high, looked up, and reached 
 His sickle forth, and reaped the fields of heaven, 
 And plucked the clusters from the vines of God. 
 
 Nor was the general aspect of the world 
 Always a moral waste : a time there came, 
 Though few believed it e'er should come — a time 
 Typed by the Sabbath day recurring once 
 In seven ; and by the yd%r of rest indulged 
 Septennial to the lands on Jordan's banks : 
 A time foretold by Judah's bards in words 
 Of fire :' a time, seventh part of time, and set 
 Before the eighth and last — the Sabbath day 
 Of all the earth — when all had rest and peace. 
 Before its coming many to and fro 
 Ran ; ran from various cause ; by many sent 
 From various cause ; upright, and crooked both, 
 Some sent, and ran for love of souls sincere ; 
 And more at instance of a hoi}' name. 
 With godly zeal much vanity was mixed ; 
 And circumstance of gaudy civil pomp; 
 And speeches buying praise for praise ; and lists, 
 And endless scrolls, surcharged with modest names 
 That sought the public eye ; and stories, told 
 In quackish phrase, that hurt their credit, even 
 When true — combined with wise and prudent means. 
 Much wheat, much chaff, much gold, and much alloy : 
 But God wrought with the whole — wrought most with 
 
 what 
 To man seemed weakest means — and brought resu.it 
 Of good from good and evil both; and breathed 
 Into the withered nations breath and life : 
 The breath and life of liberty and truth, 
 By means of knowledge breathed into the soul. 
 
 Then was the evil day of tyranny ! 
 
118 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of kingly and of priestly tyranny, 
 
 That bruised the nations long. As yet, no state * 
 
 Beneath the heavens had tasted freedom's wine ; 
 
 Though loud of freedom was the talk of all. 
 
 Some groaned more deeply, being heavier tasked ; 
 
 Some wrought with straw, and some without; but all 
 
 Were slaves, or meant to be ; for rulers still 
 
 Had been of equal mind — excepting few — 
 
 Cruel, rapacious, tyrannous, and vile ; 
 
 And had with equal shoulder propped the Beast. 
 
 As yet, the Church, the holy spouse of God, 
 
 In members few, had wandered in her weeds 
 
 Of mourning, persecuted, scorned, reproached, 
 
 And buffeted, and killed — in members few, 
 
 Though seeming many whiles ; then fewest oft, 
 
 When seeming most. She still had hung her harp 
 
 Upon the willow-tree, and sighed, and wept 
 
 From age to age. Satan began the war ; 
 
 And all his angels, and all wicked men, 
 
 Against her fought by wile, or fierce attack, 
 
 Six thousand years ; but fought in vain. She stood, 
 
 Troubled on every side, but not distressed : 
 
 Weeping, but yet despairing not ! cast down, 
 
 But not destroyed: for she upon the palms 
 
 Of God was graven, and precious in his sight, 
 
 As apple of his eye ; and like the bush 
 
 On Midia's mountain seen, burned unconsumed ? 
 
 But to the wilderness retiring, dwelt, 
 
 Debased in sackcloth, and forlorn in tears. 
 
 As yet, had sung the scdrlet-coloured whore, 
 Who on the breast of civil power reposed 
 Her harlot head — the Church a harlot then, 
 When first she wedded civil power — and drunk 
 The blood of martyred saints; whose priests wV>r€ lords: 
 Whose coffers held the gold of every land ; 
 Who held a cup of all pollutions full; 
 
BOOK v. nn 
 
 Who with a double horn the people pushed ; 
 And raised her forehead, lull of blasphemy, 
 Above the holy God, usurping oft 
 Jehovah's incommunicable names. 
 The nations had been dark ; the Jews had pined, 
 Scattered without a name, beneath the curse ; 
 War had abounded ; Satan raged unchained ; 
 And earth had still been black with moral gloom. 
 But nbw the cry of men oppressed, went up 
 Before the Lord, and to remembrance came 
 The tears of all his saints — their tears, and groans. 
 Wise men had read the number of the name ; 
 The prophet-3'ears had rolled ; the time, and times, 
 And half a time, where now fulfilled complete ; 
 The seven fierce vials of the wrath of God, 
 Poured by seven angels strong, were shed abroad 
 Upon the earth, and emptied to the dregs ; 
 The prophecy for confirmation stood ; 
 And all was ready for the sword of God. 
 
 The righteous saw, and iled without delay 
 Into the chambers of Omnipotence : 
 The wicked mocked, and sought for erring cause, 
 To satisfy the dismal state of things — 
 The public credit gone ; the fear in time 
 Of peace ; the starving want in time of wealth : 
 The insurrection muttering in the streets ; 
 And pallid consternation spreading wide ; 
 And leagues, though holy termed, first ratified 
 In hell, on purpose made to under-prop 
 Iniquity, and crush the sacred truth. 
 
 Meantime a mighty angel stood in heaven, 
 And cried aloud — Associate now yourselves, 
 Ye princes ! potentates! and men of war ! 
 And mitred heads ! associate now yourselves, 
 And be dispersed : embattle, and be broken : 
 Gird on your armour, and be dashed to dust: 
 
120 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Take counsel, and it shall be brought to nought 
 
 Speak, and it shall not stand. — And suddenly 
 
 The armies of the saints, imbannered, stood 
 
 On Zion hill; and with them angels stood, 
 
 In squadron bright, and chariots of fee ; 
 
 And with them stood the Lord, clad like a man 
 
 Of war, and, to the sound of thunder, led 
 
 The battle on. Earth shook ; the kingdoms shook ; 
 
 The Beast, the lying Seer, dominions, fell ; * 
 
 Thrones, tyrants fell, confounded in the dust, 
 
 Scattered and driven before the breath of God, 
 
 As chaff of summer threshing-floor before 
 
 The wind. Three days the battle wasting slew. 
 
 The sword was full, the arrow drunk with blood : 
 
 And to the supper of Almighty God, 
 
 Spread in Harnonah's vale, the fowls of heav r en, 
 
 And every beast, invited, came — and fed 
 
 On captain's flesh, and drank the blood of kings. 
 
 And lo ! another angel stood in heaven, 
 Crying aloud with mighty voice: Fallen, fallen, 
 Is Babylon the Great — to rise no more ! 
 Rejoice, ye prophets ! over her rejoice, 
 Apostles ! holy men, all saints, rejoice ! 
 And glory give to God, and to the Lamb. — 
 And all the armies of disburdened earth, 
 As voice of many waters, and as voice 
 Of thunderings, and voice of multitudes, 
 Answered, Amen. And every hill and rock, 
 And sea, and every beast, answered, Amen. 
 Europa answered, and the farthest bound* 
 Of woody Chili, Asia's, fertile coasts, 
 And Afric's burning wastes, answered, Amen. 
 And Heaven, rejoicing, answered back, Amen. 
 
 Not so the wicked : they afar were heard 
 Lamenting ; kings who drank her cup of whoredoms. 
 Captains, and admirals, and mighty men, 
 
BOOK V. 121 
 
 VVhu lived deliciously, and merchants, rich 
 
 With merchandise of gold, and wine, and oil 
 
 And those who traded in the souls of men — 
 
 Known by their gaudy robes of priestly pomp ; 
 
 All these afar off stood, crying-, Alas ! 
 
 Alas! and wept, and gnashed their teeth, and groaned ' 
 
 And with the owl, that on her ruins sat, 
 
 Made dolorous concert in the ear of Night. 
 
 And over her again the heavens rejoiced, 
 
 And earth returned again the loud response. 
 
 Thrice happy days ! thrice blest the man who saw 
 Their dawn ! the Church and State, that long had held 
 Unholy intercourse, were now divorced ; 
 Princes were righteous men ; judges upright : 
 And first in general now — for in the worst 
 Of times there were some honest seers — the priest 
 Sought other than the fleece among his flocks — 
 Best paid when God was honoured most. And like 
 A cedar, nourished well, Jerusalem grew, 
 And towered on high, and spread, and flourished fair 
 And underneath her boughs the nations lodged ; 
 All nations lodged, and sung the song of peace. 
 From the four winds, the Jews, eased of the curse, 
 Returned, and dwelt with God in Jacob's land, 
 And drank of Sharon and of Carmel's vine. 
 Satan was bound ; though bound, not banished quite f 
 But lurked about the timorous skirts of things, 
 III lodged, and thinking whiles to leave the earth ; 
 And with the wicked, for some wicked were, 
 Held midnight meetings, as the saints were wont; 
 Fearful of day, who once was as the sun, 
 And worshipped more. The bad, but few, became 
 A taunt, and hissing now, as heretofore 
 The good; and, blushing, hasted out of sight. 
 Disease was none : the voice of war, forgot : 
 The sword, a share : a pruning-hook, the spear. 
 L 
 
129 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Men grew and multiplied upon the earth, 
 And rilled the eit}r, and the waste : and Death 
 Stood waiting for the lapse of tardy age, 
 That mocked him long. Men grew and multiplied, 
 But lacked not bread : for God his promise brought 
 To mind, and blessed the land with plenteous rain; 
 And made it blest, for dews, and precious things 
 Of heaven, and blessings of the deep beneath ; 
 And blessings of the sun, and moon ; and fruits 
 Of day and night; and blessings of the vale ; 
 And precious tilings of the eternal hills; 
 And all the fulness of perpetual spring. 
 
 The prison-house, where chained felons pined, 
 Threw open his ponderous doors ; let in the light 
 Of heaven ; and grew into a church, where God 
 Was worshipped : none were ignorant ; selfish nons 
 Love took the place of law ; where'er you met 
 A man, you met a friend, sincere and true. 
 Kind looks foretold as kind a heart within ; 
 Words as they sounded, meant ; and promises 
 Were made to be performed. Thrice happy days ! 
 Philosophy was sanctified, and saw 
 Perfection, which she thought a fable long. 
 Revenge his dagger dropped, and kissed the hand 
 Of Mercy : Anger cleared his cloudy brow, 
 And sat with Peace : Envy grew red, and smiled 
 On Worth : Pride stooped, and kissed Humility : 
 Lust washed his miry hands, and, wedded, leaned 
 On chaste Desire : and Falsehood laid aside 
 His many-folded cloak, and bowed to Truth : 
 And Treachery up from his mining came, 
 And walked above the ground with righteous Faith j 
 And Covetousncss unclenched his sinewy hand, 
 And opened his door to Charity, the fair : 
 Hatred was lost in Love : and Vanity, . 
 With a good conscience pleased, her feathers cropped 
 
BOOK IV. 123 
 
 Sloth in the morning rose with Industry :• 
 
 To Wisdom, Folly turned : and Fashion turned 
 
 Deception oif, in act as good as word. 
 
 The hand that held a whip was lifted up 
 
 To bless ; slave was a word in ancient books 
 
 Met only ; every man was free ; and all 
 
 Feared God, and served him day and night in love. 
 
 How fair the daughter of Jerusalem then ! 
 How gloriously from Zion Hill she looked ! 
 Clothed with the sun; and in her train the moon ; 
 And on her head a coronet of stars ; 
 And girding round her waist, with heavenly grace, 
 The bow of Mercy bright ; and in her hand, 
 Immanuel's cross — her sceptre, and her hope. 
 
 Desire of every land ! The nations came, 
 And worshipped at her feet; all nations came, 
 Flocking like doves. Columba's painted tribes, 
 That from Magellan to the Frozen Bay, 
 Beneath the Arctic dwelt, and drank the tides 
 Of Amazona, prince of earthly streams ; 
 Or siept at noon beneath the giant shade 
 Of Andes' mount; or roving northward, heard 
 Nigara sing, from Erie's billow down 
 To Frontenac, and hunted thence the fur 
 To Labrador. And Afric's dusky swarms, 
 That from Morocco to Angola dwelt, 
 And drank the Niger from his native wells, 
 Or roused the lion in Numidia's groves ; 
 The tribes that sat among the fabled cliffs 
 Of Atlas, looking to Atlanta's wave, 
 With joy and melody arose and came ; 
 Zara awoke, and came ; and Egypt came, 
 Casting her idol gods into the Nile. 
 Black Ethiopia, that shadowless, 
 Beneath the Torrid burned, arose and came : 
 Dauma and Medra, and the pirate tribes 
 
124 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of Algeri, whh incense came, and pure 
 
 Offerings, annoying now the seas no more. 
 
 The silken tribes of Asia flocking came, 
 
 Innumerous ; Ishmael's wandering race, that rod» 
 
 On camels o'er the spicy tract that lay 
 
 From Persia, to the Red Sea coast: the king 
 
 Of broad Cathay, with numbers infinite, 
 
 Of many lettered casts ; and all the tribes 
 
 That dwelt from Tigris to the Ganges' wave , 
 
 And worshipped fire, or Brahma, fabled god ! 
 
 Cashmeres, Circassians, Banyans, tender race ! 
 
 That swept the insect from their path, and lived 
 
 On herbs and fruits ; and those who peaceful dweV 
 
 Along the shady avenue that stretched 
 
 From Agra to Lahore : and all the hosts 
 
 That owned the Crescent left) deluded long. 
 
 The Tartar hordes that roamed from Oby's bank, 
 
 Ungoverned, southward to the wondrous Wall. 
 
 The tribes of Europe came ; the Greek, redeemed 
 
 From Turkish thrall ; the Spaniard came, and Gau? 
 
 And Britain with her ships ; and on his sledge, 
 
 The Laplander, that nightly watched the bear 
 
 Circling the Pole ; and those who saw the flames 
 
 Of Hecla burn the drifted snow : the Russ, 
 
 Long whiskered, and equestrian Pole ; and those 
 
 Who drank the Rhine, or lost the evening sun 
 
 Behind the Alpine towers ; and she that sat 
 
 By Arno, classic stream ; Venice; and Rome, 
 
 Head quarters long of sin ! first guileless now, 
 
 And meaning as she seemed, stretched forth her hands 
 
 And all the isles of ocean rose and came, 
 
 Whether they heard the roll of banished tides, 
 
 Antipodes to Albion's wave ; or watched 
 
 The moon ascending chalky Teneriffe, 
 
 And with Atlanta holding nightly love. 
 
 The Sun, the Moon, the Constellations came : 
 
BOOK V. 125 
 
 Thrice twelve and ten that watched the Antarctic sleep; 
 
 Twice six that near the Ecliptic dwelt ; thrice twelve 
 
 And one, that with the Streamers danced, and saw 
 
 The Hyperborean ice, guarding the Pole. 
 
 The East, the West, the South, and snowy North, 
 
 Rejoicing met, and worshipped reverently 
 
 Before the Lord, in Zion's holy hill ; 
 
 And all the places round about were blest. 
 
 The animals, as once in Eden, lived 
 
 In peace : the wolf dwelt with the lamb ; the bear 
 
 And leopard with the ox ; with looks of love, 
 
 The tiger, and the scaly crocodile, 
 
 Together met, at Gambia's palmy wave : 
 
 Perched on the eagle's wing, the bird of song, 
 
 Singing, arose and visited the sun ; 
 
 And with the falcon sat the gentle lark. 
 
 The little child leaped from his mother's arms, 
 
 And stroked the crested snake, and rolled unhurt 
 
 Among his speckled waves — and wished him home : 
 
 And sauntering school-boys, slow returning, played 
 
 At eve about the lion's den, and wove 
 
 Into his shaggy mane, fantastic flowers : 
 
 To meet the husbandman, early ahroad. 
 
 Hasted the deer, and waved ita woody head : 
 
 And round his dewy steps, the hare, ungeared, 
 
 Sported, and toyed familiar, with his dog : 
 
 The flocks and herds, o'er hill and valley spread 
 
 Exulting, cropped the ever-budding herb : 
 
 The desert blossomed, and the barren sung : 
 
 Justice and Mercy, Holiness and Love, 
 
 Among the people walked : Messiah reijrned : 
 
 And Earth kept Jubilee a thousand years. 
 
COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 Resume thy tone of wo, immortal harp ! 
 
 The song of mirth is past ; the Jubilee 
 
 Is ended ; and the sun begins to fade. 
 
 Soon past : for Happiness counts not the hours : 
 
 To h^r a thousand years seem as a day ; 
 
 A day a thousand years to misery. 
 
 Satan is loose, and Violence is heard, 
 
 And Riot in the street, and Revelry 
 
 Intoxicate, and Murder and Revenge. 
 
 Put on jour armour now, ye righteous ! put 
 
 The helmet of salvation on, and gird 
 
 Your loins about with truth ; add righteousness, 
 
 And add the shield ofjfaith; and take the sword 
 
 Of God: awako ! surd watch: the day is ruv.r -. 
 
 Great day of God Almighty, and the Lamb. 
 
 The harvest of the earth is fully ripe : 
 
 Vengeance begins to tread the great wine-press 
 
 Of fierceness and of wrath ; and Mercy pleads, 
 
 Mercy that pleaded long — she pleads no more. 
 
 Whence comes that darkness ? whence those yells of wo 1 
 
 What thunderings are these, that shake the world ? 
 
 Why fall the lamps from heaven as blasted figs ? 
 
 Why tremble righteous men ? why angels pale ? 
 
 Why is all fear ? what has become of hope ? 
 
 God comes ! God in his car of vengeance comes ! 
 
 Hark! louder on the blast, come hollow shrieks 
 
 IOC 
 
BOOK VI. 127 
 
 Of dissolution ; in the fitful scowl 
 
 Of night, near and more near, angels of death 
 
 Incessant flap their deadly wings, and roar 
 
 Through all the fevered air ; the mountains rock 
 
 The moon is sick ; and all the stars of heaven 
 
 Burn feebly ; oft and sadden gleams the fire, 
 
 Revealing awfully the brow of wrath. 
 
 The Thunder, long and loud, utters his voice, 
 
 Responsive to the ocean's troubled growl. 
 
 Night comes, last night ; the long dark, dark, dark night, 
 
 That has no morn beyond it, and no star. 
 
 No eye of man hath seen a night like this ! 
 
 Heaven's trampled justice girds itself for fight: 
 
 Earth to thy knees, and cry for mercy ! cry 
 
 With earnest heart ; for thou art growing old 
 
 And hoary, unrepented, unforgiven : 
 
 And all thy glory mourns : thy vintage mourns ; 
 
 Bashan and Carmel ! mourn and weep: and mourn 
 
 Thou Lebanon ! with all thy cedars mourn. 
 
 Sun ! glorying in thy strength from age to age, 
 
 So- long observant of thy hour, put on 
 
 Thy weeds of wo, and tell the moon to weep ; 
 
 Utter thy grief at mid-day, morn, and even ; 
 
 Tell all the nations, tell the clouds that sit 
 
 About the portals of the east and west, 
 
 And wanton with thy golden locks, to wait 
 
 Thee not to-morrow ; for no morrow comes ; 
 
 Tell men and women, tell the new-born child, 
 
 And every eye that sees, to come, and see 
 
 Thee set behind Eternity ; for thou 
 
 Shalt go to bed to-night, and ne'er awake. 
 
 Stars ! walking on the pavement of the sky ; 
 
 Out sentinels of heaven ! watching the earth, 
 
 Cease dancing now : your lamps are growing dim 
 
 Your graves are dug among the dismal clouds , 
 
 And angels are assembling round your bier. 
 
123 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Orion! mourn: and Mazzaroth : and thou, 
 Arcturus I mourn, with all thy northern sons. 
 Daughters of Pleiades ! that nightly shed 
 Sweet influence: and thou, fairest of stars ! 
 Eye of the morning, weep — and weep at eve; 
 Weep setting, now to rise no more, " and flame 
 On forehead of the dawn" — as sung the bard: 
 Great bard ! who used on Earth a seraph's lyre, 
 Whose numbers wandered through eternity, 
 And gave sweet foretaste of the heavenly harps. 
 Minstrel of sorrow! native of the dark ! 
 . Shrub-loving Philomel ! that wooed the dews 
 At midnight from their starry beds, and, charmed, 
 Held them around thy song till dawn awoke — 
 Sad bird ! pour through the gloom thy weeping song : 
 Pour all thy dying melody of grief, 
 And with the turtle spread the wave of wo — 
 Spare not thy reed, for thou shalt sing no more. 
 
 Ye holy bards ! if yet a holy bard 
 Remain, what chord shall serve you now ? what haro! 
 What harp shall sing the dying sun asleep, 
 And mourn behind the funeral of the moon ! 
 What harp of boundless, deep, exhaustless wo, 
 Shall utter forth the groanings of the damned ; 
 And sing the obsequies of wicked souls ; 
 And wail their plunge in the eternal fire ! 
 Hold, hold your hands; hold angels; God laments, 
 And draws a cloud of mourning round his throne ; 
 The Organ of eternity is mute ; 
 And there is silence in the Heaven of heavens 
 Daughters of beauty ! choice of beings made ! 
 Much praised, much blamed, much loved ; but fairo ' 
 Than aught beheld; than aught imagined else 
 Fairest; and dearer than all else most dear; 
 Light of the darksome wilderness ! to Time 
 As stars to ni#ht — whose eyp* were spells that hold 
 
BOOK VI. 129 
 
 The passenger forgetful of his way} 
 
 Whose steps were majesty ; whose words were song; 
 
 Whose smiles were hope; whose actions, perfect grace ; 
 
 Whose love the solace, glory, and delight 
 
 Of man, his. boast, his riches, his renown. 
 
 When found, sufficient bliss ; when lost, despair : 
 
 Stars of creation ! images of love ! 
 
 Break up the fountains of your tears ; your tears 
 
 More eloquent than learned tongue, or lyre 
 
 Of purest note ; your sunny raiment stain ; 
 
 Put dust upon your heads ; lament and weep ; 
 
 And utter all your minstrelsy of wo. 
 
 Go to, 3'e wicked, weep and howl ; for all 
 That God hath written against you is at hand. 
 The cry of violence hath reached his ear ; 
 Hell is prepared ; and Justice whets his sword. 
 Weep all of every name : begin the wo, 
 Ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds ; 
 And doleful winds, wail to the howling hills ; 
 And howling hills, mourn to the dismal vales, 
 And dismal vales, sigh to the sorrowing brooks ; 
 And sorrowing brooks, weep to the weeping stream 
 And weeping stream, awake the groaning deep ; 
 And let the instrument take up the song, 
 Responsive to the voice — harmonious wo ! 
 Ye heavens, great archway of the universe ! 
 Put sackcloth on ; and Ocean clothe thyself 
 In garb of widowhood, and gather 4^1 
 Thy waves into a groan, and utter it — 
 Long, loud, deep, piercing, dolorous, immense : 
 The occasion asks it ; Nature dies ; and God, 
 And angels, come to lay her in the grave ! 
 
 But we have overleaped our theme : behind, 
 A little season waits a verse or two : 
 The years that followed the millennial rest. 
 Bad years they were ; and first, as signal sure, 
 
130 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 That at the core religion was diseased, 
 
 The sons of Levi strove again for place, 
 
 And eminence, and names of swelling pomp, 
 
 Setting their feet upon the people's neck, 
 
 And slumbering in the lap of civil power , 
 
 Of civil power again tyrannical. 
 
 And second sign, sure sign, whenever seen, 
 
 That holiness was dying in a land, 
 
 The Sabbath was profaned, and set at nought : 
 
 The honest seer, who spoke the truth of God 
 
 Plainly, was left with empty walls ; and round 
 
 The frothy orator, who busked his tales 
 
 In quackish pomp of noisy words, the ear 
 
 Tickling, but leaving still the heart un probed, 
 
 The judgment uninformed, — numbers immense 
 
 Flocked, gaping wide, with passions high inflamed 
 
 And on the way returning, heated, home, 
 
 Of eloquence, and not of truth, conversed — 
 
 Mean eloquence that wanted sacred truth. 
 
 Two principles from the beginning strove 
 In human nature, still dividing man — 
 ■Sloth and activity, the lust of praise, 
 And indolence, til at. rather wished to sleep. 
 And not unfrequently in the same mind, 
 They dubious contest held ; one gaining now. 
 And now the other crowned, and both again 
 Keeping the field, with equal combat fought. 
 Much different was^fcheir voice : Ambition call * 
 To action ; Sloth invited to repose. 
 Ambition early rose, and, being up, 
 Toiled ardently, and late retired to rest ; 
 Sloth lay till mid-day, turning on his couch. 
 Like ponderous door upon its weary hinge, 
 And having rolled him out with much ado, 
 And many a dismal sigh, and vain attempt, 
 He sauntered out accoutred carelessly — 
 
BOOK VI. 131 
 
 With half-oped, misty, unobservant eye, 
 Somniferous, thaf, weighed the object down 
 On which its burden fell — an hour or two, 
 Then with a groan retired to rest again. 
 Tha one, whatever deed had been achieved, 
 Thought it too little, and too small the praise : 
 The other tried to think — for thinking- so 
 Answered his purpose best — that what of great 
 Mankind could do, had been already done ; 
 And therefore laid him calmly down to sleep. 
 Different in^mode — destructive both alike ; 
 Destructive always indolence ; and love 
 Of fame destructive always too, if less 
 Than praise of God it sought — content with less ; 
 Even then not current, if it sought his praise 
 From other motive than resistless love : 
 Though base, main-spring of action in the world; 
 And under name of vanity and pride, 
 Was greatly practised on by cunning men. 
 It opened the niggard's purse ; clothed nakedness , 
 Gave beggars food ; and threw the Pharisee 
 Upon his knees, and kept him long in act 
 Of prayer ; it spread the lace upon the fop, 
 His language trimmed, and planned his curious gait , 
 It stuck the feather on the gay coquette, 
 And on her finger laid the heavy load 
 Of jewelry ; it did — what did it not ? 
 The gospel preached, the gospel paid, and sent 
 The gospel ; conquered nations ; cities built ; 
 Measured the furrow of the field with nice 
 Directed share; shaped bulls, and cows, and rams : 
 And threw the ponderous stone ; and pitiful, 
 Indeed, and much against the grain, it dragged 
 The stagnant, dull, predestinated fool, 
 Through learning's halls, and made him labour much 
 Abortively ; though sometimes not unpraised 
 
132 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 He left the sage's chair, and home returned, 
 
 Making his simple mother think that she 
 
 Had borne a man. In schools, designed to root 
 
 Sin up, and plant the seeds of holiness 
 
 In youthful minds, it held a signal place. 
 
 The little infant man, by nature proud, 
 
 Was taught the Scriptures by the love of praise, 
 
 And grew religious as he grew in fame. 
 
 And thus the principle, which out of heaven 
 
 The devil threw, and threw him down to hell, 
 
 And keeps him there, was made an instrument, 
 
 To moralize, and sanctify mankind ; 
 
 And in their hearts heget humility : 
 
 With what success it needs not now to say. 
 
 Destructive both we said, activity, 
 And sloth — behold the last exemplified, 
 In literary man. Not all at once, 
 He yielded to the soothing voice of sleep ; 
 But having seen a bough of laurel wave, 
 He effort made to climb ; and friends, and even 
 Himself, talked of his greatness, as at hand, 
 And prophesying drew his future life. 
 Vain prophecy ! his fancy, taught by sloth, 
 Saw in the very threshhold of pursuit, 
 A thousand obstacles ; he halted first, 
 And while he halted, saw his burning hopes, 
 Grow dim and dimmer still : ambition's self, 
 The advocate of loudest tongue, decayed ; 
 His purposes, made daily, daily broken, 
 Like plant uprooted oft, and set again, 
 More sickly grew, and daily wavered mor* : 
 Till at the last, decision, quite worn out, 
 Decision, fulcrum of the mental powers, 
 Resigned the blasted soul to staggering chance ; 
 Sleep gathered fast, and weighed him downward still ; 
 His eye fell heavy from the mount of fame ; 
 
BOOK VI. 133 
 
 His young resolves to benefit the world, 
 
 Perished, and were forgotten ; he shut his ear 
 
 Against the painful news of rising worth ; 
 
 And drank with desperate thirst the poppy's juice ; 
 
 A deep and mortal slumber settled down 
 
 Upon his weary faculties oppressed ; 
 
 He rolled from side to side, and rolled again ; 
 
 And snored, and groaned, and withered, and expired, 
 
 And rotted on the spot, leaving no name. 
 
