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 - — . .' : — 
 
 4ND OTHER POEMS 
 
 BY. J.W. BURG ON 
 
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 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVER? TY OF J 
 CALIFORNIA J 
 
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 P E T E A, 
 
 AND OTHER POEMS. 
 
P E T R A, 
 
 A POEM. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 TO WHICH A FEW SHORT POEM& 
 ARE NOW ADDED. 
 
 JOHN WILLIAM BURGON, B.A. 
 
 OF WORCESTER COLLEGE. 
 
 Ucivv 5?) A EI xpV arT ^ A.e'7e«/ rifJias. 
 
 ARISTOPHANES 
 
 OXFORD : 
 
 F. MACPHEESO N. 
 
 M DCC'C XL VI. 
 
LOAN STACK 
 
 OXFORD : 
 miNTED BY I. SHRIMr-TON. 
 
DAWSON TURNER, ESQ., M. A., 
 
 L.L.D., F.R., A., & L.S., etc. 
 
 OF GREAT YARMOUTH, 
 
 IN REMEMBRANCE 
 
 OF MUCH PERSONAL KINDNESS, 
 
 THIS LITTLE VOLUME 
 
 IS VERY GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED. 
 
 699 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Tetra .13 
 
 The Saint's-Day Sermon (1842.) . ... 40 
 
 Additional Stanzas. (Advent, 1845.) . . . .14 
 To the Flower called "Peristeria Elata." — Sonnet . 4^t 
 
 The Momh of March -10 
 
 A Passage from the Book of Exodi's . . . .52 
 
 Another 54 
 
 A Fireside Fancy. — Sonnet 56 
 
 Christian Names. — Sonnet 57 
 
 Ruth to Naomi ......... 58 
 
 L'Envoy ... 59 
 
 ?6~3 
 
 E>?57 
 
 pet 
 
PREFAC E. 
 
 A Second Edition of Petea has been called for ; 
 and the writer avails himself of the opportunity to 
 make several corrections, chiefly verbal, throughout. 
 It has not been thought necessary to repeat on the 
 title-page that it was " a Prize Poem, recited in the 
 Theatre, Oxford, June 4, 1845;" but the circum- 
 stance, however unimportant, may be allowed to find a 
 record here. 
 
 A few short Poems, written at different periods, but 
 now printed for the first time, are subjoined. The 
 favour which Petea has enjoyed, suggests the hope 
 that these trifles, which have hitherto appealed only 
 in manuscript to the sympathies of private friends, 
 may not be thought unworthy the perusal of a larger 
 circle. 
 
 Worcester College, 
 Feb., 1846. 
 
PETRA,— 
 
 The capital of that portion of Arabia which is thence 
 called Petraea, — occupies a mountain-hollow in the rocky 
 region known to the readers of Scripture by the name of 
 Seir ; a territory which extends from the north-eastern 
 extremity of the Arabian gulph to the south of the Dead 
 Sea ; and which the Almighty assigned to the Edomitcs, 
 or the descendants of Esau. It is twice mentioned in the 
 Bible by the equivalent Hebrew name Selah, ox the RocJc : 
 and thenceforward, (namely, from the seventh or eighth cen- 
 tury before our sera,) it obtains no further notice for four 
 hundred years. During this interval, the Nabathaeans, or 
 descendants of Nebaioth, the eldest son of Ishmael, had 
 expelled the Edomites from their ancient stronghold, and 
 driven them northward ; where their territory was recog- 
 nised for a few centuries under the Hellenized name of 
 Iduma?a. Then it was that one portion of the prophecy 
 concerning the descendants of Esau obtained its fulfil- 
 ment : they faded from the world's eye, and ceased to be 
 a nation. 
 
 Petraea, henceforth part of the Nabathsean territory, 
 became a Roman province ; and Petra, as some ancient 
 historians relate, and as its astonishing ruins abundantly 
 
14 
 
 testify, continued to be its wealthy and nourishing capital. 
 It obtains some slight Ecclesiastical notice so late as the 
 sixth century : but from that time it suddenly disappears 
 from the page of history ; and the doom pronounced on 
 the land of the Edomites was entirely accomplished. Pe- 
 tra had continued wholly unknown for twelve hundred 
 years, when the adventurous Burckhardt discovered its 
 ruins in 1812. 
 
 Some valuable and interesting notices of this wonderful 
 city and the surrounding region, are found in the second 
 volume of Dr. Robinson's Biblical Researches ; but the 
 pencil of Roberts has told the story of the present state of 
 Edom better than any pen. 
 
ARGUMENT. 
 
 Sacked associations allow us to regard the land of 
 Edom almost as the birth-place of song. — In the desolation 
 with which it has been visited, Petra has shared largely. — 
 Enviable feelings of the Traveller who discovered its forgot- 
 ten site. — The magnificent scenery around Petra, — recalling 
 the miracle of the Exode. — Wonderful approach to the city. 
 — Meditation on its beautiful ruins. — The grandeur — gaiety 
 (suggested by the remains of a theatre) — and flourishing 
 condition of Petra in the time of the Romans, — from 
 which, in common with the rest of the cities of Edom, it 
 fell by some awful, but unrecorded, visitation. — The early 
 and later state of the surrounding country contrasted. — 
 Its present barrenness exhibits the fulfilment of the pro- 
 phecies concerning it ; denounced chiefly in consequence 
 of the hostility of the Edomites against the children of 
 Israel. 
 
 The Poem concludes by contrasting the hopeless desola- 
 tion of Edom and the extinction of Esau's descendants, 
 with the prospects of the Holy Land, and the glorious pro- 
 mises in store for the posterity of Jacob. 
 
" The fride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou 
 that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habi- 
 tation is high ; that saith in his heart, who shall 
 bring me down to the ground? 
 
 "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and 
 though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence 
 will i bring thee down, saith the lord." 
 
 Obadiah. 
 
i e 1 1 a< 
 
 Spirit of Song ! that oft at dewy eve, 
 When Elfin sprites their frolic dances weave, 
 Meetest the poet as he walks unseen 
 The twilight valley, or the dusky green ; — 
 Or by some mountain lake's romantic brim 
 Wakest the drowsy echoes, all for him ; — 
 And many a time art well content to stray 
 Where garden-alleys quench the blaze of day, 
 And small birds sing, and bubbling fountains play ; 
 Know'st thou the land — a land of giant mould — 
 By Heav n assign'd to Edom's race of old a ? 
 
 "I have given Mount Seir unto Esau for a possession." Deut. ii. 5. 
 B 
 
18 
 
 Where rocks on rocks — on mountains mountains pil'd — 
 Have form'd a scene so wondrous and so wild, 
 That gazing there man seems to gaze upon 
 The rough rude ocean frozen into stone ? 
 Full well thou know'st ! for sure, when Israel wound 
 His homeward journey o'er that hallow'd ground, — 
 Forc'd in the depths of those wild hills to wait, 
 And kneel, a suppliant, at his brother's gate, — 
 While burning anthems rose from many a tongue, . 
 Not coldly mute the harp of Judah hung ! 
 And did not one, in yet remoter time, 
 Wake there the ' birth-notes of the holy chime r ' 
 Doth not to Edom's rugged land belong 
 The man of Uz — the Morning-star of song b ! 
 Yea, and to Fancy's ear, o'er rock and hill 
 More solemn harpings there are floating still. 
 Harps that long since have been attun'd above 
 To hymns of joy, and seraph-lays of love, 
 In awful strains from many a trembling wire 
 Have pour'd o'er Edom words of deepest ire ! 
 
 b Job i. I. — The date commonly assigned to this Book, the most an- 
 cient in the world, is B. C. 1520. — The land where Job dwelt, (which 
 seems to have derived its name from Uz, the grandson of Shem, Gen. x. 
 23.) is identified with Edom by the prophet Jeremiah, Lament, iv. 21. 
 
19 
 
 Words that yet live and burn — in whose keen ray \ 
 
 The light and life of Eclom ebb'd away : 
 
 Still fading, star-like, from the blaze of day c ! 
 
 And thou too, Petra, tho' the Roman came 
 
 And fann'd thy dying glories into flame ; 
 
 Rear'd the tall column — spread the stately dome — 
 
 And seem'd the founder of a second Rome, — 
 
 How brief the pageant d ! On thy dying brow 
 
 Men laid a crown — but who shall crown thee now ? 
 
