UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 

ELIJAH 
 
 A S A C E E D D E A M A 
 
 m^jx lonns. 
 
 BY 
 
 EEV. ROBERT DAVIDSON, D. D. 
 
 NEW YORK ; 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER, 124 GRAND STREET. 
 
 18G0. 
 
 
^'\ 
 
 ^'^J<^ 
 
 Entered according to Act of CongresB, in the year 1860, by 
 CHARLES SCRIBNEK, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States forthe 
 In the CieiK ^^^^^^^.^ pi^trict of New York. 
 
 JOHN F. TROW, 
 
 PRINTER AND ELECTROTYPEH, 
 
 50 Greene street. 
 
TO THE 
 
 REY. JOHN M. KHEBS, D. D. 
 
 Permit me to inscribe this volume to you, as a mark, at 
 once, of high personal regard, and a grateful recognition of 
 your long-tried and constant friendship. As to the intrinsic 
 merits of the work, you, who have not been without experience 
 in this vein yourself, (can I forget " Schlafcn sie wohl ? ") may 
 be expected to be a lenient judge. 
 
 " Hear then, attentive to my lay, 
 For thou haBt sung I " 
 
 Should there be any grave personages ready to draw down their 
 ominous eyebrows, as if the author were forsaking Mount Zion 
 for Mount Carmel, or worse yet, for Mount Helicon, let them be 
 informed, that the "Elijah" owed its origin to the seclusion of 
 a sick-room ; where, debarred for a season from active profes- 
 sional labor, the pen helped to beguile the tedium of a pro- 
 tracted confinement. It was under such circumstances, and 
 propped up in bed by a mechanic^al contrivance, that the greater 
 part of the poem was written. 
 
 As to the other pieces in the volume, it will suffice to say of 
 many of them, that this is not their first appearance in print. 
 The favor with which they have been received, and the fact of 
 their having been copied into various periodicals, encourage 
 
4 I) E D I O A T I O >' . 
 
 the hope that it will not be deemed presumptuous if the waifs 
 should now be collected together under one cover. 
 
 Meantime, let me call to your recollection, my friend, a sen- 
 tence in one of Cowper's letters to Lady Hesketh, which, I hope, 
 you will enjoy as much as I do. " I might," says he, " have 
 preached more sermons than ever Tillotson did, and better, and 
 the world would have been still fast asleep ; but a volume of 
 verse is a fiddle that puts the universe in motion." There is one 
 small condition which Cowpcr omitted to mention, but which is 
 quite indispensable to success ; that is, provided you can get the 
 universe, or even a respectable fraction of it, to listen to the 
 
 music ! 
 
 The Author. 
 
 ?2 West Eleventh street, Neic York, 
 Sept. nth, 1860. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Dedication, ...... 3 
 
 Elijah : a Sacred Drama, .... Y 
 
 The Argument, . . . . .8 
 
 The Persons, ..... 10 
 
 Notes to Ehjah, . . . . .71 
 
 Jasoda, or the Suttee, .... 103 
 
 Notes to Jasoda, . . . . .113 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS. 
 
 The Triumph op David, . , . . .119 
 
 The Triumph of Music, . . . . 123 
 
 The Evening of Life, . . . . .127 
 
 Too Late, ...... 128 
 
 The Apostle Paul at Malta, .... 130 
 
 I'll Thinh op Thee, . . . . .132 
 
 Submission, . . . . .134 
 
 A Trilogy, on the Nativity, the Crucifixion, and the 
 Resurrection : 
 A Christmas Ballad, . . . . .136 
 
 A Threnody on the Crucifixion, . . 138 
 
 Epinicion ; or, Triumphal Hymn on the Resurrection, 143 
 
6 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Dies Ir^, ..... 
 
 To THE Deity, .... 
 
 Hope, ..... 
 
 Genius, , . . . 
 
 Who Shall be Crowned ? 
 
 The Cotter's Saturday Night, 
 
 Eventide, ..... 
 
 The Old Man, 
 
 An Epistle to a Young Lady, 
 
 Prairie Song, ..... 
 
 Let the Ocean Heave to the Tempest's Wing, 
 
 Contentment, ..... 
 
 The Missionary Hymn, 
 
 Compensations, .... 
 
 The Olive and the Pine, 
 
 The Page of Life, ... 
 
 The Resolve, 
 
 The Ideal in Art, .... 
 
 PAGE 
 
 148 
 153 
 154 
 155 
 156 
 157 
 158 
 164 
 166 
 168 
 
 no 
 
 172 
 173 
 
 175 
 178 
 180 
 181 
 182 
 
ELIJAH; 
 
 A SACRED DllAlMA 
 
THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 Zephon, one of the Sons of the Prophets, to whom the caves 
 of Mount Carmel afforded a refuge from the persecutions of 
 Queen Jezebel, is joined upon the top of the mountain by Oba- 
 diah, King Ahab's pious steward, or more properly, major-domo, 
 who narrates to him Elijah's challenge to the priests of Baal to 
 meet him upon that spot for a solemn trial or ordeal by fire. 
 
 The procession enters. Chorus of Virgins of the Sun. The 
 heralds announce the object of the convocation. While the 
 altar is being constructed and other preparations made, the king 
 proposes an argument between Elijah the prophet, and Amaziah, 
 the priest of Baal, to which the latter reluctantly submits. Am- 
 aziah descants on the antiquity of the worship of the Sun, and 
 its time-honored traditions. Elijah goes back to the birth of 
 time and the creation of the sun by Jehovah. He alludes to its 
 obeying the command of Joshua. He answers objections from 
 the destruction of the Canaanitish nations. Hiel the Bethehte, 
 an infidel, explains the myth of Adonis by the sun's return from 
 winter to spring. Queen Jezebel interposes, extolling Sidon and 
 other heathen capitals, for their improvement in taste, the arts, 
 cojpmerce, architecture, and the products of the loom, contrast- 
 ed with the rudeness of the Hebrews. Elijah shows the supe- 
 rior value of truth and virtue. Maachah, the king's mother, up- 
 braids the prophet with his severity. Ithobal, priest of the 
 grove, the queen's chaplain, advises him to leave the vicinity of 
 
T H E A R a U M E N T . 9 
 
 the court, and repair to the more congenial atmosphere of Ju- 
 dah. The prophet protests his willingness to endure martyrdom 
 for his religion. The king abruptly closes the debate. 
 
 Chorus of priests of the Sun. In proportion as the day wears 
 away without any answer by fire, their behavior grows frantic. 
 Elijah taunts them with bitter irony. They become incensed, 
 and Amaziah charges his presence as the obstacle to their suc- 
 cess. He insists that the offended deity can be propitiated only 
 by a human sacrifice, and demands the surrender of Elijah for 
 the purpose. A great tumult ensues. Ahab protects him, and 
 orders that the prophet offer sacrifice in his turn. 
 
 Elijah builds an altar, and drenches it with water. He prays. 
 Fire descends from heaven, and consumes the sacrifice. The 
 people, affected by the miracle, applaud, and vow their homage 
 to Jehovah. Elijah orders the slaying of the priests of Baal at 
 the river Kishon. 
 
 The poem concludes with a grand chorus of the sons of the 
 prophets. 
 
 X* 
 
THE PERSONS. 
 
 Elijah the Tiehbite, the Hebrew prophet 
 Zephon, one of the sons of the prophets. 
 Obadiah, King Ahab's steward, or governor of his house. 
 Ahab, king of Israel. 
 HiEL, the Bethelite. 
 Amaziah, priest of Baal or the Sun. 
 Ithobal, priest of the Grove. 
 Melzar, chief astrologer, 
 Zabdiel, a Hebrew. 
 • Hezron, a Hebrew. 
 Marshal and assistants. 
 Jezebel, queen of Israel. 
 Maachah, mother of Ahab. 
 
 Chorus of priests of Baal or the Sun. 
 CnoRrs of Virgins of the Sun. 
 Chorcs of the Sons of the Prophets. 
 Hebrews, Sidonians, &c'. 
 
 The Scene is the summit of Mount Carmel, looking to the sea. The 
 Time, from morning till evening. 
 
ELIJAH 
 
 Zephon, alotie. 
 
 Softly the sunrise stealeth o'er the sea, 
 The many-twinkling, many-sounding sea. 
 Its earliest kiss the snows of Hermon caught. 
 Suffused with virgin blushes ; down it leaped 
 From peak to sparkling peak, with frolic haste, 
 O'er gloomy gorges and o'er rough ravines, 
 O'er dewy tamarisk sloj^es and broomy vales, 
 O'er pastoral plains, and dream-embosomed lakes, 
 Flooding with equal glory town and tow^er. 
 The shadow of the headland, that had stretched 
 Its giant bulk athwart the ample bay. 
 Shrinks back affrighted to the mountain's foot ; 
 While o'er his level floor glad Ocean lays 
 A regal pathway, paved with flakes of gold. 
 Swift to the west the laughing Splendor flies, 
 To pash out the weak moon and pallid stars, 
 And strip the purple from discrowned Night. 
 So spreads a smile from Childhood's happy lips, 
 
12 . • ELIJAH. 
 
 Beams in the eye, and dimples in the cheek. 
 Till every feature shows the genial joy. 
 