 The hero best example gives of toil 
 Unsanetified. One word his history writes : 
 He was a murderer above the laws, 
 And greatly praised for doing murderous deeds : 
 And now he grew, and reached his perfect growth. 
 And also now the sluggard soundly slept, 
 And by him lay the uninterred corpse. 
 
 Of every order, sin and wickedness, 
 Deliberate, cool, malicious villany, 
 This age, attained maturity, unknown 
 Before : and seemed in travail to bring forth 
 Some last, enormous, monstrous deed of guilt — 
 Original, unprecedented guilt, 
 That might obliterate the memory 
 Of what had hitherto been done most vile. 
 Inventive men were paid, at public cost, 
 To plan new modes of sin : the holy word 
 Of God was burned, with acclamations loud ; 
 New tortures were invented for the good : 
 For still some good remained, as whiles through sky 
 Of thickest clouds, a wandering star appeared : 
 New oaths of blasphemy were framed, and sworn : 
 And men in reputation grew, as grew 
 The stature of their crimes : Faith was not found ; 
 Truth was not found ; truth always scarce ; *so scarce 
 That half the misery which groaned on earth, 
 In ordinary {imes, was progeny 
 M 
 
134 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of disappointment daily coming forth 
 From broken promises, that might have ne'er 
 Been made, or being made, might have been kept. 
 Justice and mercy too were rare, obscured 
 In cottage garb : before the palace door, 
 The beggar rotted, starving in bis rags : 
 And on the threshold of luxurious domes, 
 The orphan child laid down his head, and died ; 
 Nor unamusing was his piteous cry 
 To women, who had now laid tenderness 
 Aside, best pleased with sights of cruelty ; 
 Flocking, when fouler lusts would give them time, 
 To horrid spectacles of blood; where men, 
 Or guiltless beasts, that seemed to look to heaven, 
 With eye imploring vengeance on the earth, 
 Were tortured for the merriment of kings. 
 The advocate for him who offered most 
 Pleaded ; the scribe, according to the hire, 
 Worded the lie, adding for every piece, 
 An oath of confirmation ; judges raised 
 One hand to intimate the sentence, death, 
 Imprisonment, or fine, or loss of goods, 
 And in the other held a lusty bribe. 
 Which they had taken to give the sentence wrong , 
 So managing the scale of justice still, 
 That he was wanting found who poorest seemed. 
 But laymen, most renowned for devilish deeds, 
 Laboured at distance still behind the priest: 
 He shore his sheep, and having packed the wool, 
 Sent them unguarded to the hill of wolves ; 
 And to the bowl deliberately sat down, 
 And with his mistress mocked at sacred things. 
 The theatre was from the very first 
 The favourite haunt of sin ; though honest men, 
 Some very honest, wise, and worthy men, 
 Maintained it might be turned to good account ; 
 
BOOK VI. 13: 
 
 And so perhaps it might; but never was. 
 From first to last it was ati evil place: 
 And now such things" were acted there, as made 
 The devils blush: and from the neighbourhood, 
 Angels and holy men, trembling, retired. 
 And what with dreadful aggravation crowned 
 This dreary time, was sin against the light ; 
 All men knew God, and, knowing, disobeyed ; 
 And gloried to insult him to his face. 
 
 Another feature only we shall mark. — ■ 
 It was withal a highly polished age, 
 And scrupulous in ceremonious rite. 
 When stranger stranger met upon the way, 
 First each to each bowed most respectfully, 
 And large profession made of humble service, 
 And then the stronger took the other's purse. 
 And he that stabbed his neighbour to the heart, 
 Stabbed him politely, and returned the blade 
 Reeking into its sheath, with graceful air. 
 Meantime the earth gave symptoms of her end; 
 And all the scenery above proclaimed, 
 That the great last catastrophe was near. 
 The sun at rising staggered and fell back, 
 As one too early up, after a night 
 Of late debauch ; then rose, and shone again, 
 Brighter than wont ; and sickened again, and paused 
 In zenith altitude, as one fatigued ; 
 And shed a feeble twilight ray at noon, 
 Rousing the wolf before his time, to chace 
 The shepherd and his sheep, that sought for light. 
 And darkness found, astonished, terrified; 
 Then out of course rolled furious down the west, 
 As chariot reined by awkward charioteer, 
 And waiting at the gate, he on the earth 
 Gazed, as he thought he ne'er might see't again. 
 The bow of mercy heretofore so fair, 
 
13G THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Ribbed with the native hues of heavenly love 
 Disastrous colours showed, unseen till now ; 
 Changing upon the watery gulf, from pale 
 To fiery red, and back again to pale ; 
 And o'er it hovered wings of wrath. The moon, 
 Swaggered in midst of heaven, grew black, and dark, 
 Unclouded, uneclipsed. The stars fell down ; 
 Tumbling from off their towers like drunken men ; 
 Or seemed to fall — and glimmered now ; and now 
 Sprang out in sudden blaze ; and dimmed ?.gain ; 
 As lamp of foolish virgin lacking oil. 
 The heavens this moment looked serene ; the next, 
 Glowed lik£ an oven with God's displeasure hot. 
 
 Nor less below was intimation given 
 Of some disaster great and ultimate. 
 The tree that bloomed, or hung with clustering fruit, 
 Untouched by visible calamity 
 Of frost or tempest, died and came again ; 
 The flower, and herb, fell down as sick ; then rose 
 And fell again : the fowls of every hue, : 
 Crowding together, sailed on weary wing, 
 And hovering, oft they seemed about to light ; 
 Then soared, as if they thought the earth unsafe: 
 The cattle looked with meaning face on man : 
 Dogs howled, and seemed to see more than their master* 
 And there were sights that none had seen before ; 
 And hollow, strange, unprecedented sounds ; 
 And earnest whisperings ran along the hills 
 At dead of night ; and long, deep, endless sighs, 
 Came from the dreary vale ; and from the waste 
 Came horrid shrieks, and fierce unearthly groan?, 
 The wail of evil spirits, Jhat now felt 
 The hour of utter vengeance near at hand. 
 The winds from every quarter blew at once, 
 With desperate violence, and, whirling, took 
 The traveller up, and threw him down again 
 
BOOK VI. 137 
 
 At distance from bis path, confounded, pale. 
 
 And shapes, strange shapes ! in winding sheets were seen, 
 
 Gliding" through night, and singing funeral songs, 
 
 And imitating sad sepulchral rites : 
 
 And voices talked among the clouds ; and still 
 
 The words that men could catch, were spoken of them, 
 
 And seemed to be the words of wonder great. 
 
 And expectation of some vast event. 
 
 Earth shook, and swam, and reeled, and opened her jaws, 
 
 By earthquake tossed, and tumbled to and fro : 
 
 And louder than the ear of man bad heard, 
 
 The thunder bellowed, and the ocean groaned. 
 
 The race of men, perplexed, but not reformed, 
 Flocking together, stood in earnest crowds, 
 Conversing of the awful state of things. 
 Some curious explanations gave, unlearned ; 
 Some tried affectedly to laugh ; and some 
 Gazed stupidly ; but all were sad, and pale ; 
 And wished the comment of the wise. Nor less 
 These prodigies, occurring night and day, 
 Perplexed philosophy : the magi tried — 
 Magi, a name not seldom given to fools, 
 In the vocabulary of earthly speech — 
 They tried to trace them still to second cause , 
 But scarcely satisfied themselves ; though round 
 Their deep deliberations crowding came, 
 And wondering at their wisdom, went away, 
 Much quieted, and very much deceived, 
 The people, always glad to be deceived. 
 
 These warnings passed — they unregarded passed \ 
 And all in wonted order calmly moved. 
 The pulse of Nature regularly beat, 
 And on her cheek the bloom of perfect health 
 Again appeared. Deceitful pulse ! and bloom 
 Deceitful! and deceitful calm! The Earth 
 Was old and worn within ; but, like the man, 
 m 2 
 
13S THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Who noticed not his mid-day strength decline, 
 Sliding so gently round the curvature 
 Of life, from youth to age — she knew it not. 
 The calm was like the calm, which oft the man 
 Dying, experienced before his death ; 
 The bloom was but a hectic flush, before 
 The eternal paleness : but all these were taken, 
 By this last race of men, for tokens of good ; 
 And blustering public News aloud proclaimed- 
 News always gabbling, ere they well had thought- 
 Prosperity, and joy, and peace ; and mocked 
 The man who, kneeling, prayed, and trembled still. 
 And all in earnest to their sins returned. 
 
 It was not so in heaven — the elders round 
 The throne conversed about the state of man, 
 Conjecturing, for none of certain knew, 
 That Time was at an end. They gazed intense 
 Upon the Dial's face, which yonder stands 
 In gold, before the Sun of Righteousness, 
 Jehovah ; and computes times, seasons, years, 
 And destinies ; and slowly numbers o'er 
 The mighty cycles of eternity ; 
 By God alone completely understood ; 
 But read by all, revealing much to all. 
 And now to saints of eldest skill, the ray, * 
 Which on the gnomon fell of time, seemed sent 
 From level west, and hasting quickly down. 
 The holy Virtues, watching, saw besides, 
 Great preparation going on in heaven, 
 Betokening great event; greater than aught 
 That first created seraphim had seen. 
 The faithful messengers, who have for wing 
 The lightning, waiting day and night, on God, 
 Before his face — beyond their usual speed. 
 On pinion of celestial light, were seen, 
 Coming and going, and their road was still 
 
BOOK VI. 139 
 
 From heaven to earth, and back again to heaven. 
 The angel of Mercy, bent before the Throne, 
 By earnest pleading, seemed to hold the hand 
 Of Vengeance back, and win a moment more 
 Of late repentance for some sinful world 
 In jeopardy. And now the hill of God, 
 The mountain of his majesty, rolled flames 
 Of fire ; now smiled with momentary love ; 
 And now again with fiery fierceness burned : 
 And from behind the darkness of his Throne, 
 Through which created vision never saw, 
 The living thunders, in their native caves, 
 Muttered the terrors of Omnipotence, " 
 And ready seemed, impatient to fulfil 
 Some errand of exterminating wrath. 
 
 Meanwhile the Earth increased in wickedness, 
 And hasted daily to fill up her cup. 
 Satan raged loose ; Sin had her will ; and Death 
 Enough : blood trode upon the heels of blood ; 
 Revenge, in desperate mood, at midnight met 
 Revenge ; war brayed to war ; deceit deceived 
 Deceit ; lie cheated lie ; and treachery 
 Mined under treachery ; and perjury 
 Swore back on perjury ; and blasphemy 
 Arose with hideous blasphemy ; and curse 
 Loud answered curse; and drunkard stumbling fell 
 O'er drunkard fallen ; and husband husband met 
 Returning each from other's bed defiled ; 
 Thief stole from thief; and robber on the way 
 Knocked robber down ; and lewdness, violence, 
 And hate, met lewdness, violence, and hate. 
 Oh Earth ! thy hour was come : the last eler.t 
 Was born ; complete the number of the good : 
 And the last sand fell from the glass of Time. 
 The cup of guilt was full up to the brim ; 
 And Mercv, weary with beseeching, had 
 
140 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Retired behind the sword of Justiee, red 
 
 With ultimate and unrepenting wrath : 
 
 But man knew not : he o'er his bowl laughed loud ; 
 
 And prophesying, said : To-morrow shall 
 
 As this day be, and more abundant still — 
 
 As thou shalt hear. But hark ! the trumpet sounds, 
 
 And calls to evening song ; for, though with hymn 
 
 Eternal, course succeeding course, extol 
 
 In presence of the incarnate, holy God, 
 
 And. celebrate his never-ending praise, — 
 
 Duly at morn, and night, the multitudes 
 
 Of men redeemed, and angels, all the hosts 
 
 Of glory, join in universal song ; 
 
 And pour celestial harmony, from harps 
 
 Above all number, eloquent and sweet 
 
 Above all thought of melody conceived. 
 
 And now behold the fair inhabitants, 
 
 Delightful sight ! from numerous business turn, 
 
 And round and round through all the extent of bliss, 
 
 Towards the temple of Jehovah bow, 
 
 And worship reverently before his face ! 
 
 Pursuits are various here, suiting all tastes : 
 Though holy all, and glorifying God. 
 Observe yon band pursue the sylvan stream ! 
 Mounting among the cliffs — they pull the flower, 
 Springing as soon as pulled ; and marvelling, pry 
 Into its veins, and circulating blood, 
 And wondrous mimicry of higher life ; 
 Admire its colours, fragrance, gentle shape ; 
 And thence admire the God who made it so — 
 So simple complex, and so beautiful. 
 
 Behold yon other band, in airy robes 
 Of bliss — they weave the sacred bower of rose 
 And myrtle shade, and shadowy verdant bay, 
 And laurel, towering high ; and round their song, 
 The pink and lily bring, and amaranth ; 
 
COOK VI. 141 
 
 Narcissus sweet, and jessamine ; and bring 
 The clustering vine, stooping with flower and fruit; 
 The peach and orange, and the sparkling stream, 
 Warbling with nectar to their lips unasked ; 
 And talk the while of everlasting love. 
 
 On yonder hill, behold another band, 
 Of piercing, steady, intellectual eye, 
 And spacious forehead, of sublimest thought — 
 They reason deep of present, future, past ; 
 And trace effect to cause ; and meditate 
 On the eternal laws of God, which bind 
 Circumference to centre ; and survey 
 With optic tuhes. that fetch remotest stars 
 Near them, the systems circling round immense, 
 Innumerous. See how — as he, the sage, 
 Among the most renowned in days of Time, 
 Renowned for large, capacious, holy soul- 
 Demonstrates, clearly, motion, gravity, 
 Attraction, and repulsions, still opposed ; 
 And dips into the deep, original, 
 Unknown, mysterious elements of things — 
 See how the face of every auditor 
 Expands with admiration of the skill, 
 Omnipotence, and boundless love of God ! 
 
 These other, sitting near the tree of life, 
 In robes of linen flowing white and clean, 
 Of holiest aspect, of divinest soul, 
 Angels and men — into the glory look 
 Of the Redeeming Love, and turn the leaves 
 Of man's redemption o'er; the secret leaves, 
 Which none on earth were found worthy to open t 
 And as they read the mysteries divine, 
 The endless mysteries of Salvation wrought 
 By God's incarnate Son, they humbler bow 
 Before the Lamb, and glow with warmer love. 
 These other, there relaxed beneath the shade 
 
L42 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of yon embowering palms, with friendship smile, 
 And talk of ancient days, and young pursuits, 
 Of dangers past, of godly triumphs won; 
 And sing the legends of their native land — 
 Less pleasing far than this their Father's house. 
 
 Behold that other band, half lifted up 
 Between the hill and dale, reclined beneath 
 The shadow of impending rocks; 'mong streams, 
 And thundering water-falls, and waving boughs, 
 That band of countenance sublime and sweet, 
 Whose eye with piercing intellectual rav, 
 Now beams severe, or now bewildered seems ; 
 Left rolling wild, or fixed in idle e;aze, 
 While Fancy, and the soul are far from home — 
 These hold the pencil — art divine ! and throw 
 Before the eye remembered scenes of love : 
 Each picturing to each the hills, and skies, 
 And treasured stories of the world he left ; 
 Or, gazing on the scenery of heaven, 
 They dip their hand in colour's native well, 
 And, on the everlasting canvass, dash 
 Figures of glory, imagery divine, 
 With grace and grandeur in perfection knit. 
 
 But whatsoe'er these spirits blest pursue, 
 Where'er they go, whatever sights they see 
 Of glory and bliss through all the tracts of heavea 
 The centre still, the figure eminent, 
 Whither they ever turn, on whom all eyes 
 Repose with infinite delight — is God, 
 And his incarnate Son, the Lamb, once slain 
 ■On Calvary, to ransom ruined men. 
 
 None idle here : look where thou wilt, they all 
 Are active, all engaged in meet pursuit ; 
 Not happy else. Hence is it that the song 
 Of heaven is eve* new ; for daily thus, 
 And nightly, new discoveries are made. 
 
BOOK VI. 143 
 
 Of God's unbounded wisdom, power, and love, 
 Which give the .understanding larger room, 
 And swell the hymn with ever-growing- praise. 
 
 Behold they cease ! and every face to God 
 Turns ; and we pause, from high poetic theme. 
 Not worthy least of being sung in heaven, 
 And on unveiled Godhead look from this, 
 Our oft frequented hill. — He takes the harp, 
 Nor needs to seek befitting phrase ; unsought, 
 Numbers harmonious roll along the lyre ; 
 As river in its native bed, they flow 
 Spontaneous, flowing with the tide of thought. 
 He takes the harp — a bard of Judah leads 
 This night the boundless song : the bard that once, 
 When Israel's king was sad and sick to death. 
 A message brought of fifteen added years. 
 Before the throne he stands sublime, in robes 
 Of glory : and now his fingers wake the chords 
 To praise, which we, and all in heaven repeat. 
 
 Harps of eternity ! begin the song, 
 Redeemed, and angel harps ! begin to God, 
 Begin the anthem ever sweet and new, 
 While I extol Him holy, just, and good. 
 Life, beauty, light, intelligence, and love ? 
 Eternal, uncreated, infinite ! 
 Unsearchable Jehovah ! God of truth ! 
 Maker, upholder, governor of all : 
 Thyself unmade, ungoverned, unupheld. 
 Omnipotent, unchangeable, Great God ! 
 Exhaustless fulness ! giving unimpaired ! 
 Bounding immensity, unspread, unbound ! 
 Highest and best ! beginning, middle, end. 
 All-seeing Eye ! all-seeing, and unseen ! 
 Hearing, unheard ! all knowing, and unknown I 
 Above all praise! above all height of thought ! 
 Proprietor of immortality ! 
 
144 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Glory ineffable ! Bliss uriderived ! 
 
 Of old thou built'st thy throne on righteousness, 
 
 Before the morning Stars their song began, 
 
 Or silence heard the voice of praise. Thou laid'st 
 
 Eternity's foundation stone, and saw'st 
 
 Life and existence out of Thee begin. 
 
 Mysterious more, the more displayed, where still 
 
 Upon thy glorious Throne thou sitt'st alone ; 
 
 Hast sat alone ; and shalt for ever sit 
 
 Alone ; invisible, immortal One ! 
 
 Behind essential brightness unbeheld. 
 
 Incomprehensible ! what weight shall weigh, 
 
 What measure measure Thee ? what know we more 
 
 Of Thee, what need to know, than Thou hast taught 
 
 And bid'st us still repeat, at morn and even — 
 
 God 1 everlasting Father ! holy One ! 
 
 Our God, our Father, our Eternal All. 
 
 Source whence we came : and whither we return ; 
 
 Who made our spirits, who our bodies made ; 
 
 Who made the heaven, who made the flowery land ; 
 
 Who made all made; who orders, governs all; 
 
 Who walks upon the wind ; who holds the wave 
 
 In hollow of thy hand ; whom thunders wait ; 
 
 Whom tempests serve ; whom naming fires obey : 
 
 Who guides the circuit of the endless years : 
 
 And sitt'st on high, and mak'st creation's top 
 
 Thy footstool : and behold'st below Thee, all — 
 
 All nought, all less than nought, and vanity. 
 
 Like transient dust that hovers on the scale, 
 
 Ten thousand worlds are scattered in thy breath. 
 
 Thou sitt'st on high, and measur'st destinies, 
 
 And days, and months, and wide revolving years : 
 
 And dost according to thy holy will ; 
 
 And none can stay thy hand ; and none withhold 
 
 Thy glory ; for in judgment, Thou, as well 
 
 As mercy, art exalted day and night; 
 
BOOK VI. U\ 
 
 Past, present, mture, magnify thy name. 
 
 Thy works all praise Thee : all thy angels prai.se . 
 
 Thy saints adore, and on thy altars burn 
 
 The fragrant incense of perpetual love. 
 
 They praise Thee now : their hearts, their voices praise 
 
 And swell tiie rapture of the glorious song. 
 
 Harp! lift thy voice on high — shout, angels shout! 
 
 And loudest ye redeemed! glory to God, 
 
 And to the Lamb, who bought us with his blood, 
 
 From every kindred, nation, people, tongue ; 
 
 And washed, and sanctified, and saved our souls ; 
 
 And gave us robes of linen pure, and crowns 
 
 Of life, and made us kings and priests to God. 
 
 Shout back to ancient Time ! Sing loud, and wave 
 
 Your palms of triumph! sing, Whore is thy sting, 
 
 O Death ? where is thy victory, O grave ? 
 
 Thanks be to God, eternal thanks, who gave 
 
 Us victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 Harp, lift thy voice on high! shout, angels shout, 
 
 And loudest ye redeemed ! glory to God, 
 
 And to the Lamb — all glory and all praise; 
 
 All glory and all praise, at morn and even, 
 
 That come and go eternally ; and find 
 
 Us happy still, and Thee for ever blest. 
 
 Glory to God, and to the Lamb. Amen. 
 
 For ever, and for evermore. Amen. 
 
 And those who stood upon the sea of glass ; 
 And those who stood upon the battlements, 
 And lofty towers of New Jerusalem; 
 And those who circling stood, bowing afar ; 
 Exalted on the everlasting hills, 
 Thousands of thousands — thousands infinite — 
 With voice of boundless love, answered: Amen 
 And through eternity, near, and remote, 
 The worlds adoring, echoed back : Amen. 
 And God tne Father, Son, and Holy Ghost- 
 N 
 
146 THE COURSE OK TIME. 
 
 The One Eternal ! smiled superior bliss. 
 And every eye, and every face in heaven, 
 Reflecting-, and reflected, beamed with love. 
 Nor did he not — the Virtue new arrived, 
 From Godhead gain an individual smik\ 
 Of high acceptance, and of welcome high, 
 And confirmation evermore in good. 
 Meantime the landscape glowed with holy joy. 
 Zephyr, with wing dipt from the well of life, 
 Sporting through Paradise, shed living dews : 
 The flowers, the spicy shrubs, the lawns refreshed. 
 Breathed their selectest balm; breathed odours, suet? 
 As angels love : and all the trees of heaven, 
 The cedar, pine, and everlasting oak, 
 Rejoicing on the mountains, clapped their hands. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 Aa oue who meditates at evening 1 tide, 
 
 Wandering- alone by voiceless solitudes, 
 
 And flics in fancy, far beyond the bounds 
 
 Of visible and vulgar things, and things 
 
 Discovered hitherto, pursuing tracts 
 
 As yet untravelled, and unknown, through vast 
 
 Of new and sweet imaginings ; if chance 
 
 Some airy bar]), waked by the gentle sprites 
 
 Of twilight, or light touch of sylvan maid, 
 
 In soft succession fall upon his ear, 
 
 And fill the desert with its heavenly tones, 
 
 He listens intense, and pleased exceedingly, 
 
 And wishes it may never stop ; yet when 
 
 It stops, grieves not; but to his former thoughts 
 
 With fondest haste returns: so did the Seer, 
 
 So did his audience, after worship past, 
 
 And praise in heaven, return to sing, to hear 
 
 Of man; not worthy less the sacred lyre, 
 
 Or the attentive ear : and thus the bard, 
 
 Not unbesought, again resumed his song. 
 
 In customed glory bright, that morn the sun 
 Rose, visiting the earth with light, and heat, 
 And joy ; and seemed as full of youth, and strong 
 To mount the steep of heaven, as when the Stars 
 Of morning sung to his first dawn, and night 
 lied from his face : the spacious sky received 
 
 147 
 
148 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 IJim, blushing as a bride, when on her looked 
 The bridegroom: and, spread out beneath his eye, 
 Earth smiled. Up to his warm embrace the dews, 
 That all night long had wept his absence, flew : 
 The herbs and flowers their fragrant stores unlocked. 
 And gave the wanton breeze, that newly woke, 
 Revelled in sweets, and from its wings shook health, 
 A thousand grateful smells : the joyous woods 
 Dried in his beams their locks, wet with the drops 
 Of night : and all the sons of music sung 
 Their matin song ; from arboured bower, the thrush 
 Concerting with the lark that hymned on high : 
 On the green hill the flocks, and in the vale 
 The herds rejoiced : and, light of heart, the hind 
 Eyed amorously the milk-maid as she passed, 
 Not heedless, though she looked another wav. 
 
 No sign was there of change : all nature moved 
 In wonted harmony : men as they met 
 In morning salutation, praised the day, 
 And talked of common things : the husbandman 
 Prepared the soil, and silver tongued Hope 
 Promised another harvest : in the streets, 
 Each wishing to make profit of his neighbour, 
 Merchants, assembling, spoke of trying times, 
 Of bankruptcies, and markets glutted full : 
 Or crowding to the beach, where, to their ear, 
 The oath of foreign accent, and the noise 
 Uncouth of trade's rough sons, made music sweet, 
 Elate with certain gain, beheld the bark, 
 Expected long, enriched with other climes, 
 Into the harbour safely steer ; or saw, 
 Parting with many a weeping farewell sad, 
 And blessing uttered rude, and sacred pledge, 
 The rich laden carrack, bound to distant shore J 
 And hopefully talked of her coming back 
 With richer fraught : or sitting at the desk, 
 
BOOK VII. 1 4a 
 
 In calculation deep and intricate, 
 
 Of loss and profit balancing-, relieved 
 
 At intervals the irksome task, with thought 
 
 Of future ease, retired in villa snug. 
 
 With subtle look, amid his parchments sat 
 The -lawyer, weaving his sophistries for court 
 To meet at mid-day. On his weary couch 
 Fat luxury, sick of the night's debauch, 
 Lay groaning, fretful at the obtrusive beam, 
 That through his lattice peeped derisively : 
 The restless miser had begun again 
 To count his heaps : before her toilet stood 
 The fair, and, as with guileful skill she decked 
 Her loveliness, thought of the coming ball, 
 New lovers, or the sweeter nuptial n'ght. 
 And ea! men, of desperate lawless life, 
 By oatli of deep damnation leagued to ill 
 Remorselessly, fled from the face of day, 
 Against the innocent their counsel held, 
 Plotting unpardonable deeds of blood, 
 And villanies of fearful magnitude : 
 Despots, secured behind a thousand bolts, 
 The workmanship of fear, forged chains for man: 
 Senates were meeting ; statesmen loudly talked 
 Of national resources, war and peace; 
 And sagely balanced empires soon to end : 
 And faction's jaded minions, by the page 
 Paid for abuse, and oft-repeated lies, 
 In daily prints, the thoroughfare of news, 
 For party schemes made interest, under cloak 
 Of liberty, and right, and public weal : 
 In holy conclave, bishops spoke of tithes, 
 And of the awful wickedness of men : 
 Intoxicate with sceptres, diadems, 
 And universal rule, and panting hard 
 For fame heroes were leading on the bravo 
 n9 
 
150 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 To battle : men, in science deeply read, 
 
 And academic theory, foretold 
 
 Improvements vast: and learned sceptics proved 
 
 That earth should with eternity endure ; 
 
 Concluding- madly that there was no God. 
 