 A thousand summers o'er thy ruins crept : 
 
 A thousand winters o'er thy ruins wept : 
 
 A thousand years — and still the very spot 
 
 Where once thou wert so glorious, was forgot! 
 
 What joy was his — the wandering man, who first 
 Dissolv'd the spell ! — on whom the Vision burst 
 Of that enchanted City, as it lay 
 Bath'd in the splendours of a Syrian day. 
 O Fancy, thou that must so oft have shed 
 Dreams of its beauty round his sleeping head ; 
 Woke in his heart the wild-bird's wish to roam, 
 And told of marvels in that mountain-home ; 
 
 The prophecies concerning Edom, in fulness and minuteness," are 
 second only to those concerning the chosen people of God. 
 
 d "Whereas Edom saith,We are impoverished, but we will return and 
 build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of Hosts, They shall build, 
 but I will throw clown." Malachi i. 4. 
 
 b2 
 
20 
 
 Still be it thine with angel-hand to guide 
 These longing footsteps by that Traveler's side ! 
 Waft o'er mine ear one echo of the strain 
 Which dark-ey'd Kedar pours along the plain ; 
 Or let one gaze, how brief soe'er, inspire 
 These falt'ring lips to glow with Eastern fire ! 
 Sudden, — around me, rocks and cliffs arise ; 
 The earth their footstool, and their crown the skies : 
 Some — soaring steep, — as if to curtain round 
 From mortal gaze each nook of holy ground : 
 Some — prostrate hurl'd, — as if by that fierce storm 
 Which rent the mountains, when th' Almighty form 
 ' Rose up from Seir ; ' and trembling Sinai saw 
 His thousand Saints dispense His fiery law e . 
 And one there is which, beetling o'er the rest, 
 Pillows a Prophet on its rocky crest f : 
 
 e The scene of terrific splendour which attended the delivery of the 
 Law, so dimly hinted at in the Book of Exodus, is partly disclosed in 
 later portions of the Bible. Thus in Deuteronomy, (xxxiii. 2;) "The 
 Loud came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them ; he gained forth 
 from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his 
 right hand went a fiery law for them." Compare Ps. lxviii. 17, and 
 the references to the New Testament in the margin. See also the seventh 
 and eighth verses of the same Psalm ; which seem a quotation from the 
 Song of Deborah and Barak. 
 
 f " And Moses did as the Lord commanded : and they went up into 
 Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped 
 
21 
 
 Uplifted high — where none but stars may keep 
 Their bright-ey'd vigils round his saintly sleep : 
 Or rushing winds from Pisgah's kindred height 
 Pour a wild requiem through the noon of night. 
 Fit scene for marvels ! In such land should none 
 But giants move, and giant deeds be done. 
 O'er such huge hills might fitly seem to stray 
 A ransom'd people on their homeward way. 
 In such wild valleys, round then- ark rever'd, 
 At set of sun their myriad tents be rear'd. 
 Myriads ! and yet, above them and around, 
 Such giant features of the landscape frown'd, 
 They seem'd no more — that people and their guide- 
 Than Jethro's flock on Horeb's hallow'd side ! 
 
 Ah say, ere gather' d in their destin'd fold, 
 While Israel wander'd o'er this waste of old ; 
 As, eve by eve, upon these mountains brown, 
 Silent as snow the heavenly bread came down ; — 
 From the cleft rock as gush'd the sparkling wave 
 To cheer their sinking spirits, and to save ; — 
 And the bright pillar, through the livelong night, 
 Shed o'er then- tents its soft celestial light ; — 
 
 Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son ; and Ja) 
 died there in the top of the Mount:' Numb. xx. 27, 28. 
 
22 
 
 Did none perchance of Judah's faithful line 
 
 Read the high teaching of each heav'n-sent sign e r 
 
 Say — while around him others pin'd forlorn 
 
 For Canaan's valleys ' standing thick with corn' — 
 
 Did no fond heart, with nobler instinct fraught, 
 
 Sigh for the substance which those shadows taught r 
 
 On trembling pinions seek to soar above, 
 
 Refin'd by sorrow, and sublim'd by love, — 
 
 Till Faith discern'd what Reason dimly scann'd, 
 
 And Hope gave promise of the better Land ? 
 
 Still on for Petra, — till the desert wide 
 Shrinks to a valley ; and on either side 
 The rude rock springeth, and a long array 
 Of tombs, forgotten, sadden all the way h . 
 Then the earth yawns, terrific : and a path. 
 By Nature fram'd in waywardness or wrath, 
 Winds where two rocks precipitously frown, — 
 The giant warders of that wondrous town'! 
 
 K The spiritual intent of both Sacraments was clearly set forth by Moses 
 in the wilderness. Dent. viii. 3, and x. 16. 
 
 h " The valley contracts more and more, and the cliffs become higher, 
 
 presenting on each side a street of tombs Here is the oponing of 
 
 the terrific chasm, which anciently formed the only avenue to the city 
 on this side." Robinson, ii. p. 515, 516. 
 
 1 " The rocks are all of reddish Band-stone, perpendicular on both 
 sidei ; and in some places they overhang the passage, sn as almost to 
 
23 
 
 Day comes not here, — or in such spectral guise, 
 She seems an outcast from yon happy skies. 
 In silent awe the Arab steals along, 
 Nor cheers his camels with their wonted song. 
 Well may the spirit, left alone to brood 
 On the dim shapes which haunt that solitude, 
 O'erflow with joy — that dreary pathway past — 
 When Petra bursts upon the gaze at last. 
 O passing beautiful — in this wild spot 
 Temples, and tombs, and dwellings, — all forgot ! 
 One sea of sunlight far around them spread, 
 And skies of sapphire mantling overhead. 
 They seem no work of man's creative hand, 
 Where Labour wrought as wayward Fancy plann'd ; 
 But from the rock as if by magic grown, 
 Eternal — silent — beautiful — alone ! 
 Not virgin white — like that old Doric shrine k 
 Where once Athena held her rites divine : 
 Not saintly grey — like many a minster fane 
 
 shut out the light of the sky. . . . Indeed the whole vast mass of rock 
 seems as if originally rent asunder by some great convulsion of nature, 
 leaving behind this long, narrow, winding, magnificent chasm." Ibid. 
 p. 516. 
 
 k The Parthenon was constructed of the marble from Mount Pente- 
 licOB, — "admitting as fine a surface, and presenting as beautiful a colour, 
 as ivory." Leake's Athens, 1. p. 334. 
 
24 
 
 That crowns the hill, or sanctifies the plain : 
 But rosy -red 1 , — as if the blush of dawn 
 Which first beheld them were not yet withdrawn : 
 The hues of youth upon a brow of woe, 
 Which men call'd old two thousand years ago ! 
 Match me such marvel, save in Eastern clime, — 
 A rose-red city — ' half as old as Time ! ' 
 
 And this is Petra — this the lofty boast 
 Of Edom's once unconquerable coast ! 
 These the gay halls thro' which, in days of old, 
 The tide of life so rapturously roll'd ! 
 These the proud streets where Wealth, with lavish hand, 
 Pour'd the rich spoils of ev'ry Orient land ; 
 All that the seaman's timid barque beguiles, 
 To Cush and Ophir, ' Tarshish and the Isles :' 
 Afric's red gold, — Arabia's spicy store, — 
 And pearl and plume from India's furthest shore 111 ! 
 
 1 "Not the least remarkable circumstance in the peculiarities of this 
 singular spot, is the colour of the rocks. They present not a dead mass 
 of dull monotonous red ; but an endless variety of bright and living hues, 
 from the deepest crimson to the softest pink." Robinson, ii. 531 . Irby 
 and Mangles, and Laborde, repeatedly notice the siugular effect of the 
 " rose-coloured granite" of Petra. 
 
 m " The inhabitants of this region had early become extremely en- 
 gaged in commerce, as the carriers of the rich products of the East 
 between the Red Sea and the ports of the Phcnicians. In the first 
 expedition sent by Antigonus, the men of Petra were absent at a mart, 
 and AthemTUs found in Petra a large quantity of frankincense and myrrh, 
 
25 
 
 How chang'd — how fallen ! All her glory fled, 
 
 The widow'd city 11 mourns her many dead. 
 
