"IT IS NOT GOOD THAT THE MAN SHOULD BE ALONE." (Gen. ii. 18.)
MYSTERIOUS Elohim! well did ye know,
When uttered these words that nature would show,
Like rest of creation paired "two and two,"
That man should not lack what Wisdom foreknew.
Thy plan all harmonious God of all space
In oneness united and founded in grace,
One solace ordained for man, thus alone,
And gave him a help-meet-bone of his bone.
Tho' Eden were pleasure-planted with care,-
Tho' breath of sweet Heaven perfumed the air,-
Tho' choicest of flowers, with colours most gay,
Tho' odours ambrosial round them should play,
Tho' fruits in abundance gratefully hang,
Tho' melodies soft as birds ever sang;
Yet all would but reign a wilderness wild,
Had Woman, the sweetest of flow'rs, ne'er smiled.
In a rose-scented bower, gracefully laid,
This beautiful flower was wondrously made;
The Architect, too, nor failed in His will.
Moulding and shaping with exquisite skill,
A rose hanging down gave blush to the face,
And angels, admiring, chaplets of grace;
When the Lord in His pow'er breathed in the
And woman, first-lived, to Adam was wife.
"AND THEY SHALL BE ONE FLESH." (") (Gen. ii. 24.)
HERE we see oneness again in design,
Which oneness of end our thoughts should confine
That oneness of heart, which never should roam,
Never found wandering a stranger from home:
That oneness of thought, which ever must be
Where two are united, and would but agree:
That oneness of love which makes up the sum
Of happiness here and life yet to come.
Vain man! for whom it was wisely ordained
Two to be one, and creation maintained,
Regard this command as holy and good,
Nor deem it an act that may be withstood.
Let the stronger but help the weak in her need,
The weaker submit in will and in deed;
Let oneness prevail in action and thought;
And surely you'll find the happiness sought.
Survey but the worlds that round you now roll,
This oneness you'll find pervading the whole.
In atoms or systems the law is but ONE,
Unity-order
- more perfect there's none. Or leaving the creature, the Godhead we see One Essence in Unity-Trinity Three. Should man then, in pride, all harmony break, This law of his God-this Oneness forsake?
"AND GOD BLESSED THEM."
(Gen. i. 28.)
THIS Marriage of Earth-first solemnly made,
When God led the Bride in beauty arrayed,
When anthems of joy swelled the heavenly choir,
Chanting the blessing of holy desire!
And who can describe half the bliss of the soul,
As warmly that blessing defianced control
As first beamed the eye with mutual delight,
And heart beat responsive vows which they plight.
Can mortal faint picture what Eden beheld,
On that happy morn the nuptials were hailed :-
When Eve in her beauteous simplicity smiled,
And God gave the Bride-his own lovely child.-
What voices seraphic undulate round,-
What angels attune their harps to the sound,-
What loud Hallelujahs the firmament cleave,-
When man and his wife God's blessing receive!
"Twas in Eden - this wondrous blessing was given
Before man had sinned and from it was driven:
"Twas in Innocence-ere Guilt, yet unknown,
One stain of pollution on it had thrown.
E'en so it is now-my readers beware:
Now to be happy-His blessing to share―
Vows must be pledged at the altar of Grace,
And Innocence modestly circle its base.
JOB answered and said, in the strength of his cause
"I honour my God, and obey all his laws;
If balanced, these griefs and losses together,
The sand of the sea would be light as a feather.
Oh, had I but words to express what I feel!
But words are all wanting my griefs to reveal.
The arrows of God have embittered my tears,
Have poisoned my spirit and shortened my years.
With plenty of grass, doth the ass ever bray?
Or ox, that is foddered with choicest of hay?
Can that which is tasteless be relished at all?
Give me but your reasons,—'twill season the gall.
Do you think I'm foolish-do you think I'm mad?
Do you think I've no wisdom, altho' I'm sad?
When affliction weighs heavy, friends should be
'Tis afflictions, indeed, which prove them sincere. But where is the friend that so often could say, 'I'll be thy friend still, gather clouds as they may.' Not one do I find of the numerous throng
That crowded my table and praised me in song. But faithless, and godless, and thankless are all, Like brooks and like streams that now rise and then fall,
O'erflooded from snow or with ice that is black, When once it is warm-they all turn their back; They vanish and melt, and not one is there found, And this they call Friendship-a name but in sound.
MOONLIGHT MEDITATIONS. (©)
FAIR moon, now shining full with silv'ry orb,
Without one drifting cloud to mar thy light,
I love to contemplate thy placid face,
And trace thy progress thro' the silent night.
There is a charm—a soul-creative power,
Darts from thy rays-I scarce know why-
Whether the stillness of the scene affects-
Or twinkling stars that deck thy canopy.
There is a sympathy which clings to thee,
As if my weary spirit there would rest;
And unalloyed with mortal pains or fear,
Waft to thy realms, and be for ever blest.
I fancy, as I sit upon this mossy bank,
I hear a thousand voices join in song;
Distant and faint, like some angelic choir,
Spirits that dwell with thee and glide thee on.
I oft reflect, and seek to know the cause,
Why varied phases mark thy circuit round:
Now brightly shining, lit as if from heaven,
Now veiled in gloom, nor trace of thee be found
Is it a lamp to watch our midnight rest,
Or guide the traveller homeward on his way?
Is it for justice formed, when sullen frowns
To man predict the gloomy judgment-day?
Is it a type of youth of age of death?
Of opening childhood, and its fairy dreams?
Or jewelled manhood's full sublimity,
Or life receding in thy waning beams?
|