 No sign of change appeared ; to every man 
 That day seemed as the past. From noontide path 
 The sun looked gloriously on earth, and all 
 Her scenes of giddy folly smiled secure. 
 When suddenly, alas, fair Earth ! the sun 
 Was wrapt in darkness, and his beams returned 
 Up to the throne of God ; and over all 
 The earth came night, moonless and starless night. 
 Nature stood still : the seas and rivers stood, 
 And all the winds ; and every living thing. 
 The cataract, that like a giant wroth, 
 Rushed down impetuously, as seized, at once, 
 By sudden frost with all his hoary locks, 
 Stood still: and beasts of every kind stood still. 
 A deep and dreadful silence reigned alone ! 
 Hope died in every breast ; and on all men 
 Came fear and trembling: none to his neighbour spoke 
 Husband thought not of wife ; nor of her child 
 The mother; nor friend of friend; nor foe of fbc. 
 In horrible suspense all mortals stood ; 
 And as they stood, and listened, chariots were heard 
 Rolling in heaven: revealed in flaming fire, 
 The angel of God appeared in stature vast, 
 Blazing, and, lifting up his hand on high, 
 By Him that lives for ever, swore, that Time 
 Should be no more. — Throughout, creation heard 
 And sighed ; all rivers, lakes, and seas, and woods 
 Desponding waste, and cultivated vale ; 
 Wild cave, and ancient hill, and every rock 
 Sighed : earth, arrested in her wonted path, 
 As ox struck by the lifted axej when nought 
 
BOOK VII. « 151 
 
 Was feared, in all her entrails deeply groaned. 
 
 A universal crash wa? heard, as if 
 
 The ribs of nature broke, and all her dark 
 
 Foundations failed : and deadly paleness sat 
 
 On every face of man, and every heart 
 
 Grew chill, and every knee his fellow smote. 
 
 None spoke, none stirred, none wept ; for horror held 
 
 All motionless, and fettered every tongue. 
 
 Again, o'er all the nations silence fell : 
 
 And, in the heavens, robed in excessive light, 
 
 That drove the thick of darkness far aside, 
 
 And walked with penetration keen through all 
 
 The abodes of men, another angel stood, 
 
 And blew the trump of God. — Awake, ye dead ! 
 
 Be changed, ye living ! and put on the garb 
 
 Of immortality ! Awake! arise! 
 
 The God of judgment comes. This said the voice : 
 
 And Silence, from eternity that slept 
 
 Beyond the sphere of the creating Word, 
 
 And all the noise of Time, awakened, heard. 
 
 Heaven heard, and earth, and farthest hell through all 
 
 Her regions of despair: the ear of Death 
 
 Heard, and the sleep that for so long a night 
 
 Pressed on his leaden eyelids, fled : and all 
 
 The dead awoke, and all the living changed 
 
 Old men, that on their staff, bending had leaned, 
 Crazy and frail; or sat, benumbed with age, 
 In weary listlessness, ripe for the grave, 
 Felt through their sluggish veins, and withered limbs, 
 New vigour flow : the wrinkled face grew smooth , 
 Upon the head, that time had razored bare, 
 Rose bushy locks ; and as his son, in prime 
 Of strength and youth, the aged father stood. 
 Changing herself, the mother saw her son 
 Grow up, and suddenly put on the form 
 Of manhood : and the wretch, that begging sat 
 
152 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Limbless, deformed, at corner of the way, 
 
 Unmindful of his crutch, in joint and limb 
 
 Arose complete : and he that on the bed 
 
 Of mortal sickness, worn with sore distress, 
 
 Lay breathing- forth his soul to death, felt now 
 
 The tide of life and vigour rushing- back ; 
 
 And looking up beheld his weeping wife, 
 
 And daughter fond, that o'er him, bending, stooped 
 
 To close his cj^es : the frantic madman too, 
 
 In whose confused brain, reason had lost 
 
 Her way, long driven at random to and fro, 
 
 Grew sober, and his manacles fell off. 
 
 The newly sheeted corpse arose, and stared 
 
 "*n those who dressed it: and the coffined dead, 
 
 That men were bearing to the tomb, awoke, 
 
 And mingled with their friends : and armies, which 
 
 The trump surprised, met in the furious shock 
 
 Of battle, saw the bleeding ranks, new fallen, 
 
 Rise up at once, and to their ghastly cheeks 
 
 Return the stream of life in healthy flow. 
 
 And as the anatomist, with ail his band 
 
 Of rude disciples, o'er the subject hung, 
 
 And impolitely hewed his way through bones 
 
 And muscles of the sacred human form, 
 
 Exposing barbarously to wanton gaze, 
 
 The mysteries of nature — joint embraced 
 
 His kindred joint, the wounded flesh grew up, 
 
 And suddenly the injured man awoke, 
 
 Among their hands, and stood arrayed complete 
 
 In immortality — forgiving scarce 
 
 The insult offered to his clay in death. 
 
 That was the hour, long wished for by the good, 
 Of universal Jubilee to all 
 
 The sons of bondage ; from the oppressor's hand 
 The scourge of violence fell; and from Ins back, 
 Healed of its stripes, the burden of th? sluve, 
 
BOOK vii. m 
 
 1 The youth of great religious soul — who sat 
 Retired in voluntary loneliness, 
 In reverie extravagant now wrapt, 
 Or poring now on book of ancient date, 
 With filial awe ; and dipping oft his pen 
 To write immortal things ; to pleasure deaf, 
 And joys of common men; working his way 
 With mighty energy, not uninspired, 
 Through all the mines of thought ; reckless of pain, 
 And weariness, and wasted health ; the scoiT 
 Of pride, or growl of Envy's hellish brood; 
 While Fancy, voyaged far beyond the bounds 
 Of years revealed, heard many a future age, 
 With commendation loud, repeat his name — 
 False prophetess ! the day of change was come — 
 Behind the shadow of eternity, 
 He saw his visions set of earthly fame ; 
 For ever set: nor sighed, while through his veins 
 In lighter current ran immortal life; 
 His form renewed to undecaying health ; 
 To undecaying health his soul, erewhile 
 Not tuned amiss to God's eternal praise. 
 
 All men in field and city ; by the way ; 
 On land or sea ; lolling in gorgeous hall, 
 Or plying at the oar ; crawling in rags 
 Obscure, or dazzling in embroidered gold ; 
 Alone, in companies, at home, abroad ; 
 In wanton merriment surprised and taken ; 
 Or kneeling reverently in act of prayers 
 Or cursing recklessly, or uttering lies ; 
 Or lapping greedily from slander's cup 
 The blood of reputation ; or between 
 Friendships and brotherhoods devising strife J 
 Or plotting to defile a neighbour's bed; 
 In duel met with dagger of revenge ; 
 Or casting 1 on the widow's heritage 
 
154 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The eye of covetousness ; or with full hand 
 On mercy's noiseless errands, unobserved, 
 Administering ; or meditating fraud 
 And deeds of horrid barbarous intent; 
 In full pursuit of unexperienced hope, 
 Fluttering along the flowery path of youth ; 
 Or steeped in disappointment's bitterness— 
 The fevered cup that guilt must ever drink, 
 When parched and fainting on the road of ill; 
 Beggar and king, the clown and haughty lord; 
 The venerable sage, and empty fop ; 
 The ancient matron, and the rosy bride ; 
 The virgin chaste, and shrivelled harlot vile ; 
 The savage fierce, and man of science mild ; 
 The good and evil, in a moment, all 
 Were changed, corruptible to incorrupt, 
 And mortal to immortal, ne'er to change. 
 
 And now, descending from the bovvers of heaven. 
 Soft airs o'er all the earth, spreading, were heard, 
 And Hallelujahs sweet, the harmony 
 Of righteous souls that came to repossess 
 Their long neglected bodies : and anon 
 Upon the ear fell horribly the sound 
 Of cursing, and the yells of damned despair, 
 Uttered by felon spirits that the trump 
 Had summoned from the burning glooms of hell, 
 To put their bodies on — reserved for wo. 
 
 Now starting up among the living, changed, 
 Appeared innumerous the risen dead. 
 Each particle of dust, was claimed : the turf, 
 For ages trod beneatii the careless foot 
 Of men, rose organized in human form; 
 The monumental stones were rolled away; 
 The doors of death were opened ; and in the dark 
 And loathsome vault, and silent charnel house, 
 Moving, were heard the mouldered bones that sought 
 
ROOK VII. 155 
 
 Their proper place. Instinctive every soul 
 
 Flew to its clayey part : from grass-grown mould 
 
 The nameless spirit took its ashes up, 
 
 Reanimate : and, merging - from beneath 
 
 The flattered marble, undistinguished rose 
 
 The great — nor heeded once the lavish rhyme, 
 
 And costly pomp of sculptured garnish vain. 
 
 The Memphian mummy, that from age to age 
 
 Descending, bought and sold a thousand times. 
 
 In hall of curious antiquary stowed, 
 
 Wrapt in mysterious weeds, the wondrous theme 
 
 Of many an erring tale, shook off its rags, 
 
 And the brown son of Egypt stood beside 
 
 The European, his last purchaser. 
 
 In vale remote the hermit rose, surprised 
 
 At crowds that rose around him, where he thought 
 
 His slumbers had been single : and the bard, 
 
 Who fondly covenanted with his friend 
 
 To lay his bones beneath the sighing bough 
 
 Of some old lonely tree, rising, was pressed 
 
 By multitudes, that claimed their proper dust 
 
 From the same spot: and he that, richly hearsed 
 
 With gloomy garniture of purchased wo, 
 
 Embalmed, in princely sepulchre was laid, 
 
 Apart from vulgar men, built nicely round 
 
 And round by the proud heir, who blushed to think 
 
 His father's lordly clay should ever mix 
 
 With peasant dust — saw by his side awake 
 
 The clown, that long had slumbered in his arms. 
 
 The family tomb, to whose devouring mouth 
 Descended sire and son, age after age, 
 In long unbroken hereditary line, 
 Poured forth at once the ancient father rude, 
 And all his offspring of a thousand years. 
 Refreshed from sweet repose, awoke the man 
 Of charitable life — awoke and sung : 
 And from his prison house* slowly and sad, 
 
156 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 As if unsatisfied with holding near 
 
 Communion with the earth, the miser drew 
 
 His carcass forth, and gnashed his teeth, and howled, 
 
 Unsolaccd by his gold and silver then. 
 
 From simple stone in lonely wilderness, 
 
 That hoary lay, o'er-lettered by the hand 
 
 Of oft-frequenting pilgrim, who had taught 
 
 The willow tree to weep at morn and even 
 
 Over the sacred spot — the martyr saint 
 
 To song of seraph harp triumphant rose, 
 
 Well pleased that he had suffered to the death. 
 
 " The cloud capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,' 1 
 
 As sung the bard by Nature's hand anointed, 
 
 In whose capacious giant numbers rolled 
 
 The passions of old Time, fell lumbering down. 
 
 All cities fell, and every work of man, 
 
 And gave their portion forth of human dust, 
 
 Touched by the mortal finger of decay. 
 
 Tree, herb, and flower, and every fowl of heaven, 
 
 And fish, and animal, the wild and tame, 
 
 Forthwith dissolving, crumbled into dust. 
 
 Alas, ye sons of strength ! ye ancient oaks ! 
 Ye holy pines ! ye elms ! and cedars tall ! 
 Like towers of God, far seen on Carmel mount, 
 Or Lebanon, that waved your boughs on high, 
 And laughed at all the winds — your hour was come 
 Ye laurels, ever green ! and bays, that wont 
 To wreathe the patriot and the poet's brow ; 
 Ye myrtle bowers ! and groves of sacred shade ! 
 Where Music ever sung, and Zephyr fanned 
 His airy wing, wet with the dews of life, 
 And Spring for ever smiled, the fragrant haunt 
 Of Love, and Health, and ever dancing Mirth — 
 Alas! how suddenly your verdure died, 
 And ceased your minstrelsy, to sing no more. 
 Ye flowers of beauty ! penciled by the hand 
 Of God, who annually renewed your birth. 
 
BOOK VII. 157 
 
 To gem the virgin robes of Nature chaste, 
 Ye smiling featured daughters of the Sun ! 
 Fairer than queenly bride, by Jordan's stream 
 Leading your gentle lives, retired, unseen; 
 Or on the sainted cliffs of Zion hill, 
 Wandering, and holding with the heavenly dews, 
 In holy revelry, your nightly loves, 
 Watched by the stars, and offering every morn 
 Your incfmse grateful both to God and man, 
 Ye lovely gentle things ! alas, no spring 
 Shall ever w r ake you now! ye withered all, 
 All in a moment drooped, and on your roots 
 The grasp of everlasting winter seized. 
 Children of song ! ye birds that dwelt in air, 
 And stole your notes from angels' lyres, and first 
 In levee of the morn, with eulogy 
 Ascending, hailed the advent of the dawn ; 
 Or, roosted on the pensive evening bough, 
 In melancholy numbers sung the day 
 To rest, your little wings, failing, dissolved 
 In middle air, and on your harmony 
 Perpetual silence fell. Nor did his wing, 
 That sailed in track of gods sublime, and fanned 
 The sun, avail the eagle then ; quick smitten, 
 His plumage withered in meridian height, 
 And, in the valley, sunk the lordly bird, 
 A clod of clay. Before the ploughman fell 
 His steers, and mid-way the furrow left : 
 The shepherd saw his flocks around him turn 
 To dust; beneath his rider fell the steed 
 To ruins : and the lion in his den 
 Grew cold and stiff, or in the furious chase, 
 With timid fawn, that scarcely missed his paws. 
 On earth no living thing was seen but men, 
 New changed, or rising from the opening tomb. 
 Athens, and Rome, and Babylon, and Trrc\ 
 O 
 
J58 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And she that sat on Thames, queen of the seas! 
 
 Cities once famed on earth, convulsed through all 
 
 Their mighty ruins, threw their millions forth. 
 
 Palmyra's dead, where Desolation sat, 
 
 From age to age, well pleased, in solitude 
 
 And silence, save when traveller's foot, or owl 
 
 Of night, or fragment mouldering down to dust, 
 
 Broke faintly on his desert ear, awoke. 
 
 And Salem, holy city, where the Prince 
 
 Of Life, by death, a second life secured 
 
 To man, and with him from the grave, redeemed 
 
 A chosen number brought, to retinue 
 
 His great ascent on high, and give sure pledge 
 
 That death was foiled, — her generations now 
 
 Gave up, of kings, and priests, and Pharisees ; 
 
 Nor even the Sadducee, who fondly said 
 
 No morn of Resurrection ere should come, 
 
 Could sit the summons : to his ear did reach 
 
 The trumpet's voice ; and ill prepared for what 
 
 He oft had proved should never be, he rose 
 
 Reluctantly, and on his face began 
 
 To burn eternal shame. The cities too, 
 
 Of old ensepulchred beneath the flood, 
 
 Or deeply slumbering under mountains huge, 
 
 That Earthquake — servant of the wrath of God — 
 
 Had on their wicked population thrown, 
 
 And marts of busy trade, long ploughed and sown, 
 
 By history unrecorded, or the song 
 
 Of bard, yet not forgotten their wickedness 
 
 In heaven — poured forth their ancient multitudes 
 
 That vainly wished their sleep had never broke. 
 
 From battle-fields, where men by millions met 
 
 To murder each his fellow, and make sport 
 
 To kings and heroes — things long since forgot — 
 
 Innumerous armies rose, unbannered all, 
 
 Unpanoplied, unpraised ; nor found a prince. 
 
BOOK VII. 159 
 
 Or general then, to answer for their crimes. 
 
 The hero's slaves, and all the scarlet troops 
 
 Of antichrist, and all that fought for rule — 
 
 Many high-sounding names, familiar once 
 
 On earth, and praised exceedingly ; but now 
 
 Familiar most in hell — their dungeon fit, 
 
 Where they may war eternally with God's 
 
 Almighty thunderbolts, and win them pangs 
 
 Of keener wo — saw, as they sprung to life, 
 
 The widow, and the orphan ready stand, 
 
 And helpless virgin, ravished in their sport, 
 
 To plead against them at the coming Doom. 
 
 The Roman legions, boasting once, how loud ! 
 
 Of liberty ; and fighting bravely o'er 
 
 The torrid and the frigid zone, the sands 
 
 Of burning Egypt, and the frozen hills 
 
 Of snowy Albion, to make mankind 
 
 Their thralls, untaught that he who made or kept 
 
 A slave, could ne'er himself be truly free — 
 
 That morning gathered up their dust, which lay 
 
 Wide scattered over half the globe : nor saw 
 
 Their eagled banners then. Sennacherib's hosts 
 
 Embattled once against the sons of God, 
 
 With insult bold, quick as the noise of mirth 
 
 And revelry, sunk in their drunken camp, 
 
 When death's dark angel, at the dead of night, 
 
 Their vitals touched, and made each pulse stand still — 
 
 Awoke in sorrow : and the multitudes 
 
 Of Gog, and all the fated crew that warred 
 
 Against the chosen saints, in the last days, 
 
 At Armageddon, when the Lord came down, 
 
 Mustering his hosts on Israel's holy hills, 
 
 And from the treasures of his snow and hail 
 
 Rained terror, and confusion rained, and death, 
 
 And gave to all the beasts, and fowls of heaven 
 
 Of captain's flesh, and blood of men of war. 
 
1G0 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 i 
 
 A feast of many clays — revived, and, doomed 
 To second death, stood in Hamonah's vale. 
 
 Nor yet did all that fell in battle, rise 
 That day to wailing- : here and there were seen 
 The patriot bands, that from his guilty throne 
 The despot tore, unshackled nations, made 
 The prince respect the people's laws, drove back 
 The wave of proud invasion, and rebuked 
 The frantic fury of the multitude, 
 Rebelled, and fought and fell for liberty 
 Right understood — true heroes in the speech 
 Of heaven, where words express the thoughts of him 
 Who speaks — not undistinguished these, though few 
 That morn arose, with joy and melody. 
 All woke — the north and south gave up their dead • 
 The caravan, that in mid-journey sunk, 
 With all its merchandise, expected long, 
 And long forgot, ingulphed beneath the tide 
 Of death, that the wild spirit of the winds 
 Swept, in his wrath, along the wilderness, 
 In the wide desert woke, and saw all calm 
 Around, and populous with risen men: 
 Nor of his relics thought the pilgrim then, 
 Nor merchant of his silks and spiceries. 
 
 And he — far voyaging from home and friends, 
 Too curious, with a mortal eye to peep 
 Into the secrets of the Pole, forbid 
 By nature, whom fierce winter seized, and froze 
 To death, and wrapped in winding sheet of ice, 
 And sung the requiem of his shivering ghost 
 With the loud organ of his mighty winds, 
 And on his memory threw the snow of ages — 
 Felt the long absent warmth of life return, 
 And shook the frozen mountain from his bed. 
 
 All rose, of every age, of every clime: 
 Adam ahd Eve, the great progenitors 
 
BOOK VII. 161 
 
 Of all mankind, fair as they seemed that mora 
 When first they met in paradise," unfallen, 
 Uncursed — from ancient slumber broke, where once 
 Euphrates rolled his stream ; and by them stood, 
 In stature equal, and in soul as large, 
 Their last posterity — though poets sung, 
 And sages proved them far degenerate. 
 
 Blessed sight ! not unobserved by angels, or 
 Unpraised — that day 'mong men of every tribe 
 And hue, from those who drank of Tenglio's stream, 
 To those who nightly saw the hermit cross, 
 In utmost south retired, — rising, were seen 
 The fair and ruddy sons of Albion's land — 
 How glad ! — not those who travelled far, and saileu 
 To purchase human flesh ; or wreath the yoke 
 Of vassalage on savage liberty ; 
 Or suck large fortune from the sweat of slaves; 
 Or with refined knavery to cheat, 
 Politely villanous, untutored men 
 Out of their property ; or gather shells, 
 Intaglios rude, old pottery, and store 
 Of mutilated gods of stone, and scraps 
 Of barbarous epitaphs defaced, to be 
 Among the learned the theme of warm debate. 
 And infinite conjecture, sagely wrong ! 
 But those, denied to self, to earthly fame 
 Denied, and earthly wealth, who kindred left, 
 And home, and ease, and all the cultured joys 
 Conveniences, and delicate delights 
 Of ripe society ; in the great cause 
 Of man's salvation greatly valorous, 
 The warriors of Messiah, messengers 
 Of peace, and light, and life, whose eye, unsealed, 
 Saw up the path of immortality, 
 Far into bliss — saw men, immortal men, 
 Wide wandering from the way ; eclipsed in night, 
 o 2 
 
1G2 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Dark, moonless, moral night; living like bea?*«; 
 
 Like beasts descending to the grave, untaught 
 
 Of life to come, unsanctified, unsaved : 
 
 Who strong, though seeming weak; who warlike, though 
 
 Unarmed with bow and sword ; appearing mad, 
 
 Though sounder than the schools alone ere madb 
 
 The doctor's head ; devote to God and truth, 
 
 And sworn to man's eternal weal — beyond 
 
 Repentance sworn, or thought of turning back; 
 
 And casting far behind all earthly care, 
 
 All countryships, all national regards 
 
 And enmities ; all narrow bournes of state 
 
 And selfish policy ; beneath their feet 
 
 Treading all fear of opposition down ; 
 
 All fear of danger ; of reproach all fear, 
 
 And evil tongues ; — went forth, from Britain wc 
 
 A noiseless band of heavenly soldiery, 
 
 From out the armoury of God equipped, 
 
 Invincible, to conquer sin ; to blow 
 
 The trump of freedom in the despot's ear ; 
 
 To tell the bruted slave his manhood high, 
 
 His birthright liberty, and in his hand 
 
 To put the writ of manumission, signed 
 
 By God's own signature ; to drive away 
 
 From earth the dark infernal legionry 
 
 Of superstition, ignorance, and hell : 
 
 High on the pagan hills, where Satan sat 
 
 Encamped, and o'er the subject kingdoms threw 
 
 Perpetual night, to plant Immanuel's cross, 
 
 The ensign of the Gospel, blazing round 
 
 Immortal truth ; and in the wilderness 
 
 Of human waste to sow eternal life ; 
 
 And from the rock, where sin, with horrid )'cll, 
 
 Devoured its victims unredeemed, to raise 
 
 The melody of grateful hearts to Heaven: 
 
 To falsehood, truth ; to pride, humility ; 
 
BOOK VII. 163 
 
 To insult, meekness ; pardon, to revenge; 
 To stubborn prejudice, unwearied zeal ; 
 To censure, unaccusing minds; to stripes, 
 Long suffering ; to want of all things, hope; 
 To death, assured faith of life to come, 
 Opposing — these, great worthies, rising, shone 
 Through all the tribes and nations of mankind, 
 Like Hesper, glorious once among the stars 
 Of twilight ; and around them, flocking, stood, 
 Arrayed in white, the people they had saved. 
 
 Great Ocean too, that morning, thou, the call 
 Of restitution heardst, and reverently 
 To the last trumpet's voice in silence listened ! 
 Great Ocean ! strongest of creation's sons! 
 Unconquerable, unreposed, untired ; 
 That rolled the wild, profound, eternal bass, 
 In Nature's anthem, and made music, such 
 As pleased the ear of God. Original, 
 Unmarred, unfaded work of Deity ; 
 And unburlcsqued by mortal's puny skill. 
 From age to age enduring and unchanged : 
 Majestical, inimitable, vast, 
 Loud uttering satire day and night on each 
 Succeeding race, and little pompous work 
 Of man. Unfallen, religious, holy sea ! 
 Thou bowedst thy glorious head to none, fearedst none, 
 Heardst none, to none didst honour, but to God 
 Thy maker — only worthy to receive 
 Thy great obeisance. Undiscovered sea ! 
 Into thy dark, unknown, mysterious caves, 
 And secret haunts, unfathomably deep 
 Beneath all visible retired, none went, 
 And came again, to tell the wonders there. 
 Tremendous sea! what time thou lifted up 
 Thy waves on high, and with thy winds and storms 
 Strange pastime took, and shook thy mighty sides 
 
164 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Indignantly — the pride of navies fell ; 
 
 Beyond the arm of help, unheard, unseen, 
 
 Sank friend and foe, with all their wealth and war; 
 
 And on thy shores, men of a thousand tribes, 
 
 Polite and barbarous, trembling stood, amazed, 
 
 Confounded, terrified, and thought vast thoughts 
 
 Of ruin, boundlessness, omnipotence, 
 
 Infinitude, eternity ; and thought 
 
 And wondered still, and grasped, and grasped, and glared 
 
 Again — beyond her reach exerting all 
 
 The soul to take thy great idea in, 
 
 To comprehend incomprehensible ; 
 
 And wondered more, and felt their littleness. 
 
 Self-purifying, unpolluted sea ! 
 
 Lover unchangeable ! thy faithful breast 
 
 For ever heaving to the lovely moon, 
 
 That like a shy and holy virgin, robed 
 
 In saintly white, walked nightly in the heavens. 
 
 And to thy everlasting serenade 
 
 Gave gracious audience; nor was wooed in vain. 
 
 That morning, thou, that slumbered not before, 
 
 Nor slept, great Ocean ! laid thy waves to rest. 
 
 And hushed thy mighty minstrelsy. No breath 
 
 Thy deep composure stirred, no fin, no oar ; 
 
 Like beauty newly dead, so calm, so still, 
 
 So lovely, thou, beneath the light that fell 
 
 From angel-chariots sentinelled on high, 
 
 Reposed, and listened, and saw thy living chance, 
 
 Thy dead. arise. Charybdis listened, and Scyila, 
 
 And savage Euxine, on the Thracian beach, 
 
 Lay motionless : and every battle ship* 
 
 Stood still; and every ship of merchant!!^, 
 
 And all that sailed, of every name, stood still. 
 
 Even as the ship of war, full fledged and swift., 
 
 Like some fierce bird of prey, bore on her foe, 
 
 Opposing with as fell intent, the wind 
 
 Fell withered from her wings, that idly hung ; 
 
BOOK VII. 165 
 
 The stormy bullet, by the cannon thrown 
 
 Uncivilly against the heavenly face 
 
 Of men, half sped, sunk harmlessly, and all 
 
 Her loud, uncircumcised, tempestuous crew, 
 
 How ill prepared to meet .their God! were changed 
 
 Unchangeable — the pilot at the helm 
 
 Was changed, and the rough captain, while he mouthed 
 
 The huge enormous oath. The fisherman, 
 
 That in his boat expectant watched his lines, 
 
 Or mended on the shore his net, and sung, 
 
 Happy in thoughtlessness, some careless air, 
 
 Heard Time depart, and felt the sudden change. 
 
 In solitary deep, far out from land, 
 
 Or steering from the port with many a cheer, 
 
 Or while returning from long voyage, fraught 
 
 With lusty wealth, rejoicing to have escaped 
 
 The dangerous main, and plagues of foreign climes 
 
 The merchant quaffed his native air, refreshed, 
 
 And saw his native hills in the sun's light 
 
 Serenely rise, and thought of meetings glad, » 
 
 And many days of ease and honour spent 
 
 Among his friends — unwarned man ! even then 
 
 The knell of Time broke on his reverie, 
 
 And ir the twinkling of an eye his hopes, 
 
 All earthly, perished all. As sudden rose, 
 
 From out their watery beds, the Ocean's dead, 
 
 Renewed, and on the unstirring billows stood, 
 
 From pole to po'.e, thick covering all the sea : 
 
 Of every nation blent, and every age. 
 