 Like some fond heart which gaunt Disease hath left 
 
 Of all it liv'd for — all it lov'd, bereft ; 
 
 Mute in its anguish ! struck with pangs too deep 
 
 For words to utter, or for tears to weep. 
 
 Yet hearts and eyes there be, well skill'd to trace 
 The living features in the lifeless face, 
 For whom that silent desert air seems rife 
 With tuneful voices and the pidse of life. 
 For them sweeps by in glitt'ring pomp again 
 The warlike pageant and the peaceful train : 
 For them bright shadows fill these vacant halls, 
 And Beauty wakes where'er their footstep falls. 
 " Heard ye it not?" — the bright-ey'd dreamer cries, — 
 " Heard ye no shout from yonder seats arise ?" 
 
 and five hundred talents of silver. Strabo relates that the merchandise 
 of India and Arabia was transported on camels from Leuce Koine to 
 Petra, and thence to Rhinocolura, and other places. Under the Romans 
 this trade appears to have become still more prosperous," &c. Robinson, 
 ii. 5til,562. 
 
 D On the coins of Petra, the city is represented as a veiled and tur- 
 reted female sitting on a rock. Cf. Jeremiah, Lament, i. 1. 
 
 ° One of the first objects which arrests the eye of the traveller, on 
 emerging from the terrific defile which forms the approach to Petra, is 
 
 a " theatre, wholly hewn out of the live rock The cliffs on each side 
 
 are full of tombs; while in front, along the face of the eastern cliffs, the 
 eye of the spectator rests on a multitude of the largest and most splendid 
 
26 
 
 (And his rapt gaze in ecstasy is bent 
 
 On what seems Pleasure's mournful monument.) 
 
 " Ye deem the actor and his mimic rage 
 
 " Pass'd like a shadow from yon ruin'd stage ; 
 
 " But to mine eye he lives and moves : — 'tis tee 
 
 " Are shadows here — the substance only he ! 
 
 " Or do I dream ? — they come and fade so fast — 
 
 " Now here, now there, — now present, and now past. 
 
 " But now, a stern old KingP, — whom anguish strong 
 
 " Had goaded into madness, — stalk'd along, 
 
 " Sightless and crownless : . . . . now, a Maiden i stands 
 
 " Ev'n where he stood ; and in her lily hands 
 
 " Enfolds an urn : ineffable the grace, — 
 
 " The marble sorrow of that classic face ! 
 
 " It fades — 'tis fled ! . . . . and on a lofty car 
 
 " There sits another 1 : like some baleful star 
 
 " Glares her wild eye s ; — and from her lips of ire 
 
 sepulchres. Strange contrast ! where a taste for the frivolities of the day, 
 was at the same time gratified by the magnificence of tombs ; amuse- 
 ment iu a cemetery; a theatre in the midst of sepulchres." Robinson, 
 ii. p. 521, 522. 
 
 r CEdipus. — See the CKd. Tyr. v. 1307, and following verses. 
 
 1 Electra. — See the passage beginning 3> cpiATaTov /xyrifiuov avQpw- 
 ttwv i/J-oi. Soph. El. 1126. 
 
 r Cassandra:— jEsch. Ag. 1039. 1054. 
 
 • Ibid. 1003. -rpoiros 5s (h;pbs d'S veaipirov. 
 
27 
 
 " Streams a full torrent of prophetic fire 1 . 
 
 " She raves, — she rises, — and with frenzied hand 
 
 " Dashes to earth her garland and her wand u .... 
 
 " Sublimely beautiful ! When this is o'er 
 
 " Let nothing follow. — I will gaze no more !" 
 
 And did ye thus, ye men of Petra, — say, 
 Thus did ye while the listless hours away ? 
 Tho' ev'ry cliff, tho" ev'ry crag around, 
 With graves on graves innumerable frown'd, — 
 Thus could ye sit, contented with a toy, 
 And lapt in dreams of unsubstantial joy ? 
 Light-hearted race ! o : er them it flung no gloom 
 That Echo answer'd from a kinsman's tomb. 
 Bred in these mountain valleys, those dark eyes, 
 Fierce as their summer, — cloudless as their skies, — 
 Belov'd and loving, — blest and blessing, — here 
 Made friends with Death throughout the livelong year v : 
 
 1 Ibid. 1215. vir' av fie fitivbs dpOofxavrelas izovos \ arpo^e7, 
 Ta.pa.aawv <ppoi/j.iois i(p7]/J.iots, k. t. A. 
 
 Xt is<pd6poi/ ireaovT. See ibid. 1264 — 1270. 
 
 ' " In looking at the wonders of this ancient city, one is at a loss 
 whether most to admire the wildness of the position and natural sce- 
 nery, or the taste and skill with which it was fashioned into a secure 
 retreat, and adorned with splendid structures, — chiefly for the dead. The 
 most striking feature of the place consists, not in the fact that there are 
 occasional excavations and sculptures like those above described; but in 
 the innumerable multitude of such excavations, along the whole extent 
 
28 
 
 And hop'd, perchance, when Life's gay round was o'er, 
 And joy and sorrow sway'd their hearts no more, 
 Their faithful souls, unfetter'd, yet might dwell 
 Amid the haunts they lov'd in life so well ! 
 And Petra thus had rear'd another race 
 In turn to revel in her ' pride of place :' 
 Thus the old eagles of imperial Rome 
 Seem'd on her hills to find a second home : 
 And Roman arts with Roman anus arose, 
 To hlot the mem'ry of her former foes. 
 Tho' Edom's line, by Ishmael's x sword opprest, 
 Had long been exil'd from their rock-built nest, 
 On Edom's rugged hills, as loath to set, 
 The sun of bygone summers linger'd yet : 
 And men forgot, — or deem'd an idle tale, — 
 The words of doom that hung o'er Petra's vale. 
 It could not be ! — that old portentous chime 
 So long had slumber'd by the shores of Time, 
 
 of perpendicular rocks adjacent to the main area, and in all the lateral 
 valleys and chasms ; the entrances of very many of which are variously, 
 richly, and often fantastically decorated, with every imaginable order 
 and style of architecture." Robinson, ii. 529, 530. •' Indeed through- 
 out almost every quarter of this metropolis, the depositories of the dead 
 must have presented themselves constantly to the eyes of the inhabitants, 
 and have almost outnumbered the habitations of the living." Irby and 
 Mangles (quoted by Laborde.) 
 
 ' See the Advertisement prefixed to the Poem. 
 
29 
 
 Why heed it now ? why talk of gloom to-day. 
 When Heav'n is blue, and Earth so green and gay 
 
 So spake the men of old ; and ev'ry heart 
 To festive revel, or to crowded mart, 
 Flew for its joy, — not oft'ner sought than found, — 
 So gaily there the circling hours went round ! 
 And nurs'd were they in Luxury — and knew 
 The spot of earth where ev'ry pleasure grew. 
 Their fountains flung their waters to the skies : 
 Their groves lay steep'd in hues of Paradise v : 
 Here rose the gorgeous sepulchre, and there 
 Some fairy palace hung its roof in air : 
 While climes remote each costly gift supplied, 
 (For ships of Petra swam on ev'ry tide ;) 
 And all the East, in conscious splendour, roll'd 
 At Petra' s feet her jewels and her gold z . 
 
 O that her rocks had language ! and might tell 
 In what wild shape the storm of vengeance fell a . 
 
 y Ta fx€V curbs (says Strabo, speaking of Petra) Kprjfxvov airoT6jxov, 
 ra 5' ivrbs irriyas acpGovovs ix 0VT0S e & T6 vZpeiav /ecu kt)-ku<xv. 
 xvi. 4. 21. (quoted by Robinson.) 
 
 1 A friend has pointed out to me the following passage in the Chris- 
 tian Year, which I must have unconsciously imitated in this couplet: — 
 The orphan'd realm threw wide her gates, and told 
 Into freed Israel's lap her jewels and her gold. 
 See Robinson, ii. 575, 576. 
 
