Can'st thou say so, true love?
Time, that wears all away,
Will lay me low!
Both voices. Again we'll sport, as we have done,
Round the tree, over the lea;
Nature then shall smile again,
And who so blithe and blest as we ?
Sweet the bird shall sing on the tree,
And sweet the sun rise over the sea!
DWELLER in heaven high, Ruler below!
Fain would I know thee, yet tremble to know!
How can a mortal deem, how may it be,
That being can ne'er be but present with thee?
Is it true that thou sawest me ere I saw the morn?
Is it true that thou knewest me before I was born?
That nature must live in the light of thine eye?—
This knowledge for me is too great and too high !
That, fly I to noon-day, or fly I to night,
To shroud me in darkness, or bathe me in light,
The light and the darkness to thee are the same,
And still in thy presence of wonder I am?
Should I with the dove to the desert repair,
Or dwell with the eagle in clough of the air:
In the desert afar-on the mountain's wild brink-
From the eye of Omnipotence still must I shrink?
Or mount I, on wings of the morning, away
To caves of the ocean, unseen by the day,
And hide in these uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there to be living and moving in thee !
Nay, scale I the cloud, in the heavens to dwell,
Or make I my bed in the shadows of hell,
Can science expound, or humanity frame,
That still thou art present, and all are the same?
Yes, present for ever! Almighty! Alone!
Great Spirit of nature! unbounded! unknown!
What mind can embody thy presence divine?
I know not my own being! how can I thine?
Then humbly and low in the dust let me bend,
And adore what on earth I can ne'er comprehend:
The mountains may melt, and the elements flee,
Yet an universe still be rejoicing in thee !*
On Carmel's brow the wreathy vine
Had all its honours shed;
And, o'er the vales of Palestine,
A sickly paleness spread :
When the old seer, by vision led
And energy sublime,
Into that shadowy region sped,
To muse on distant time.
This hymn was introduced into the tale of THE BROWNIE of Bons. BECK, and is to be found there, in the first edition.
He saw the valleys far and wide,
But sight of joy was none;
He looked o'er many a mountain's side,
But silence reigned alone;
Save that a boding voice sung on
By wave and waterfall.
As still, in harsh and heavy tone,
Deep unto deep did call.
On Kison's strand, and Ephratah,
The hamlets thick did lie;
No wayfarer between he saw,
No Asherite passed by!
No maiden at her task did ply,
Nor sportive child was seen;
The lonely dog barked wearily
Where dwellers once had been.
Oh! beauteous were the palaces
On Jordan wont to be;
And still they glimmered to the breeze,
Like stars beneath the sea :-
But vultures held their jubilee
Where harp and cymbal rung;
And there, as if in mockery,
The baleful satyr sung.
But, oh! that prophet's visioned eye,
On Carmel that reclined!
It looked not on the times gone by,
But those that were behind;
His grey hair streamed upon the wind,-
His hands were raised on high,-
As, mirrored on his mystic mind,
Arose futurity!
He saw the feast in Bozrah spread,
Prepared in ancient day;
Eastward, away the eagle sped,
And all the birds of prey.
"Who's this," he cried,
Of Edom, all divine,
Travelling in splendour, whose array
Is red, but not with wine?
"Blest be the herald of our King,
That comes to set us free!
The dwellers of the rock shall sing,
And utter praise to thee!
Tabor and Hermon yet shall see
Their glories glow again,
And blossoms spring on field and tree,
That ever shall remain.
“The happy child, in dragon's way,
Shall frolic with delight!
The lamb shall round the leopard play,
And all in love unite!
The dove on Zion's hill shall light,
That all the world must see;
Hail to the Journeyer in his might,
That comes to set us free!"
WHITHER journeyest thou?
Where dost thou dwell?
Dwell'st thou in the rainbow,
Or hills of Israel?
Beauteous guardian angel
Tarry here with me;
Or guide me through the twilight,
Far, far, with thee.
The young and fair
We'll guard with care,
From every snare
And treachery.
Kind the heart that needs no suing!
Sweet the toil when good we're doing!
Sweet the toil, &c. &c.
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