 Wherever slept one grain of human dust, 
 Essential organ of a human soul, 
 Wherever tossed — obedient to the call 
 Of God's omnipotence, it hurried on 
 To meet its fellow particles, revived, 
 Rebuilt, in union indestructible. 
 No atom of his spoils remained to Death. 
 From his strong arm by stronger arm released. 
 
166 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Immortal now in soul and body both, 
 Beyond bis reach, stood all the sons of men, 
 And saw behind his valley lie un feared. 
 
 O Death ! with what an eye of desperate - lust, 
 From out thy emptied vaults, thou then didst look 
 After the risen multitudes of all 
 Mankind ! Ah, thou hadst been the terror long, 
 And murderer of all of woman born. 
 None could escape thee ! In thy dung-eon house, 
 Where darkness dwelt, and putrid loathsomeness, 
 And fearful silence, villanously still, 
 And all of horrible and deadly name, — 
 Thou satt'st from age to age, insatiate, 
 And drank the blood of men, and gorged their flesh. 
 And with thy iron teeth didst grind their bones 
 To powder — treading out beneath thy feet 
 Their very names and memories : the blood 
 Of nations could not slake thy parched throat. 
 No bribe could buy thy favour for an hour, 
 Or mitigate thy ever cruel rage 
 For human prey. Gold, beauty, virtue, youth ; 
 Even helpless swaddled innocency failed 
 To soften thy heart of stone : the infant's blood 
 Pleased well thy taste — and while the mother wept. 
 Bereaved by thee, lonely and waste in wo, 
 Thy ever grinding jaws devoured her too. 
 
 Each son of Adam's family beheld, 
 Where'er he turned, whatever palh of life 
 He trode, thy goblin form before him stand, 
 Like trusty old assassin, in his aim 
 Steady and sure as eye of destiny, 
 With scythe, and dart, and strength invincible 
 Equipped, and ever menacing his life. 
 He turned aside, he drowned himself in sleep, 
 In wine, in pleasure ; travelled, voyaged, sought 
 Receipts for health from all he met ; betook 
 To business speculate; retired; returned 
 
BOOK VII. 167 
 
 Aga'.n to active life; again retired ; 
 
 Returned ; retired again ; prepared to die ; 
 
 Talked of thy nothingness; conversed of life 
 
 To come; laughed at his fears ; filled up the cup; 
 
 Drank deep ; refrained ; filled up; refrained again ; 
 
 Planned ; built him round with splendour, won applause ', 
 
 Made large alliances with men and things ; 
 
 Read deep in science and philosophy, 
 
 To fortify his soul ; heard lectures prove 
 
 The present ill, and future good ; observed 
 
 His pulse beat regular ; extended hope ; 
 
 Thought, dissipated thought, and thought again; 
 
 Indulged, abstained, and tried a thousand schemes, 
 
 To ward thy blow, or hide thee from his eye ; 
 
 But still thy gloomy terrors, dipped in sin, 
 
 Before him frowned, and withered all his joy. 
 
 Still, feared and hated thing, thy ghostly shape 
 
 Stood in his avenues of fairest hope ; 
 
 Unmannerly, and uninvited, crept 
 
 Into his haunts of most select delight: 
 
 Still on his halls of mirth, and banqueting, 
 
 And revelry, thy shadowy hand was seen 
 
 Writing thy name of — Death. Vile worm, that gnawed 
 
 The root of all his happiness terrene ; the gall 
 
 Of all his sweet ; the thorn of every rose 
 
 Of earthly bloom; cloud of his noon-day sky 
 
 Frost of his spring; sigh of his loudost laugh; 
 
 Dark spot on every form of loveliness; 
 
 Rank smell amidst his rarest spiceries ; 
 
 Harsh dissonance of all his harmony ; 
 
 Reserve of every promise, and the if 
 
 Of all to morrows — now beyond thy vale 
 
 Stood all the ransomed multitude of men, 
 
 Immortal all ; and in their visions saw 
 
 Thy visage grim no more. Great payment day ' 
 
 Of all thou ever conquered, none was left 
 
 In thy unpeopled realms, so populous once. 
 
J 68 THE COURSE OF TIME 
 
 He, at whose girdle hang the keys of death 
 And life — not bought but with the blocd of Him 
 Who wears, the eternal Son of God, that morn 
 Dispelled the cloud that sat so long, so thick, 
 So heavy o'er thy vale ; opened all thy doors, 
 Unopened before, and set thy prisoners free. 
 Vain was resistance, and to follow vain. 
 In thy unveiled caves, and solitudes 
 Of dark and dismal emptiness, thou satt'st, 
 Rolling thy hollow eyes :, disabled thing! 
 Helpless, despised, unpitied, and unfeared, 
 Like some fallen tyrant, chained in sight of all 
 The people : from thee dropped thy pointless dart 
 Thy terrors withered all; thy ministers, 
 Annihilated, fell before thy face ; 
 And on thy maw eternal hunger seized. 
 
 Nor yet, sad monster ! wast thou left alone. 
 In thy dark dens some phantoms still remained — 
 Ambition, Vanity, and earthly Fame ; 
 Swollen Ostentation, meagre Avarice, 
 Mad Superstion, smooth Hypocrisy, 
 And Bigotry intolerant, and Fraud, 
 And wilful Ignorance, and sullen Pride ; 
 Hot Controversy, and the subtile ghost 
 Of. Vain Philosophy, and worldly Hope, 
 And sweet lipped hollow-hearted Flattery — 
 All these, great personages once on earth, 
 And not unfollowed, nor unpraised, were left, 
 Thy ever-unredeemed, and with thee driven 
 To Erebus, through whose uncheered waste?, 
 Thou ma} r est chase them, with thy broken scythe 
 Fetching vain strokes, to all eternity, 
 Unsatisfied, as men who, in the days 
 Of Time, their unsubstantial forms pursued. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 Reanimated now, and dressed in robes 
 Of everlasting' wear, in the last pause 
 Of expectation, stood the human race; 
 Buoyant in air, or covering shore and sea. 
 From east to west, thick as the eared grain 
 In golden autumn waved, from field to field, 
 Profuse, by Nilus' fertile wave, while yet 
 Earth was, and men were in her valleys seen. 
 
 Still all was calm in heaven : nor yet appeared 
 The Judge : nor aught appeared, save here and there, 
 On wing of golden plumage borne at will, 
 A curious angel, that from out the skies, 
 Now glanced a look on man, and then retired. 
 As calm was all on earth : the ministers 
 Of God's unsparing vengeance waited, still 
 Ur.bid : no sun, no moon, no star gave light : 
 A blest and holy radiance, travelled far 
 From day original, fell on the face 
 Of men, and every countenance revealed ; 
 Unpleasant to the bad, whose visages 
 Had lost all guise of seeming happiness, 
 \Vith which on earth such pains they took to hide 
 Their misery in. On their grim features, now 
 The plain unvisored index of the soul, 
 The true untampered witness of the heart, 
 No smile of hope, no look of vanity 
 
 P 169 
 
170 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Beseeching for applause, was seen ; no scowl 
 Of self-important, all-despising pride, 
 That once upon the poor and needy fell, 
 Like winter on the unprotected flower, 
 Withering their very being to decay. 
 No jesting mirth, no wanton leer was seen ; 
 No sullen lower of braggart fortitude 
 Defying pain ; nor anger, nor revenge ; 
 But fear instead, and terror and remorse ; 
 And chief one passion to its answering shaped 
 The features of the damned, and in itself 
 Summoned all the rest — unutterable despair. 
 
 What on the righteous shone of foreign light, 
 Was all redundant day they needed not. 
 For, as by nature, Sin is dark, and loves 
 The dark, still hiding from itself in gloom ; 
 And in the darkest hell is still itself 
 The darkest hell, and the severest wo, 
 Where all is wo : so Virtue, ever fair ! 
 Doth by a sympathy as strong as binds 
 Two equal hearts, well pleased in wedded lovo 
 For ever seek the light, for ever seek 
 All fair and lovely things, all beauteous forms, 
 All images of excellence and truth ; 
 A.id from her own essential being, pure 
 As flows the fount of life that spirits drink, 
 Doth to herself give light, nor from her beams. 
 As native to her as her own existence, 
 Can be divorced, nor of her glory shorn, — 
 Which now from every feature of the just. 
 Divinely rayed ; yet not from all alike : 
 In measure equal to the soul's advance 
 In virtue, was the lustre of the face. 
 
 It was a strange assembly : none of all 
 That congregation vast could recollect 
 Aught like it in the history of man. 
 
 # 
 
BOOK VIII 171 
 
 No badge of outward state was seen , no mark 
 
 Of age, or rank, or national attire ; 
 
 Or robe professional, or air of trade. 
 
 Untitled stood the man that once was called 
 
 My lord, unserved, unfollowed ; and the man 
 
 Of tithes, right reverend in the dialect 
 
 Of Time addressed, ungowned, unbeneficed, 
 
 CJncorpulent ; nor now from him, who bore, 
 
 With ceremonious gravity of step, 
 
 And face of borrowed holiness o'erlaid, 
 
 The ponderous book before the awful priest, 
 
 And opened and shut the pulpit's sacred gates 
 
 In style of wonderful observancy, 
 
 And reverence excessive, in the beams 
 
 Of sacerdotal splendor lost, or if 
 
 Observed, comparison ridiculous scarce 
 
 Could save the little, pompous, humble man 
 
 From laughter of the people — not from him 
 
 Could be distinguished then the priest untithed. 
 
 None levees held, those marts where princely smilis 
 
 Were sold for flattery, and obeisance mean, 
 
 Unfit from man to man ; none came, or went ; 
 
 None wished to draw attention, none was poor, 
 
 None rich ; none young, none old, deformed none ; 
 
 None sought for place, or favour; none had aught 
 
 To give, none could receive ; none ruled, none served 
 
 No king, no subject was ; unscutcheoned all, 
 
 Uncrowned, unplumed, unhelmed, un pedigreed; 
 
 Unlaced, uncoroneted, unbestarred. 
 
 Nor countrymen was seen, nor citizen ; 
 
 Republican, nor humble advocate 
 
 Of monarchy ; nor idol worshipper, 
 
 Nor beaded papist, nor Mahometan ; 
 
 Episcopalian none, nor presbyter ; 
 
 Nor Lutheran, nor Calvinist, nor Jew, 
 
 Nor Greek, nor sectary of any name 
 
172 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Nor of those persons that loud title bore — 
 Most high and mighty, most magnificent ; 
 Most potent, most august, most worshipful. 
 Most eminent; words of great pomp, that pleased 
 The ear of vanity, and made the worms 
 Of earth mistake themselves for gods — could one 
 Be seen, to claim these phrases obsolete. 
 
 It was a congregation vast of men ; 
 Of unappendaged, and unvarnished men ; 
 Of plain, unceremonious human beings, 
 Of all but moral character bereaved. 
 His vice, 01 virtue now to each remained 
 Alone. All else with their grave-clothes men had 
 Put off, as badges worn by mortal, not 
 Immortal man ; alloy that could not pass 
 The scrutiny of Death's refining fires ; 
 Dust of Time's wheels, by multitudes pursued 
 Of fools that shouted — gold ! fair painted fruit, 
 At which the ambitious idiot jumped, while men 
 Of wiser mood immortal harvests reaped ; 
 Weeds of the human garden, sprung from earth's 
 Adulterate soil, unfit to be transplanted, 
 Though by the moral botanist too oft 
 For plants of heavenly seed mistaken, and nursed 
 Mere chaff that Virtue, when she rose from earth 
 And waved her wings to gain her native heights, 
 Drove from the verge of being, leaving Vice t 
 No mask to hide her in; base-born of Time, 
 In which God claimed no property, nor had 
 Prepared for them a place in heaven, or hell. 
 Yet did these vain distinctions, now forgot, 
 Bulk largely in the filmy eye of Time, 
 And were exceeding fair ; and lured to death 
 Immortal souls. But they were past ; for all 
 Ideal now was past ; reality 
 A\( ne remained ;" and good and bad, redeemed 
 
BOOK Vlll. 173 
 
 And unredeemed, distinguished sole the sons 
 
 Of men. Each to his proper self reduced, 
 
 And undisguised, was what his seeming showed. 
 
 The man of earthly fame, whom common men 
 Made boast of having seen — who scarce could pass 
 The ways of Time, for eager crowds that pressed 
 To do him homage, and pursued his ear 
 With endless praise, for deeds unpraised above, 
 And yoked their brutal natures, honoured much 
 To drag his chariot on — unnoticed stood, 
 With none to praise him, none to flatter there. 
 
 Blushing and dumb, that morning, too, was seen 
 The mighty reasoner ; he who deeply searched 
 The origin of things, and talked of good 
 And evil much, of causes and effects, 
 Of mind and matter, contradicting all 
 That went before him, and himself, the while, 
 The laughing-stock of angels ; diving far 
 Below his depth, to fetch reluctant proofi 
 That he himself was mad and wicked too, 
 When, proud and ignorant man, he meant to prove, 
 That God had made the universe amiss, 
 And sketched a better plan. Ah ! foolish sage ! 
 He could not trust the word of Heaven, nor see 
 The light which from the Bible blazed — that lamp 
 Which God threw from his palace down to earth, 
 To guide his wandering children home — yet leaned 
 His cautious faith on speculations wild, 
 And visionary theories absurd, 
 Prodigiously, deliriously absurd, 
 Compared with which, the most erroneous flight 
 That poet ever took when warm with wine, 
 Was moderate conjecturing : — he saw, 
 Weighed in the balance of eternity, 
 His lore how light, and wished, too late, that he 
 Had staid at home, and learned to know himself, 
 p 2 
 
174 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And done, what peasants did — disputed less, 
 And more obeyed. Nor less he grieved his time 
 Misspent, the man of curious research, 
 Who travelled far through lands of hostile clime 
 And dangerous inhabitant, to fix 
 The bounds of empires past, and ascertain 
 The burial-place of heroes never born; 
 Despising present things, and future too, 
 And groping in the dark unsearchable 
 Of finished years: — by dreary ruins seen, 
 And dungeons damp, and vaults of ancient waste, 
 With spade and mattock, delving deep to raise 
 Old vases and dismembered idols rude ; 
 With matchless perseverance spelling out 
 Words without sense. Poor man ! he clapped his hand* 
 Enraptured, when he found a manuscript 
 That spoke of pagan gods ; and yet forgot 
 The God who made the sea and sky — alas! 
 Forgot that trifling was a sin ; stored much 
 Of dubious stuff, but laid no treasure up 
 In heaven ; on mouldered columns scratched his name, 
 But ne'er inscribed it in the book of life. 
 Unprofitable seemed, and unapproved, 
 That day, the sullen, self-vindictive life 
 Of the recluse: with crucifixes hung, 
 And spells, and rosaries, and wooden saints, 
 Like one of reason reft, he journeyed forth, 
 In show of miserable poverty, 
 And chose to beg, as if to live on sweat 
 Of other men, had promised great reward ; 
 On his own flesh inflicted cruel wounds, 
 With naked foot embraced the ice, by the hour 
 Said mass, and did most grievous penance vile : 
 And then retired to drink the filthy cup 
 Of secret wickedness, and fabricate 
 All lying wonders, by the untaught received 
 
BOOK VIII. 175 
 
 For revelations new. Deluded wreteh ! : 
 Did he not know, that the most Holy One 
 Required a cheerful life and holy heart ? 
 
 Most disappointed in that crowd of men, / 
 
 The man of subtle controversy stood, 
 The bigot theologian — in minute 
 Distinctions skilled, and doctrines unreduced 
 To practice ; in debate how loud ! how long ! 
 How dexterous! in christian love, how cold! 
 His vain conceits were orthodox alone. 
 The immutable and heavenly truth, revealed 
 By God, was nought to him : he had an art, 
 A kind of hellish charm, that made the lips 
 Of truth speak falsehood; to his liking turned 
 The meaning of the text; made trifles seem 
 The marrow of salvation; to a word, 
 A name, a sect, that sounded in the ear, 
 And to the eye so many letters showed, 
 But did no more — gave value infinite ; 
 Proved still his reasoning best, and his belief, 
 Though propped on fancies, wild as madmen's dreams, 
 Most rational, most scriptural, most sound ; 
 With mortal heresy denouncing all 
 Who in his arguments could see no force. 
 On points of faith too fine for human sight, 
 And never understood in heaven, he placed 
 His everlasting hope, undoubting placed, 
 And died : and when he opened his ear, prepared 
 To hear, beyond the grave, the minstrelsy 
 Of bliss — he heard, alas! the wail of wo. 
 He proved all creeds false but his own, and found 
 At last, his own most false — most false, because 
 He spent his time to prove all others so. 
 
 O love destroying, cursed Bigotry ! 
 Cursed in heaven, but cursed more in hell, 
 Where millions curse thee, and must ever curse! 
 
176 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Religion's most abhorred ! perdition's most 
 
 Forlorn! God's most, abandoned! hell's mosi damned 
 
 The infidel, who turned his impious war 
 
 Against the walls of Zion, on the rock 
 
 Of ages built, and higher than the clouds, 
 
 Sinned, and received his due reward ; but she 
 
 Within her walls sinned more : of ignorance 
 
 Begot, her daughter, Persecution, walked 
 
 The earth, from age to age, and drank the blood 
 
 Of saints, with horrid relish drank the blood 
 
 Of God's peculiar children — and was drunk; 
 
 And in her drunkenness dreamed of doing good 
 
 The supplicating hand of innocence, 
 
 That made the tiger mild, and in his wrath 
 
 The lion pause — the groans of suffering most 
 
 Severe, were nought to her : she laughed at groans : 
 
 No music pleased her more ; and no repast 
 
 So sweet to her as blood of men redeemed 
 
 By blood of Christ. Ambition's self, though mad, 
 
 And nursed on human gore, with her compared 
 
 Was merciful. Nor did she always rage : 
 
 She had some hours of meditation set 
 
 Apart, wherein she to her study went; 
 
 The Inquisition, model most complete 
 
 Of perfect wickedness, where deeds were done — 
 
 Deeds ! let them ne'er be named, — and sat and plained 
 
 Deliberately, and with most musing pains, 
 
 How, to extremest thrill of agony, 
 
 The flesh, and blood, and souls of holy men, 
 
 Her victims, might be wrought; and when she sav 
 
 New tortures, of her labouring fancy born, 
 
 She leaped for joy, and made great haste to try 
 
 Their force — well pleased to hear a deeper groan. 
 
 But now her day of mirth was past, and come 
 Her day to weep ; her day of bitter groans, 
 And sorrow unbemoaned ; the day of grief, 
 
BOOK VIII. 177 
 
 And wrath retributary poured in full 
 On all that took her part The man of sin, 
 The mystery of iniquity, her friend 
 Sincere, who pardoned sin, unpardoned still, 
 And in the name of God blasphemed, and did 
 All wicked, all abominable things, 
 Most abject stood that day, by devils hissed, 
 And by the looks of those he murdered, scorched ; 
 And plagued with inward shame that on his cheek 
 Burned, while his votaries who left the earth, 
 Secure of bliss, around him undeceived 
 Stood, undeceivable till then ; and knew, 
 Too late, him fallible, themselves accursed, 
 And all their passports and certificates 
 A lie : nor disappointed more, nor more 
 Ashamed, the Mussulman, when he saw gnash 
 His teeth and wail, whom he expected Judge. 
 All these were damned for bigotry, were damned, 
 Because the}' thought, that they alone served God, 
 And served him most, when most they disobeyed. 
 
 Of those forlorn and sad, thou mightst have marked, 
 In number most innumerable stand 
 The indolent : too lazy these to make 
 Inquiry for themselves, they stuck their faith 
 To some well fatted priest, with offerings bribed 
 To bring them oracles of peace, and take 
 Into his management all the concerns 
 Of their eternity : managed how well 
 They knew that day, and might have sooner known, 
 That the commandment was : Search and believe 
 In Me, and not in man ; who leans on him 
 Leans on a broken reed that will impierce 
 The trusted side. I am the way, the truth, 
 The life alone, and there is none besides. 
 
 This did they read, and yet refused to search, 
 To search what easily was found, and, found, 
 
J 78 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of price uncountable. Most foolish, they 
 
 Thought God with ignorance pleased, and blinded failh 
 
 That ink no root in reason, purified 
 
 With holy influence of his Spirit pure. 
 
 So, on they walked, and stumbled in the light 
 
 Of noon, because they would not open their eyes. 
 
 Effect how sad of sloth ! that made them risk 
 
 Their piloting to the eternal shore, 
 
 To one who could mistake the lurid flash 
 
 Of hell for heaven's true star, rather than bow 
 
 The knee, and by one fervent word obtain 
 
 His guidance sure, who calls the stars by name. 
 
 They prayed by proxy, and at second hand 
 
 Believed, and slept, and put repentance off, 
 
 UntiLthe knock of death awoke them, when 
 
 They saw their ignorance both, and him they paid 
 
 To bargain of their souls 'twixt them and God, 
 
 Fled, and began repentance without end. 
 
 How did they wish, that morning, as they stood 
 
 With blushing covered, they had for themselves 
 
 The Scripture searched, had for themselves believed, 
 
 And made acquaintance with the Judge ere then ! 
 
 Great day of termination to the joys 
 
 Of sin ! to joys that grew on mortal boughs — 
 
 On trees whose seed fell not from heaven, whose top 
 
 Reached not above the clouds. From such alone 
 
 The epicure took all his meals; in choice 
 
 Of morsels for the body, nic°! he was, 
 
 And scrupulous, and knew all wines by smell 
 
 Or taste, and every composition knew 
 
 Of cookery ; but grossly drank, unskilled, 
 
 The cup of spiritual pollution up, 
 
 That sickened his soul to death, while yet his cyea 
 
 Stood out with fat : his feelings were his guide; 
 
 He ate, and drank, and slept, and took ail joys, 
 
 Forbid and un forbid as impulse urged, 
 
UOOK VIII 17") 
 
 Or appetite; nor asked his reason why; 
 
 He said, he followed nature still, but lied ; 
 
 For she was temperate and chaste, he full 
 
 Of wine and all adultery ; her face 
 
 Was holy, most unholy his; her eye 
 
 Was pure, his shot unhallowed fire ; her lips 
 
 Sang- praise to God, his uttered oaths profane 
 
 Her breath was sweet, his rank with foul debauch. 
 
 Yet pleaded he a kind and feeling- heart, 
 
 Even when he left a neighbour's bed defiled. 
 
 Like migratory fowls that flocking sailed 
 
 From isle to isle, steering by sense alone, 
 
 Whither the clime their liking best beseemed; 
 
 So he was guided ; so he moved through good 
 
 And evil, right and wrong, but ah ! to fate 
 
 All different : they slept in dust unpaincd ; 
 
 He rose that day to suffer endless pain. 
 
 Cured of his unbelief, the sceptic stood, 
 Who doubted of his being while he breathed 
 Than whom, glossography itself, that spoke 
 Huge folios of nonsense every hour, 
 And left, surrounding every page, its marks 
 Of prodigal stupidity, scarce more 
 Of folly raved. The tyrant too, who sat 
 In grisly council, like a spider couched, 
 With ministers of locust countenance, 
 And made alliances to rob mankind, 
 And holy termed — for still beneath a name 
 Of pious sound the wicked sought to veil 
 Their crimes — forgetful of his right divine, 
 Trembled, and owned oppression was of hell 
 Nor did the uncivil robber, who unpurscd 
 The traveller on the highway and cut 
 His throat, anticipate severer doom. 
 
 In that assembly there was one, who, while 
 Beneath the sun, aspired to be a fool : 
 
J SO THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 In different ages known by different names, 
 
 Not worth repeating here. Be this enough: 
 
 With scrupulous care exact, he walked the rounds 
 
 Of fashionable duty; laughed when sad; 
 
 When merry, \vept; deceiving, was deceived; 
 
 And flattering, nattered. Fashion was his god. 
 
 Obsequiously he fell before its shrine, 
 
 In slavish plight, and trembled to offend. 
 
 It graveness suited, he was grave ; if else, 
 
 He travailed sorely, and made brief repose, 
 
 To work the proper quantity of -An. 
 
 In all submissive to its changing shape, 
 
 Still changing, girded he his vexed frame, 
 
 And laughter made to men of sounder head. 
 
 Most circumspect he was of bows, and nods, 
 
 And salutations ; and most seriously 
 
 And deeply meditated he of dress ; 
 
 And in his dreams saw lace and ribands fly. 
 
 His soul was nought — he damned it every day 
 
 Unceremoniously. Oh ! -fool of fools ! 
 
 Pleased with a painted smile, he fluttered on, 
 
 Like fly of gaudy plume, by fashion driven, 
 
 As faded leaves by Autumn's wind, till Death 
 
 Put forth his hand and drew him out of sight. 
 
 Oh ! fool of fools ! polite to man ; to God 
 
 Most rude : yet had he many rivals, who, 
 
 Age after age, great striving made to be 
 
 Ridiculous, and to forget they had 
 
 Immortal souls — that day remembered well. 
 
 As rueful stood his other half, as wan 
 
 Of cheek : small her ambition was — but strange. 
 
 The distaff, needle, all domestic cares, 
 
 Religion, children, husband, home, were things 
 
 She could not bear the thought of; bitter drugs 
 
 That sickened her soul. The house of wanton mirth 
 
 And revelry, the mask, the dance, she loved. 
 
BOOK VIII. *ff 
 
 And in their service soul and body spent 
 
 Most cheerfully : a little admiration, 
 
 Or true, or false, no matter which, pleased her, 
 
 And o'er the wreck of fortune lost, and health, 
 
 And peace, and an eternity of bliss 
 
 Lost, made her sweetly smile. She was convincCM 
 
 That God had made her greatly out of taste, * 
 
 And took much pains to make herself anew. 
 
 Bedaubed with paint, and hung with ornaments 
 
 Of curious selection — gaudy toy ! 
 
 A show unpaid for, paying to be seen ! 
 
 As beggar by the way, most humbly asking 
 
 The alms of public gaze — she went abroad ; 
 
 Folly admired, and indication gave 
 
 Of envy ; cold Civility made bows, 
 
 And smoothly flattered ; Wisdom shook his head 
 
 And Laughter shaped his lip into a smile ; 
 
 Sobriety did stare ; Forethought grew pale ; 
 
 And Modesty hung down the head and blushed ■ 
 
 And Pity wept, as on the frothy surgs 
 
 Of fashion tossed, she passed them by, like sail 
 
 Before some devilish blast, and got no time 
 
 To think, and never thought, till on the rock 
 
 She dashed of ruin, anguish, and despair. 
 
 O how unlike this giddy thing in Time ! 
 And at the day of judgment how unlike, 
 The modest, meek, retiring dame ! Her house 
 Was ordered well ; her children taught the way 
 Of life — who, rising up in honour, called 
 Her blest. Best pleased to be admired at home, 
 And hear reflected from her husband's praise, 
 Her own, she sought no gaze of foreign eye. 
 His praise alone, and faithful love, and trust 
 Reposed, was happiness enough for her. 
 Yet who mat saw her pass, and heard the poor 
 Willi earnest benedictions on her steps 
 
 Q 
 
*62 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Attend, could from obeisance keep his eye, 
 
 Or tongue from due applause. In virtue fair. 
 
 Adorned with modesty, and matron grace 
 
 Unspeakable, and love — her face was like 
 
 The light, most welcome to the eye of man; 
 
 Refreshing most, most honoured, most desired 
 
 Of all he saw in the dim world below. 
 