 No cloud doth fleck the sky, nor ruffling breeze 
 Winnoweth wantonly the delicate spray. 
 The lazy shallops in the roadstead doze, 
 With blistered decks, and canvas idly furled. 
 The white-laced surf runs creaming up the beach. 
 Toying around the fisher's naked feet. 
 The solid sea, smooth to th' horizon's rim. 
 Seems a broad shield of gray and burnished steel. 
 Whereon Day's champion, rioting in strength. 
 His crest new-trimmed, ablaze with horned light. 
 Incessant flings a sheaf of golden darts, 
 Shivered as soon, and in a glittering shower 
 Resilient, as of topaz freshly broke. 
 
 Thou changeful, changeless Sea ! all placid now, 
 As Infancy lulled by its cradle-hymn ; 
 But late we saw thy swirling billows huge. 
 Lush-green and foam-capt, madly chase along, 
 And bold the swimmer that would tempt thy spleen. 
 So sleeps the tiger, with retracted claw. 
 And sleek and shining skin. A breath provokes, 
 Capricious termagant ! thy meekness feigned. 
 Thou battiest with the tempest at its top. 
 And hurl'st defiance to the thunder-cloud. 
 Down goes the bark that trusted to thy smile, 
 With all on board, strewing the ocean-floor 
 
ELIJAH. 13 
 
 With ingots, jewels, silks of gorgeous Ind, 
 And costlier treasures earth were poor to buy. 
 Thou roll'st remorseless, heedless of the hopes 
 Thy frenzy wrecked. Perfidious, beauteous Sea ! 
 We dote like lovers on thy fickle face, 
 Morn, noon, and fresh'ning eve, intent to spy. 
 But chief at glint of day, or rising moon, 
 New phases and aspects of loveliness. 
 
 The dreamy moan of thy perpetual surge, 
 Mysterious, plaintive, soul-subduing, low, 
 Intoning ever in the ear of Time, 
 Nature's entrancing chorus sweetly swells. 
 The Universal Hymn ascends ; none mute ; 
 Birds their shrill treble pipe ; the insect hum 
 Floats jocund on the liquid air ; winds blow 
 Their trumpet-blast, or sw^eep the forest-harp ; 
 Flowers swing their censers, steaming with perfume ; 
 The affluent accords still keeping time 
 Unto thy tidal pulses evermore ; 
 The bending skies drink in the solemn joy. 
 Thee, God ! the sea. Thee, earth and heaven praise. 
 
 Obadiah enters. 
 
 Obadiah. 
 Pardon my step abrupt, intruding thus 
 Upon thy early orisons : I come 
 Charged with grave tidings for the prophet's ear. 
 
14 ELIJAH. 
 
 Zephox. 
 Welcome, thou faithful servant of the Lord, 
 Unspotted 'midst the vain, luxurious court. 
 My benefactor and protector thou ! 
 Never forgotten is the dreadful day 
 When the queen's minions, all athirst for blood, 
 Against the prophets of the Lord went forth 
 To torture and to slay ; thy generous care 
 At hazard of thine own the life preserved 
 Of full fourscore, concealed and fed within 
 The dusk)^ covert of old Carmel's caves. 
 May He, who over sacrifice prefers 
 Sweet mercy, and provided in the law 
 For the birds' fledglings, well reward thy love ! 
 But what contrives our subtle enemy, 
 Like the autumnal star, balefid as fair ? 
 
 Obadiah. 
 I will narrate in order, from the first. 
 As late I sought, amid the general drought, 
 Some tender meadow for the royal steeds. 
 Sudden the holy prophet, stern as wont. 
 In camlet coarse with leathern girdle bound. 
 Coming I know not whence, before me stood. 
 Awful he spake, the while, fear-paralyzed, 
 I sank upon my face : " Go, tell thy lord, 
 Elijah waits him here ! " " Alas ! " I cried, 
 " What is my fault, that thou shouldst work me harm ? 
 
ELIJAH. 15 
 
 Of every land the king exacteth oaths 
 They hold, thee not, so covets he thy head. 
 Now thou art here, but soon a power unseen 
 Shall whirl thee hence, and when the king shall come, 
 Nor find thee, me deceiver will he brand, 
 And in the transports of his rage, will slay. 
 ■ Harm not, my lord Elijah ! one from youth 
 God-fearing, to thy people ever kind." 
 " Distrust me not," he said, " thou art secure ;• 
 Go tell the king, Elijah waits him here." 
 I sped my message. Straightway rode the king, 
 And found the prophet in the selfsame spot. 
 " Troubler of Israel ! " he sharply spoke, 
 " What wouldst thou ? " " Not to me belongs," 
 Replied the man of God, " that keen reproach ; 
 'Tis thou and thine should wear it, having left 
 Jehovah's altar for a foreign god. 
 Hear now my challenge. Bring to'Carmel's top, 
 Before assembled Israel, Baal's priests, 
 And likewise all the prophets of the grove. 
 By hundreds reckoned. There our several faiths 
 Put thou to trial, and be that avowed 
 The faith of Israel, which shall stand the test. 
 Who answereth by fire, let hrm be God." 
 " I marvel at thy boldness," said the king, 
 " Thou for an outlaw askest much, and great 
 The condescension that consents to this. 
 Be it as thou hast said ; but, mark me well. 
 
16 ELIJAH. 
 
 Failure doth put in jeopardy thy head.*' 
 '• So be it," said the seer, " equal the terms 
 To both. Safe-conduct next I ask." 
 " For this occasion sole," replied the king. 
 They parted, and the royal mandate sped. 
 
 The vast procession hither tends, and soon 
 Their barbarous music will fatigue thine ear. 
 AVith friendly haste I come my lord to warn 
 Of subtle secret plots against his life. 
 Not unobservant have 1 watched the arts 
 Of the queen's sleek and crafty chappellain, 
 Her favorite, the Sidonian Ithobal. 
 
 Zepiion. 
 ' Already see along the mountain side 
 The long procession upward winds its way. 
 First walk the oxen, marked for sacrifice. 
 With gilded horns, and streaming fillets decked ; 
 The sacred car, of ivory and gold,^ 
 With purple canopy, on pillars borne 
 Of silver, see ! by snow-white horses drawn. 
 Whose scat no mortal w^eight presumes to press. 
 But tell me, for the court thou knowest well. 
 Who are those women, beautiful but bold. 
 With open vestures given to the wind ? 
 
 Obadiaii. 
 The Virgins of the Sun thou dost perceive,^ 
 Trained to the wanton dance and thrilling song. 
 
ELIJAH. 17 
 
 In cloisters they the sacred wardrobe tend, 
 The richly broidered veils and priestly robes, 
 And, if belied not, skilled in softer arts. 
 Behind them throng the round and well-fed priests, 
 With thurible and sistrum. 
 
 Zephon. 
 
 Who their chief? 
 
 Obadiah. 
 'Tis Amaziah, from the lowest dregs 
 Upraised, like Jeroboam's vulgar priests ; 
 Of shallow learning, but with brow of brass. 
 
 Zephon. 
 What company is that, with sooty robes 
 And muffled heads, who seem to march apart 1 
 
 Obadiah. 
 They the Chemarim are, and theirs the rites' 
 Due to th' Infernal Powers, whose baneful sway 
 They humbly deprecate with whine and howl. 
 
 Zephon. 
 And who are those with high and peaked caps, 
 And wands all rough with quaint mysterious signs ? 
 
 Obadiah. 
 The Casdim they, from far Euphrates' shore. 
 'Tis said they read the heavens as a scroll ; 
 
18 ELIJAH. 
 
 They know the planets five, and the thrice ten " 
 Celestial watchers, and the fignred belt 
 Whose influences mark the natal hour. 
 
 Zephon. 
 Profane and blasphemous their occult trade ! 
 The meek-eyed stars stoop not to watch our dust. 
 
 Obadiaii. 
 I marvel much why from the solemn pomp 
 The prophets of the grove, full twenty score,* 
 Are absent. Can it be, the wily queen 
 Distrusts the issue of this challenge strange. 
 And means to screen her favorites from harm 1 
 Or have they stood upon some jealous point 
 Of ceremonious precedency ? 
 
 Zepiion. 
 Explain why they her special favorites are. 
 
 Obadiah. 
 Error is various ; Truth is ever one ; 
 So many sects, so many jealousies. 
 To Ashtaroth devoted is her zeal. 
 The Syrian goddess ; in whose shaded groves^ 
 What rites are held, beseems me not to say. 
 Samaria's temple-palace doth inclose^ 
 A stately fane, where worshipped is the sun, 
 Adonis, Baal, Lord of light and heaven, 
 
ELIJAH. 19 
 
 (Baal-zcbub, the Fly-god, better named,) 
 
 Its cornices, its statues, censers, wrought 
 
 Of flaming gold. In smaller chapels stand 
 
 The symbols of the Starry Host ; and one, 
 
 To Heaven's queen sole dedicated, bears 
 
 No ornaments but silver. Jezebel, 
 
 After Sidonian custom there resorts. 
 
 Black was the day that brought her to our shores, 
 
 With her outlandish and seductive ways ! 
 
 Zephon. 
 Report doth give her charms beyond her sex. 
 
