121. Intercession of the Saints
|
{208}
WHILE Moses on the Mountain lay, |
| Night after night, and day by day, |
| Till forty suns were
gone, |
| Unconscious, in the Presence bright, |
| Of lustrous day and starry night, |
| As though his soul had flitted quite |
| From earth, and Eden won; |
The pageant of a kingdom vast, |
| And things unutterable, pass'd |
| Before the Prophet's eye; |
| Dread shadows of th' Eternal Throne, |
| The fount of Life, and Altar-stone, |
| Pavement, and them that tread thereon, |
| And those who worship
nigh. {209} |
But lest he should his own forget, |
| Who in the vale were struggling yet, |
| A sadder vision came, |
| Announcing all that guilty deed |
| Of idol rite, that in their need |
| He for his flock might intercede, |
| And stay Heaven's rising
flame. |
Oxford.
September 4, 1835. |