Far other firmament than e'er was seen, Than e'er was thought by man! far other stars! 170 Far other sun!-a Sun, O how unlike The Babe at Bethlehem! how unlike the Man That groan'd on Calvary !-yet He it is; 175 That Man of sorrows! O how changed! what porp A swift archangel, with his golden wing, As blots and clouds that darken and disgrace 180 The scene divine, sweeps stars and suns aside. And now, all dross removed, Heaven's own pure day, Full on the confines of our ether flames, While (dreadful contrast!) far, how far beneath! 185 In Nature's course, the first in Wisdom's thought. 195 At midnight, when mankind is wrapp'd in peace, And worldly Fancy feeds on golden dreams, To give more dread to man's most dreadful hour; At midnight, 'tis presumed, this pomp will burst 200 From tenfold darkness, sudden as the spark From smitten steel; from nitrous grain the blaze. Man, starting from his couch, shall sleep no more! The day is broke, which never more shall close! Above, around, beneath, amazement all' 205 Terror and glory join'd in their extremes ! Our God in grandeur, and our world on fire ' 210 215 All Nature struggling in the pangs of death! 220 At thought of thee !—and art thou absent then? 225 Already is begun the grand assize, In thee, in all: deputed Conscience scales Thrice happy they! that enter now the court (Art thou a coward? no :) the coward flies; 230 235 240 Thinks, but thinks slightly; asks, but fears to know: Asks What is truth?' with Pilate, and retires; 245 Dissolves the court, and mingles with the throng. Shall all but man look out with ardent eye 250 255 Intent on man, and anxious for his fate. Angels look out for thee; for thee, their Lord, Creation universal calls aloud To disinvolve the nioral world, and give 260 To Nature's renovation brighter charms. Shall man alone, whose fate, whose final fate, Hangs on that hour, exclude it from his thought? I think of nothing else; I see! I feel it! All Nature, like an earthquake, trembling round! 265 I see the judge enthroned! the flaming guard! The sweet, the clement, mediatorial hour! 270 Nor man alone; the foe of God and man, 275 All vengeance past, now, seems abundant grace. Like meteors in a stormy sky, how roll 280 His baleful eyes! he curses whom he dreads, And deems it the first moment of his fall. 'Tis present to my thought '—and yet where is it? Angels can't tell me; angels cannot guess Say, thou great close of human hopes and fears! 285 Great end! and great beginning! say, where art thou? Art thou in time, or in eternity? 291 Nor in eternity nor time I find thee: 295 These, as two monarchs, on their borders meet, 300 Roused at one call, upstarted from one bed, Fress'd in one crowd, appall'd with one amaze 305 He turns them o'er, Eternity! to thee: Then (as a king deposed diedains to live) He falls on his own scythe, nor falls alone; His greatest foe falls with him; Time, and he Who murder'd all Time's offspring, Death, expire 310 Time was! Eternity now reigns alone! Awful Eternity! offended queen ! And her resentment to mankind how just! With kind intent, soliciting access, How often has she knock'd at human hearts! 315 Rich to repay their hospitality, How often call'd! and with the voice of God! Yet bore repulse, excluded as a cheat! A dream! while foulest foes found welcome there! 320 For, lo her twice ten thousand gates thrown wide, As thrice from Indus to the frozen pole, With banners streaming as the comet's blaze, Sonorous as immortal breath can blow, 325 Pour forth their myriads, potentates, and powers, Of light, of darkness, in a midle field, Wide as creation! populous as wide! A neutral region! there to mark the' event Of that great drama, whose preceding scenes 330 Detain'd them close spectators, through a length Who now, pronouncing sentence, vindicates 335 Which makes a hell of hell, a heaven of heaven. 340 The goddess, with determined aspect, turns Her adamantine key's enormous size Through Destiny's inextricable wards, Deep driving every bolt on both their fates; Then, from the crystal battlements of heaven. 345 Down, down she hurls it through the dark profound, Ten thousand thousand fathom, there to rust, And ne'er unlock her resolution more. The deep resounds, and hell, through all her glooms, Returns, in groans, the melancholy roar. 350 O how unlike the chorus of the skies! O how unlike those shouts of joy, that shake Nor strange! when deities their voice exalt; 355 And louder far than when Creation rose, |