 Obadiah. 
 Lithe as the willow, graceful as the palm 
 That waves by Elim's wells its plumy crown. 
 Nor is she shamed to snatch a grace from art, 
 With cunning pigments heightening her charms, 
 As roses swimming in a vase of milk. 
 Most gorgeous her attire, of Sidon's looms 
 The daintiest fabrics. Foreign workmanship 
 Alone can answer her fastidious taste. 
 Not hers the modest and retiring grace 
 Which in the violet finds its lovely type, 
 Pure as the dew that fills its blushing cup, 
 Sweet as the scent exhaling back to heaven ; 
 Chief ornament of woman, for whose loss, 
 Nor beauty makes amends, nor brilliant wit. 
 
20 ELIJAH. 
 
 Zephon. 
 And what her disposition and her mind ? 
 
 Obadiah. 
 Beyond concejDtion subtle and astute. 
 Such skill she hath in tongues, ambassadors, 
 Astonished, with interpreters dispense. 
 Her eye, its own expression taught to veil, 
 Looks down into the depths of other minds, 
 And reads their secret thoughts, its own unread. 
 She hath withal a soft j^ersuasive voice. 
 That melts into the ear, and wins assent. 
 Without or proof or argument, to what she wills. 
 Fond of dissembling and intrigue, she bends 
 All things to her unscrupulous love of rule. 
 Winning her blandishments, but, when provoked, 
 No netted tigress more infuriate. 
 Secure she manages the easy king ; 
 Give him his horses, and his Helbon wines, 
 And his Samarian harem, whoso will 
 May take the irksome toil of government. 
 In state she comes, surrounded by her guards, 
 As fits a queen. 
 
 Zephon. 
 And hath she tricked our troops 
 In foreign armor, not the manly steel 
 Wherewith our valiant fathers glory gained ? 
 
ELIJAH. 21 
 
 Rounded their beards and hair, the which our law 
 Forbids. Upon their stalwart breasts plate-mail 
 Of burnished silver flashes in the sun, 
 Their silver helms with disc and crescent topped.' 
 One hand supports a lance, the other wields 
 A circular targe of steel with gold inlaid. 
 
 Obadiah. 
 Of foreign lineage are they ; none but such 
 The queen about her person tolerates. 
 Our Hebrews make not supple courtiers ; stiff 
 Their necks and knees to ply the fawning trade. 
 But we must here arrest discourse, for see ! 
 Th' impatient crowd are clambering up the steep, 
 Clinging to bush and crag, the shortest paths. 
 Soon will they stand upon the mountain's top. 
 Oh, vast assemblage ! oh, momentous day ! 
 God of our fiithers ! bare thy mighty arm. 
 The idol gods confound, and vindicate 
 Before the world thy worship and thy name ! 
 Hence ! to the hoary prophet let us haste. [^Exeunt. 
 
 {Enter Marshal and Assistants, and People^ 
 
 Marshal. 
 Quick, marshals ! to your posts. The Circle trace, 
 Time-honored symbol of the Lord of Day. 
 The area clear. Assign to each his room, 
 And keep the rabble close without the lines. 
 
i ELIJAH. 
 
 Set up the chair of state and canopy 
 
 On yonder knoll. This mountain-height the air 
 
 Somewhat attempers. On the sweltering plain 
 
 The heat and dust endurance do defy. 
 
 O for a shower, a cool, refreshing shower ! 
 
 First Assistant. 
 Stand back ! stand back ! M'hat, have ye no respect ? 
 Room for the king, I say ! 
 
 Second Assistant. 
 
 By all the gods, 
 One might as well beat back the tide at flood. 
 
 Marshal. 
 Hark to the trumpets ! Each one to his place ! 
 
 [The Procession enters ; l:inc/ Ahab, the queen^ 
 their attendant trains, and a multitude of 
 peoj^le ; afterward Obadiah and Zephon. 
 
 All. 
 Long live the king ! 
 
 SiDONIANS. 
 
 And live queen Isabel ! ® 
 
 Ahab. 
 At length the level summit we have gained 
 Of Carmel's well-poised mount, garden of God,* 
 
ELIJAH. 23 
 
 And worthy of the name. Its stony ribs 
 Health-breathmg pmes and lordly oaks adorn ; 
 The hazy olives turn their linings up 
 Like silver lamps amid a night of green ; 
 While copses of luxuriant laurel fringe 
 The rocky dells and sinuous ravines, 
 " Like a bride's tresses. In profusion wild, 
 Anemone, that reddens in its cup, 
 In a fine tremble from the zephyr's kiss, 
 Crisp hyacinth, and modest asphodel, 
 Lend rarest fragrance to the loitering breeze. 
 And what a charming prospect courts the eye, 
 Of woods, and plains, and distant mountain-tops ! 
 Lord-steward ! as familiar with these scenes, 
 Describe the goodly landscape, point by point. 
 
 Obadiah. 
 Truly familiar to me are these haunts ; 
 For here in boyhood with my bow I roamed 
 To hunt the whirring partridge, or to trap 
 The stealthy fox that spoiled the early vines ; 
 And from the crystal brooks oft slaked my thirst — 
 Yon crystal brooks that never cease their flow. 
 See distant Tabor looming up -on high 
 A verdurous islet in the sere champaign. 
 There Sirion's range defines our northern bound, 
 Amana's peak, and Shenir wreathed in mist, 
 Where lions prowl, and leopards have their lair. 
 
24 ELIJAH. 
 
 Outlined distinct against the glowing sky, 
 Lo I Nature's priest, majestic Lebanon/" 
 Li cope and mitre of unblemished snow, 
 Doth scatter dewy benedictions round. 
 His ancient cedars stand in rev'rent row, 
 Tlie Levites of the sylvan sanctuary, 
 Their solemn psalm uplifting full and clear 
 To the responsive trumpets of the storm. 
 Southeastward see the long pale line that marks 
 The lordly pile near Jezreel newly built, 
 In wealth of myrtles, and of vines embowered, 
 With scarlet glories of pomegranates graced. 
 Ck)mmanding site, for princes fit retreat ! 
 
 Ahab. 
 To round my park, an angle I require 
 Of the adjacent vineyard, but the churl 
 Denies the sale. Whom all the gods confound ! 
 
 Jezebel. 
 Thou shalt, my lord, possess it ; rest at ease. 
 A king should find his lightest wishes law. 
 Else were the golden round a barren toy. 
 
 Obadiah. 
 Beneath us undulates the battle-plain 
 Of Esdraelon ; as our fathers tell, 
 There Barak, like a torrent, from the height 
 Of Tabor, rushed impetuous. Not the strength 
 
ELIJAH. 25 
 
 Of iron chariots could resist the stroke. 
 The sword devoured its thousands, drunk with blood, 
 And ancient Eishon swept them to the sea, 
 Yon westering sea, where Carmel dips his foot. 
 The blue expanse melts in the bluer sky 
 Flecked with the fleets of Tarshish and of Tyre, 
 The land of Caphtor, and far Chittim's isles. 
 
 Jezebel. 
 
 Oh, blessed, blessed sea ! that laves the shores 
 Of my beloved Sidon. When shall I, 
 My country ! see thy tide- kissed walls again, 
 Thy piers, thy palaces, thy princely pomp ? 
 
 Ithobal. 
 
 Madam, restrain thy tears, I do implore : 
 The nobles see this passionate burst ill-pleased. 
 
 Jezebel. 
 
 Excuse, my lords, my feelings' ardent gush ! 
 The tears would flow at sight of the blue waves 
 That wash my old, beloved, ancestral halls. 
 The shell will murmur of its ocean-home; 
 The prisoned dove its native wood-notes trill *, 
 The smitten flint its heart of fire betray. 
 Nature hath had her due, and I am calm. 
 
26 ELIJAH. 
 
 Ahab. 
 Heralds ! make proclamation of the cause 
 That here convenes us. 
 
 Herald. 
 
 Be it known to all, 
 Our soTereign lord the king, of his good pleasure. 
 Doth convocate the tribes upon these heights, 
 That solemn ordeal may be made betwixt 
 The two religions, Baal's and Jehovah's. 
 Three years of drought have turned the earth to iron, 
 The heavens to brass. The herbage is burnt up. 
 The husbandman distraught, doth thrust his knife 
 Into the veins of his last ox, to quench his thirst. 
 That altar, whereupon the fire from heaven 
 Shall swift descend, and burn the sacrifice, 
 To be succeeded by refreshing showers 
 Of copious rain, shall instant be confessed 
 The altar of the True and Only God. There bow 
 Tlie grateful nation, and no other own ! 
 With this condition ; whichsoever party 
 Shall fail, do put in jeopardy their lives 
 A forfeit and atonement to the God. 
 
 Ahab. 
 
 Call the Chartummim and Astrologers. 
 Melzar, are all the auguries auspicious ? 
 
ELIJAH. 27 
 
 Melzar. 
 May the king live forever ! by the rules 
 Of divination, freely pecking birds, 
 The bright sons of the quiver duly drawn, 
 Chaldean numbers big with coming fate,'' 
 The aspects and conjunctions of the stars, 
 There never shone a more auspicious hour. 
 Fearless proceed the issue must be happy. 
 
 Maachah. 
 But Where's the vaunting prophet, at whose call 
 Kings, priests, and commons crowd these flinty 
 
 heights ? 
 Or does he mock us ? for, in sooth, no law 
 His savage nature owns but his caprice. 
 
 HiEL. 
 