 As Morning when she shed her golden locks, 
 
 And on the dewv too of Hermon walked, 
 
 Or Aon lull — so glorious was her path : 
 
 Old men beheld, and did her reverence, 
 
 And bade their daughters look, and take from he? 
 
 Example of their future life : the young 
 
 Admired, and new resolve of virtue made. 
 
 And none who was her husband asked: his air 
 
 Serene and countenance of joy, the sign 
 
 Of inward satisfaction, as he passed 
 
 The crowd, or sat among the elders, told. 
 
 In holiness complete, and in the robes 
 
 Of saving righteousness, arrayed for heaven, 
 
 How fair, that day, among the fair, she stood ! 
 
 How lovely on the eternal hills her steps ! 
 
 Restored to reason, on that morn appeared 
 The lunatic — who raved in chains, and asked 
 No mercy when he died. Of lunacy 
 Innumerous were the causes: humbled pride, 
 Ambition disappointed, riches lost, 
 And bodily disease, and sorrow, oft 
 By man inflicted on his brother man ; 
 Sorrow that made the reason drunk, and yet 
 Left, much untasted — so the cup was filled : 
 S rrow that like an ocean, dark, deep, rough, 
 And shoreless, roiled its billows o'er the soul 
 Perpetually, and without hope of end. 
 
 Take one example, one of female wo. 
 Loved by a father, and a mother's love. 
 
BOOK VIII 103 
 
 In rural peace she lived, so fair, so light 
 
 Of heart, so good, and young, that reason scarce 
 
 The eye could credit; hut would douht, as she 
 
 Did stoop to pull the lily or the rose 
 
 From morning's dew, if it reality 
 
 Of flesh and blood, or holy vision, saw, 
 
 In imagery of perfect womanhood. 
 
 But short her bloom — her happiness was short. 
 
 One saw her loveliness, and with desire 
 
 Unhallowed burning, to her ear addressed 
 
 Dishonest words : " Her favour was his life. 
 
 His heaven ; her frown his wo, his night, his death.' 
 
 With turgid phrase thus wove in flattery's loom, 
 
 He on her womanish nature won, and age 
 
 Suspicionlcss, and ruined and forsook : 
 
 For he a chosen villain was at heart, 
 
 And capable of deeds that durst not seek 
 
 Repentance. Soon her father saw her shame ; 
 
 His heart grew stone ; he drove her forth to want 
 
 And wintry winds, and with a horrid curse 
 
 Pursued her ear, forbidding all return. 
 
 Upon a hoary cliff that watched the sea, 
 Her babe was found — dead : on its little cheek, 
 The tear that naturo bade it weep, had turned 
 An ice-drop, sparkling in the morning beam; 
 And to the turf its helpless hands were frozen : 
 For she — the woful mother, had gone mad, 
 And laid it down, regardless of its fate 
 And of her own. Yet had she many days 
 Of sorrow in the world, but never wept. 
 She lived on alms ; and carried in her hand 
 Some withered stalks, she gathered in the spring. 
 When any asked the cause, she smiled, and said, 
 They were her sisters, and would come and watch 
 Her grave when she was dead. She never spoke 
 Of her deceiver, father, mother, home, 
 
184 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Or child, or heaven, or hell, or God ; but still 
 In lonehy places walked, and ever gazed 
 Upon the withered stalks, and talked to them ; 
 Till, wasted to the shadow of her youth, 
 With wo too wide to see beyond — she died : 
 Not unatoned for by imputed blood, 
 Nor by the Spirit, that mysterious works, 
 Unsanctified. Aloud her father cursed 
 That day his guilty pride, which would not own 
 A daughter, whom the God of heaven and eaun 
 Was not ashamed to call his own ; and he 
 Who ruined her, road from her holy look, 
 That pierced him wifh perdition manifold, 
 His sentence, burning with vindictive fire. 
 
 The judge that took a bribe ; he who amiss 
 Pleaded the widow's cause, and by delay 
 Delaying ever, made the law at nijrht 
 More intricate than at the dawn, and on 
 The morrow farther from a close, than when 
 The sun last set, till he who in the suit 
 Was poorest, by his emptied coffers, proved 
 His cause the worst; and he that had the bag 
 Of weights deceitful, and the balance false ; 
 And he that with a fraudiul lip deceived 
 In buying or in selling : — these, that morn, 
 Found custom no excuse for sin, and knew 
 Plain dealing was a virtue, but too late. 
 And he that was supposed to do nor good 
 Nor ill, surprised, could find no neutral gronr.d ; 
 And learned, that to do nothing was to serve 
 The devil, and transgress the laws of God. 
 The noisy quack, that by profession lied, 
 And uttered falsehoods of enormous size, 
 With countenance as grave as truth beseemed 
 And he that lied for pleasure, whom a lust 
 Of being heard, and making people stare. 
 
BOOK VI II. 18S 
 
 And a most steadfast hate of silence, drove 
 
 Far wide of sacred truth, who never took 
 
 The pains to think of what he was to say, 
 
 But still made haste to speak, with weary tongue, 
 
 Like copious stream for ever flowing on — 
 
 Read clearly in the lettered heavens what long 
 
 Before they might have read : For every word 
 
 Of folly you this day shall give account ; 
 
 And every liar shall his portion have 
 
 Among the cursed, without the gates of life. 
 
 With groans that made no pause, lamenting, there 
 Were seen the duellist, and suicide : 
 This thought, but thought amiss, that of himself 
 He was entire proprietor ; and so, 
 When he was tired of time, with his own hand, 
 He opened the portals of eternity, 
 And sooner than the devils hoped, arrived 
 In hell. The other, of resentment quick, 
 And, for a word, a look, a gesture, deemed 
 Not scrupulously exact in all respect, 
 Prompt to revenge, went to the cited field, 
 For double murder armed — his own, and his 
 That as himself he was ordained to love. 
 The first in pagan-books of early times, 
 Was heroism pronounced, and greatly praised, 
 In fashion's glossary of latter days, 
 The last was honour called, and spirit high. 
 Alas ! 'twas mortal spirit ; honour which 
 Forgot to wake at the last trumpet's voice, 
 Bearing the signature of time alone, 
 Uncurrent in eternity, and base. 
 Wise men suspected this before ; for they 
 Could never understand what honour meant ; 
 Or why that should be honour termed which made 
 Man murder man, and broke the laws of God 
 Most wantonly. Sometimes, indeed, the grave, 
 q2 
 
186 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And those of christain creed imagined, spoke 
 
 Admiringly of honour, lauding much 
 
 The noble youth, who, after many rounds 
 
 Of boxing, died ; or to the pistol shot, 
 
 His breast exposed, his soul to endless pain. 
 
 But they who most admired, and understood 
 
 This honour best, and on its altar laid 
 
 Their lives, most obviously were fools : and what 
 
 Fools only, and the wicked, understood — 
 
 The wise agreed, was some delusive Shade, 
 
 That with the mist of time should disappear. 
 
 Great day of revelation ! in the grave 
 The hypocrite had left his mask, and stood 
 In naked ugliness. He was a man 
 Who stole the livery of the court of heaven, 
 To serve the devil in ; in virtue's guise 
 Devoured the widow's house and orphan's bread; 
 In holy phrase transacted villanies 
 That common sinners durst not meddle with. 
 At sacred feast, he sat among the saints, 
 And with his guilty hands touched the holiest things. 
 And none of sin lamented more, or sighed 
 More deeply, or with graver countenance, 
 Or longer prayer, wept o'er the dying man, 
 Whose infant children, at the moment, he 
 Planned how to rob : in sermon style he bought, 
 And sold, and lied ; and salutations made 
 In scripture terms : he prayed by quantity, 
 And with his repetitions long and loud, 
 All knees were weary ; with one hand he put 
 A penny in the urn of poverty, 
 And with the other took a shilling out. 
 On charitable lists — those trumps which told 
 The public ear, who had in secret done 
 The poor a benefit, and half the alms 
 They told of, took themselves to keep them sounding- 
 
BOOK VIII. 1ST 
 
 He blazed hir. name, more pleased to have it there 
 
 Than in the book of life. Seest thou the man ! 
 
 A serpent with an angel's voice ! a grave 
 
 With flowers bestrewed ! and yet few were deceived 
 
 His virtues being- over-done, his face 
 
 Too grave, his prayers too long, his charities 
 
 Too pompously attended, and his speech 
 
 Larded too frequently, and out of time 
 
 With serious phraseology — were rents 
 
 That in his garments opened in spite of him, 
 
 Through which the well accustomed eye could see 
 
 The rottenness of his heart. None deeper blushed, 
 
 As in the all-piercing light he stood exposed, 
 
 No longer herding with the holy ones: 
 
 Yet still he tried to bring his countenance 
 
 To sanctimonious seeming ; but, meanwhile, 
 
 The shame within, now visible to all, 
 
 His purpose baulked : — the righteous smiled, and even 
 
 Despair itself some signs of laughter gave, 
 
 As ineffectually he strove to wipe 
 
 His brow, that inward guiltiness defiled. 
 
 Detected wretch ! of all the reprobate, 
 
 None seemed maturer for the flames of hell ; 
 
 Where still his face, from ancient custom, wears 
 
 A holy air, which says to all that pass 
 
 Him by : I was a hypocrite on earth. 
 
 That was the hour which measured out to each, 
 Impartially, his share of reputation ! 
 Correcting all mistakes, and from the name 
 Of the good man, all slanders wiping oft". 
 Good name was dear to all: without it, none 
 Could soundly sleep even on a royal bed ; 
 Or drink with relish from a cup of gold : 
 And with it, on his borrowed straw, or by 
 The leafless hedge, beneath the open heavens, 
 The weary beggar took untroubled rest. 
 
188 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 It was a music of most heavenly tone, 
 To which the heart leaped joyfully, and all 
 The spirits danced : for honest fame, men laid 
 Their heads upon the block, and while the axe 
 Descended, looked and smiled. It was of price 
 Invaluable — riches, health, repose, 
 Whole kingdoms, life, were given for it, and ho 
 Who got it was the winner still ; and he 
 Who sold it, durst not open his ear, nor look 
 On human face, he knew himself so vile. 
 Yet it, with all its preciousness, was due 
 To virtue, and around her should have shed, 
 Unasked, its savory smell ; but Vice, deformed 
 Itself, and ugly, and of flavour rank, 
 To rob fair Virtue of so sweet an incense, 
 And with it to anoint and salve its own 
 Rotten ulcers, and perfume the path that led 
 To death, strove daily by a thousand means j 
 And oft succeeded to make Virtue sour 
 In the world's nostrils, and its loathly self 
 Smell sweetly. Rumor was the messenger 
 Of defamation — and so swift that none 
 Could be the first to tell an evil tale ; 
 And was withal so infamous for lies, 
 That he who of her sayings on his creed 
 The fewest entered, was deemed wisest man. 
 The fool, and many who had credit too 
 For wisdom, grossly swallowed all she said 
 Unsifted ; and although at overy word 
 They heard her contradict herself, and saw 
 Hourly they were imposed upon, and mocked, 
 Yet still they ran to hear her speak, and stared. 
 And wondered much, and stood aghast, and said- 
 It could not be ; and while they blushed for shame 
 At their own faith, and seemed to doubt — believed, 
 And whom they met, with many sanctions, told. 
 
BOOK VIII. 189 
 
 So did experience fail to teach ; so hard 
 It was to learn this simple truth, confirmed 
 At every corner by a thousand proofs — 
 That common fame most impudently lied. 
 
 'Twas Slander filled her mouth with fyi&g 1 words ; 
 Slander, the foulest whelp of Sin : the man 
 In whom this spirit entered was undone. 
 His tongue was set on fire of hell ; his heart 
 Was black as death; his legs were faint with haste 
 To propagate the lie his soul had framed; 
 His pillow was the peace of families 
 Destroyed, the sigh of innocence reproached, 
 Broken friendships, and the strife of brotherhoods : 
 Yet did he spare his sleep, and hear the clock 
 Number the midnight watches, on his bed 
 Devising- mischief more ; and early rose, 
 And made most hellish meals of good men's names. 
 
 From door to door you might have seen htm speed, 
 Or placed amidst a group of gaping fools, • 
 And whispering in their ears, with his foul lips. 
 Peace fled the neighbourhood in which he made 
 His haunts : and like a moral pestilence, 
 Before his breath the healthy shoots, and blooms 
 Of social joy, and happiness, decayed. 
 Fools only in his company were seen, 
 And those forsaken of God, and to themselves 
 Given up: the prudent shunned him, and his house, 
 As one who had a deadly moral plague. 
 And fain would all have shunned him at the day 
 Of judgment; but in vain. All who gave ear 
 With greediness, or wittingly their tongues 
 Made herald to his lies, around him wailed ; 
 While on his face, thrown back by injured men, 
 In characters of ever-blushing shame, 
 Appeared ten thousand slanders, all his own. 
 
 Among the accursed, who sought a hiding-placo 
 
190 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 rn vain, from fierceness of Jehovah's rage, 
 
 And from the hot displeasure of the Lamb, 
 
 Most wretched, most contemptible, most vile, 
 
 Stood the false priest, and in his conscience felt 
 
 The fellest gnaw of the undying Worm. 
 
 And so he might, for he had on his hands 
 
 The blood of souls, that would not wipe away. 
 
 Hear what he was :— He swore in sight of God, 
 
 And man, to preach his master, Jesus Christ; 
 
 Yet preached himself: he swore that love of souls 
 
 Alone, had drawn him to the church ; yet strewed 
 
 The path that led to hell with tempting flowers, 
 
 And in the ear of sinners, as they took 
 
 The way of death, he whispered peace : he swore 
 
 Away all love of lucre, all desire 
 
 Of earthly pomp, and yet a princely seat 
 
 He liked, and to the clink of Mammon's box 
 
 Gave most rapacious ear : his prophecies, 
 
 He swore, were from the Lord ; and yet taught lies 
 
 For gain ; with quackish ointment healed the wounds 
 
 And bruises of the soul outside, but left 
 
 Within the pestilent matter, unobseived, 
 
 To sap the moral constitution quite, 
 
 And soon to burst again, incurable. 
 
 He with untempered mortar daubed the walls 
 
 Of Zion, saying, Peace, when there was none. 
 
 The man who came with thirsty soul to hear 
 
 Of Jesus, went away unsatisfied : 
 
 For he another gospel preached than Paul, 
 
 And one that had no Saviour in't. And yet 
 
 His. life was worse. Faith, charity, and love, 
 
 Humility, forgiveness, holiness, 
 
 Were words well lettered in his sabbath creed ; 
 
 But with his life he wrote as plain — revenge, 
 
 Pride, tyranny, and lust of wealth and power 
 
 Inordinate, and lewdness unashamed. 
 
BOOK VIIL 191 
 
 He was a. wolf in clothing' of the lamb, 
 
 That stole into the fold of God, and on 
 
 The blood of souls which he liid sell to death, 
 
 Grew fat: ;md yet when any would have turned 
 
 Him out, he cried : — Touch not the priest of God. 
 
 And that lie was anointed, fools believed : 
 
 Eut knew that day, he was the devil's priest > 
 
 Anointed by the hands of Sin and Death, 
 
 And set peculiarly apart to ill, — 
 
 While on him smoked the vials of perdition 
 
 Poured measureless. Ah me ! what cursing 1 then 
 
 Was heaped upon his head by ruined souls, 
 
 That charged him with their murder, as he stood 
 
 With eye of all the unredeemed, most sad, 
 
 Waiting the coming of the Son of Man ! 
 
 But let me pause, for thou hast seen his place, 
 
 And punishment, beyond the sphere of love. 
 
 Much was removed that tempted once to sin. 
 Avarice no gold, no wine the drunkard saw: 
 But Envy had enough, as heretofore, 
 To fill his heart with gall and bitterness. 
 What made the man of envy what he was, 
 Was worth in others, vileness in himself; 
 A lust of praise, with undeserving deeds, 
 And conscious poverty of soul : and still 
 It was his earnest work and daily toil 
 With lying tongue, to make the noble seem 
 Mean as himself. On fame's high hill he saw 
 The laurel spread its everlasting green, 
 And wished to climb: but felt his knees too weak: 
 And stood below, unhappy, laying hands 
 Upon the strong, ascending gloriously 
 The steps of honour, bent to draw them back; 
 Involving oft the brightness of their path 
 In mists his breath had raised. Whene'er he heard. 
 As oft he did, of joy and happiness. 
 
J .92 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And gr<sat prosperity, and rising worth, 
 
 'Twas like a wave of wormwood o'er his soul 
 
 Rolling its hitterness. His joy was wo : 
 
 The wo of others : when, from wealth to want, 
 
 From praises to reproach, from peace to strife, 
 
 From mirth to tears, he saw a brother fall, 
 
 Or virtue make a slip — his dreams were sweet. 
 
 But chief with slander, daughter of his own, 
 
 He took unhallowed pleasure : when she talked, 
 
 And with her filthy lips defiled the best, 
 
 His ear drew near ; with wide attention gaped 
 
 His mouth; his eye, well pleased, as eager gazed 
 
 As glutton, when the dish he most desired 
 
 Was placed before him ; and a horrid mirth, 
 
 At intervals, with laughter shook his sides. 
 
 The critic, too, who, for a bit of bread, 
 
 In book that fell aside before the ink 
 
 Was dry, poured forth excessive nonsense, gave 
 
 Him mucli delight. The critics — some, but few, 
 
 Were worthy men : and earned renown which had 
 
 Immortal roots : but most were weak and vile : 
 
 And as a cloudy swarm of summer flies, 
 
 With angry hum and slender lance, beset 
 
 The sides of some huge animal ; so did 
 
 They buzz about the illustrious man, and fain 
 
 With his immortal honour, down the stream 
 
 Of fame would have descended ; but alas ! 
 
 The hand of Time drove them away : they were, 
 
 Indeed, a simple race of men, who had 
 
 One only art, which taught them still to say — 
 
 Whate'er was done, might have been better done : 
 
 And with this art, not ill to learn, they made 
 
 A shift to live : but sometimes too, beneath 
 
 The dust they raised, was worth awhile obscured; 
 
 And then did Envy prophesy and laugh. 
 
 O Envy ! hide thy bosom ! hide it deep : 
 
BOOK VIII. 193 
 
 A thousand snakes, with black envenomed mouths, 
 Nest there, and hiss, and feed through all thy heart ! 
 
 Such one I saw, here interposing-, said 
 The new arrived, in that dark den of shame 
 Whom, who hath seen shall never wish to see 
 Again : before him, in the infernal gloom, 
 That omnipresent shape of Virtue stood, 
 On which he ever threw his eye ; and like 
 A cinder that had life and feeling, seemed 
 His face, with inward pining, to be what 
 He could not be. As being that had burned 
 Continually in slow consuming fire, 
 Half an eternity, and was to burn 
 For evermore, he looked. Oh ! sight to be 
 Forgotten ! thought too horrible to think ! 
 
 But say, believing in such wo to come, 
 Such dreadful certainty of endless pain, 
 Could beings of forecasting mould, as thou 
 Entitlest men, deliberately walk on, 
 Unscared, and overleap their own belief 
 Into the lake of ever burning fire? 
 
 Thy tone of asking seems to make reply, 
 And rightly seems : They did not so believe. 
 Not one of all thou saw'st lament and wail 
 In Tophet, perfectly believed the word 
 Of God, else none had thither gone. Absurtl, 
 To think that beings made with reason, formed 
 To calculate, compare, choose, and reject, 
 By nature taught, and self, and every sense, 
 To choose the good and pass the evil bv, 
 Could, with full credence of a time to come, 
 When all the wicked should be really damned, 
 And cast beyond the sphere of light and love, 
 Have persevered in sin! Too foolish this 
 For folly in its prime. Can aught that thinks, 
 And wills, choose certain evil and reject 
 R 
 
194 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Good, in his heart believing he does so t 
 Could man choose pain, instead of endless joy ? 
 Mad supposition, though maintained by some 
 Of honest mind. Behold a man condemned! 
 Either he ne'er inquired, and therefore he 
 Could not believe ; or else he carelessly 
 Inquired, and something other than the word 
 Of God received into his cheated faith, 
 And therefore he did not believe, but down 
 To hell descended, leaning on a lie. 
 Faith was bewildered much by men who meant 
 To make it clear — so simple in itself; 
 A thought so rudi mental and so plain, 
 That none by comment could it plainer make. 
 All faith was one : in object, not in kind 
 The difference lay. The faith that saved a soul, 
 And that which in the common truth believed, 
 In essence were the same. Hear then, what faith 
 True, Christian faith, which brought salvation, Wfi 
 Belief in all that God revealed to men : 
 Observe — in all that God revealed to men ; 
 In all he promised, threatened, commanded, said, 
 Without exception, and without a doubt. 
 Who thus believed, being by the Spirit touched, 
 As naturally the fruits of faith produced — 
 Truth, temperance, meekness, holiness, and love- 
 As human eye from darkness sought the light. 
 How could he else ? If he who had firm faith 
 The morrow's sun should rise, ordered affairs 
 Accordingly ; if he who had firm faith 
 That spring, and summer, and autumnal days 
 Should pass away, and winter really come, 
 Prepared accordingly ; if he who saw 
 A bolt of death approaching, turned aside 
 And let it pass ; as surely did the man 
 Who verily believed the word of God, 
 
BOOK VIII. 195 
 
 Though erring whiles, its general laws obey, 
 Turn back from hell, and take the way to heaven. 
 
 That faith was necessary, some alleged, 
 Unreined and uncontrollable by will. 
 Invention savouring much of hell ! Indeed, 
 It was the master-stroke of wickedness, 
 Last effort of Abaddon's council dark, 
 To make man think himself a slave to fate, 
 And worst of all, a slave to fate in faith. 
 For thus 'twas reasoned then : — From faith alone, 
 And from opinion, springs all action : hence, 
 If faith's compelled, so is all action too: 
 But deeds compelled are not accountable ; 
 So man is not amenable to God. 
 
 Arguing that brought such monstrous birth, though 
 good 
 It seemed, must have been false : most false it was 
 And by the book of God condemned throughout. 
 We freely own that truth, when set before 
 The mind, with perfect evidence, compelled 
 Belief: but error lacked such witness still. 
 And none who now lament in moral night, 
 The word of God refused on evidence 
 That might not have been set aside, as false. 
 To reason, try, choose and reject, was free : 
 Hence God, by faith, acquitted, or condemned; 
 Hence righteous men, with liberty of will 
 Believed ; and hence thou saw'st in Erebus, 
 The wicked, who as freely disbelieved 
 What else had led them to the land of life. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 Fairest of those that left the calm of heaven 
 And ventured down to man, with words of peace. 
 Daughter of Grace! known by whatever name, 
 Religion ! Virtue ! Piety ! or Love- 
 Of Holiness ! the day of thy reward 
 Was come. Ah! thou wast long despised: despisea 
 By those thou wooedst from death to endless life. 
 Modest and meek, in garments white as those 
 That seraphs wear, and countenance as mild 
 As Mercy looking on Repentance' tear, 
 With eye of purity, now darted up 
 To God's eternal throne, now humbly bent 
 Upon thyself, and weeping down thy cheek 
 That glowed with universal love immense, 
 A tear, pure as the dews that fall in heaven ; 
 In thy left hand, the olive branch, and in 
 Thy right, the crown of immortality — 
 With noiseless foot, thou walkedst the vales of earth, 
 Beseeching men from age to age, to turn 
 From utter death — to turn from wo to bliss ; 
 Beseeching evermore, and evermore 
 Despised — not evermore despised, not now, 
 Not at the day of doom : most lovely then, 
 Most honourable thou appeared, and most 
 To be desired. The guilty heard the song 
 Of thy redeemed, how loud ! and saw thy face 
 
BOOK IX. 197 
 
 How fair ! — Alas ! it was too late ! the hour 
 
 Of making, friends was past; thy favour then • 
 
 Might not be sought : but recollection, sad 
 
 And accurate, as miser counting o'er 
 
 And o'er again the sum ho must lay out, 
 
 Distinctly in the wicked's ear rehearsed 
 
 Each opportunity despised and lost ; 
 
 While on them gleamed thy holy look, that like 
 
 A fiery torrent went into their souls. 
 
 The day of thy reward was come — the day 
 
 Of great remuneration to thy friends; 
 
 To those, known by whatever name, who sought. 
 
 In every place, in every time, to do 
 
 Unfeignedly their Maker's will, revealed, 
 
 Or gathered else from nature's school ; well pleased 
 
 With God's applause alone, that, like a stream 
 
 Of sweetest melody, at still of night 
 
 By wanderer heard, in their most secret ear, 
 
 For ever whispered, Peace ; and as a string 
 
 Of kindred tone awoke, their inmost soul, 
 
 Responsive, answered, Peace ; inquiring still 
 
 And searching, night and day, to know their duty — 
 
 When known, with undisputing trust, with love 
 
 Unquenchable, with zeal, by reason's lamp 
 
 Inflamed — performing ; and to Him, by whose 
 
 Profound, all-calculating skill alone, 
 
 Results — results even of the slightest act, 
 
 Are fully grasped, with unsuspicious faith, 
 
 All consequences leaving ; to abound 
 
 Or want alike prepared ; who knew to be 
 
 Exalted how, and how to be abased ; 
 
 How best to live, and how to die when asked. 
 
 Their prayers sincere, their alms in secret done, 
 
 Their fightings with themselves, their abstinence . 
 
 From pleasure, though by mortal eye unseen, 
 
 Their hearts of resignation to the will 
 
198 THE COtfRSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of Heaven, their patient bearing of reproach 
 And shame, their charity, and faith, and hope 
 Thou didst remember, and in full repaid. 
 No bankrupt thou, who at the bargained hour 
 Of payment due, sent to his creditors 
 A tale of losses and mischances long. 
 Insured by God himself, and from the stores 
 And treasures of his wealth at will supplied, 
 Religion ! thou alone, of all that men, 
 On Earth, gave credit, to be reimbursed 
 On the other side the grave, didst keep thy word, 
 Thy day, and all thy promises fulfilled. 
 
 As in the mind, rich with unborrowed wealth, 
 Where multitudes of thoughts for utterance strive. 
 And all so fair, that each seems worthy' first 
 To enter on the tongue, and from the lips 
 Have passage forth, — selection hesitates, 
 Perplexed, and loses time ; anxious, since all 
 Cannot be taken, to take the best; and yet 
 Afraid, lest what be left be worthier still ; 
 And grieving much, where all so goodly look, 
 To leave rejected one, or in the rear 
 Let any be obscured : so did the bard, 
 Though not unskilled, as on that multitude 
 Of men, who once awoke to judgment, he 
 Threw back reflection, hesitating, pause. 
 For as his harp, in tone severe, had sung 
 What figure the most famous sinners made, 
 When from the grave they rose unmasked ; so did 
 He wish to character the good : but yet 
 Among so many, glorious all, all worth 
 Immortal fame, with whom begin, with whom 
 To end, was difficult to choose; and long 
 His auditors, upon the tiptoe raised 
 Of expectation, might have kept, had not 
 His eye — for so it is in heaven, that what 
 
BOOK IX. 199 
 
 Is needed always is at hand — beheld, 
 That moment, on a mountain near the throne 
 Of God, the most renowned of the redeemed 
 Rejoicing ; nor who first, who most to praise, 
 Debated more ; but thus, with sweeter note, 
 Well pleased to sing, with highest eulogy, 
 And first, whom God applauded most, — began. 
 
 With patient ear, thou now hast heard, — though whiles 
 Aside digressing, ancient feeling turned 
 My lyre, — wnat shame the wicked had that day ; 
 What wailing, what remorse : so hear in brief, 
 How bold the righteous stood — the men redeemed ! 
 How fair in virtue ! and in hope how glad ! 
 And first among the holy shone, as best 
 Became, the faithful minister of God. 
 