30 
 
 Swift — sweeping — sudden — whensoe'er it came ; 
 Blighting and blasting, — like the breath of flame. 
 One piercing cry, — one agonizing wail, — 
 One voice from Edom's cities told the tale : 
 One cry of bitterness, — and all was o'er ! 
 But the far echo smote the Red-Sea shore b ; 
 And peal'd along its waters — till the waves 
 Made hollow answer from their coral caves c ! 
 
 How chang'd, O Edom, since that hour, the scene 
 From what the morning of thy days had been ! 
 When many a valley rich with corn and wine, 
 When streams of Earth, and dews of Heav'n were thine ; 
 And flocks and herds — a patriarch's ample store — r 
 Till all thy cup with plenteousness ran o'er d . 
 Then Faith e with thee her sacred mansion made ; 
 And holy lips, within thy summer shade, 
 
 k " Hear the counsel of the Lord that He hath taken against Edom 
 
 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the err, the noise 
 
 thereof was heard in the Red Sea." Jer. xlix. 20, 21. 
 
 c An Italian traveller relates of his voyage on the Red Sea, "that the 
 weather was so calm, and the water so transparent, that he amused 
 himself by observing the peculiarity of the depths beneath him; where 
 weeds and corals grow to such a size, and so disposed, as almost to have 
 the appearance of groves and gardens." 
 
 d The terms of Esau's blessing (Gen. xxvii. 39.) well agree with what 
 we read of the pastoral wealth of Job. (Job i. 3.) See also the evidence 
 of a similar kind afforded by Numb. xx. 17 : but " He turneth rivers into 
 a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground ; a fruitful land into 
 barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein." 
 
 e Job xix. 25—27. 
 
31 
 
 Of bright Arcturus and Orion told ; — 
 And the sweet sway the wand "ring Pleiads hold f ;- 
 And of the matin hymn which burst sublime 
 From all creation at the birth of Time ; 
 When ' Earth self-balanc'd on its centre hung,' 
 And ' all the morning stars ' like seraphs sung s. . . 
 Such were the themes thy children lov'd to hear 
 When first they dwelt along the vales of Seir : 
 While youths and maids from each romantic town 
 Went forth in dances when the sun went down ; 
 And antique tale, and legendary song, 
 And harp and timbrel h made the night less long. 
 
 But who are these 1 that kneel in lowly state, 
 And plead for love at Petra's haughty gate ; 
 That urge by each endearing claim their prayer ?— 
 Thy kindred, Edom, — the redeem'd are there ! 
 
 ' " Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the 
 
 bands of Orion Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons ?" Job 
 
 xxxviii. 31, 32. See also ix. 9. 
 
 g Job xxxviii. 7. 
 
 b " They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children 
 dance. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the 
 organ." Job xxi. 11, 12. 
 
 * See the account of the application made by Moses for leave to con- 
 duct the Israelites, after their forty years' wandering in the desert, across 
 the mountains of Edom, which was the shortest road towards the Land 
 of Promise. Numb. xx. 14 — 21. 
 
32 
 
 Scan well that brow, — and dost thou mark no line, 
 No stamp of feature that resembles thine r 
 Does nought recall an old ancestral tale : — 
 Two brothers bred in Hebron's happy vale ; — 
 Far Mamre's oak — where blaz'd their altar fires ; — 
 And Mamre's cave — where sleep your common sires 
 Or if such plea, all cruel as thou art ! 
 Can wake no softness in thy savage heart, 
 Yet feel for these — the youthful and the fair, 
 The weary mother, and her fainting care ! 
 Yea, feel for all, — the mighty orphan host k , 
 Which God, in love, hath guided to thy coast ; — 
 Borne up on eagles' wings, — and fondly fed 
 With angels' food, — and through the desert led 
 By cloud and flame ; — and now, their wand'rings o'er, 
 Speeds on their way to Canaan's quiet shore. — 
 But what spake Edom ? Taunting words of ill, — 
 And that keen knife, — a brother's threat to kill ! 
 
 1 It can scarcely be necessary to suggest in illustration of the preced- 
 ing verses the history of Isaac's two sons: — Mamre, (or Hebron) where 
 Abraham "built an altar to the Lord" (Gen. xiii. 18), (Who visited him 
 there with two angels, on the mysterious occasion when the patriarch 
 " stood by them under the tree and they did eat,") and where he himself 
 resided ; and after him, Isaac, (and Jacob too :) — the cave of Machpelah, 
 where Abraham and Sarah were buried, and where F.sau and Jacob 
 buried their father Isaac: — and the circumstance that all but two of 
 
33 
 
 Of all the past no image fill'd his eye 
 But Jacob's blessing — Esau's bitter cry : — 
 He bar'd his sword ! — On that unnatural day 
 A curse came down when Israel turn'd away. 
 
 Years sped their course : the fierce Chaldean came, 
 And Salem's walls were wrapt in robes of flame : 
 Fair Sion"s height with carnage all o'erspread ; 
 Her temple fallen, and its glory fled : 
 And thou wert there ! with unrelenting brow 
 The first to slay — the first to triumph, thou 1 ! 
 Foremost to hurl the blazing brand m , and fill 
 The festive cup on Sion's holy hill"! 
 Could none be found but thee ? Could wrath divine 
 Be dealt on Judah by no hand but thine ? 
 
 those who entered the Land of Promise had lost their parents in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 1 " For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover 
 thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever .... In the day that the strangers 
 carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, 
 and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou 
 shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he 
 became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children 
 of Judah in the day of their destruction ; neither shouldest thou have 
 spoken proudly in the day of distress .... Neither shouldest thou have 
 stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape," &c. Obad. 
 ver. 10—14. 
 
 m " The Temple which the Edomites burned when Judaea was made 
 desolate by the Chaldees." 1 Esd. iv. 45. 
 
 " " As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee .... for as ye have 
 drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall, "&c. Obad. ver. 15, 16. 
 
 C 
 
34 
 
 " Remember, Lord," — the mournful captives cried.. 
 As sad they wept by Babel's willowy side , — 
 " O Lord, remember in that hour of woe, 
 
 How taunting Edom prov'd our fiercest foe !" 
 
 And that poor plaint, to Heav'n's high throne upborne, 
 Tho' all that heard it curl'd the lip with scorn, 
 Call'd down the wrath which spake from many a lyre 
 In strains that blasted like the breath of fire : 
 And the wild winds the accents swept along, 
 Till Edom's cliffs re-echoed to the song. 
 
 On cold high hearts at first that warning fell, 
 For Edom held his wind-rock" d citadel : 
 From Petra"s cliff look'd forth in impious pride, 
 And Sion"s wrath and Sion's God defied. 
 Then spake a Voice — " Altho' thou build thy nest 
 High as the stars ; — and on the mountain's breast 
 Sitt'st brooding like the eagle ; — yet my frown 
 Shall hurl thy glory and thy greatness down?: 
 
 ° "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when 
 
 we remembered Sion. We hanged our harps upon the willows 
 
 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who 
 said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof." Psalm cxxxvii. 
 1, 2,7. 
 
 p See Jer. xlix. 16, and the quotation from the prophecy of Obadiah 
 prefixed to the poem. 
 
35 
 
 Yea, when all earth rejoiceth, there shall be 
 A desolation and a curse on theei!" 
 
 Go, mark her well — and lies she not forlorn ? 
 The stranger's wonder, and the heathen's scorn 1 ! 
 Her royal roofs with nettles all o'ergrown 8 ; — 
 Her many towns a wilderness of stone ' ; — 
 And save where swims the eagle high in air u , 
 No sound of life — no pidse of motion there x ! 
 There springs no verdure in her pathless vales ^t 
 The river flows not, and the fountain fails : 
 She keeps no feature of her ancient face : 
 There breathes not one of Esau's royal race z : 
 
 q " Thus saith the Lord God ; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will 
 make thee desolate." Ezek. xxxv. 14. 
 
 ' "For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised 
 among men." Jer. xlix. 15. — Not to overload the page with quotations, 
 it may suffice to state that the accounts of modern travellers shew that 
 the prophecies concerning Edom have all met with the most extraordinary 
 literal fulfilment. 
 
 » " And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and hrambles in 
 the fortresses thereof." Isa. xxxiv. 13. 
 
 • " He shall stretch out upon it the stones of emptiness." 
 
 Isa. xxxiv. 11. 
 
 " " The owl also and the raven shall dwell in it." Isa. xxxiv. 11. 
 