 Mayhap the holy man hath of his fl'ars 
 Taken wise counsel, dreading a defeat ; 
 For blusterers, when subjected to the test. 
 Oft, like a treacherous bow, do swerve aside. 
 Trust me, my lord, he'll hardly show his face, 
 Or here obtrude his sanctimonious cant. 
 
 Ahab 
 What saith my steward ? for thou first didst bear 
 His message. Wilt thou now the surety be 
 For his appearance ? 
 
28 ELIJAH. 
 
 Obadiah. 
 
 My most gracious lord, 
 Misdoubt him not; within that rind austere 
 Lie rugged honesty and downright truth. 
 Averse to rites of worship he loves not, 
 He but delays till they have been performed. 
 I'll answer for his presence with my life. 
 
 Jezebel. 
 I would your Grace would put him under ban, 
 And set a price upon his stubborn head. 
 
 Ahab. 
 My queen, what have we now to apprehend 
 From a defenceless and unarmed wretch. 
 Whose followers have melted all away 
 Like snow in Salmon '? Not a tongue is found 
 To lisp against our fair establishment. 
 The fang's extracted. 
 
 Jezebel. 
 
 But the venom's left. 
 
 Ahab. 
 Whence is thine unrelenting enmity ? 
 
 Jezebel. 
 The presence of reprovers is unwelcome, 
 Though from their lips no syllable escape. 
 
ELIJAH. 29 
 
 Rude as his shaggy garb his manners are, 
 As blunt to queens as to their tiring-maids. 
 
 Ahab. 
 I too dislike him, yet I feel there's good 
 'Neath that rough outside. Would he were my friend ! 
 Marshal ! the ceremonies may proceed, 
 
 [A]i altar is erected. The Virgins of the Sim 
 chant the Hi/nm of Inauguration. At the 
 close of every strophe, they dance round the 
 altar in a circle. 
 
 (H^Ijorits of ilje Wix^xm of ih ^mt. 
 
 I. 
 
 Beat the ground with briskest measure, 
 
 Bound each pulse with liveliest pleasure ! 
 
 Merrily the sistrums tinkle, 
 
 Eapidly the white feet twinkle ; 
 
 Round and round in mystic ring, 
 
 Choir of planets symbolling ! ^" 
 
 Joy and rapture rush along 
 
 On the swelling tide of song ; 
 And with warm exultant strain. 
 Greet the Day-god's welcome reign ! 
 
 II. 
 
 Hail th' auspicious moment, hail ! 
 Over hill and over dale, 
 
30 ELIJAH. 
 
 O'er the rivers, o'er the sea, 
 Streams the dazzlmg majesty. 
 First the com'ier of the dawn ^^ 
 Wakes the lark upon the lawn, 
 Till from every feathered throat 
 Richest symphonies npfloat ; 
 And with warm exultant strain, 
 Greet the Day- god's welcome reign ! 
 
 III. 
 
 Nor alone the birds and flowers 
 Gratulate the rosy hours ; 
 Busy hands and earnest hearts 
 Rouse to act their wonted parts ; 
 Toils of peasants, cares of kings. 
 Traffic wdth its woven wings ; 
 All the joyous world's astir, 
 Leaping from night's sepulchre ; 
 And with warm exultant strain, 
 Greet the Day-god's welcome reign. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Weary lid and fevered head, 
 Tossing on a sleepless bed ; 
 Mothers, half with terror wild, 
 Bending o'er a moaning child ; 
 Sentries pacing at their post ; 
 Sailors off a dangerous coast ; 
 
ELIJAH. 31 
 
 Frequent turn a longing eye 
 To the flushing eastern sky ; 
 And with warm exultant strain, 
 Greet the Day -god's welcome reign. 
 
 By the laughing Hours attended, 
 
 Onward moves the pageant splendid ; 
 
 Dappled Dawn with diamond dew, 
 
 Sunset pomp of Tyrian hue ; 
 
 Spring, with green and tender shoots, 
 
 Autumn, with its luscious fruits ; 
 
 Men, who thrive these gifts upon. 
 
 Pour their grateful benison ; 
 And with warm, exultant strain, 
 Greet the Day-god's welcome reign. 
 
 Elijah enters^ with the Sons of the Prophets. 
 
 Ahab. 
 
 In a good hour thou comest, hoary seer ! 
 
 To save thy name from damage, and thy truth ; 
 
 Already had the whisper gone abroad. 
 
 That thou thy cause had yielded by default. 
 
 Elijah. 
 
 My liege ! I come to pay the homage due 
 The ruler of my country, faithless else 
 
32 ELIJAH. 
 
 To my religion and the holy Law, 
 Which curse disloyalty. Not mine the tongue 
 To sow sedition, or disturb the realm. 
 The sword and sceptre are from God ; by him 
 Kings reign, and princes judge with equity, 
 And likest him they show, when found most just. 
 For magistracy is of God ordained 
 A social blessing, anarchy and crime 
 To banish, and the feeble to defend. 
 Raised to the topmost round of power, for this 
 They to the King of kings shall give account. 
 No traitor I, no dark conspirator. 
 Were I admitted to thy counsels, prince ! 
 ■ Thy throne should stand upon a firmer base, 
 And thou shouldst be a king indeed, uncurbed 
 By priestly malisons and auguries, 
 That hidden power, o'ershadowing the throne. 
 
 Ahab. 
 
 By Tammuz' wounds, I like thy frankness much ; 
 Such speech hath long been strange unto mine ear. 
 Thou shalt my prophet be, my chapellain, 
 Director of the royal conscience, not 
 An idle sinecure. But to the point : 
 The tribes are met, the solemn ordeal waits ; 
 Dost thou not shrink, thy single self opposed 
 To overawing numbers ? 
 
ELIJAH. 33 
 
 Elijah. 
 
 Not alone 
 Stands the brave champion of a holy cause ; 
 Greater and more his friends are than his foes 
 Fire-chariots of the sky encompass him ; 
 The angels count his every step ; the just 
 And good bend from their heavenly thrones to give 
 Their approbation and their sympathy. 
 And should he fall, his infinite reward 
 Dies not. The listening ages catch his name, 
 And send it onward. Like a trumpet's blast, 
 Men's hearts do leap within them at the sound ; 
 Heroic virtue gains new suffrages, 
 And from the martyr's ashes spring fresh fires. 
 Why should I quail ? To God I trust my cause ; 
 Who feareth God can have no meaner fear.'^ 
 
 Ahab. 
 
 IIo ! Amaziah ! 'twere a pleasant thought, 
 Now that confronted are the chiefest men 
 Of these adverse religions, that ye hold, 
 The whilst the sacrifices are prepared. 
 An argument to entertain the time. 
 
 Amaziah. 
 
 My lord, O king ! 'twould be a compromise 
 Of dignity, for us to condescend 
 2* 
 
34 ELIJAH. 
 
 To argue with schismatics. Only that 
 Which owns its likely fallibility 
 Seeks and rejoices in debate, as if 
 In noise and clamor weakness to conceal. 
 But our religion needs no argument ; 
 It on prescription, not on reason, stands. 
 Ours is the old religion, handed down 
 From hoar antiquity. And who but knows 
 That from the earliest times, while Moses was 
 A slave in Egypt, nor yet had despoiled 
 The Emims and Zamzummims of their lands, 
 The king Adonis, lord of Light and Day, 
 Eeceived the homage of the Syrian maids. 
 Before his orient pomp the prostrate world, 
 As now, with early reverence, adored. 
 Ev'n Abraham, their vaunted patriarch, 
 A Chaldean was, and worshipper of fire. 
 
 Elijah. 
 What though a thousand years have come and gone. 
 Since, from the second cradle of our race, 
 'Twixt Ararat's twin peaks, the nations swarmed, 
 And all that time in error's chains were bound ? 
 What though our ancestors, ere Abram's day, 
 In Aramoea, blind idolaters. 
 Bowed to the Sun or Eire ? No lapse of time 
 Can Error's nature change, or consecrate. 
 Error is Error still, nor can be Truth, 
 
ELIJAH. 35 
 
 Though one be but the outbirth of an hour, 
 
 The other claim the centuries for its own. 
 
 Talk we of hoar antiquity ? Lead back 
 
 Thy thaughts to that majestic hour, when first , 
 
 God into being spake the Earth and Heaven. 
 
 Over the vast Eternal Silences 
 
 In Night and Horror veiled, rang forth the word, 
 
 " Let there be Light ! " and from the chaos, Light 
 
 Sprang forth obedient, all the infant worlds 
 
 Revealing ; while the glorious Sons of God, 
 
 Bright morning-stars, in chorus sang for joy. 
 
 Then first the sun, a new-made orb, was set 
 
 To rule the day, the moon to rule the night, 
 
 In peaceful and unwearied ministry, 
 
 Jehovah's will fulfdling, for man's good. 
 
 And short the homage stops, that stays on them, 
 
 Mere servants without mind or life, nor higher 
 
 Rises to the great Hand that lit their fires, 
 
 To creatures giving the Creator's due. 
 
 What courtier suing to his gracious king. 
 
 Lavishes on the scribe his bursting thanks, 
 
 And for the royal donor has no praise 1 
 
 Amaziah. 
 Blank atheism ! What ! the glorious Sun 
 Nought but a globe of fire, a vulgar lamp, 
 For meanest deeds of meanest men devised ! 
 Sublimer views are ours ; that gorgeous orb, 
 
3G ELIJAH. 
 