 See whore he walks on yonder mount, that lifts 
 Its summit nigh, on the right hand of bliss ! 
 Sublime in glory ! talking with his peers 
 Of the Incarnate Saviour's love, and past 
 Affliction, lost in present joy ! See how 
 His face with heavenly ardour glows ! and now 
 His hand, enraptured, strikes the golden lyre I 
 As now conversing of the Lamb once slain, 
 He speaks ; and now, from vines that never hear 
 Of winter, but in monthly harvest yield 
 Their fruit abundantly, he plucks the grapes 
 Of life ! but what he was on earth it most 
 Behoves to say : — Elect by God himself; 
 Anointed hv the Holy Ghost, and set 
 Apart to the great work of saving men; 
 Instructed fully in the will divine ; 
 Supplied with grace in store, as need might ask ; 
 And with the stamp and signature of heaven, 
 Truth, mercy, patience, holiness and love. 
 Accredited; — he was a man by God, 
 The Lord commissioned to make known to men. 
 
200 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The eternal counsels ; in his Master's name. 
 
 To treat with them of everlasting things; 
 
 Of life, death, bliss, and wo : to offer terms 
 
 Of pardon, grace, and peace, to the rebelled ; 
 
 To teach the ignorant soul ; to cheer the saci • 
 
 To bind, to loose with all authority ; 
 
 To give the feeble strength, the hopeless hope ,* 
 
 To help the halting, and to lead the blind ; 
 
 To warn the careless ; heal the sick of heart? 
 
 Arouse the indolent ; and on the proud 
 
 And obstinate offender, to denounce 
 
 The wrath of God. All other men, what name 
 
 Soe'er they bore, whatever office held, 
 
 If lawful held — the magistrate supreme, 
 
 Or else' subordinate, were chosen by men, 
 
 Their fellows, and from men derived their povve* 
 
 And were accountable for all they did 
 
 To men ; but he alone his office held 
 
 Immediately from God, from God received 
 
 Authority, and was to none but God 
 
 Amenable. The elders of the church, 
 
 Indeed, upon him laid their hands, and set 
 
 Him visibly apart to preach the word 
 
 Of life ; but this was merely outward rite, 
 
 And decent ceremonial, performed 
 
 On all alike ; and oft, as thou hast heard, 
 
 Performed on those, God never sent : his call, 
 
 His consecration, his anointing, all 
 
 Were inward ; in the conscience heard and teit. 
 
 Thus by Jehovah chosen and ordained, 
 
 To take into his charge the souls of men ; 
 
 And for his trust to answer at the day 
 
 Of judgment — great plenipotent of heaven,. 
 
 And representative of God on earth — 
 
 Fearless of men and devils ; unabashed 
 
 By sin enthroned, or mockery of a prinee ; 
 
, BOOK IX. 201 
 
 Unawed by armed legions ; unreduced 
 
 By offered bribes ; burning- with love to souls 
 
 Unquenchable, and mindful still of his 
 
 Great charge and vast responsibility, 
 
 High in the temple of the living God 
 
 He stood, amidst the people, and declared 
 
 Aloud the truth, the whole revealed truth, 
 
 Ready to seal it with his blood. Divine 
 
 Resemblance most complete ! with mercy now, 
 
 And love, his face illumined, shone gloriously ; 
 
 And frowning now indignantly, it seemed 
 
 As if offended Justice, from his eye, 
 
 Streamed forth vindictive wrath ! Men heard alarmed r 
 
 The uncircumcised infidel believed ; 
 
 Light thoughted Mirth grew serious and wept ; 
 
 The laugh profane sunk in a sigh of deep 
 
 Repentance ; the blasphemer, kneeling, prayed, 
 
 And, prostrate in the dust, for mercy called ; 
 
 And cursed old forsaken sinners gnashed 
 
 Their teeth, as if their hour had been arrived. 
 
 Such' was his calling, his commission such : 
 
 Yet he was humble, kind, forgiving, meek, 
 
 Easy to be entreated, gracious, mild ; 
 
 And with all patience and affection, taught, 
 
 Rebuked, persuaded, solaced, counselled, warned, 
 
 In fervent style and manner. Needy, poor, 
 
 And dying men, like music, heard his feet 
 
 Approach their beds ; and guilty wretches took 
 
 New hope, and in his prayers wept and smiled, 
 
 And blessed him, as they died forgiven ; and all 
 
 Saw in his face contentment, in his life, 
 
 The path to glory and perpetual joy. 
 
 Deep learned in the philosophy of heaven, 
 
 He searched the causes out of good and ill, 
 
 Profoundly calculating their effects 
 
 Far past the bounds of time ; and balancing, 
 
202 THE COURSE OF TJME 
 
 In the arithmetic of future things, 
 
 The loss and profit of the soul to all 
 
 Eternity. A skilful workman he, 
 
 In God's great moral vineyard ; what to prune 
 
 With cautious hand, he knew ; what to uproot ; 
 
 What were mere weeds, and what celestial plants, 
 
 Which had unfading vigour in them, knew: 
 
 Nor knew alone ; hut watched them night and day, 
 
 And reared and nourished them, till fit to be 
 
 Transplanted to the Paradise above. 
 
 O ! who can speak his praise ! great, humble man! 
 He in the current of destruction stood, 
 And warned the sinner of his wo ; led on 
 Immanuel's armies in the evil day ; 
 And with the everlasting arms, embraced 
 Himself around, stood in the dreadful front 
 Of battle, high, and warred victoriously 
 With death and hell. And now was come his rest, 
 His triumph day : illustrious like a sun, 
 In that assembly, he, shining from far, 
 Most excellent in glory, stood assured, 
 Waiting the promised crown, the promised throne, 
 The welcome and approval of his Lord. 
 Nor one alone, but many-»-prophets, priests, 
 Apostles, great reformers, all that served 
 Messiah faithfully, like stars appeared, 
 Of fairest beanj ; and round them gathered, clad 
 In white, the vouchers of their ministry — 
 The flock their care had nourished, fed and saved. 
 
 Nor yet in common glory, blazing, stood 
 The true philosopher, decided friend 
 Of truth and man; determined foe of all 
 Deception, — calm, collected, patient, wise, 
 And humble ; undeceived by outward shape 
 Of things; by fashion's revelry uncharmed; 
 By honour unbewitched ; — he left the chase 
 
- BOOK IX. 203 
 
 Of vanity, and all the quackeries 
 Of life, to fools and heroes, or whoe'er 
 Desired them ; and with reason, much despised, 
 Traduced, yet heavenly reason, to the shade 
 Retired — retired, but not to dream, or build 
 Of ghostly fancies, seen in the deep noon 
 Of sleep, ill balanced theories; retired, 
 But did not leave mankind ; in pity, not 
 In wrath, retired ; and still, though distant, kept 
 His eye on men ; at proper angle took 
 His stand to see them better, and beyond 
 The clamour which the bells of folly. made, 
 That most had hung about them, to consult 
 With nature, how their madness might be cured, 
 And how their true substantial comforts might 
 Be multiplied. Religious man ! what God 
 By prophets, priests, evangelists, revealed 
 Of sacred truth, he thankfully received, 
 And, by its light directed, went in search 
 Of more : before him, darkness fled : and all 
 The goblin tribe, that hung upon the breasts 
 Of night, and haunted still the moral gloom, — 
 With shapeless forms, and blue infernal lights, 
 And indistinct and devilish whisperings, 
 That the miseducated fancies vexed 
 Of superstitious men, — at his approach, 
 Dispersed invisible. Where'er he went, 
 This lesson still he taught : To fear no ill 
 But sin, no being but Almighty God. 
 All-comprehending sage ! too hard alone 
 For him was man's salvation ; all besides, 
 Of use or comfort, that distinction made 
 Between the desperate savage, scarcely raised 
 Above the beast whose flesh he ate undressed, 
 And the most polished of the human race, 
 Was product of his persevering search. 
 Religion owed him much, as from the false 
 
204 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 She suffered much ; for still his main design, 
 
 In all his contemplations, was to trace 
 
 The wisdom, providence, and love of God, 
 
 And to his fellows, less observant, show 
 
 Them forth. From prejudice redeemed, with all 
 
 His passions still, above the common world, 
 
 Sublime in reason, and in aim sublime, 
 
 He sat, and on the marvellous works of God, 
 
 Sedately thought : now glancing up his eye 
 
 Intelligent, through all the starry dance; 
 
 And penetrating now the deep remote 
 
 Of central causes, in the womb opaque 
 
 Of matter ; now with inspection nice, 
 
 Entering the mystic labyrinths of the mind, 
 
 Where thought, of notice ever shy, behind 
 
 Thought disappearing, still retired ; and still, 
 
 Thought meeting thought, and thought awakening 
 
 thought, 
 And mingling still with thought, in endless maze,— 
 Bewildered observation : now with eye, 
 Yet more severely purged, looking far down 
 Into the heart, where Passion wove a web 
 Of thousand thousand threads, in grain and nue 
 All different ; then, upward venturing whiles, 
 But reverently, and in his hand, the light 
 Revealed, near the eternal throne, he gazed, 
 Philosophizing less than worshipping. 
 Most truly great ! his intellectual strength, 
 And knowledge vast, to men of lesser mind, 
 Seemed infinite ; yet from his high pursuits, 
 And reasonings most profound, he still returned 
 Home, with an humbler and a warmer heart. 
 And none so lowly bowed before his God, 
 As none so well His awful majesty 
 And goodness comprehended ; or so well 
 His own dependency and weakness knew. 
 How glorious now ! with vision purified 
 
BOOK IX. 205 
 
 At the Essential Truth, entirely free 
 
 From error, he, investigating- still — 
 
 For knowledge is not found, unsought, in heaven, — 
 
 From world to world at pleasure roves, on wing 
 
 Of golden ray upborne ; or, at the feet 
 
 Of heaven's most ancient sages, sitting, hears 
 
 New wonders of the wondrous works of God. 
 
 Illustrious too, that morning, stood the man 
 Exalted by the people, to the throne 
 Of government, established on the base 
 Of justice, liberty, and equal right: 
 Who, in his countenance sublime, expressed 
 A nation's majesty, and yet was meek 
 And humble ; and in royal palace gave 
 'Example to the meanest, of the fear 
 Of God, and all integrity of life 
 And manners; who, august, yet lowly ; who, 
 Severe, yet gracious ; in his very heart 
 Detesting all oppression, all intent 
 Of private aggrandiiement: and the first 
 In every public duty, — held the scales 
 Of justice, and as the law, which reigned in him, 
 Commanded, gave rewards; or with the edge 
 Vindictive, smote, — now light, now heavily, 
 According to tho stature of the crime. 
 Conspicuous, like an oak of healthiest bough, 
 Deep rooted in his country's love, he stood 
 And gave his hand to Virtue, helping up 
 The honest man to honour and renown; 
 And with the look which goodness wears in wrath, 
 Withering the very blood of Knavery, 
 And from his presence driving far, ashamed. 
 
 Nor less remarkable, among the blest, 
 Appeared the man, who, in the senate-house, 
 Watchful, unhired, unbribed, and micorrupt, 
 And party only to the common weal, 
 S 
 
?0G THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 In virtue's awful rage, pleaded for right, 
 
 With truth so clear, with argument so strong, 
 
 With action so sincere, and tone so loud 
 
 And deep, as made the despot quake behind 
 
 His adamantine gates, and every joint 
 
 In terror smite his fellow-joint relaxed ; 
 
 Or, marching to the field, in burnished steel, 
 
 While, frowning on his brow, tremendous hung 
 
 The wrath of a whole people, long provoked, — 
 
 Mustered the stormy wings of war, in day 
 
 Of dreadful deeds; and led the battle on, 
 
 When liberty, swift as the fires of heaven, 
 
 In fury rode, with all her hosts, and threw 
 
 The tyrant down ; or drove invasion back. 
 
 Illustrious he — illustrious all appeared, 
 
 Who ruled supreme in righteousness ; or held 
 
 Inferior place, in steadfast rectitude 
 
 Of soul. Peculiarly severe had been 
 
 The nurture of their youth; their knowledge great; 
 
 Great was their wisdom ; great their* cares, and great 
 
 Their self denial, and their service done 
 
 To God and man ; and great was their reward 
 
 At hand, proportioned to their worthy deeds. 
 
 Breathe all thy minstrelsy, immortal harp ! 
 Breathe numbers warm with love, while I rehearse — 
 Delightful theme ! resembling most the songs 
 Which, day and night, are sung before the Lamb !— • 
 Thy praise, O Charity ! thy labors most 
 Divine ; thy sympathy with sighs, and tears, 
 And groans; thy great, thy god-like wish to heal 
 All misery, all fortune's wounds; and make 
 The soul of every living thing rejoice. 
 O thou wast needed much in days of time ! 
 No virtue, half so much ; none half so fair : 
 To all the rest, however fine, thou gavest 
 A finishing and polish, without which 
 
BOOK IX. 207 
 
 No man e'er entered heaven. Let me- record 
 
 His praise, — the man of great benevolence, 
 
 Who pressed thee closely to his glowing heart, 
 
 And to thy gentle bidding, made his feet 
 
 Swift minister. — Of all mankind, his soul 
 
 Was most in harmony with heaven : as one 
 
 Sole family of brothers, sisters, friends ; 
 
 One in their origin, one in their rights 
 
 To all the common gifts of providence, 
 
 And in their hopes, their joys, and sorrows one, 
 
 He viewed the universal human race. 
 
 He needed not a law of state, to force 
 
 Grudging submission to the law of God; 
 
 The law of love was in his heart, alive : 
 
 What he possessed, he counted not his own, 
 
 But like a faithful steward, in a house 
 
 Of public alms, what freely he received, 
 
 He freely gave ; distributing to all 
 
 The helpless, the last mite beyond his own 
 
 Temperate support, and reckoning still the gift 
 
 But justice, due to want ; and so it was ; 
 
 Although the world, with compliment not ill 
 
 Applied, adorned it w T ith a fairer name. 
 
 Nor did he wait till to his door the voice 
 
 Of supplication came, but went abroad, 
 
 With foot as silent as the starry dews, 
 
 In search of misery that pined unseen, 
 
 And would not ask. And who can tell what sights 
 
 He saw ! what groans he heard in that cold world 
 
 Below ! where Sin, in league with gloomy Death, 
 
 Marched daily through the length and breadth of all 
 
 The land, wasting at will, and making earth, 
 
 Fair earth ! a lazar-house, a dungeon dark, 
 
 Where Disappointment fed on ruined Hope , 
 
 Where Guilt, worn out, leaned on the triple edge 
 
 Of want, remorse, despair; where Cruelty 
 
208 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Reached forth a cup of wormwood to the lips 
 
 Of Sorrow, that to deeper Sorrow wailed ; 
 
 Where Mockery, and Disease, and Poverty, 
 
 Met miserable Age, erewhile sore bent 
 
 With his own burden ; where the arrowy winds 
 
 Of winter pierced the naked orphan babe, 
 
 And chilled the mother's heart who had no home 
 
 And where, alas ! in mid-time of his day, 
 
 The honest man, robbed by some villain's hand, 
 
 Or with long sickness pale, and paler yet 
 
 With want and hunger, oft drank bitter draughts 
 
 Of his own tears, and had no bread to eat. 
 
 Oh ! who can tell what sights he saw, what shapes 
 
 Of wretchedness ! or who describe what smiles 
 
 Of gratitude illumed the face of wo, 
 
 While from his hand he gave the bounty forth ! 
 
 As when the sun, to cancer wheeling back, 
 
 Returned from Capricorn, and showed the north, 
 
 That long had lain in cold and cheerless night, 
 
 His beamy countenance, all nature then 
 
 Rejoiced together glad ; the flower looked up 
 
 And smiled ; the forest from his locks shook off 
 
 The hoary frosts, and clapped his hands ; the birds 
 
 Awoke, and, singing, rose to meet the day; 
 
 And from his hollow den, where many months 
 
 He slumbered sad in darkness, blythe and light 
 
 Of heart the savage sprung ; and saw again 
 
 His mountains shine ; and with new songs of love, 
 
 Allured the virgin's ear — so did the house, 
 
 The prison-house of guilt, and all the abodes 
 
 Of unprovided helplessness, revive, 
 
 As on them looked the sunny messenger 
 
 Of charity ; by angels tended still, 
 
 That marked his deeds, and wrote them in the book 
 
 Of God's remembrance : — careless he to be 
 
 Observed of men : or have each mite bestowed 
 
BOOK IX. 209 
 
 Recorded punctually, with name and place, 
 
 In every bill of news : pleased to do good, 
 
 He gave and sought no more — nor questioned much, 
 
 Nor reasoned who deserved ; for well he knew 
 
 The face of need. Ah me! who could mistake? 
 
 The shame to ask, the want that urged within, 
 
 Composed a look so perfectly distinct 
 
 From all else human, and withal so full 
 
 Of misery, that none could pass untouched 
 
 And be a christian ; or thereafter claim, 
 
 In any form, the name or rights of man ; 
 
 Or, at the day of judgment, lift his eye : 
 
 While ne, in name of Christ, who gave the poor 
 
 A cup of water, or a bit of bread, 
 
 Impatient for his advent, waiting stood, 
 
 Glowing in robes of love and holiness, 
 
 Heaven's fairest dress ! and round him ranged in white, 
 
 A thousand witnesses appeared, prepared 
 
 To tell his gracious deeds before the throne. 
 
 Nor unrenowned among the most renowned. 
 Nor 'mong the fairest unadmired, that mom, 
 When highest fame was proof of highest worth, 
 Distinguished stood the bard ; — not he, who sold 
 The incommunicable heavenly gift, 
 To Folly ; and with lyre of perfect tone, 
 Prepared by God himself, for holiest praise — 
 Vilest of traitors ! most dishonest man ! — 
 Sat by the door of Ruin, and made there 
 A melody so sweet, and in the mouth 
 Of drunkenness and debauch, that else had croaked 
 In natural discordance jarring harsh, 
 Put so divine a song, that many turned 
 Aside, and entered in undone ; and thought, 
 Meanwhile, it was the gate of heaven ; so like 
 An angel's voice the music seemed : nor he, 
 Who, whining grievously of damsel coy, 
 b2 
 
210 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Ox- blaming- lortune, that would nothing- give 
 
 For doing nought, in indolent lament, 
 
 Unprofitable, passed his piteous days, 
 
 Making himself the hero of his tale — 
 
 Deserving ill the poet's name. But he, 
 
 The bard, by God's own hand anointed, who, 
 
 To Virtue's all-delighting harmony, 
 
 His numbers tuned ; who from the fount of truth 
 
 Poured melody, and beauty poured, and love, 
 
 In holy stream, into the human heart ; 
 
 And from the height of lofty argument, 
 
 Who justified the ways of God to man, 
 
 And sung, what still he sings — approved in heaven, 
 
 Though now with bolder note, above the damp 
 
 Terrestrial, which the pure celestial fire 
 
 Cooled, and restrained in part his flaming wing. 
 
 Philosophy was deemed of deeper thought, 
 And judgment more severe than Poetry ; 
 To fable she, and fancy more inclined. 
 And yet if Fancy, as was understood, 
 Was of creative nature, or of power, 
 With self-wrought stuff to build a fabric up, 
 To mortal vision wonderful and strange, 
 Philosophy, the theoretic, claimed 
 Undoubtedly the first and highest place 
 In Fancy's favour : her material souls ; 
 Her chance ; her atoms shaped alike ; her white 
 Proved black ; her universal nothing, all ; 
 And all her wondrous systems, how the mind 
 With matter met ; how man was free, and yet 
 All preordained ; how evil first began ; 
 And chief, her speculations, soaring high 
 Of the eternal uncreated Mind, 
 Which left all reason infinitely far 
 Behind — surprising feat of theory ! 
 Were pure creation of her own; webs wove 
 
ROOK IX. 211 
 
 Of gossamer in Fancy's lightest loom ; 
 And no where, on the list of being made 
 By God, recorded : but her look meanwhile 
 Was grave and studious ; and many thought 
 She reasoned deeply, when she wildly raved. 
 
 The true, legitimate, anointed bard, 
 Whose song through ages poured its melody, 
 Was most severely thoughtful, most minute 
 And accurate of observation, most 
 Familiarly acquainted with all modes 
 And phases of existence. True, no doubt, 
 He had originally drunk, from out 
 The fount of life and love, a double draught, 
 That gave, whate'er he touched, a double life ; 
 But this was mere desire at first, and power 
 Devoid of means to work by ; need was still 
 Of persevering, quick, inspective mood 
 Of mind, of faithful memory, vastly stored, 
 From universal being's ample fieid, 
 With knowledge; and a judgment sound and clear. 
 Well disciplined in nature's rules of taste ; 
 Discerning to select, arrange, combine, 
 From infinite variety, and still 
 To nature true ; and guide withal, hard task, 
 The sacred living impetus divine, 
 Discreetly through the harmony of song. 
 Completed thus, the poet sung ; and age 
 To age, enraptured, heard his measures flow 
 Enraptured, for he poured the very fat 
 And marrow of existence through his verse ; 
 And gave the soul — that else in selfish cold, 
 Unwarmed by kindred interest, had lain — 
 A roomy life, a glowing relish high, 
 A sweet expansive brotherhood of being, — 
 Joy answering joy, and sigh responding sigh, 
 Through all the fibres of the social heart. 
 
212 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Observant, sympathetic, sound of head, 
 Upon the ocean vast of human thought, 
 With passion rough and stormy, venturing out, 
 Even as the living billows rolled, he threw 
 His numbers over them, seized as tbey were, 
 And to perpetual ages left them fixed, 
 To each, a mirror of itself displayed ; 
 Despair for ever lowering dark on Sin ; 
 And Happiness on Virtue smiling fair. 
 
 He was the minister of fame; and gave 
 To whom he would renown ; nor missed himself, 
 Although despising much the idiot roar 
 Of popular applause, that sudden oft 
 Unnaturally turning, whom it nursed 
 Itself devoured, — the lasting fame, the praise 
 Of God and holy men, to excellence given. 
 Yet less he sought his own renown, than wished 
 To have the eternal images of truth 
 And beauty, pictured in his verse, admired. 
 'Twas these, taking immortal shape and form 
 Beneath his eye, that charmed his midnight watch. 
 And oft his soul with awful transports shook, 
 Of happiness, unfelt by other men. 
 This was that spell, that sorcery, which bound 
 The poet to the lyre, and would not let 
 Him go ; that hidden mystery of joy, 
 Which made him sin^ in spite of fortune's worst; 
 And was, at once, both motive and reward. 
 
 Nor now among-the choral harps, in this 
 The native clime of song, are those unknown, 
 With higher note ascending, who, below, 
 In holy ardour, aimed at lofty strains. 
 True fame is never lost: many, whose names 
 Were honoured much on Earth, are famous here 
 For poetry, and with archangel harps, 
 Hold no unequal rivalry m song ; , 
 
BOOK IX. 213 
 
 Leading the choirs of heaven, in numbers high, 
 In numbers ever sweet and ever new. 
 
 Behold them yonder, where the river pure 
 Flows warbling down before the throne of God, 
 And, shading, on each side, the tree of life 
 Spreads its unfading boughs ! see how they shine, 
 In garments white, quaffing deep draughts of love. 
 And harping on their harps, new harmonies 
 Preparing for the ear of God, Most High! 
 
 But why should I, of individual worth, 
 Of individual glory, longer sing? 
 No true believer was -that day obscure; 
 No holy soul but had enough of joy ; 
 No pious wish without its full reward. 
 Who in the Father and the Son believed, 
 With faith that wrought by love to holy deeds, 
 And purified the heart, none trembled .there, 
 Nor hao ny earthly guise his rank concealed : 
 Whether, unknown, he tilled the ground remote 
 Observant of the seasons, and adored 
 God in the promise yearly verified, 
 Of seed-time, harvest, summer, winter, day 
 And night, returning duly at the time 
 Appointed; or on the shadowy mountain side, 
 Worsnipped at dewy eve, watching his flocks ; 
 Or, trading, saw the wonders of the deep, 
 And as the needle to the starry pole 
 Turned constantly, so he his heart to God ; 
 Or else, in servitude severe, was taught 
 To break the bonds of sin ; or, begging, learned 
 To trust the Providence that fed the raven, 
 And clothed the lily with her annual gown. 
 
 Most numerous indeed, among the saved, 
 And many too, not least illustrious, shone, 
 The men who had no name on earth : eclipsed 
 By lowly circumstance, they lived unknown ; 
 
214 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Like stream that in the desert warbles clear, 
 Still nursing, as it goes, the herb and flower, 
 Though never seen ; or like the star retired 
 In solitudes of ether, far beyond 
 All sight, not of essential splendour less, 
 Though shining unobserved ; none saw their pure 
 Devotion, none their tears, their faith, and love 
 Which burned within them, both to God and man • 
 None saw but God. He, in his bottle, all 
 Their tears preserved, and every holy wish 
 Wrote in his book ; and not as they had done, 
 But as they wished with all their heart to do, 
 Arrayed them now in glory, and displayed, — 
 No longer hid by coarse uncourtly garb — 
 In lustre equal to their inward worth. 
 
 Man's time was past, and his eternity 
 Begun! no fear remained of change. Tbe youth. 
 Who, in the glowing morn of vigorous life, 
 High reaching after great religious deeds, 
 Was suddenly cut off, with all his hopes 
 In sunny bloom, and unaccomplished left 
 His withered aims, — saw everlasting days 
 Before him dawning rise, in which to achieve 
 All glorious things, and get himself the name. 
 That jealous Death too soon forbade on earth. 
 
 Old things had passed away, and all was new: 
 And yet of all the new-begun, nought so 
 Prodigious difference made, in the affairs 
 And thoughts of every man, as certainty. 
 For doubt, all doubt was gone, of every kind ; 
 Doubt that erewhile, beneath the lowest base 
 Of mortal reasonings, deepest laid, crept in, 
 And made the strongest, best cemented towers 
 Of human workmanship, so weakly shake, 
 And to their lofty tops so waver still, 
 That those who built them, feared their sudden fall. 
 
BOOK IX. 215 
 
 But doubt, all doubt was past; and in its place, 
 
 To every thought that in the heart of man 
 
 Was present, now had come an absolute, 
 
 Unquestionable certainty, which gave 
 
 To each decision of the mind, immense 
 
 Importance, raising to its proper height 
 
 The sequent tide of passion, whether joy 
 
 Or grief. The good man knew, in very truth, 
 
 That he was saved to all eternity, 
 
 And feared no more ; the bad had proof complete, 
 
 That he was damned for ever; and believed 
 
 Entirely, that on every wicked soul 
 
 Anguish should come, and wrath and utter wo. 
 