 Eagles, hawks, and owls are the only living creatures Irby and Mangles 
 found at Petra. 
 
 1 " I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not 
 return." Ezek. xxxv. 9. " From generation to generation it shall lie 
 waste ; none shall pass through it for ever and ever." Isa. xxxiv. 10. 
 
 1 " Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against 
 thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee; and I will make 
 
 thee most desolate O Mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of 
 
 it ; and they shall know that I am the Lord." Ezek. xxxv. 3 — 15. 
 
 "There shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the 
 Lord hath spoken it." Obad. ver. 18. 
 
 c2 
 
36 
 
 And while yon stars in tuneful circles roll, — 
 While Summer cheers, and Winter chills the pole,- 
 While Night and Day in soft succession shine 3 , — 
 So long shall Edom own her doom divine : 
 Attest His truth, Who spake the word of old, 
 And stand, a sign for ages to behold : 
 A wreck thrown up on Time's deserted shore, — 
 A blight — a blank — a curse for evermore! 
 
 Daughter of Sion b — fallen as thou art. 
 Far other strains address thy sorrowing heart ! 
 Tho' bare thy mountains, and thy vales forlorn, 
 Unblest by culture, yield thee briar and thorn, — 
 Yet shall thy wilderness break forth and sing c ; 
 The myrtle smile, — the graceful cedar spring d ; — 
 
 » Cf. Gen. viii. 22, and .Ter. xxxiii. 20 and 25. 
 
 b As the sacred narrative of the fortunes of God's ehcsen people 
 begins by setting before us the hostility of Esau and Jacob ; and at 
 intervals, as if incidentally, reminds us of thut continued and ever- 
 widening breach ; so the prophetic canon, when it is drawing towards a 
 close, constantly brings before us, and sets in awful contrast, the ulterior 
 destiny of Edom and Israel (e. g. Ezek. xxxv. and xxxvi: Joel iii. 
 19 — 21: Obad.ver.l — 16. andver. 17 — 21.) The writer judged he could 
 not more fitly conclude his verses than by exhibiting this contrast, in 
 terms borrowed from prophecy. 
 
 c " The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into sing- 
 ing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." Is. lv. 12. 
 
 d " Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the 
 briar shall come up the myrtle tree." Is. lv. 13. " I will plant in the 
 
 wilderness the cedar. . . . and the myrtle ; I will set in the desert 
 
 the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together." Is. xli. 19. 
 
37 
 
 Life-giving streams thy barren rock disclose e , 
 
 And all the desert 'blossom like the rose ,f ! 
 
 Thy scatter'd sons, tho' now they wander wide, 
 
 Shall yet be gather" d to thy longing sides; 
 
 And all Ezekiel's solemn vision be' 1 
 
 A type of faithful Love fulfill' d in thee. 
 
 Yea, tho' rude hands have spoil'd fair Salem's tow'rs ; 
 
 Tho' steps profane have press'd her hallow'd bow'rs ; 
 
 Tho' ' Siloa's brook " no longer softly flows 
 
 Fast by the hill where once her glory rose ' ; 
 
 Yet fear not thou ! the voice of Love divine 
 
 Still cries — "Awaken thee!" "Arise, and shine k !" 
 
 ' There is a river' which shall yet make blest 
 
 Thy heav'nly home, the city of thy rest. 
 
 That holy City, seen by prophet eyes 1 , 
 
 e " I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the 
 valleys : I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land 
 springs of water." Is. xli. 18. 
 
 f " And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom like the rose." Is. xxxv. 1. 
 
 g " Lift up thine eyes round about, and see : all they gather themselves 
 together, they come to thee : thy sons shall come from far, and thy 
 daughters shall be nursed at thy side." Is. lx. 4. 
 
 b Kzekiel xxxvii. 1 — 14. 
 
 ' Isaiah viii. 6. — Dr. Robinson mentions that there was no water in 
 the reservoir of Siloam, when he visited Jerusalem. 
 
 k " Awake, awake ; put on thy strength, O Sion ; put on thy beautiful 
 
 garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city." Is. Hi. 1. " Arise, shine ; for 
 
 thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Is.lx. 1. 
 
 " And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from 
 
38 
 
 Waits but the signal that shall rend the skies, 
 And thou shalt all the glorious sight behold m , — 
 The walls of jasper, and the streets of gold: 
 The twelve bright Angels, eager to unfurl 
 The twelve broad gates, — and ev'ry gate a pearl n ! 
 The Tree of Life beside the crystal wave, 
 With ' leaves to heal the nations,' and to save ° : 
 And Him reveal'd Whom thou so dimly knew, — 
 The Lamb, — thy Sacrifice and Temple too ; 
 Whom Seraphs veil then- faces when they singP, — 
 Thine own Thrice-holy Prophet, Priest, and King ! . . . 
 
 God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." 
 Rev. xxi. 2. 
 
 m " And there came unto me one of the seven Angels .... and he 
 carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed 
 me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaveu from 
 God, having the glory of God : and her light was like unto a stone 
 most precious."' Rev. xxi. 9 — 11. 
 
 n It " had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the 
 gates twelve Angels .... and the building of the wall of it was of jasper 
 .... and the twelve gates were twelve pearls ; every several gate was of 
 one pearl : and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent 
 glass .... And the gates of it shall not be shut at all." Rev. xxi. 12, 
 18,21,25. 
 
 ° "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, 
 proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb .... and on either 
 side of the river was there the tree of life, .... and the leaves of the tree 
 were for the healing of the nations." Rev. xxii. 1, 2. 
 
 p "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and 
 the Lamb are the temple of it." Rev. xxi. 22. " I saw also the Lord 
 sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up .... Above it stood the Sera- 
 phims : each one had six wings ; with twain he covered his face .... 
 and one cried unto another, aud said, Holy, holy, holy." Is. vi. 1 — 3. 
 
39 
 
 And there no Sun shall daily need to rise : 
 And there no Moon shall nightly sail the skies : 
 What need of sun by day, or moon by night ? 
 The Lord thy glory, and the Lamb thy light i! 
 Thy portion there, where Time itself shall be 
 One long, long rest — one sabbath-day to thee ! 
 
 i " And the city had no need of the snn, neither of the moon, to shine 
 in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light 
 thereof." Rev. xxi. 23. 
 
40 
 
 ®he «£atnt'iS = I9ag Sermon. 
 
 SUGGESTED BY A SERMON AT THE PAROCHIAL SERVICE IM 
 ST. MARY'a CHURCH, 28th Oct. 1842. 
 
 Grey saintly Towers scatter' d o'er the land 
 By hands in Heav"n remember'd, — what are they 
 But bulwarks strong where Faith may make her stand? 
 And Sanctuaries where Charity may pray ? 
 And turrets high' — whence, of a brighter day, 
 Hope may espy the dawning ? — All beside 
 Of man's invention hasteth to decay : 
 But those small Temples stedfastly abide, 
 And built upon a rock, defy the 'whelming tide. 
 
41 
 
 2. 
 
 But can it aught avail — year after year — 
 That one within, in robes of white array'd, 
 Should meet a few fond hearts to worship here, 
 And pray with them the prayers their fathers pray'cl ? 
 And, soon as he in holy earth is laid, 
 
 That still another should his office take ? 
 
 Then spake the lips I lov'd — and what they said 
 Went to my heart. O reader, for thy sake, 
 I would I could recal the very words they spake ! 
 
 " Our service is a mystery. We fill 
 The place our Master's wisdom once assign'd, 
 Nor question why — content to know His will : 
 Like men on guard — to whom their chieftain's mind 
 Is a clasp'd book, for study undesign'd. 
 Nor do we ever in His courts inquire 
 If few or many be : — our joy we find 
 In His sweet service, — and to nought aspire 
 
 But telling forth His praise, tho' empty be the choir. 
 
42 
 
 " For when, to human eye, no shape is there, 
 Deem not the aisle untenanted ! We know 
 That Saints and Angels in our homage share ; — 
 And shall we not believe that here below 
 They share our sendee ? that the words which flow 
 From us in praises, or are lisp'd in pray'rs, 
 In some mysterious way reflect the glow, 
 And echo back the harmony, of theirs ; 
 And so ascend to Heav'n, and grow seraphic airs ? 
 