 Upon whose blinding splendors none may gaze, 
 The palace is of Sovereign Deity, 
 His seat and dwelling-place, his flaming throne, 
 Majestic chariot, whence he guides the spheres. 
 Not otherwise the Moon, and several Stars, 
 Showering down radiance from their golden urns, 
 Are the abodes of gods, of spirits bright, 
 Presiding o'er the elements, man's natal hour. 
 The growth of empires, or their threatened fall. 
 
 Elijah. 
 
 Not me, rather thyself an atheist deem, 
 
 Who dost the true and only God deny. 
 
 Which of thine idols, wood, or brass, or stone, 
 
 Silver or gold, hath made and fashioned thee 
 
 And giv'n thee breath ? How could they aught 
 
 create. 
 Themselves the fragile work of human hands. 
 Half on a shrine, and half behind the hearth 1 
 My God Creator is of Earth and Heaven, 
 And all things in them that do live or move. 
 Where were these mighty gods, these sovereign 
 
 powers. 
 With high celestial influences impregned, 
 When the five kings before great Joshua fled 1 
 " Sun, stand thou still on Gibeon ! " he cried, 
 '' And stay, thou Moon, o'er Ajalon's deep vale ! " 
 They heard the mandate, and their fervid wheels 
 
ELIJAH. 37 
 
 Arrested in mid-heaven ; nor e'er was known 
 A day so long as that, when at the voice 
 Of mortal man the heavens obedient stood 
 To help him rout their faithful worshippers. 
 Strange ! they should listen rather to their foe, 
 Deaf to their votaries' despairing prayer ! 
 These are thy gods, Samaria ! put to shame 
 Before Jehovah, true and only God, 
 The God of Gods, the Lord of Hosts, Most High. 
 
 Amaziah. 
 And canst thou glory in a cruel God, 
 Euthless and partial, giving to the sword 
 Whole unoffending nations, whose sole fault 
 Was fighting for their altars and their homes 
 Against the insults of a foreign horde ? 
 The patriot's meed, the patriot's wreath, be theirs ! 
 
 Elijah. 
 In holy horror to lift up thine hands 
 At thought of cruelty, doth well become 
 Those who to devils sacrifice their sons, 
 To Canaan's idol-gods their daughters dear ! 
 Now hearken, and thy calumny retract. 
 From Egypt fled, asylum Israel sought. 
 Molesting no one on their peaceful way. 
 Till first themselves assailed by every king 
 From Zoar unto Zidon, passage free 
 
38 ELIJAH. 
 
 Refusing, or opposing them in arms. 
 
 Compelled to self-defence, they drew the sword. 
 
 Putting their foes to ignominious rout ; 
 
 And thus they won themselves a resting-place. 
 
 Claim not the patriot's hallowed name or meed 
 
 Tor wretches stained with deeds of lust and blood. 
 
 Who tossed their smiling babes to Moloch's fires. 
 
 The land, miable longer to sustain 
 
 Their vile abominations, spued them forth ; 
 
 A holy God beheld their measure full. 
 
 His high prerogative it is, to use 
 
 Famine or earthquake, pestilence or sword, 
 
 To sweep profane transgressors from the earth. 
 
 Behold the Vale of Siddim scathed with fire, 
 
 And sunk beneath the sullen Sea of Salt, 
 
 Whose ruined cities, smothered in their lust, 
 
 Attest the justice of avenging heaven. 
 
 And these abominations ye would fain 
 Lift to the shrine once more, your dunghill gods 
 Seeking to please with rites detestable. 
 Repent ! and to the bats your idols fling. 
 Or robed in vengeance -shall the Lord unlock 
 The armory of heaven. Then shall his eye 
 Sparc not nor pity. Think not it shall prove 
 A mountain-echo vain. On foreign shores 
 Exiled and naked, labor-sore and sad. 
 The heathen whom you copy, shall you serve ; 
 Already buds the rod of chastisement. 
 
ELIJAH. 39 
 
 The web is wove that mantles you with shame. 
 Oh Israel ! oh my country ! shun the fate 
 Which heaven-daring wickedness insures ; 
 
 Israel, hear ! The Lord thy God is ONE ! 
 
 Zabdiel. [aside.) 
 His words do stir me like a trumpet's sound, 
 Waking up long-forgotten memories ; 
 
 1 learned them, standing by my mother's knee, 
 A happy child of innocence and prayer. 
 
 Hezron, (aside.) 
 It is too true ; the land in mourning lies 
 For crimes at which humanity may weep, 
 While Modesty conceals her blushing face. 
 Like priest, like people ! Princes and the crowd 
 Follow with greed these base enormities. 
 
 HiEL THE BeTHELITE. 
 
 Why quote the legends that have had their day. 
 
 Long antiquated and exploded quite ! 
 
 The world is wiser grown, and in these myths 
 
 Of Tammuz, or Osiris, or Adonis, 
 
 Of Isis or Astarte, we discern 
 
 Profoundest truths of astronomic lore," 
 
 Seasons and solstices prefiguring. 
 
 'Tis a fair thought with dance and song to hail 
 
 Nature reviving from her wintry trance, 
 
40 ELIJAH. 
 
 And from her icy fetters joyful freed ; 
 
 Spring, with its buds and birds, and breath of balm, 
 
 Its blowing flowers, and opulence of leaves ; 
 
 A resurrection from the shades of Death. 
 
 But for those Hebrew w^ritings, none that prize 
 A name for culture or a liberal mind 
 Eespect their superstitious legends weak 
 Of worlds made out of nothing, when we know 
 Matter must be eternal ; and of gods 
 That plagued th' Egyptians in the wilderness, 
 'Tis the same books denounce a curse on him ^^ 
 Who would the City of Palm-trees dare rebuild. 
 The curse has harmless stood and will ; and 1 
 .Am he who will expose it to contempt. 
 
 Elijah. 
 Behold ! the messenger is on his way 
 To tell thee the foundation hath been laid 
 Now in thy first-born's blood. One after one 
 Shall of thy children follow, giving space 
 For thought and for repentance, which if thou 
 Fail to improve aright, the lofty gates 
 Shall in thy youngest darling be set up. 
 
 Jezebel. 
 'Tis not for me to enter in the lists 
 Of keen polemics. Theologic war 
 Suits nor my sex nor taste. Not judgment cold, 
 
ELIJAH. 41 
 
 But warm instinctive impulse governs me. 
 Much more congenial to my woman's heart, 
 Than a stern God, in storm and thunder drest, 
 Is she who glides, a gentle patroness, 
 In silver shallop 'mid the island-stars. 
 The mild Astarte, to our frailties kind. 
 Full of a mother's sympathy for all. 
 Sweet mother ! Queen of Heaven ! be hers my vows. 
 The incense, and the monthly offering ! 
 But harsh thy creed, old man ! and rude thy speech. 
 Rough as the sea, when boisterous Cadim blows. 
 Or winds Etesian chafe the billowy waste. 
 Unpolished and uncouth thy native tribes, 
 Beside the more refmed and courtly realms 
 Of wise old Egypt, or Assyria grand, 
 Sidon, the populous mart of all the world,^' 
 Or Tyre, her island-daughter, young and fair. 
 There taste is nursed, there elegance presides ; 
 There art and science all their marvels show ; 
 There commerce dazzles with her wealth of wares. 
 Exquisite products of the wheel and loom, 
 Spices, and gems, and royallest of dyes ; 
 The very sands with crystal treasures teem.^° 
 Shrines, temples, stately palaces adorn 
 Each avenue, and charm the stranger's eye. 
 A thousand keels, dripping with foreign brine, 
 Borne down with rich freights to the water's edge. 
 The harbor throng, luxuriously equipped 
 
42 ELIJAH. 
 
 With broidered sails and banks of ivory. 
 
 How far beyond the base simplicity 
 Of the half-tutored Hebrews, who can show 
 No arts, no commerce, no soul-breathing forms 
 By master-hands from purest marble wrought ! 
 Nay, when the only temple that they boast 
 Was at vast cost of toil and treasure reared, 
 Unequal to the task they stood confest. 
 Sidonian builders shaped the mighty pile, 
 Sidonian skill the cedars carved, and hewed 
 Column and cornice from the stubborn stone. 
 Say, which the better creed, most worthy heaven, 
 Which most embellishes and brightens life ? 
 
 Elijah. 
 What are the vaunted miracles of art, 
 The sumptuous colonnade, the sculptured pomp, 
 The thrift of trade, the niceties of taste, 
 . The sophist's swelling words, the harp's sweet tones. 
 What to the welfare of a deathless soul ! 
 A soul in ruins ! an immortal mind, 
 By error led astray, and kindred vice, 
 Fall'n like a star from heaven ; its glory-robes 
 Besmirched and sullied in the mire of sin ! 
 Better to starve in honest rags, than roll • 
 A pampered wanton, to the shades of death ; 
 Better the uncouth peasant, rude in speech. 
 Who knows the true God and him knowing loves. 
 
ELIJAH. 43 
 
 Than the proud prince who bows to idols false, 
 And as he bows, proclaims his deeper shame. 
 With pen of iron and point of diamond writ. 
 The Truth of God defies the tooth of Time, 
 Imperishable 'mid the world's wild wreck, 
 When Noph and Nineveh shall buried be. 
 