 Knowledge was much increased, but wisdom more. 
 The film of Time, that still before the sight 
 Of mortal vision danced, and led the best 
 Astray, pursuing unsubstantial dreams, 
 Had dropped from every eye : men saw that they 
 Had vexed themselves in vain, to understand 
 What now no hope to understand remained ; 
 That they had often counted evil good, 
 And good for ill ; laughed when they should have wept, 
 And wept forlorn when God intended mirth. 
 But what of all their follies past, surprised 
 Them most, and seemed most totally insane 
 And unaccountable, was value set 
 On objects of a day; was serious grief, 
 Or joy, for loss, or gain of mortal things; 
 So utterly impossible it seemed, 
 When men their proper interests saw, that aught 
 Of terminable kind, that aught, which e'er 
 Could die, or cease to be, however named, 
 Should make a human soul, a legal heir 
 Of everlasting years, rejoice or weep 
 In earnest mood ; for nothing now seemed worth 
 A thought, but had eternal bearing in't 
 
21C THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Much truth had been assented to in Time, 
 Which never, till this day, had made a due 
 Impression on the heart. Take one example 
 Early from heaven it was revealed, and oft 
 Repeated in the world, from pulpits preached, 
 And penned and read in holy books, that God 
 Respected not the persons of mankind. 
 Had this been truly credited and felt, 
 The king, in purple robe, had owned, indeed, 
 The beggar for his brother ; pride of rank 
 And office thawed into paternal love ; 
 Oppression feared the day of equal rights, 
 Predicted ; covetous extortion kept 
 In mind the hour of reckoning, soon to come ; 
 And bribed injustice thought of being judged, 
 When he should stand on equal foot beside 
 The man he wronged. And surely — nay, 'tis tru?» 
 Most true, beyond all whispering of doubt, 
 That he, who lifted up the reeking scourge, 
 Dripping with gore from the slave's back, before 
 He struck again, had paused, and seriously 
 Of that tribunal thought, where God himself 
 Should look him in the face, and ask in wrath, 
 Why didst thou this ? Man ! was he not thy brother 
 Bone of thy bone, and flesh and blood of thine ? 
 But ah ! this truth, by heaven and reason taught, 
 Was never fully credited on earth. 
 The titled, flattered, lofty men of power, 
 Whose wealth bought verdicts of applause for deeds 
 Of wickedness, could ne'er believe the time 
 Should truly come, when judgment should proceed 
 Impartially against them, and they, too, 
 Have no good speaker at the Judge's ear, 
 No witnesses to bring them off for gold, 
 No power to turn the sentence from its course ; 
 And they of low estate, who saw themselves, 
 
EOOK IX. 21? 
 
 Day niter day, despised, and wronged, and mocked. 
 Without redress, could scarcely think the day 
 Should e'er arrive, when they in truth should stand 
 On perfect level with the potentates 
 And princes of the earth, and have their cause 
 Examined fairly, and their rights allowed. 
 But now this truth was felt, believed and felt, 
 That men were really of a common stock ; 
 That no man over had been more than man. 
 
 Much prophecy — revealed by holy bards, 
 Who sung the will of heaven by.Judah's streams — 
 Much prophecy that waited long, the scoff 
 Of lips uncircumcised, was then fulfilled ; 
 To the last tittle scrupulously fulfilled. 
 It was foretold by those of ancient days, 
 A time should come, when wickedness should weep 
 Abased ; when every lofty look of man 
 Should be bowed down, and all his haughtiness 
 Made low ; when righteousness alone should lift 
 The head in glory, and rejoice at heart ; 
 When many, first in splendour and renown, 
 Should be most vile ; and many, lowest once 
 And last in poverty's obscurest nook, 
 Highest and first in honour should be seen, 
 Exalted ; and when some, when all the good, 
 Should rise to glory, and eternal life ; 
 And all the bad, lamenting, wake, condemned 
 To shame, contempt, and everlasting grief. 
 
 These prophecies had tarried long ; so long 
 That many wagged the head, and, taunting, asked, 
 When shall they come ? But asked nor more, nor mocked . 
 For the reproach of prophecy was wiped 
 Away, and every word of God found true. 
 
 And O ! what change of state ! what change of rank f 
 In that assembly every where was seen ! 
 The humble-hearted laughed ; the lofty mourned ; 
 T 
 
218 THE COURSE OF TIME. . 
 
 And every man according' to his works 
 Wrought in the body, there took character. 
 
 Thus stood they mixed ! all generations stood 
 Of all mankind ! innumerable throng ! 
 Great harvest of the grave ! waiting the will 
 Of Heaven, attentively and silent all, 
 As forest spreading out beneath the calm 
 Of evening skies, when even the single leaf 
 Is heard distinctly rustle down and fall ; 
 So silent they, when from above, the sound 
 Of rapid wheels approached, and suddenly 
 In heaven appeared a host of angels strong, 
 With chariots and with steeds of burning fire : 
 Cherub, and Seraph, Thrones, Dominions. Powers, 
 Bright in celestial armour, dazzling, rode : ■ 
 And leading in the front, illustrious shone 
 Michael and Gabriel, servants long approved 
 In high commission, — girt that day with power, 
 Which nought created, man or devil, might 
 Resist : nor waited gazing long ; but quick 
 Descending, silently and without song, 
 As servants bent to do their master's work, 
 To middle air they raised the human race, 
 Above the path long travelled by the sun ; 
 And as a shepherd from the sheep divides 
 The goats; or husbandman, with reaping bands, 
 In harvest, separates the precious wheat, 
 Selected from the tares : so did they part 
 Mankind, — the good and bad, to right and left, — 
 To meet no more ; these ne'er again to smile ; 
 Nor those to weep ; these never more to share 
 Society of mercy with the saints ; 
 Nor, henceforth, those to suffer with the vile. 
 Strange parting ! not for hours, nor days, nor months, 
 Nor for ten thousand times ten thousand years ; 
 But for a whole eternity ! though fit, 
 
BOOK IX. • 219 
 
 And pleasant to the righteous, yet to all 
 
 Strange and most strangely felt ! The sire, to right 
 
 Retiring, saw the son, sprung from his loins, 
 
 Beloved how dearly once — but who lorgot, 
 
 Too soon, in sin's intoxicating cup, 
 
 The father's warnings and the mother's tears — 
 
 Fall to the left among the reprobate. 
 
 .4nd sons redeemed, beheld the fathers, whom 
 
 They loved and honoured once, gathered among 
 
 The wicked : brothers, sisters, kinsmen, friends 
 
 Husband and wife, who ate at the same board, 
 
 And under the same roof, united, dwelt, 
 
 From youth to hoary age, bearing the chance 
 
 And change of time together, — parted then 
 
 For evermore. But none whose friendship grew 
 
 From virtue's pure and everlasting root, 
 
 Took different roads ; — these, knit in stricter bonds 
 
 Of amity, embracing, saw no more 
 
 Death with his scythe stand by, nor heard the word, 
 
 The bitter word, which closed all earthly friendships 
 
 And finished every feast of love — Farewell. 
 
 To all, strange parting ! to the wicked, sad » 
 
 And terrible ! new horror seized them while 
 
 They saw the saints withdrawing, and with them 
 
 All hope of safety, all delay of wrath. 
 
 Beneath a crown of rosy light, — like that 
 Which once in Goshen, on the flocks, and herds, 
 And dwellings, smiled, of Jacob, while the land 
 Of Nile was dark ; or like the pillar bright 
 Of sacred fire, that stood above the sons 
 Of Israel, when they camped at midnight by 
 The foot of Horeb, or the desert side 
 Of Sinai, — now the righteous took their place. 
 All took their place, who ever wished to go 
 To heaven, for heaven's own sake ; not one remained 
 Among the accursed, that e'er desired with all 
 
220 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The heart to be redeemed ; that ever sought 
 
 Submissively to do the will of God, 
 
 Howe'er it crossed his own : or to escape 
 
 Hell, for aught other than its penal fires. 
 
 All took their place rejoicing, and beheld, 
 
 In centre of the crown of golden beams 
 
 That canopied them o'er, these gracious words, 
 
 Blushing with tints of love : — Fear not, my saints. 
 
 To other sight of horrible dismay, 
 Jehovah's ministers, the wicked drove, 
 And left them bound immoveable in chains 
 Of Justice : o'er their heads a bowless cloud 
 Of indignation hung : a cloud it was 
 Of thick and utter darkness ; rolling, like 
 An ocean, tides of livid, pitchy flame ; 
 With thunders charged, and lightnings ruinous, 
 And red with forked vengeance, such as wounds 
 The soul ; and full of angry shapes of wrath ; 
 And eddies, whirling with tumultuous fire J 
 And forms of terror raving to and fro ; 
 And monsters, unimagined heretofore 
 By guilty men in dreams before their death, 
 From horrid to more horrid changing still, 
 In hideous movement through that stormy gulf: 
 And evermore the thunders, murmuring, spoke 
 From out the darkness, uttering loud these words, 
 Which every guilty conscience echoed back : 
 44 Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not." 
 Dread words ! that barred excuse, and threw the weight 
 Of every man's perdition on himself 
 Directly borne. Dread words I heard then, and heard 
 For ever through the wastes of Erebus. 
 44 Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not!" 
 These were the words which glowed upon the sword, 
 Whose wrath burned fearfully behind the cursed, 
 As thbjr were driven away from God to Tophet. 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 " Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not !" 
 These are the words to which the harps of grief 
 Are strung ; and to the chorus of the damned, 
 The rocks of hell repeat them evermore; 
 Loud echoed through the caverns of despair, 
 And poured in thunder on the ear of Wo. 
 
 Nor ruined men alone, beneath that cloud, 
 Trembled : there Satan and his legions stood ; 
 Satan, the first and eldest sinner, bound 
 For judgment : he, by other name, held once 
 Conspicuous rank in heaven among the sons 
 Of happiness, rejoicing day and night : 
 But pride, that was ashamed to bow to God 
 Most high, his bosom filled with hate, his face 
 Made black with envy, and in his soul begot 
 Thoughts guilty of rebellion 'gainst the throne 
 Of the Eternal Father and the Son — 
 From everlasting built on righteousness. 
 
 Afik not how pride, in one created pure, 
 Could grow ; or sin without example spring, 
 Where holiness alone was sown : esteem 't 
 Enough, that he, as every being made 
 By God, was made entirely holy, had 
 The will of God before him set for law 
 And regulation of his life ; and power 
 To do as bid ; but was, meantime, left free, 
 To prove his worth, his gratitude, his love; 
 How proved besides ? for how could service done, 
 That might not else have been withheld, evince 
 The will to serve, which, rather than the deed, 
 God doth require, and virtue counts alone ? 
 To stand or fall, to do or leave undone. 
 Is reason's lofty privilege, denied 
 To all below, by instinct bound to fate, 
 Unmeriting alike reward or blame. 
 
 Thus free, the Devil chose to disobey 
 t 2 
 
222 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The will of God; and was thrown out from heaven, 
 
 And with him all his bad example stained : 
 
 Yet not to utter punishment decreed, 
 
 But left to fill the measure of his sin, 
 
 In tempting and seducing man — too soon, 
 
 Too easily seduced ! And from the day, 
 
 He first set foot on earth — of rancour full, 
 
 And pride, and hate, and malice, and revenge — 
 
 He set himself, with most felonious aim, 
 
 And hellish perseverance, to root out 
 
 All good, and in its place to plant all ill ; 
 
 To rob and raze, from all created things, 
 
 The fair and holv portraiture divine, 
 
 And on them to enstamp his features grim ; 
 
 To draw all creatures off from loyalty 
 
 To their Creator ; and to make them bow 
 
 The knee to him. Nor failed of great success, 
 
 As populous hell this day can testify. 
 
 He held indeed large empire in the world, 
 
 Contending proudly with the King of heaven. 
 
 To him temples were built, and sacrifice 
 
 Of costly blood upon his altars flowed ; 
 
 And, what best pleased him, for in show he seemed 
 
 Then likest God, whole nations bowing fell 
 
 Before him, worshipping, and from his lips 
 
 Entreated oracles, which he, by priests — 
 
 For many were his priests in every age — 
 
 Answered, though guessing but at future things, 
 
 And erring oft, yet still believed; so well 
 
 His ignorance, in ambiguous phrase, he veiled. 
 
 Nor needs it wonder, that with man once fallen, 
 His tempting should succeed. Large was his mind 
 And understanding; though impaired by sin, 
 Still large; and constant practice, day and night, 
 In cunning, guile, and all hypocrisy, 
 From ago to age, gave him experience vast 
 
BOOK IX. 223 
 
 In sin's dark tactics, such as boyish man, 
 
 Unarmed by strength divine, could ill withstand. 
 
 And well he knew his weaker side ; and still 
 
 His lures with baits that pleased the senses busked ; 
 
 To his impatient passions offering terms 
 
 Of present joy, and bribing reason's eye 
 
 With earthly wealth, and honours near at hand; 
 
 Nor failed to misadvise his future hope 
 
 And faith, by false unkerneled promises 
 
 Of heavens of sensual gkittony and love, 
 
 That suited best their grosser appetites. 
 
 Into the sinner's heart, who lived secure, 
 
 And feared him least, he entered at his will. 
 
 But chief he chose his residence in courts, 
 
 And conclaves, stirring princes up to acts 
 
 Of blood and tyranny ; and moving priests 
 
 To barter truth, and swap the souls of men 
 
 For lusty benefices, and address 
 
 Of lofty sounding. Nor the saints elect, 
 
 Who walked with God, in virtue's path sublime, 
 
 Did he not sometimes venture to molest ; 
 
 In dreams and moments of unguarded thought, 
 
 Suggesting guilty doubts and fears, that God 
 
 Would disappoint their hope; and in their way 
 
 Bestrewing pleasures, tongued so sweet, and so 
 
 In holy garb arrayed, that many stooped, 
 
 Believing them of heavenly sort, and fell ; 
 
 And to their high professions, brought disgrace 
 
 And scandal ; to themselves, thereafter, long 
 
 And bitter nights of sore repentance, vexed 
 
 With shame, unwonted sorrow, and remorse. 
 
 And more they should have fallen, and more have wept. 
 
 Had not their guardian angels, — who, by God 
 
 Commissioned, stood beside them in the hour 
 
 Of danger, whether craft, 01 fierce attack, 
 
 To Satan's deepest skill opposing skill 
 
224 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 More deep, and to his strongest arm, an arm 
 More strong, — upborne them in their hands, and filled 
 Their souls with all discernment, quick, to pierce 
 His stratagems and fairest shows of sin. 
 Now, like a roaring lion, up and down 
 The world, destroying, though unseen, he raged . 
 And now, retiring back to Tartarus, 
 Far back, beneath the thick of guiltiest dark, 
 Where night ne'er heard of day, in council grim 
 He sat, with ministers whose thoughts were damned, 
 And there such plans devised, as, had not God 
 Checked and restrained, had added earth entire 
 To hell, and uninhabited left heaven, 
 Jehovah unadored. Nor unsevere, 
 Even then, his punishment deserved : the Worm 
 That never dies, coiled in his bosom, gnawed 
 Perpetually ; sin after sin, brought pang 
 Succeeding pang ; and now and then the bolts 
 Of Zion's King, vindictive, smote his soul 
 With fiery wo to blast his proud designs : 
 And gave him earnest of the wrath to come. 
 And chief, when on the cross, Messiah said, 
 " 'Tis finished," did the edge of vengeance smite 
 Him through, and all his gloomy legions touch 
 With new despair. But yet, to be the first 
 In mischief, to have armies at his call, 
 To hold dispute with God, in days of Time 
 His pride and malice fed, and bo?e him up 
 Above the worst of ruin: still, to plan 
 And act great deeds, though wicked, br-oup;ht at least 
 The recompense which nature hath attached 
 To all activity, and aim pursued 
 With perseverance, good, or bad ; for as, 
 By nature's laws, immutable and just, 
 Enjoyment stops where indolence begins ; 
 And purposeless, to-morrow borrowing sloth. 
 
BOOK IX. 225 
 
 Itself, heaps on its shoulders loads of wo, 
 
 Too heavy to be borne ; so, industr}^ — 
 
 To meditate, to plan, resolve, perform, 
 
 Which in itself is good — as surely brings 
 
 Reward of good, no matter what be done : 
 
 And such reward the Devil had, as long 
 
 As the decrees eternal gave him space 
 
 To work : but now, all action ceased ; his hope 
 
 Of doing evil perished quite; his pride, 
 
 His courage, failed him ; and beneath that cloud, 
 
 Which hung its central terrors o'er his head, 
 
 With all his angels, he, for sentence, stood, 
 
 And rolled nis eyes around, that uttered guilt 
 
 And wo, in horrible perfection joined. 
 
 As he had been the chief and leader, long, 
 
 Of the apostate crew that warred with God 
 
 And holiness ; so now, among the bad, 
 
 Lowest, and most forlorn, and trembling most, 
 
 With all iniquity deformed and foul, 
 
 With all perdition ruinous and dark, 
 
 He stood, — example awful of the wrath 
 
 Of God ! sad mark, to which all sin must fall I — 
 
 And made, on every side, so black a hell, 
 
 That spirits, used to night and misery, 
 
 To distance drew, and looked another way ; 
 
 And from their golden cloud, far off, the saints 
 
 Saw round him darkness grow more dark, and neard 
 
 The impatient thunderbolts, with deadliest crash, 
 
 And frequentest, break o'er his head, — the sign, 
 
 That Satan there, the vilest sinner, stood. 
 
 Ah me ! what eyes were there beneath that cloud ! 
 Eyes of despair, final and certain ! eyes 
 That looked, and looked, and saw, where'er they looked, 
 Interminable darkness ! utter wo ! 
 
 'Twas pitiful to see the early flower 
 Nipped by the unfeeling frost, just when it rose, 
 
22G THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Lovely in youth, and put its beauties on. 
 'Twas pitiful to see the hopes of all 
 The year, the yellow harvest, made a heapt 
 By rains of judgment ; or by torrents swept, 
 .With flocks and cattle, down the raging flood;. 
 Or scattered by the winnowing winds, that bore, 
 Upon their angry wings, the wrath of heaven. 
 Sad was the field, where yesterday was heard 
 The roar of war ; and sad the sight of maid, 
 Of mother, widow, sister, daughter, wife, 
 Stooping and weeping over senseless, cold, 
 Defaced, and mangled lumps of breathless earth, 
 Which had been husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, 
 And lovers, when that morning's sun arose. 
 'Twas sad to see the wonted seat of friend 
 Removed by death : and sad to visit scenes, 
 When old, where, in the smiling morn of life, 
 Lived many, who both knew and loved us much, 
 And they all gone, dead, or dispersed abroad ; 
 And stranger faces seen among their hills. 
 'Twas sad to see the little orphan babe 
 Weeping and sobbing on its mother's grave. 
 'Twas pitiful to see an old, forlorn, 
 Decrepit, withered wretch, unhoused, unclad, 
 Starving to death with poverty and cold. 
 'Twas pitiful to see a blooming bride, 
 That promise gave of many a happy year, 
 Touched by decay, turn pale, and waste, and die. 
 'Twas pitiful to hear the murderous thrust 
 Of ruffian's blade that sought the life entire. 
 'Twas sad to hear the blood come gurgling forth 
 From out the throat of the wild suicide. 
 Sad was the sight of widowed, childless age 
 Weeping. I saw it once. Wrinkled with time, 
 And noary with the dust of years, an old 
 And worthy man came to his humble roof, 
 
BOOK IX. 227 
 
 Tottering and slow, and on the threshold stood. 
 
 No foot, no voice, was heard within ; none came 
 
 To meet him, where he oft had met a wife, 
 
 And sons, and daughters, glad at his return; 
 
 None came to meet him ; tor that day had seen 
 
 The old man lay, within the narrow house, 
 
 The last of all his family ; and now 
 
 He stood in solitude, in solitude 
 
 Wide as the w-orld ; for all that made to him 
 
 Society, had fled beyond its bounds. 
 
 Wherever strayed his aimless eye, there lay 
 
 The wreck of some fond hope, that touched his soul 
 
 With bitter thoughts, and told him all w r as past. 
 
 Iiis lonely cot was silent ; and he looked 
 
 As if he could not enter ; on his staff, 
 
 Bending, he leaned ; aiid from his weary eye, 
 
 Distressing sight ! a single tear-drop wept : 
 
 None followed, for the fount of tears was dry ; 
 
 Alone and last it fell from wrinkle down 
 
 To wrinkle, till it lost itself, drunk by 
 
 The withered cheek, on which again no smile 
 
 Should come, or drop of tenderness be seen. 
 
 This sight was very pitiful ; but one 
 
 Was sadder still, the saddest seen in Time : 
 
 A man, to-day the glory of his kind, 
 
 In reason clear, in understanding large, 
 
 In judgment sound, in fancy quick, in hope 
 
 Abundant, and in promise, like a field 
 
 W T ell cultured, and refreshed with dews from God ; 
 
 To-morrow, chained, and raving mad, and whipped 
 
 By servile hands ; sitting on dismal straw, 
 
 And gnashing with his teeth against the chain, 
 
 The iron chain that bound him hand and foot ; . 
 
 And trying whiles to send his glaring eye 
 
 Beyond the wide circumference of his wo : 
 
 Or, humbling more, more miserable still, 
 
228 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Giving- an idiot laugh, that served to show 
 The hlasted scenery of his horrid face ; 
 Calling the straw his sceptre, and the stone, 
 On which he pinioned sat, his royal throne. 
 Poor, poor, poor man ! fallen far below the brute " 
 His reason strove in vain to find her way, 
 Lost in the stormy desert of his brain ; 
 And being active still, she wrought all strange, 
 Fantastic, execrable, monstrous things. 
 
 All these were sad, and thousands more, that sleep 
 Forgotten beneath the funeral pall of Time ; 
 And bards, as well became, bewailed them much, 
 With doleful instruments of weeping song. 
 But what were these ? what might be worse, had in't, 
 However small, some grains of happiness : 
 And man ne'er drank a cup of earthly sort, 
 That might not held another drop of gall ; 
 Or, in his deepest sorrow, laid his head 
 Upon a pillow, set so close with thorns, 
 That might not held another prickle still. 
 Accordingly, the saddest human look 
 Had hope in't; faint indeed, but still 'twas hope. 
 But why excuse the misery of earth ! 
 Say it was dismal, cold, and dark, and deep, 
 Beyond the utterance of strongest words : 
 But say that none remembered it, who saw 
 The eye of beings damned for evermore ! 
 Rolling, and rolling, and rolling still in vain, 
 To find some ray, to see beyond the gulf 
 Of an unavenued, fierce, fiery, hot, 
 Interminable, dark Futurity ! 
 And rolling still, and rolling still in vain ! 
 
 Thus stood the reprobate beneath the shade 
 Of terror, and beneath the crown of love, 
 The good ; and there was silence in the vault 
 Of heaven : and as they stood and listened, they hoard, 
 
BOOK IX. 229 
 
 Afar to left, among' the utter dark, 
 
 Hell rolling o'er his waves of burning fire ; 
 
 And thundering through his caverns, empty then, 
 
 As if he preparation made, to act 
 
 The final vengeance of the Fiery Lamb. 
 
 And there was heard, coming from out the Pit^ 
 
 The hollow wailing of Eternal Death, 
 
 And horrid cry of the Undying Worm. 
 
 The wicked paler turned ; and scarce the good 
 Their colour kept ; but were not long dismayed. 
 That moment, in the heavens, how wondrous fair ! 
 The angel of Mercy stood, and, on the bad, 
 Turning his back, over the ransomed threw 
 His bow bedropped with imagery of love, 
 And promises oa which their faith reclined. 
 Throughout, deep, breathless silence reigned again ; 
 And on the circuit of the upper spheres, 
 A glorious seraph stood, and cried aloud, 
 That every ear of man and devil heard : 
 " Him that is filthy, let be filthy still ; 
 Him that is holy, let be holy still." 
 And suddenly, another squadron bright, 
 Of high arch-angel glory, stooping, brought 
 A marvellous bow ; one base upon the Cross, 
 The other, on the shoulder of the Bear, 
 They placed, from south to north, spanning the heavens, 
 And on each hand dividing good and bad, — 
 Who read on either side these burning words, 
 Which ran along the arch in living fire, 
 And wanted not to be believed in full : 
 " As ye have sown, so shall ye reap this day." 
 
 U 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 God of my fathers ! holy, just, and good ! 
 My God ! my Father ! my unfailing Hope ! 
 Jehovah ! let the incense of my praise, 
 Accepted, burn before thy mercy seat, 
 And in thy presence burn, both day and night. 
 Maker ! Preserver ! my Redeemer ! God ! 
 Whom havo I in the heavens but Thee alone ? 
 On earth, but Thee, whom should I praise, whom love J 
 For thou hast brought me hitherto, upheld 
 By thy omnipotence ; and from thy grace — 
 Unbought, unmerited, though not unsought — 
 The wells of thy salvation, hast refreshed 
 My spirit ; watering it, at morn and even ! 
 And by thy Spirit, which thou freely givest 
 To whom thou wilt, hast led my venturous song, 
 Over the vale, and mountain tract, the light 
 And shade of man ; into the burning deep 
 Descending now, and now circling the mount, 
 Where highest sits Divinity enthroned ; 
 Rolling along the tide of fluent thought, 
 The tide of moral, natural, divine ; 
 Gazing on past, and present, and again, 
 On rapid pinion borne, outstripping Time, 
 In long excursion, wandering through the groves 
 Unfading, and the endless avenues 
 That shade the landscape of eternity ; 
 
 230 
 
BOOK X. 231 
 
 And talking there with holy angels met, 
 
 And future men, in glorious virion seen ! 
 
 Nor unrewarded have I watched at night, 
 
 And heard the drowsy sound of neighbouring sleep 
 
 New thought, new imagery, new scenes of bliss 
 
 And glory, unrehearsed by mortal tongue, 
 
 Which, unrevealed, I, trembling, turned and left, 
 
 Bursting at once upon my ravished eye, 
 
 With joy unspeakable, have filled my soul, 
 
 And made my cup run over with delight ; 
 
 Though in my face, the blasts of adverse winds, 
 
 While boldly circumnavigating man, 
 
 Winds seeming adverse, though perhaps not so, 
 
 Have beat severely — disregarded beat, 
 
 When I behind me heard the voice of God, 
 
 And his propitious Spirit say, — Fear not. 
 
 God of my fathers ! ever present God ! 
 This offering more inspire, sustain, accept; 
 Highest, if numbers answer to the theme; 
 Best answering if thy Spirit dictate most. 
 Jehovah ! breathe upon my soul ; my heart 
 Enlarge ; my faith increase ; increase my hope, 
 My thoughts exalt; my fancy sanctify, 
 And all my passions, that I near thy throne 
 May venture, unrcproved ; and sing the day, 
 Which none unholy ought to name, the Day 
 Of Judgment; greatest day, past or to come; 
 Day, which — deny me what thou wilt ; deny 
 Me home, or friend, or honourable name — 
 Thy mercy grant, I, thoroughly prepared, 
 With comely garment of redeeming love, 
 May meet, and have my Judge for Advocate. 
 
 Come, gracious Influence ! Breath of the Lord ! 
 And touch me, trembling, as thou touched the man, 
 Greatly beloved, when he in vision saw, 
 By Ulai's stream, the Ancient sit; and talked 
 
232 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 With Gabriel, to his prayer swiftly sent, 
 At evening sacrifice. Hold my right hand, 
 Almighty ! hear me — for I ask through Him, 
 Whom thou hast heard, whom thou wilt always hear 
 Thy Son, our interceding Great High Priest. 
 Revea* the future ; let the years to come 
 Pass by ; and open my ear to hear the harp ; 
 The prophet harp, whose wisdom I repeat, 
 Interpreting the voice of distant song, — 
 Wmcn thus again resumes the lofty verse; 
 Loftiest, if I interpret faithfully 
 The holy numbers which my spirit hears. 
 