 " Then deem not he, who feeds his flock afar, 
 An empty, formal, fruitless service brings : 
 But rather deem of him as of a star 
 That soars along with glory on its wings ; 
 ' And in its orbit like an angel sings.' 
 Learn too of him, the louder raves the blast, 
 That Faith the closer to her altar clings ; 
 To prayer and praise, — to festival and fast;- 
 And silent waits till all the tyranny be past. 
 
43 
 
 6. 
 
 " No craven fear be thine, tho' man's poor tongue 
 Should rail against thee. Wilt thou then refuse 
 To bear the cross, — whereon thy Master hung? 
 And be, like Him, insulted ? wilt thou choose 
 The world's brief Friendship — haply His to lose ? 
 Dread only this : — in aught offending One 
 Who doth of Folly ev'n His Saints accuse. 
 What He forbids, — be that thy care to shun : 
 
 What He commands, dread thou in aught to leave undone ! ' ' 
 
 Worcester College, 
 29th Oct. 1842. 
 
44 
 
 fcbhtonal j&tanjas. 
 
 ADVENT, 1645. 
 
 1. 
 
 [The voice is hush'd which spake those words to me. 
 It is not Death, nor distance ; yet there roll 
 What might as well Death's dreary waters be 
 Between my spirit and his sever'd soul : 
 Sever'd from duty, — sever'd from controul. 
 Alas for him ! Alas, that one who knew 
 So well to urge a brother to the goal, 
 Himself should faint, — himself should prove untrue ; 
 And take his stand (oh shame !) amid the faithless few ! 
 
45 
 
 2. 
 
 A still small voice took up the solemn theme, 
 
 And thus went on : ] " Then, as the years roll by, 
 
 Be thou prepared for trials sharp ; nor deem 
 Thy lot a strange one, if, — perchance to try 
 Thy Faith and Love, — there pass before thine eye 
 A sight unlook'd for, unsuspected, now ; 
 But when it comes — ("twill darken all thy sky !) — 
 Nerve thy faint heart, — and fix thy earnest brow, — 
 And gird thy feeble limbs, — and oh, be faithful thou ! 
 
 " What ? were it thine (forgive the thought !) to see 
 Thine own sweet Mother sinking in distress ; 
 Her sons departing ; and none left but thee 
 To cheer her poor heart in its loneliness : 
 Nay, were some wasting sickness to impress 
 On her pale cheek the prelude to decay, — 
 Then would'st thou love that gentle Mother less ? 
 Say, — would'st thou seek her rising plague to stay ; 
 Or would'st thou be a wretch, — and turn thyself away ? 
 
46 
 
 " Nay, answer not ; — that tear is thy reply. 
 
 Then mark ! — thy Mother is Christ's Church on earth. 
 
 She gave thee life, — a life that cannot die ; 
 
 She gives thee food, — of which the precious worth 
 
 Thou canst not know : — she fed thee from thy birth. 
 
 Then, from such Mother, let what will betide, 
 
 Beware thou shrink not ! Love her, in her dearth 
 
 Of loving spirits. Closer to her side 
 In sorrow, sickness cling ; and she will be thy guide. 
 
 5. 
 
 " Tell me no specious tale of ' pure desires,' — 
 ' Misgivings strong,' and ' youthful talents rare,' — > 
 Woe to the Church when boys would teach their sires, 
 And Rashness sit in Learning's lofty chair ! 
 Woe to the Church, when novices shall dare 
 To rend the seamless garment of their Loed ! 
 When they who vow'd, on bended knee, to bear 
 Their part in ' building up,' — unsheathe a sword ; 
 
 And pierce a hundred hearts, nor think such deedabhorr'd. 
 
47 
 
 6. 
 
 "Heav'n keep thee stedfast then! these lessons known; — 
 The Church's rights divine, and awful pow'rs : 
 Her holy gifts, — her purity, — her own ; 
 And all her coldness, — all her weakness, — ours ! 
 Who seek the fruit, — but never rear'd the flow'rs ; 
 Then start, impatient, from the sad review : 
 Nor heed how darkly Heav'n's high forehead low'rs 
 On the rash soldier daring to renew 
 On his anointed front the sacramental dew ! 
 
 " And yet, — (for Advent thro' the cold dark air 
 Blows a shrill blast of warning, and the Night 
 Is well nigh spent,) — do thou and I beware 
 Lest the Judge come, — and we, in Love's despite, 
 Be found with cruel hands rais'd up to smite 
 Our fellow servant ! — Many too remain 
 On the dark waters, vex'd with weary flight : 
 These a kind hand put forth may yet regain. 
 
 And win them back to this, — their storm- tost Ark, again !" 
 
 Worcester Culleije. 
 
48 
 
 Sonnet. 
 
 TO THE FLOWER " PERISTERIA ELATA:'' CALLED BY THE 
 SPANIARDS " ESPIRITU SANTO." 
 
 (See the Engraving facing the title-page.) 
 
 Exquisite type of that, which lips like ours 
 
 May scarce " express unblam'd!*' There sits a dove — 
 With brooding wings, and downcast look of love — 
 
 Shrin'd in thy fragrant breast, thou Queen of flowers, 
 
 That doubtless reign'd in Eden's blessed bowers ! . . . 
 Thy petals three — more pure than earthly gem — 
 Springing, co-equal, from a single stem, 
 
 Angels might water with ambrosial showers ! 
 
 And Man, while gazing on thee, though he knew 
 Nought of his Maker's image, might have guess'd 
 
 Enough for Faith to feed on, from the view 
 Of what he saw reflected on thy breast 
 
 O had we ears to hear — and eyes to see — 
 
 And hearts to feel — we might Apostles be ! 
 
 Houghton Conquest, 
 IGthJuly, 1845. 
 
49 
 
 EfK iWontfc of J*Tarcl). 
 
 WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST OF A FRIEND, (JOHN HIGGINS, ESQ., 
 OF TURVEY-ABBEY, BEDFORDSHIRE,) IN TASSION WEEK, 1845; 
 AND SUGGESTED BY THE COMMON SAYING THAT "MARCH COMES 
 IN LIKE A LION AND GOES OUT LIKE A LAMB." 
 
 1. 
 
 " Comes like a Lion — like a Lamb departs," — 
 So said of March our sires ; and it may be 
 The saying hath some teaching for our hearts, — 
 For March is holy a ; and within it, we 
 May something find of holy mystery. 
 Is it no type of good men's hearts below ? 
 In life's young spring all lion-like and free, 
 They change their nature with their age ; and so 
 At last to lamb-like port and innocency grow. 
 
 * The Nativity as well as the Passion probably occurred at this season. 
 11 
 
50 
 
 2. 
 
 " Comes like a lion," — why, so Moses came : 
 A man of war ! and, prompt for vengeance, drew 
 His sword against th' Egyptian. Not the same 
 When forty years their tranquil shadows threw 
 Across his fiery spirit ; — for he grew 
 The meekest man beneath Arabia's sky ! — 
 And he was born in March ! and destin'd too 
 In March to go forth on his errand high ; 
 And, on far Pisgah's height, in March, unseen, to die ! 
 
 3. 
 
 Peter's quick sword — and Paul's misguided zeal — 
 What lion-hearts were theirs in life's young day ! 
 Yet who can read their aged words b nor feel 
 How all that fiercer nature ebb'd away? 
 And Judah's race a pattern stands for aye — 
 "A lion's whelp," by dying Jacob styl'd, 
 It grew to meekness ere the world grew gray. 
 The Baptist bids us in one lowly child 
 " Behold the Lamb of God " — most meek when most 
 revil'd. 
 
51 
 
 4. 
 
 Such my poor song — this cheerless Passion-tide, 
 When snows are white on ev'ry neighb'ring hill; 
 And winds {His ministers) careering wide, 
 Each with its several errand to fulfil — 
 Stamp on my cheek their salutation chill. 
 Would it were worthier ! but if one frail line 
 Find welcome with ye, not in vain it will 
 Have wander'd forth from this fond heart to thine; — 
 And oh, that it may knit your Easter thoughts to mine ! 
 
 t> Compare, for instance, St. Matt. xxvi. 33, 35, " Peter answered and 
 said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet 
 will I never be offended .... Though I should die with thee, yet will 
 I not deny thee," — with 1 Pet. iii. 15, "Give an answer .. ..with meek- 
 ness and fear," and v. 5, " Be clothed with humility." 
 