 And thou, gay, godless Sidon, drunk with wealth, 
 Thy revenue the harvest of the sea ; 
 Thou that the people of the Lord dost scorn, 
 And tempt them with thy vile idolatries ; 
 The sword without, and pestilence within, 
 Shall lay thy princes low ; the captive yoke 
 Shall gall thy neck ; deserted and decayed, 
 Thy silt-choked harbor and thy beggared site 
 Shall to the far-off ages loud proclaim, 
 Who God dishonor, shall dishonored be. 
 Howl, haughty Tyre ! thy glory taketh wing ; 
 Prepare the sackcloth and the ashes strew ! 
 I hear the shout of war, the clashing lance. 
 The trampling hoof, the hollow-rumbling wheel, 
 The tower and rampart thund'ring to the dust, 
 And leaving thee a bald and naked rock. 
 Ye nations, pass the cup of trembling round, 
 Nor dare to put it from your vice-worn lips ! 
 
 Maaciiah. 
 Old man ! thou art severe ; thou hast no ruth,^^ 
 No pity in thy soul. Thy veins were filled 
 Not from a woman's, but a tiger's breasts. 
 
44 ELIJAH. 
 
 Elijah. 
 
 Not so ! God knoweth, who shall be my judge, 
 
 'Tis not from native love of savageness, 
 
 Nor from delight in pain, that I employ 
 
 "Warnings and threatenings to deter from sin. 
 
 Not to my sympathy in vain appealed 
 
 The widow of Sidonian Zarephath, 
 
 Nor none o'er her reviving son more joyed. 
 
 Unfeeling call me not ! Mj heart doth bleed 
 
 To see my people perish for the want 
 
 Of thought, like ships upon the breakers driv'n. 
 
 Most willingly, t' avert th' impending fate, 
 
 On mine ow^n head I'd call the thunders down. 
 
 Sole witness for the true religion left, 
 
 With bitter tears and groans I cry aloud, 
 
 O Israel, hear ! The Lord thy God is ONE ! 
 
 'Tis thou, O queen ! that playest the cruel part, 
 
 Eor thou thy rightftd influence dost abuse, 
 
 To lure thy son to worship Baalim, 
 
 Their ruin thus assuring, and his own. 
 
 Ithobal. 
 Prophet, forbear ! thou touchcst delicate ground ; 
 The sanctity which princes doth environ 
 Should be preserved inviolate. If thou 
 iNlust prophesy of ill, to Judah turn,"*' 
 Where with confrenial bigots thou may'st herd ; 
 
ELIJAH. 45 
 
 But vent not thy rebukes where courtly ears, 
 Fastidious, are to smoother language used. 
 
 Elijah. 
 
 Truth is the passion of my soul. For Truth 
 I'd tread the burning marl, or dare the rage 
 Of lions and of leopards, or of men 
 More fierce than either. Unappalled I'd stand 
 Beneath the frown of power, or face the shock 
 Of the incensed and surging multitude. 
 By prejudice and malice hounded on. 
 Torn be my tortured body limb from limb, 
 My martyr heart hiss in the curling flames. 
 Ere I the word of God should compromise ! 
 Soon as the Spirit Divine, with hallowed fire, 
 Exalting sense and soul, my lips doth touch, 
 All meaner objects vanish from my sight, 
 Nor thrones nor dungeons dazzle or confound. 
 The word put in my mouth I'll speak, if men 
 Lend or refuse their ears. Be it that ye wish 
 No further parley ! Let us to the test. 
 Less than a miracle will not suffice 
 This contest to decide. Who answereth 
 By fire, O Israel ! he shall be thy God. 
 
 Ahab. 
 A limping course hath this debate pursued. 
 Like every other, leaving either side 
 
46 ELIJAH. 
 
 Just where it found them. As for my dull hrain, 
 
 Stunned by these subtleties, sufficeth it 
 
 I am th' anointed ruler of this realm. 
 
 'Tis my prerogative to legislate 
 
 In civil and ecclesiastic things supreme. 
 
 With rights of conscience I ne'er interfere,^^ 
 
 All as they please may think, but must conform 
 
 To the established worship. Odious schism 
 
 And fictions discord 1 abominate, 
 
 Nor license disobedience to the laws. 
 
 Go, heralds ! bid the holy priests prepare 
 
 The gravest rites of their religion now, 
 
 And in our dire distresses spare no pains 
 
 To make the immortal gods propitious to us. 
 
 Elijah. 
 Aye, bid them spare no pains, put forth their strength, 
 And summon all th' array of their resources. 
 How long 'twixt two opinions will ye halt, 
 O Israel ! as cripples sway about. 
 Or as a bird that hops from spray to spray, 
 And settles upon neither ? If convinced 
 Jehovah is the true and only God, 
 Almighty, all-sufficient, perfect, good, 
 Give him your homage, pay to him your vows. 
 If Baal be the true and living God, 
 Serve Baal ; for ye cannot -svorship both. 
 Why silent all ? and have ye ne'er a word 
 
ELIJAH. 47 
 
 To answer me, from policy or fear ? 
 
 Why, see ! I, only I, one feeble man, 
 
 Am left of all the prophets of the Lord, 
 
 While twenty score are ranged on Baal's side; 
 
 What have ye then to fear with such vast odds ? 
 
 Give us two bullocks ; and let Baal's priests 
 
 Make their selection, dress their sacrifice, 
 
 And lay it on the altar ; but no fire 
 
 Put 'neath the wood, as is their wont to do. 
 
 I will the other bullock treat likewise. 
 
 Then call ye on your gods ; and I will call 
 
 Upon the sole name of Jehovah-God. 
 
 And let the God who answereth by fire 
 
 Be publicly confessed the only God. 
 
 Must not the God of Fire his votaries hear ? 
 
 Is not the element at his command ? 
 
 Shall it be said, he either lacks the power, 
 
 Or else the will, to send the kindling flame ? 
 
 And lacking either, does he merit homage ? 
 
 Are ye content ? 
 
 All. 
 We are ; thou hast well said. 
 
 Herald. 
 
 The altar's reared, the sacrifice disposed. 
 They wait but for the royal word. 
 
48 ELIJAH. 
 
 Ahab. 
 
 Proceed. 
 
 [The Priests of Baal march round the altar, 
 singing in chorus, and dancing vehemently at 
 the close of each strophe. 
 
 (H^Ijcrtis of llje priests fif §aal. 
 
 I. 
 
 Dread Lord of heaven, sole source of day,^* 
 To whom our constant orisons we pay, 
 Hear us, great king ! 
 Adoni, hear ! 
 Thee we revere, 
 Accept our offering. 
 
 II. 
 
 Behold our blighted fields ! 
 
 No fruit the olive yields. 
 No more the land with milk and honey flows ; 
 
 The pools and fountains fail, 
 
 The fainting cattle w^ail, 
 Bashan is parched, and faded Sharon's rose. 
 
 O vine of Sibmah, mourn ! 
 
 Upon the ear is borne 
 No more the shout of merry vintagers ; 
 
ELIJAH. 
 
 The presses all are still ; 
 On valley and on hill 
 No voice of joy the slumbering echo stirs. 
 
 III. 
 
 Beautiful Water : best gift of the sky, 
 Cool to the touch, and clear to the eye ; 
 Hidden deep in the shaded well. 
 Bubbling up from the mossy dell. 
 
 Beautiful in the rocky grot, 
 
 Where the heats of noontide enter not ; 
 
 In the dewy pearls that sprinkle the lea. 
 
 In the shimmering lake, and the dimpling sea. 
 
 Beautiful in the rainbow bright, 
 Woven of mists and threads of light ; 
 Beautifid in the vernal shower, 
 Greening the leaf, and tinting the flower. 
 
 Beautiful in the sandy waste. 
 
 The Eye of the Desert, with palm trees graced ; 
 
 With frantic joy the caravans cry. 
 
 Beautiful Water ! best gift of the sky. 
 
 Windows of heaven, open again. 
 Refresh once more the thirsty plain I 
 Merciful Lord ! thy suppliants spare, 
 Close not thine ear to a nation^s prayer ! 
 3 
 
50 ELIJAH. 
 
 rv. 
 
 Why do thy quenchless ardors burn, 
 Why dost thou our petitions spurn, 
 Why do thy fire-tipt arrows fly 
 Vengeful athwart the brazen sky ? 
 
 Thy altars we have not forsaken ; 
 The holy fire 
 We have not suffered to expire ; 
 
 And freely hath the choicest of the herd been taken. 
 
 Not thus did Nature mourn, 
 Dishevelled and forlorn, 
 When, in the shady Syrian grove, 
 The queen of Beauty and of Love, 
 Her divine and perfect charms 
 Gave to thy consenting arms. 
 All nature breathed of happiness ; 
 From their gold-lipped chalices 
 A thousand flowers sweet odors shed 
 To grace thy happy nuptial-bed. 
 All the dreamy noon was still, 
 Save the rippling of the rill. 
 And the doves, with breasts of snow 
 Cooing soothingly and low ; 
 Slumberous zephyrs softly sighed, 
 Kissing myrtles sofl: replied ; 
 
ELIJAH. 51 
 
 Sifted through the leafy screen, 
 Mellow light fell, golden-green ; 
 All thy faculties entrancing. 
 Every pulse with rapture dancing ; 
 Thus, in the shady Syrian grove, 
 The hours were given to thee and love. 
 