 Thus came the day — the Harp again began — 
 The day that many thought should never come ; 
 That all the wicked wished should never come ; 
 That all the righteous had expected long; 
 Day greatly feared, and yet too little feared, 
 By him who feared it most ; day laughed at much 
 By the profane ; the trembling day of all 
 Who laughed ; day when all shadows passed, all dreams 
 When substance, when reality commenced. 
 Last day of lying, final day of all 
 Deceit, all knavery, all quackish phrase; 
 Ender of all disputing, of all mirth 
 Ungodly, of all loud and boasting speech. 
 Judge of all judgments; Judge of every judge ; 
 Adjuster of ail causes, rights and wrongs. 
 Day oft appealed to, and appealed to oft 
 By those who saw its dawn with saddest heart: 
 Day most magnificent in Fancy's range, 
 Whence she returned, confounded, trembling, pale* 
 With overmuch of glory faint and blind: 
 Day most important held, prepared for most, 
 By every rational, wise, and holy man : 
 Day of eternal gain, for worldly loss : 
 Day of eternal loss, for worldly gain. 
 
BOOK X. 233 
 
 Great day of terror, vengeance, wo, despair ! 
 
 Rcvealer of all secrets, thoughts, desires ! 
 
 Rein-trying, heart-investigating day, 
 
 Which stood between Eternity and Time, 
 
 Reviewed all past, determined all to come, 
 
 And bound all destinies for evermore. 
 
 Believing day of unbelief! Great day! 
 
 Which set in proper light the affairs of earth, ? 
 
 And justified the government Divine. 
 
 Great day! what can we more ? what should we more? 
 
 Great triumph day of God's Incarnate Son! 
 
 Great day of glory to the Almighty God ! 
 
 Day whence the everlasting years begin 
 
 Their date ! new era in eternity ! 
 
 And oft referred to in the song of heaven ! 
 
 Thus stood the apostate, thus the ransomed stood; 
 Those held by justice fast, and these by love, 
 Reading the fiery scutcheonry, that blazed 
 On high, upon the great celestial bow : — 
 " As ye have sown, so shall ye reap this day." 
 All read, all understood, and all believed ; 
 Convinced of judgment, righteousness, and sin. 
 Meantime the universe throughout was still : 
 The cope, above and round about, was calm : 
 And, motionless, beneath them lay the earth, 
 Silent and sad, as one that sentence waits, 
 For flagrant crime : when suddenly was heard, 
 Behind the azure vaulting of the sky, 
 Above, and far remote from reach of sight, 
 The sound of trumpets, and the sound of crowds, 
 And prancing steeds, and rapid chariot wheels, 
 That from four quarters rolled, and seemed in haste, 
 Assembling at some place of rendezvous ; 
 And so they seemed to roll, with furious speed, 
 As if none meant to be behind the first. 
 Nor seemed alone : that day the golden trump, 
 v2 
 
^34 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Whose voice, from centre to circumference 
 
 Of all created things, is heard distinct, 
 
 God had bid Michael sound, to summon all 
 
 The hosts of bliss to presence of their King ; 
 
 And, all the morning, millions infinite, 
 
 That millions governed each, Dominions, Powers 
 
 Thrones, Principalities, with all their hosts. 
 
 Had been arriving, near the capital, 
 
 And royal city, New Jerusalem, 
 
 From heaven's remotest bounds : nor yet from heaven 
 
 Alone came they that day : the worlds around, 
 
 Or neighbouring nearest on the verge of night, 
 
 Emptied, sent forth their whole inhabitants : 
 
 All tribes of being came, of every name, 
 
 From every coast, filling Jehovah's courts. 
 
 From morn till mid-day, in the squadrons poured 
 
 Immense, along the bright celestial roads. 
 
 Swiftly they rode ; for love unspeakable 
 
 To God, and to Messiah, Prince of Peace, 
 
 Drew them, and made obedience haste to be 
 
 Approved. And now before the Eternal Throne — 
 
 Brighter that day than when the Son prepared 
 
 To overthrow the seraphim rebelled — 
 
 And circling round the mount of Deity, 
 
 Upon the sea of glass, all round about, 
 
 And down the borders of the stream of life, 
 
 And over all the plains of Paradise, 
 
 For many a league of heavenly measurement,— 
 
 Assemb L!d, stood the immortal multitudes, 
 
 Millions above all number infinite, 
 
 The nations of the blest. Distinguished each, 
 
 By chief of goodly stature blazing far, 
 
 By various garb, and flag of various hue 
 
 Streaming through heaven from standard lifted high,— 
 
 The arms and imagery of thousand worlds. 
 
 Distinguished each ; but all arrayed complete, 
 
BOOK X. 235 
 
 In armour bright, of helmet, shield, and sword 
 And mounted all in chariots of fire. 
 A military throng - , blent, not confused : 
 As soldiers on some day of great review, 
 Burning in splendour of refulgent gold, 
 And ornament on purpose long devised 
 For this expected day. Distinguished each. 
 But all accoutred as became their Lord, 
 And high occasion; all in holiness, 
 The livery of the soldiery of God,' 
 Vested ; and shining all with perfect blis^. 
 The wages which his faithful servants win. 
 
 Thus stood they numberless around the mo'lii? 
 Of presence; and, adoring, waited, hushed 
 In deepest silence, for the voice of God. 
 That moment, all the Sacred Hill on high 
 Burned, terrible with glory, and behind 
 The uncreated lustre hid the Lamb, 
 Invisible ; when, from the radiant cloud, 
 This voice, addressing all the hosts of heaven, 
 Proceeded ; not in words as we converse, 
 Each with his fellow, but in language such 
 As God doth use, imparting, without phrase 
 Successive, what, in speech of creatures, sesrns 
 Long- narrative, though long, yet losing much, 
 In feeble symbols, of the thought Divine. 
 
 My servants long approved, my faithful sons ! 
 Angels of glory, Thrones, Dominions, Powers ! 
 Well pleased, this morning, I have seen the speed 
 Of your obedience, gathering round my throne, 
 In order due, and well* becoming garb; 
 Illustrious, as I see, beyond your wont, 
 As was my wish, to glorify this day : 
 And nou what your assembling means, attend. 
 
 This day concludes the destiny of man ; , 
 The hour, appointed from eternity, 
 
236 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 To judge the earth, in righteousness, is come; 
 
 To end the war of Sin, that long has fought, 
 
 Permitted, against the sword of Holiness ; 
 
 To give to men and devils, as their works, 
 
 Recorded in my all-remembring book, 
 
 I find ; good to the good, and great reward 
 
 Of everlasting honour, joy, and peace, 
 
 Before my presence here for evermore : 
 
 And to the evil, as their sins provoke, 
 
 Eternal recompense of shame and wo, 
 
 Cast out beyond the bounds of light and love. 
 
 Long have I stood, as ye, my sons, well know, 
 Between the cherubim, and stretched my arms 
 Of mercy out, inviting all to come 
 To me, and live ; my bowels long have moved 
 With great compassion ; and my justice passed 
 Transgression by, and not imputed sin. 
 Long here, upon my everlasting throne, 
 I have beheld my love and mercy scorned ; 
 Have seen my laws despised, my name blasphemed, 
 My providence accused, my gracious plans 
 Opposed ; and long, too long, have I beheld 
 The wicked triumph, and my saints reproached 
 Maliciously, while on my altars lie, 
 Unanswered still, their prayers and their tears, 
 Which seek my coming, wearied with delay : 
 And long, Disorder in my moral reign 
 Has walked rebelliously, disturbed the peace 
 Of my eternal government, and wrought 
 Confusion, spreading far and wide, among 
 My works inferior, which groan to be 
 Released. Nor long shall groan : the hour of grace, 
 The final hour of grace is fully past. 
 The time accepted for repentance, faith, 
 And pardon, is irrevocably past ; 
 And Justice unaccompanied, as wont, 
 
BOOK X. <>37 
 
 With Mercy, now goes forth, to give to all * 
 
 According to their deeds. Justice alone ; 
 
 For why should Mercy any more he joined? 
 
 What hath not mercy, mixed with judgment, done, 
 
 That mercy, mixed with judgment and reproof, 
 
 Could.do ? Did I not revelation make, 
 
 Plainly and clearly, of my will entire ? 
 
 Before them set my holy law, and gave 
 
 Them knowledge, wisdom, prowess, to obey, 
 
 And win, by self-wrought works, eternal life 1 
 
 Rebelled, did I not send them terms of peace, 
 
 Which, not my justice, but my mercy asked ? — 
 
 Terms costly to my well-beloved Son ; » 
 
 To them gratuitous ; exacting faith 
 
 Alone for pardon, works evincing faith ? 
 
 Have I not early risen, and sent my seers, 
 
 Prophets, apostles, teachers, ministers, 
 
 With signs and wonders, working in my name? 
 
 Have I not still, from age to age, raised up, 
 
 As I saw needful, great, religious men, 
 
 Gifted by me with large capacity, 
 
 And by my arm omnipotent upheld, 
 
 To pour the numbers of my mercy forth, 
 
 And roll my judgments on the ear of man ? 
 
 And lastly, when the promised hour was come— 
 
 What more could most abundant mercy do ? — 
 
 Did I not send Immanuel forth, my Son, 
 
 Only begotten, to purchase, by his blood, 
 
 As many as believed upon his name ? 
 
 Did he not die to give repentance, such 
 
 As I accept, and pardon of all sins ? 
 
 Has he not taught, beseeched, and shed abroad 
 
 The Spirit unconfined, and given at times, 
 
 Example fierce of wrath and judgment, poured 
 
 Vindictively on nations guilty long ? 
 
 What means of reformation that my Son 
 
'238 . THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Has left behind untried? what plainer words 
 
 What arguments more strong, as yet remain ? 
 
 Did he not telJ them with his lips of truth, — 
 
 The righteous should be saved, the wicked, damned? 
 
 And has he not, awake both day and night, 
 
 Here interceded with prevailing voice, 
 
 At my right hand, pleading his precious blood 
 
 Which magnified my holy lav/, and bought, 
 
 For all who wished, perpetual righteousness ? 
 
 And have not you, my faithful servants, ali 
 
 Been frequent forth, obedient to my will, 
 
 With messages of mercy and of love, 
 
 Administering jny gifts to sinful man ? 
 
 And have not all my mercy, all my love, 
 
 Been sealed and stamped with signature of heaven? 
 
 By proof of wonders, miracles, and signs 
 
 Attested, and attested more by truth. 
 
 Divine, inherent in the tidings sent ? 
 
 This day declares the consequence of all. 
 
 Some have believed, are sanctified, and saved, 
 
 Prepared for dwelling in this holy place, 
 
 In these their mansions, built before my face , 
 
 And now beneath a crown of golden light, 
 
 Beyond our wall, at place of judgment, they, 
 
 Expecting, wait the promised due reward. 
 
 The others stand with Satan bound in chains ; 
 
 The others, who refused to be redeemed, — 
 
 They stand, unsanctified, unpardoned, sad, 
 
 Waiting the sentence that shall fix their wo 
 
 The others who refused to be redeemed ; 
 
 For all had grace sufficient to believe, 
 
 All who my gospel heard ; and none who heard 
 
 It not, shall by its law this day be tried. 
 
 Necessity of sinning, my decrees 
 
 Imposed on none ; but rather all inclined 
 
 To holiness ; and grace was bountiful, 
 
BOOK IX. 239 
 
 Abundant, overflowing- with my word; 
 My word of life and peace, which to all men 
 Who shall or stand or fall, by law revealed, 
 Was offered freely, as 'twas freely sent, 
 . Without all money, and without all price. 
 Thus, they have all, by willing act, despised 
 Me, and my Son, and sanctifying Spirit. 
 But now no longer shall they mock or scorn : 
 The day of Grace and Mercy is complete, 
 And Godhead from their misery absolved. 
 
 So saying, He, the Father infinite, 
 Turning, addressed Messiah, where he sat 
 Exalted gloriously, at. his right hand. 
 This day belongs to justice, and to Thee, 
 Eternal Son ! thy right for service oono 
 Abundantly fulfilling all my will ; 
 By promise thine, from all eternity, 
 Made in the ancient Covenant of Grace ; 
 And thine, as most befitting, since in thee 
 Divine and human meet, impartial Judge, 
 Consulting thus the interest of both. 
 Go then, my Son, divine similitude ! 
 Image express of Deity unseen ! 
 The book of my remembrance take; and take 
 The golden crowns of life, due to the saints ; 
 And take the seven last thunders ruinous ; 
 Thy armour take ; gird on thy sword, thy sword 
 Of justice ultimate, reserved, till now 
 Unsheathed, in the eternal armoury ; 
 And mount tiie living chariot of God. 
 Thou goest not now, as once to Calvary, 
 To be insulted, buffeted, and slain : 
 Thou gocst not now with battle, and the voice 
 Of war, as once against the rebel hosts : 
 Thou goest a Judge, and find'st the guilty bound s 
 Thou goest to prove, condemn, acquit, reward ; 
 
240 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Not unaccompanied , all these, my saints 
 Go with thee, glorious retinue ! to sing 
 Thy triumph, and participate thy joy ; 
 And I, the Omnipresent, with thee go ; 
 And with thee, all the glory of my throne. 
 
 Thus said the Father ; and the Son beloved, 
 Omnipotent, Omniscient, Fellow God, 
 Arose resplendent with Divinity ; 
 And He the book of God's remembrance took , 
 And took the seven last thunders ruinous ; 
 And took the crowns of life, due to the saints , 
 His armour took ; girt on his sword, his sword 
 Of justice ultimate, reserved, till now 
 Unsheathed, in the eternal armoury ; 
 And up the living chariot of God 
 Ascended, signifying all complete. 
 
 And now the Trump of wonderous melody, 
 By man or angel never heard before, 
 Sounded with thunder, and the march began — 
 Not swift, as cavalcade, on battle bent, 
 But, as became procession of a judge, 
 Solemn, magnificent, majestic, slow : 
 Moving sublime with glory infinite, 
 And numbers infinite, and awful song. 
 They passed the gate of heaven, which many a ler 
 Opened either way, to let the glory forth 
 Of this great march. And now the sons of men 
 Beheld their coming, which, before, they heard ; 
 Beheld the glorious countenance of God ! 
 All light was swallowed up, all objects seen, 
 Faded ; and the Incarnate, visible 
 Alone, held every eye upon Him fixed ! 
 The wicked saw his majesty severe, 
 And those who pierced Him, saw his face with clouds 
 Of glory circled round, essential bright ! 
 And to the rocks and mountains called in vain, 
 
BOOK X. 24) 
 
 To hrde them from the fierceness of his wrath : 
 Almighty power their flight restrained, and held 
 Them bound immoveable before the bar. 
 
 The righteous, undismayed and bold — best proof 
 This day of fortitude sincere — sustained 
 By inward faith, with acclamations loud, 
 Received the coming of the Son of Man ; 
 And, drawn by love, inclined to his approach, 
 Moving to meet the brightness of his face. 
 
 Meantime, 'tween good and bad, the Judge, his wheels 
 Stayed, and, ascending, sat upon the great 
 White Throne, that morning founded there by power 
 Omnipotent, and built on righteousness 
 And truth. Behind, before, on every side, 
 In native, and reflected blaze of bright 
 Celestial equipage, the myriads stood, 
 That with his marching came ; rank above rank, 
 Rank above rank, with shield and flaming sword. 
 
 'Twas silence all : and quick, on right and left, 
 A mighty angel spread the book of God's 
 Remembrance ; and, with conscience now sincere, 
 All men compared the record written there, 
 By finger of Omniscience, and received 
 Their sentence, in themselves, of joy or wo ; 
 Condemned or justified, while yet the Judge, 
 Waited, as if to let them prove themselves. 
 The righteous, in the book of life displayed. 
 Rejoicing, read their names ; rejoicing, read 
 Their faith for righteousness received, and deed"* 
 Of holiness, as proof of faith complete. 
 The wicked, in the book of endless death, 
 Spread out to left, bewailing read their names : 
 And read beneath them, Unbelief, and fruit 
 Of unbelief, vile, unrepented deeds, 
 Ivow unrepentable for evermore ; 
 And gave approval of the wo affixed. 
 X 
 
242 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 This done, the Omnipotent, Omniscient Judge, 
 Rose irkfinite, the sentence to pronounce, 
 The sentence of eternal wo or bliss! 
 All glory heretofore seen or conceived ; 
 All majesty, annihilated, dropped, 
 That moment, from remembrance, and was lost; 
 And silence, deepest hitherto esteemed, 
 Seemed noisy to, the stillness of this hour. 
 Comparisons I seek not ; nor should find, 
 If sought : that silence, which all being held, 
 When God's Almighty Son, from off" the walls 
 Of heaven the rebel angels threw, accursed, 
 ScMstill, that all creation heard their fall 
 Distinctly, in the lake of burning fire, — 
 Was now forgotten, and every silence else. 
 All being rational, created then, 
 Around the judgment seat, intensely listened : 
 No creature breathed : man, angel, devil, stood 
 And listened ; the spheres stood still, and everv sta 
 Stood still and listened; and every particle 
 Remotest in the womb of matter stood, 
 Bending to hear, devotional and still. 
 And thus upon the wicked first, the Judge 
 Pronounced the sentence, written before of old ; 
 " Depart from me, ye cursed, into the fire 
 Prepared eternal in the Gulf of Hell, 
 Where ye shall weep and wail for evermore ; 
 Reaping the harvest which your sins have sown." 
 
 So saying, God grew dark with utter wrath : 
 And drawing now the sword, undrawn before, 
 Which through the range of infinite, all around, 
 A gleam of fiery indignation threw, 
 He lifted up his hand omnipotent, 
 And down among the damned the burning edge 
 Plunged ; and from forth his arrowy quiver sent, 
 Emptied, the seven last thunders ruinous 
 
BOOK X. 243 
 
 Which, entering, withered all their souls with fire. 
 
 Then first was vengeance, first was ruin seen ! 
 
 Red, unrestrained, vindictive, final, fierce ! 
 
 They, howling, fied to west anion g the dark ; 
 
 But tied not these the terrors of the Lord : 
 
 Pursued, and driven beyond the Gulf, which frowns 
 
 Impassable, between the good and bad, 
 
 And downward far remote to left, oppressed 
 
 And scorched with the avenging fires, begun 
 
 Burning within them, — they upon the verge 
 
 Of Erebus, a iromont pausing stood, 
 
 And saw, below, the unfathomable lake, 
 
 Tossing with tides of dark, tempestuous wrath ; 
 
 And would have looked behind ; but greater wrath, 
 
 Behind, forbade, which now no respite gave 
 
 To final misery : God, in the grasp 
 
 Of his Almighty strength, took them upraised, 
 
 And threw them down, into the yawning pit 
 
 Of bottomless perdition, ruined, damned, 
 
 Fast bound in chains of darkness evermore ; 
 
 And Second Death, and the Undying Worm, 
 
 Opening their horrid jaws, with hideous yell, 
 
 Falling, received their everlasting prey. 
 
 A groan returned, as down they sunk, and sunk, 
 
 And ever sunk, among the utter dark ! 
 
 A groan returned ! the righteous heard the groan; 
 
 The groan of ail the reprobate, when first 
 
 They felt damnation sure ! and heard Hell close ! 
 
 And heard Jehovah, and his love retire ! 
 
 A groan returned ! the righteous heard the groan : 
 
 As if all misery, all sorrow, grief, 
 
 All pain, ail anguish, all despair, which all 
 
 Have suffered, or shall feel, from first to last 
 
 Eternity, had gathered to one pang, 
 
 And issued in one groan of boundless wo ! 
 
 And now the wall of hell, the outer wall, 
 First gateless then, closed round them; that which thou 
 
£44 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Hast seen, of fiery adamant, emblazed 
 
 With hideous imagery, above all hope, 
 
 Above all flight of fancy, burning high ; 
 
 And guarded evermore by Justice, turned 
 
 To Wrath, that hears, unmoved, the endless groan 
 
 Of those wasting within ; and sees, unmoved, 
 
 The endless tear of vain repentance fall. 
 
 Nor ask if these shall ever be redeemed. 
 They never shall : not God, but their own sin 
 Condemns them : what could be done, as thou hast heard, 
 Has been already done; ail has been tried, 
 That wisdom infinite, and boundless grace, 
 Working together, could devise, and all 
 Has failed ; why now succeed ? Though God should stoop. 
 Inviting still, and send his Only Son 
 To offer grace in hell, the pride that first 
 Refused, would still refuse ; the unbelief, 
 Still unbelieving, would deride and mock; 
 Nay more, refuse, deride, and mock ; for sin, 
 Increasing still, and growing day and night 
 Into the essence of the soul, become 
 All sin, makes what in time seemed probable, — 
 Seemed probable, since God invited then — 
 For ever now impossible. Thus they, 
 According to the eternal laws which bind 
 AW creatures, bind the Uncreated One, 
 Though we name not the sentence of the Judge — 
 Must daily grow in sin and punishment, 
 Made by themselves their necessary lot, 
 Unchangeable to all eternity. 
 
 What lot ! what choice ! I sing not, cannot sing. 
 Here, highest seraphs tremble on the lyre, 
 And make a sudden pause ! but thou hast seen. 
 And here the bard a moment held his hand, 
 As one who saw more of that horrid wo 
 Than words could utter; and again resumed. 
 
BOOK X. 245 
 
 Nor yet had vengeance done. The guilty Earth 
 Inanimate, debased, and stained by sin, 
 Seat of rebellion, of corruption, long, 
 And tainted with mortality throughout, 
 God sentenced next; and sent the final fires 
 Of ruin forth, to burn and to destroy. 
 The saints its burning saw ; and thou mayst seo. 
 Look yonder, round the lofty golden walls 
 And galleries of New Jerusalem, 
 Among the imagery of wonders past; 
 Look near the southern gate ; look, and behold, 
 On spacious canvass, touched with living hues, — 
 The Conflagration of the ancient earth, 
 The handiwork of high archangel, drawn 
 From memory of what he saw that day. 
 See how the mountains, how the valleys burn . 
 The Andes burn, the Alps, the Apennines ; 
 Taurus and Atlas, all the islands burn ; 
 The Ocean burns, and rolls his waves of flame. 
 See how .he lightnings, barbed, red with wrath, 
 Sent from tne quiver of Omnipotence, 
 Cross and recross the fiery gloom, and burn 
 Into the centre ! burn without, within, 
 And help the native fires, which God awoke. 
 And kindled with the fury of his wrath. 
 As inly troubled, now she seems to shake ; 
 The flames, dividing, now a moment fail ; 
 And now in one conglomerated mass, 
 Rising, they glow on high, prodigious blazb ., 
 Then fall and sink again, as if, within, 
 The fuel, burnt to ashes, was consumed. 
 So burned the Earth upon that dreadful dav 
 Yet not to full annihilation burned : 
 The essential particles of dust remained, 
 Purged by the final, sanctifying fires, 
 From all corruption; from all stain of sin, 
 x 2 
 
2.46 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Done there by man or devil, purified. 
 The essential particles remained, of which 
 God built the world again, renewed, improved, 
 With fertile vale, and wood of fertile bough ; 
 And streams of milk and honey, flowing song ; 
 And mountains cinctured with perpetual green ; 
 In clime and season fruitful, as at first, 
 When Adam woke, unfallen, in Paradise. 
 And God, from out the fount of native light. 
 A handful took of beams, and clad the sun 
 Again in glory ; and sent forth the moon 
 To borrow thence her wonted rays, and lead 
 Her stars, the virgin daughters of the sky. 
 And God revived the winds, revived the t: 
 And touching her from his Almighty hand, 
 With force centrifugal, she onward ran, 
 Coursing her wonted path, to stop no more. 
 Delightful scene of new inhabitants ! 
 As thou, this morn, in passing hither, saws'... 
 
 This done, the glorious Judge, turning to right 
 With countenance of love unspeakable, 
 Beheld the righteous, and approved them thus : 
 " Ye blessed of my Father, come; ye just, 
 Enter the joy eternal of your Lord ; 
 Receive your crowns, ascend, and sit with J.io, 
 At God's right hand, in glory evermore." 
 
 Thus said the Omnipotent, Incarnate God : 
 And waited not the homage of the crowns, 
 Already thrown before him ; nor the loud 
 Amen of universal, holy praise ; 
 But turned the living chariot of fire, 
 And swifter now — as joyful to declare ' 
 This day's proceedings in his Father's court,, 
 And to present the number of his sons 
 Before the throne — ascended up to heaven. 
 And all his saints, and all his angel banda, 
 
BOOK X. 247 
 
 As, glorious, they on high ascended, sung 
 
 Glory to God, and to the Lamb ! — they sung 
 
 Messiah, fairer than the sons of men, 
 
 And altogether lovely. Grace is poured 
 
 Into thy Japs, above all measure poured ; 
 
 And therefore God hath blessed thee evermore. 
 
 Gird, gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou 
 
 Most Mighty ! with thy glory ride ; with all 
 
 Thy majesty, ride prosperously, because 
 
 Of meekness,'' truth, and righteousness. Thy thrcne, 
 
 O God, for ever and for ever stands : 
 
 The sceptre of thy kingdom still is right; 
 
 Therefore hath God, thy God, anointed Thee, 
 
 With oil of gladness and perfumes of myrrh, 
 
 Out of the ivory palaces, above 
 
 Thy fellows, crowned the Prince of endless peace. 
 
 Thus sung they God, their Saviour; and themselves 
 Prepared complete to enter now with Christ, 
 Their living Head, into the Holy Place. 
 Behold the daughter of the King, the bride, 
 All glorious within ! the bride adorned, 
 Comely in broidery of gold ! behold. 
 She comes, apparelled ro}^ally, in robes 
 Of perfect righteousness; fair as the sun; 
 With all her virgins, her companions fair ; 
 Into the Palace of the King she comes ! 
 She comes to dwell for evermore! Awake, 
 Eternal harps ! awake, awake, and sing ! 
 The Lord, the Lord, our God Almighty, reigns ! 
 
 Thus the Messiah, with the hosts of bliss, 
 Entered the gates of heaven — unquestioned now — 
 Which closed behind them, to go out no more, 
 And stood accepted in his Father's sight ; 
 Before the glorious, everlasting throne, 
 Presenting all his saints ; not one was lost, 
 Of all that he in Covenant received : 
 
348 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And, having given the kingdom up, he sat, 
 Where now he sits and reigns, on the right hand 
 Of glory ; and our God is all in all. 
 
 Thus have I sung beyond thy first request, 
 Rolling my j lumbers o'er the track of man, 
 The world at dawn, at mid-day, and decline ; 
 Time gone, the righteous saved, the wicked damned, 
 And God's eternal government approved. 
 
 THE END 
 
014528 289 5 
 
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 a large stock oi I Miscellaneous Books. . 
 
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 In o. vol. 8vc. A complete and' 
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 Alfred P>. ^j-jucei'b Poems Sime style as above. 
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 Willis's Sacrfid Poems. In. a miniature vol. 
 The Lady of the L*ke. 16ir^. 
 
 ROG- :." PXEASL ;ES M-. . CaMPBELL's 
 
 .. 32mo. 
 Walker's Scj;<>0: 
 Abbott's Drav frine Series. 
 
 .TSACHE'IS AND PaRLNTS* MANUAL OF EDUCATION. ' 
 
 vVilHam F. Lyon. a. Ml., Principal of the 
 
 Irv.n" iiate. 
 
 Kings, dl Ukatork. 
 
 M'GuFFEY'fs Series of Eclectic Readers. Nob. 
 
 1.2, 3, 4. 'id o. ' 
 G^ttkk's Ana m am, 'kysiology. 
 
 A large Assortment of Books on all subjects relating 
 to Farming, Gardening, Fruits, Flowers, Cattle 
 
 Horses, &c. constantly on hand. 
 
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