 Worcester College, 
 Passion-iceek, 1845. 
 
 d2 
 
52 
 
 & -passage from the 33ooft of 3E.rot>ii!S. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 "and the lord said unto moses, Stretch out thine 
 hand toward heaven, that there mat be darkness 
 over the land of egypt, even darkness which may be 
 
 FELT .... 
 
 AND THERE WAS A THICK DARKNESS IN ALL THE LAND OF 
 EGYPT .... 
 
 THEY SAW NOT ONE ANOTHER, NEITHER ROSE ANY FROM 
 HIS PLACE FOR THREE DAYS: BUT ALL THE CHILDREN OF 
 ISRAEL HAD LIGHT IN THEIR DWELLINGS." 
 
 Exodus X. 21—23. 
 
 1. 
 
 When Israel dwelt in Egypt's land. 
 
 And groan'd beneath the tyrant's pow'r, 
 O Lord, "twas Thine Almighty hand 
 
 Sustain'd him thro' that dreary hour. 
 When all the air at noon of day 
 
 Was fill'd with gloom " which might be felt," 
 Thy smile was still a cheerful ray 
 
 In ev'ry tent where Israel dAvelt. 
 
53 
 
 And thus, O Lokd, the faithful heart 
 
 Believes that it will ever be : 
 Thy love, we know, will ne'er depart 
 
 From those who truly trust in Thee. 
 When all the world grows dark with sin, 
 
 With them Thy smile will still be found : 
 Diffusing joy and peace within, 
 
 While all seems dark and cheerless round ! 
 
 London, 
 
 V2l/i June, 1838. 
 
54 
 
 SI passage from the iJoofe of CFioDua. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 " AND THE LORD WENT BEFORE THEM BY DAY IN A PILLAR 
 OF A CLOUD, TO LEAD THEM THE WAY; AND BY NIGHT IN 
 A PILLAR OF FIRE, TO GIVE THEM LIGHT; TO GO BY DAY 
 AND BY NIGHT. 
 
 "HE TOOK NOT AWAY THE PILLAR OF THE CLOUD BY DAY, 
 NOR THE PILLAR OF FIRE BY NIGHT, FROM BEFORE THE 
 PEOPLE." 
 
 Exodus xiii. 21, 22. 
 
 1. 
 
 He Who with all a Shepherd's a care 
 
 Led forth His chosen flock of old, — 
 (Guiding them safe through ev'ry snare 
 
 Till gather'd in their destin'd fold,) — 
 Mov'd on, 'tis said, a cloud by day, 
 
 A glorious shining flame by night ; 
 Now, shedding gloom along their way, — 
 
 Now, gilding all their path with light. 
 
 * Tsalm lxxviii. 52. 
 
55 
 
 2. 
 And still, O God, in sunny hours, 
 
 When too much bliss might tempt to ill, 
 Thy cloud before us darkly low'rs, — 
 
 And veil'd, Thou art within it still ! 
 And who has ever seen, around, 
 
 The light of all he lov'd decay, 
 Nor then in Thee a sunbeam found 
 
 To cheer his steps, and guide his way? 
 
 Huuyhton Conquest, 
 •ttmlAug.,\MS. 
 
56 
 
 & Jfixt'tiHt dfancj). 
 
 Oft as, at night, I sit and muse alone, 
 
 Bound by the spell of some enchanting page — 
 Bard of old Greece, or half inspir'd sage — 
 My kindl'd fancy takes a wayward tone : 
 And straight, I hear what seems the midnight moan 
 Of some poor restless ghost ; — or, it may be, 
 The distant roaring of the sleepless sea; — 
 Or unchain'd winds that howl from zone to zone. 
 Hark ! is it not a voice ? There seem'd to come 
 A soft sad wail; — but now, such carol wild 
 As a young Mother chaunteth to her child 
 Steals o'er the sense. — Go to — it is the hum 
 
 Of a huge city ! while I thus inquire, 
 
 I turn, and find — the kettle near the fire ! 
 
 Worcester College, 
 Vith D<r., 1844. 
 
57 
 
 Christian i&ames. 
 
 How little meant the names men bore of old ! 
 
 Tokens in classic Greece of knightly birth, 
 
 Strength, glory, justice, wisdom, civic worth, 
 Or two in one, — was all the tale they told ! 
 And so in Rome, — what page you will, unfold, 
 
 'Tis still the same : those mighty ones of earth 
 
 Stalk by, suggesting neither grief nor mirth : 
 In Caius, Quintus, — canst thou aught behold ? 
 But noio, how chang'd ! each common name brings 
 down 
 
 Some thought of Heaven ! John breathes all of love : 
 Thomas, though shaded by a Saviour's frown, 
 
 And James, and Peter lift our hearts above : 
 And Stephen brings to view a martyr's crown : 
 
 And over Mary broods th' Eternal Dove ! 
 
 Worcester College, 
 
 SlstJan., 1846. 
 
58 
 
 &utft to i&aomt. 
 
 Intreat me not to leave thee in thy woe, 
 
 Or to return from following after thee : 
 For where thou goest, I will also go ; 
 
 And where thou lodgest, shall my lodging be. 
 Thy people shall my people be, for aye ; 
 
 And thy God shall be my God, even mine : 
 Where'er thou diest, I will also die, 
 
 And lay my bones contentedly with thine. 
 The anger of the Lord my portion be 
 If any thing but Death part thee and me ! 
 
 London, 
 15/// Sept., 1840. 
 
E'lEnbojj. 
 
 ADDRESSED TO P. FRASEP. TYTLER, ESQ.; INTENDED AS THE CONCLUSION 
 OF A LONG UNFINISHED POEM. 
 
 1. 
 
 Well, — they who choose may rail at Fortune's frown, 
 And vow that Life brings slender joys and few; 
 But while the blessed Sun shines brightly down 
 On this green earth, — and while the skies are blue, — 
 And the birds sing,— and flow'rs of brightest hue 
 Nod their sweet heads in every desert spot, — 
 I can but feel such railing most untrue : 
 I cannot think that any are forgot ; 
 Or ever deem my own aught but a blissful lot. 
 
 2. 
 Alas, too prone to underrate the worth 
 Of unbought joys, — still on, from day to day, 
 We walk like blind men on our Mother Earth : 
 We do not prize enough the common ray : 
 Harmonious shapes, and colours which betray 
 A more than human Artist ; — sights which should 
 Send the sad heart rejoicing on its way, — 
 Wake little rapture, and less gratitude, 
 Tho' He who made them deign'd to call them " very 
 good." 
 
60 
 
 3. 
 
 A quaint old Garden, seen at dead of night, 
 When ev'ry moonlit leaf is lull'd to rest : — 
 The crescent Moon when first she steals in sight, 
 And hangs like some bright jewel in the west: — 
 At sunset, on a lake's unruffl'd breast, 
 A single Star reflected : — Tow'r and Tree 
 Darkly against the evening sky express'd, 
 What time the bat is flitting noiselessly, — 
 All these are common sights; — and yet, how dear to me! 
 
 4. 
 
 And so, to wake at Morning's fragrant hour 
 And hear the mower whet his scythe : — in June, 
 The sweet-voic'd Cuckoo from some leafy bow'r 
 Breathing his soft clear note : — a fav'rite tune 
 Heard when expected least, and hush'd too soon ! 
 The sound of Sabbath bells upon the breeze : 
 A Fountain bubbling in the blaze of noon : 
 The Wind that wails at night among the trees : — 
 All these are common sounds; — and yet, how sweel are 
 these ! 
 
()l 
 
 5. 
 And dear to me the Owl's shrill tremulous cry : — 
 The Rooks debating when the day is o'er, 
 And stars are slowly gath'ring in the sky c : — 
 A Blackbird's evening-hymn : — the sullen roar 
 Of Ocean chafing on the pebbled shore : — 
 To drowsy ear the patt'ring sound of rain d : — 
 The laugh of little children at my door : — 
 A dying anthem's last seraphic strain : — 
 Oh, cold this heart must grow ere these shall plead in vain ! 
 