 VI. 
 
 By those thrilling ecstasies, 
 
 By that lunacy of bliss ; 
 
 By their fond remembrance now, 
 
 Clothe with slniles once more thy brow ; 
 
 Hear us imploring, 
 
 See us adoring ! 
 
 VII. 
 
 Recall that day of woe. 
 When to the chase thou fam wouldst go ; 
 In vain thy queen around thee clung, 
 In vain prophetic warnings filled her tongue. 
 Then met thee, in the forest lone. 
 The cruel boar of Lebanon : 
 See his visage grim and dusk. 
 His bloodshot eye, his horrid tusk ! 
 The slender spear within thine hand 
 Could not his powerful charge withstand ; 
 Rushing like a wintry storm. 
 He dashed to earth thy lissom form ; 
 And ripping up thy naked side, 
 Tore a ghastly wound and wide. 
 
52 ELIJAH. 
 
 So a lily, frail and fair, 
 Cloven by the ruthless share, 
 Sudden droops its beauteous head, 
 Sinking on the turfy bed. 
 
 YIII. 
 
 From that wound thy life's warm blood 
 Welled amain in stanchless flood. 
 Dabbling all thy sunny hair ; 
 Thy body, delicate and fair, 
 Smooth as rosebud of the spring, 
 In clotted gore enveloping. 
 it bathed the wind-flower growing nigh. 
 And tinged it with a sanguine dye ; 
 Then, trickling onward to the river, 
 Incarnadined its waves forever. 
 And flower and river still retain 
 The memory of that mournful stain." 
 
 IX. 
 
 What words the frantic grief can paint 
 That poor Astarte's bosom rent, 
 As by that mangled corse she sate. 
 Utterly disconsolate ! 
 The Syrian maids, with sobs and sighs, 
 Mingled their deepest sympathies. 
 Seated like mourners on the ground : 
 " Tammuz is dead ! " the woods,"^ 
 " Tammuz is dead ! " the floods, 
 "Tammuz is dead ! " the rocky hills rebound. 
 
ELIJAH. 53 
 
 Upstarting from her trance of grief, 
 From heaven the goddess seeks relief, 
 And all her potent influence wields ; 
 Reluctant Death his victim yields. 
 
 Tammuz revives, 
 
 He lives, he lives ! 
 Restored to upper air. 
 Again the joys of life and love to share. 
 
 The Syrian maids 
 
 Bid woods and glades 
 Once more re-echo his beloved name. 
 And Nile from Byblos learns to celebrate his fame. 
 
 XI. 
 
 And still, from year to year, 
 With songs and dances they appear ; 
 And still, from age to age. 
 All people in thy praise engage ; 
 Whether with flowing hair and foot of gold. 
 Thou dost the portals of the Dawn unfold. 
 Or sett'st 'mid gorgeous piles of crimson glory. 
 All climes and tongues rehearse the pleasing story. 
 Then hear our prayer ! 
 Lowly we bend, 
 Deliverance send. 
 Sweet Tammuz, hear ! 
 
54 E L IJ x\ H . 
 
 XII. 
 
 God of day, 
 
 Prince of light, 
 Disperser of clouds, 
 
 Scatterer of night ; 
 Adoni great, 
 
 Sphered in splendor, 
 Life of the world, 
 
 Our health's defender, 
 Hear, Baal, hear, 
 Answer our prayer ! 
 
 Zabdiel. 
 If in vociferation prayer consist, 
 Or clamor be the test of piety, 
 Then iron lungs and throats of brass must rate 
 The chief equipment of superior saints. 
 Prayer is the quiet breathing of the heart. 
 The lowly whisper, or the contrite sigh. 
 Which He who made the heart interprets well ; 
 Only when calm, the lake reflecteth heaven. 
 See how they toil and sweat, at vast expense 
 Of nerve and muscle, vaulting in the air. 
 While " Baal ! Baal ! Baal ! " is their cry," 
 Repeated o'er and o'er, a thousand times. 
 
 Hezron. 
 And see, as with a sudden frenzy seized, 
 They leap upon the altar, and with shouts 
 
ELIJAH. 55 
 
 And mad contortions, cut with lancets keen " 
 And sacrificial knives, their arms and breasts. 
 
 Elijah. 
 Loud and yet louder lift your urgent voice, 
 And spill the crimson tide, whose stream delights. 
 Sweeter than incense, your blood-thirsty god ! 
 Louder and louder cry ! spare not your breath ! 
 For sprung from mortals, to your god may cleave 
 Some weaknesses of frail mortality. 
 Perchance he sleeps ; for now 'tis past high noon,'^^ 
 When gods do oft retire to cover up 
 Their feet, and slumber in some cool recess. 
 Perchance he tarries in the nether world. 
 Not having heard the vivifying voice 
 That terminates his hybernation drear. 
 Perchance with Ashtaroth he converse holds, 
 And as he lips his leman, fails to catch 
 Your feeble supplications. Or, mayhap, 
 Fond of the chase, again he flies the boar, 
 And drops again beneatli the deadly tusk. 
 Or, it may be, on Ethiopian hills, 
 A twelve days' journey gone, he keeps a feast, 
 And nectar sips 'mid all his jocund troop. 
 Nor heeds the miseries of mortal men. 
 Cry, cry aloud ! Shout till your throats are hoarse. 
 For day is waning, and as yet no voice 
 Nor answering sign gives proof of being heard. 
 
56 ELIJAH. 
 
 Amaziah. 
 
 Stop the baldheaded prater's ribald tongue, 
 
 Nor longer let him vent his blasphemies ! 
 
 He hath profaned the awful name, at which 
 
 The world adores and trembles. Wizard hoar ! 
 
 Thy counter-prayers and secret arts prevail 
 
 Against a nation's warm devotions. Here, 
 
 Here see the fatal cause of this long drought ! 
 
 No wonder that the angry god withholds 
 
 His favor, w^hilst that this blasphemer lives. 
 
 We have besieged his throne ; with flocks and herds 
 
 Incessantly his altar-fires have smoked, 
 
 And all in vain. Behold the guilty cause ! 
 
 The god demands a human sacrifice, 
 
 And richer blood, his chiefest enemy's, 
 
 Must flow, and now, that he may be appeased. 
 
 Haste, seize the traitor, bind his aged limbs, 
 
 And lay him as a victim on the stone ! 
 
 All. 
 
 Down with the wretch ! kill him ! away with him ! 
 Let not his presence more pollute the earth ! 
 
 Amaziah. 
 
 Our royal master sees the people's rage ; 
 It swelleth like the sea, nor can be curbed. 
 
 Will he not yield consent 1 
 
ELIJAH. 57 
 
 Jezebel. 
 
 I give my voice, 
 To have this insolent wretch at once cut off. 
 
 Maachah. 
 The' gloomy bigot ! let him die the death. 
 
 HiEL. 
 
 Aye, crush the reptile, on him stamp the heel, 
 And leave no frao^ment to all future time. 
 
 Ah 
 
 AB. 
 
 My lords and ladies ! much it irketh me 
 
 To say ye nay ; hut I have pledged my word, 
 
 Safe-conduct have engaged. It must be kept. 
 
 Amaziah. 
 
 And suffer vile blasphemers to escape ! 
 What rights of faith preserved, or promises, 
 Can outlaws claim, the enemies avowed 
 Of God and man 1 
 
 HiEL. 
 
 ' Spare not the snivelling dotard ! 
 
 Smite the conspirator against thy peace. 
 The troubler of the realm ! 
 3* 
 
58 ELIJAH. 
 
 Ithobal. 
 
 I thank the gods, 
 For this propitious hour ! Thine influence add, 
 
 queen ! of him thou hatest rid thyself ! 
 
 Jezebel. 
 Art thou a king, and dost thou yet allow 
 Petty punctilios to restrain thy hands ? 
 Kings are above all law ; the fountains they 
 Of honor ; in the place of God they stand ; 
 Their doings none may question or gainsay. 
 
 Ahab. 
 My noble lords ! the royal word is pledged. 
 To all my faults I dare not add this crime, 
 Dishonored in the world's eyes and mine own. 
 And since this trial should approach its close. 
 And Baal's priests the livelong day have prayed, 
 It is but just the prophet in his turn 
 Now offer sacrifice ; and if so be, 
 No answering sign from heaven be vouchsafed. 
 As he this convocation first proposed, 
 
 1 to your pleasure will surrender him. 
 Heralds ! make room, all needful things provide. 
 
 Elijah. 
 Countrymen, Hebrews, Sons of Israel, 
 Of him who, as a prince, had power with God ! 
 
