Darkening the air precipitate, and gathered scatheless from the fire; The Himalayan peaks shall yield their charge, and the desolate steppes of Siberia, The Maelström disengulf its spoil, and the iceberg manumit its captive: All shall teem with life, the converging fragments of humanity, Till every conscious essence greet his individual frame; For in some dignified similitude, alike, yet different in glory, The hovel hath grown to a palace, the bulb hath burst into the flower, Amen,—and so it shall be :—but now, the scene is drear,— How shall I be reckless of thy weal, nor hope for thy perfection? Naples sitteth by the sea, keystone of an arch of azure, She laugheth at the wrath of Ocean, she mocketh the fury of Vesuvius, The noonday slumber and the midnight serenade, all these make up her Life; Her Life?-and what her Death ?-look we to the end of life,- And in the gloom of night, they raised the year-closed lid,—— The dead that only died this day,-as unconsidered offal! There, a stark white heap, unwept, unloved, uncared for, Old men and maidens, young men and infants, mingle in hideous corruption: Fling in the gnawing lime,-seal up the charnel for a year; For lo, a morrow's dawn hath tinged the mountain summit. O fair false city, thou gay and gilded harlot, Woe, for thy wanton heart; woe, for thy wicked hardness : Woe unto thee, that the lightsomeness of Life, beneath Italian suns, Should meet the solemnity of Death in a sepulchre so foul and fearful. For that, even to the best, the wise and pure and pious, Death, repulsive king, thine iron rule is terrible : Yea, and even at the best, in company of buried kindred, With hallowing rites, and friendly tears, and the dear old country church, Death, cold and lonely, thy frigid face is hateful, The bravest look on thee with dread, the humblest curse thy coming. Still, The grave, that goal of earth, and starting-post for heaven. Plant it with laurels, sprinkle it with lilies, set it upon yonder dewy hill, It is wise from cheerful sights and sounds to draw their gentle uses; Hide the facts, the bitter facts, the foul and fearful facts, Tend the body well in hope, this were praise and wisdom ; But to plunge in gloom the parting soul, that hath loved its clay tenement so long, This were vanity and folly, the counsel of moroseness and despair. Not thus the Scythian of old time welcomed Death with songs; In flowering trees hath nested up his forest-loving ancestry; (18) With store of violets and cowslips to be sprinkled on her snow-white shroud; Not thus the dying poet asketh a cheerful grave,— Lay him in the sunshine, friends, nor sorrow that a Christian hath departed! Yea, it is the poetry of Death, an Orpheus gladdening Hades, To care with mindful love for all so dear-and dead; To think of them in hope, to look for them in joy, and-but for its simple vanity, To pray with all the earnestness of nature for souls who cannot change. For the tree is felled, and boughed, and bare, and the Measurer standeth with his line; The chance is gone for ever, and is past the reach of prayer : For men and angels, good and ill, have rendered all their witness; The conscious spirit watcheth in unspeakable suspense; Racked with a fearful looking forward, or blissfully feeding on the fore taste, Waiting souls in cager expectation pass the solemn interval; They slumber not in death, but awaken, quickened to the terror of the judgment; They lie not insensate among darkness, but exult, looking to the light. Idiocy, brightening on the instant, when that veil is torn, Is grateful that his torpor here hath left him as an innocent; The young child, stricken as he played, and guileless babes unborn, Madness judgeth wisely, and the visions of the lunatic are gone, If, in God's wise purpose, the machine were shattered or confused, O Death, what art thou? a Lawgiver that never altereth. Fixing the consummating seal, whereby the deeds of life become established; O Death, what art thou? a stern and silent usher, Leading to the judgment for Eternity, after the trial scene of time; O Death, what art thou? an husbandman, that reapeth always, Out of season, as in season, with the sickle in his hand : O Death, what art thou? the shadow unto every substance, Of dread, for all have sinned; of hope, for One hath saved; OF IMMORTALITY. GIRD up thy mind to contemplation, trembling inhabitant of earth: Nor rust of rest, nor wear, nor waste, nor loss, nor chance, nor change, Thou art an imperishable leaf on the evergreen bay-tree of Existence; A word from Wisdom's mouth, that cannot be unspoken; A ray of Love's own light; a drop in Mercy's sea; A creature, marvellous and fearful, begotten by the fiat of Omnipotence. I, that speak in weakness, and ye, that hear in charity, Shall not cease to live and feel, though flesh must see corruption; For the prison-gates of matter shall be broken, and the shackled soul go free, Free, for good or ill, to satisfy its appetence for ever: For ever,—dreadful doom, to be hurried on eternally to evil,— For ever,-happy fate, to ripen into perfectness-for ever! And is there a thought within thy heart, O slave of sin and fear, A black and harmful hope, that erring spirit dieth! That primal disobedience hath ensured the death of soul, And separate evil sealed it thine-thy curse, Annihilation? Heed thou this; there is a Sacrifice; the Maker is Redeemer of his crea ture; Freely unto each, universally to all, is restored the privilege of essence: Whether unto grace or guilt, all must live through Him, Live in vital joy, or live in dying woe: Death in Adam, life in Christ; the curse hung upon the cross: |