 6 - 
 And bold am I to vaunt these joys to thee, 
 
 Friend of my heart ! — for unto thee I know 
 
 The simplest joys the dearest still to be ! 
 
 Thou, in thy study, when the red flames throw 
 
 On many a gilded tome a ruddy glow, 
 
 Dost count thyself a happy man the while. 
 
 Blest in the converse those mute friends bestow, 
 
 What lack'st thou yet thy leisure to beguile, 
 
 So that thy bairns be near to glad thee with then- smile ? 
 
 c &<r , rpwi' KctroiSa WKTepwv o/xriyvpiv. /Eseh. Ag. 5. 
 
62 
 
 7. 
 Here my song ceaseth. Well content am I 
 On this brief page to leave the rest untold. 
 This let the Muse whom thou so faithfully 
 Hast lov'd and follow'd thro' the years of old — 
 This let the Muse of History unfold ! 
 To her I leave the care of thy good name. 
 In these frail rhymes I do but seek to hold 
 The mirror up to nature : but I claim 
 For thee far higher praise than what the world calls Fame ! 
 
 d Who has not been agreeably astonished when first he met with this truly 
 English sentiment in Sophocles ? It is the exquisite fragment numbered by 
 Dindorf, 563 :— 
 
 4>eC <pev, ri tovtou x&PIJ- - M e 'C 0,/ ^- v ^<*/3ots 
 
 rov yris CTriipavcravTa ko.9' into (Treyy 
 
 ttvkv7)s ctKoDcrai \paKaSus zvfiovay <(>pevi ; 
 
 London, 
 l'lh July, 1841. 
 
THE DAY OF THE FUNERAL. 
 
 No sounds of labour vexed the quiet air 
 From morn till eve. The people all stood still, 
 And Earth won back a Sabbath. There were none 
 Who cared to buy and sell, and make a gain, 
 For one whole day. All felt as they had lost 
 A Father ; and were fain to keep within, 
 Silent, or speaking little. Such a day 
 An old man sees but once in all his time. 
 
 The simplest peasant in the land that day 
 Knew somewhat of his Country's grief. He heard 
 The knell of England's Hero from the tower 
 Of the old Church ; then asked the cause, and sighed. 
 The vet'ran, scarr'd on that tremendous field, 
 Fought o'er the battle for the thousandth time 
 With quaint addition ; and the little child 
 That stopped his sport to run and ask his sire 
 What the thing meant? picked out the simple tale, — 
 How he that drove the French from Waterloo, 
 And crushed the Tyrant of the World, and made 
 His Country great and glorious, — he was dead ! 
 All, from the simplest to the stateliest, knew 
 But one sad story : from the cotter's bairn, 
 Up to the fair-haired Lady on the throne,— 
 Who sat within and sorrowed for her friend. 
 And every tear she shed became her well ; 
 And seemed more lovely in her people's eyes 
 Than all the starry wonders of her crown. 
 
 But, as the waters of the Northern Sea 
 (When one strong wind blows steady from the pole) 
 Come hurrying to the shore ; and far and wide 
 As eye can reach, the creaming waves press on 
 Impatient : or, as trees that bow their tops 
 One way, when Alpine hollows bring one way 
 The blast whereat the}- quiver in the vale, — 
 So millions pressed to swell the general grief, 
 
 One way ; as one way all the world seem'd drawn. 
 
 Or if through evil hap, and unforeseen — 
 
 Some stayed behind, their hearti, be sure, were there 
 The whole day long ;— could think of nothing else, — 
 Hear nothing else, — see nothing ! 
 
 In his cell 
 The student saw the pageant : spied from far 
 The long-drawn pomp which reached from west to east, 
 Slow moving in the silence : casque and plume, 
 
And banner waving sad ; the marvellous state 
 Of heralds, soldiers, nobles, foreign Powers, 
 With baton or with pennon ; princes, peers, 
 Judges, and dignities of Church and State, 
 Courtly and civic worthies, ancient knights, 
 And warriors grown grayheaded ; — every form 
 Which Greatness can assume or Honour name, 
 Peaceful or warlike, — each and all were there ; 
 Trooping in sable sorrow after him 
 Who slept serene upon his funeral car 
 
 Tn glorious rest! A child might understand 
 
 That 'twas no national mourning ; but a grief 
 Wide as the World. A child might understand 
 That all mankind were sorrowing for one ! 
 That banded nations had conspired to pay 
 This homage to the Chief who drew his sword 
 At the command of Duty ; kept it bright 
 Through perilous days ; and, soon as Victory smiled, 
 Laid it, unsullied, in the lap of Peace. 
 
 Such things, and more, the student spied: as dull 
 Of heart were he who, hearing through the day 
 The doleful clang from many a tower and spire, 
 (As if in every College one were dead !) 
 Could sit with slumbering fancy : hear no strains 
 Of melancholy music, — muffled drum, 
 And booming cannon, and the short sad step 
 Of soldiers in the distance : see no shade 
 Cast (as by nodding plumes) across his book, 
 And hiding half the sense : yea, not perceive 
 Love in the sunshine of that one bright day 
 Of dark November: and so, pour a prayer 
 Voiceless, yet hearty as ineloquent ; 
 Unconscious to himself of what he said : — 
 " God rest his gallant spirit ! give him peace ' 
 " And crown his brows with amaranth, — and set 
 " The saintly palm-branch in his strong right hand ! 
 " Amid the conquering armies of the skies 
 " Give him high place for ever ! Let him walk 
 " O'er meads of better asphodel ; and be 
 " Where dwell the single-hearted, and the wise , 
 " The prop and stay of altars and of homes ; 
 •' The saviours of their Country ; — faithful men, 
 ' ; And loyal to their Prince, and true, and brave ; 
 " Careless of Glory, — careful for the Right ; 
 '•' Men like himself severely, simply good ; 
 " Who scorned to be ambitious, — scorned the snares 
 " Of office, station, rank ; but stood sublime 
 " In natural greatness .... Eternal King, — 
 " O Father of all Spirits, — give him peace !" 
 
 Oriel College, Nov. 18. 
 
Postscript. 
 
 There's aye a something strange in very Truth 
 Which Fancy not foresees, nor Art can feign. 
 The homely eloquence of untaught grief: 
 The touch of Nature which at once strikes home ; 
 The unexpected sight, which moves to tears : — 
 These grow not in the chambers of the brain. 
 
 'Tis said, in all that multitudinous pomp, 
 The sight which moved men most, — the thing which least 
 Solicited regard, yet moved men most, — 
 Was the old charger, as he paced forlorn 
 Behind his Master's coffin. At his flank 
 Hung down the homely tokens of a Knight 
 Gone to his rest. And so he held his way, 
 A poor old horse, — (for really 'twas no more,)— 
 Unconscious of the crowd and careless too : 
 Yet not unconscious of his personal loss. 
 Whereat a many tender hearts shed tears. 
 
 The pomp has reached the portal of the Shrine. 
 The quivering notes ascend : the thrilling strains 
 Which tell of Joy in Sorrow, — Life in Death, — 
 Peal grandly, as the gates swing open wide ; 
 And, token'd by his plurred hat and sword, 
 (His sword and plumed bonnet crown'd his bier,) 
 Upborne by heroes, lo, the Hero comes 1 
 Each breath is hushed. Men rise. The Crowd without 
 Roar hoarsely, like some distant troubled Sea. 
 Just then, a sudden breath of gusty air 
 Came sighing through the portal. Faint, the plume 
 Waved a response ; and, filled with ghastly glee, 
 Danced to the music of the Hero's dirge. 
 unexpected sight! 'Twas like the breath, 
 The vanishing breath which only Love descries 
 Upon the mirror held to dying lips : 
 The inaudible sigh when life itself seem'd fled. 
 unexpected, — and incongruous too ! 
 Such mimicry of Life at such a time ! 
 So mean a thing in motion, — he at rest! 
 It sent an indescribable pang through all. 
 
 Oriel. J. W. B. 
 
Just Published, by the same Author : 
 SOME REMARKS ON 
 
 WITH REFERENCE TO THE STUDIES OF THK 
 UNIVERSITY: 
 
 IN A LETTER ADDRESSED TO 
 THE REV. RICHARD GRESWEEL, B.D. 
 
 Oxford: F. Mucpherson. 
 
6 
 
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