ELIJAH. 59 
 
 If any faithful and devout remain 
 In all this concourse, let him hither come, 
 And build with me an altar to the Lord. 
 I charge you by those grand old memories 
 Which cluster round our nation's history. 
 Can you forget the wonders and the signs ; 
 The land of bondage, and the pilgrim march ; 
 The pillared cloud ; the separated sea ; 
 The thundered law, and Sinai in a blaze ; 
 The manna and the rock ; the swollen flood 
 Of Jordan parted in the midst ; the walls 
 Of Jericho at seventh circuit fall'n ; 
 The giant Anakim, the banded kings, 
 Vanquished by Israel's victorious arms ? 
 Can ye forget, O Israel ! who nursed 
 Your weakness into strength, on eagle-wings 
 Upbare you, like a mother overwatched 
 And to your present greatness led your steps ? 
 Will you forsake Jehovah, Lord of Hosts ? 
 Upon this height, by hands of godly men, 
 In generations past, an altar rose 
 To the tru3 God. Dismantled and broke down, 
 Ours be it now this ruin to repair. 
 Set up twelve stones on which no tool hath passed, 
 According to the number of the tribes. 
 And dig around the base a shallow trench. 
 Next pile the wood ; the bullock kill and flay ; 
 And all his pieces place upon the wood : 
 
60 ELIJAH. 
 
 It is a whole burnt-ofFering to the Lord. 
 Wherefore, to testify his world-wide rule, 
 I wave the shoulder to the north, whence come 
 Frost or fair weather, as his breath directs ; 
 Unto the south, impregned with softening winds ; 
 Unto the east, that hails the rising sun ; 
 Unto the west, that sees its going down. 
 And now, to silence scoffing lips, that fain 
 Would prate of juggling and collusive arts, 
 Four water-barrels empty on the whole. 
 • A second time repeat it ; and a third ; 
 Until both altar, sacrifice, and wood, 
 Are saturated, and the trench o'erflows. 
 
 Zacbiel. 
 
 Oh, how my heart did leap to hear his words. 
 As though it had with holy fu-e been touched ! 
 Dost note the slanting shadows ? 'Tis the hour 
 Of evening sacrifice, by the old law 
 Appointed. 
 
 Hezron. 
 True! a strange coincidence I 
 
 Zabdiel. 
 
 And dost thou note the man of God his face 
 Studious averteth from the sun, to teach 
 The crowd, the god they worship is not his ? 
 
ELIJAH. 61 
 
 Hezron. 
 
 And see ! he stretcheth forth his hands to pray. 
 Believest thou that fire will fall from heaven ? , 
 
 Zabdiel. 
 If there's a God in Israel, it will. 
 
 Elijah. 
 O Thou Most High Jehovah, cov'nant God 
 Of holy Abraham, Isaac, Israel ! 
 The hour hath come for thee to pluck thine hand 
 From out thy bosom, and to bare thine arm 
 In sight of all the people. Let them know 
 That thou art Israel's God, w^orthy alone 
 Of praise and worship, working in the heavens 
 As pleases thee, and ruling over all. 
 Approve me as thy servant, and make known 
 That all that I have done was at thy word. 
 And not of mine own counsel. Hear me. Lord, 
 O hear ! and answer by a sign of dread. 
 As thou didst Aaron, Gideon, David, hear ; 
 That they may know thou art Jehovah-God, 
 For thy name jealous, yet most merciful. 
 
 Hezron. 
 See ! see ! the fire of heaven ! from the clear sky 
 The flash, descends — the altar's in a blaze — 
 The sacrifice is hid in smoke — the wood. 
 
62 ELIJAH. 
 
 The stones, the very dust, are all consumed, 
 All melted m one mass of blood-red flame — 
 Ne'er for such purpose to be used again. 
 And see ! the water hissing in the trench, 
 The fire hath licked it up, to vapor turned. 
 
 Elijah. 
 
 Down on your faces, O ye people, fall, 
 
 And own your God ! the great Jehovah own ! 
 
 All. 
 
 Behold a miracle ! a miracle ! 
 Jehovah is the God, the God alone ; 
 Jehovah is the true and living God. 
 No more we worship idols, but our backs 
 We turn on Baal, and the Lord adore. 
 
 Elijah. 
 
 Now if ye from your idols truly turn, 
 
 And will be zealous for the Lord of Hosts, 
 
 Seize the false priests of Baal, let none flee ! 
 
 So is it written in the law, " If one. 
 
 Although he be thy bosom-friend, and dear 
 
 As thine own soul, should slily thee entice 
 
 To follow other gods, thou shalt not spare. 
 
 Nor shall thine eye have pity. He shall die, 
 
 Eor that he thrust thee from the Lord away, 
 
 Who brought thee from the land of bondage." Hence ! 
 
ELIJAH. 63 
 
 Away with the idolatrous, foul brood, 
 
 To Kishon's brook, and slay them there. The waves 
 
 Shall wash the laud forever of this plague. 
 
 Jezebel. 
 
 Wilt thou, O king, permit this massacre 
 Of a whole priestly tribe, before thine eyes '? 
 
 Ahab. 
 I cannot interfere. Such was the pact, 
 Such the conditions I myself imposed, 
 " Failure, to either party fatal proves." 
 
 Zephon. 
 It may be weakness, but such bloody scenes 
 Are to my feelings most repugnant. Truth 
 Requires not, sure, such questionable aids. 
 Not words of thunder, nor rebukes of fire. 
 Not earthquake throes, nor elemental war, 
 But gentle ministries of patient love. 
 Subdue the heart, and melt- its flint to tears. 
 
 Obadiah. 
 The fickle people and the court, I know 
 Better than those who in seclusion live, 
 And premature this exultation deem. 
 Sudden reforms, unbased on principle. 
 Lack root and permanence. Reaction comes ; 
 The cloud exhales before the first hot sun ; 
 
64 i:LiJAH. 
 
 The unfed torrent dies out in the sand 
 
 Discouragement ensues, despair and fear. 
 Stunned by the foilure and the total wreck, 
 Ev'n prophets, for they are but men, may yield 
 The hopeless cause, and to the desert flee. 
 
 Elijah. 
 In the faint rustle of the leaves, O king ! 
 I hear the token of returning grace ; 
 Now get thee up, to thy pavilion hie. 
 And with unwonted gladness spread the feast. 
 I give myself to prayer. Thou, Zephon ! climb 
 Yon rising ground, and bring me sure report 
 What thou discernest on the rough'ning sea. 
 
 God of my fathers ! let me with thee plead ; 
 Appear for thine own name ; thy word fulfil ; 
 Nor leave thy cause to deep reproach and shame ! 
 
 Zephon. 
 No pleasing change I mark : the brazen slvy 
 Glows with unshaded and relentless glare. 
 
 Elijah. 
 Seven times return again, and watch untired. 
 
 O gracious King of Heaven ! shall the bold mocks 
 Of heathen scoffers now insult mine ear, 
 
ELIJAH. 65 
 
 While they profanely cry, " Where is thy God ? 
 Not for mine honor, Lord ! but thy great name, 
 Reveal thine arm, and teach the godless world, 
 'Tis Thou alone, not Gentile vanities, 
 That rain dost give, from out thy treasure-cloud. 
 
 Zephon. 
 Seven times mine eye hath the far sea-line swept, 
 Since thou hast here bowed motionless, thine head 
 Deep-buried in thine hands : and now at length 
 Out of the sea ascends a little cloud 
 In form and bigness like a human hand. 
 
 Elijah. 
 I thank thee, God of prayer ! On rapid wing 
 Expanding, 'twill o'ercanopy the heavens. 
 And burst with sudden and resistless force 
 In an impetuous deluge on the plain. 
 My lord, king ! thy chariot prepare. 
 That the swift-coming tempest stay thee not ; 
 Whiles that thy servant, girding up his loins, 
 Will run before thee to thy palace-gate. 
 
 Welcome, thrice welcome, to the thirsty fields, 
 The genial gift of Him who answers prayer ! 
 Praise to the King of Glory ! who doth give 
 Unto his saints a two-edged sword, his wrath 
 To execute upon the heathen, and to bind 
 
66 ELIJAH. 
 
 In chains the rebels that oppose his will. 
 Sons of the prophets ! lead the swelling strain, 
 For this should be a joyful day to you. 
 
 di;fe0r«s 0f i\z ^om of tlje $m\^tiB,'' 
 
 I, 
 
 Laud, blessing, adoration, are thy right. 
 Great King of boundless majesty ! 
 
 Thy mantle is the living light ; 
 
 Thou fillest heaven's high throne, 
 
 And sway'st the sceptre of the skies alone : 
 Among the gods none dares to rival thee. 
 
 II. 
 
 Thou madest heaven and earth, 
 
 The hoarse waves echo back thine awful name 
 Thou wast, before the mountains had their birth, 
 
 Before the pillars of old Nature's frame. 
 
 III. 
 The flaming sun 
 
 Thy glory, not his own, reveals ; 
 
 As on his swift but silent wheels. 
 
 Along the constellated arch. 
 
 With giant step, and conqueror's march, 
 He slackens not the rein, until his goal be won. 
 
ELIJAH. 67 
 
 IV. 
 
 Rising, setting, 
 Ne'er forgetting 
 The place to which he, panting, must return ; 
 Thy guiding will 
 He hastens to fulfil, 
 ^ Which formed him first, and bade his splendors burn. 
 
 V. 
 
 The thunder is thy voice ; and thine, O God ! 
 
 The lightning's terrible beauty, gleaming far ; 
 
 When thou dost yoke the whirlwind to thy car. 
 And ride upon the wings of storms abroad. 
 
 IV 
 
 O'er the Great Sea resounds the deafening roar, 
 The range of Lebanon it rolleth o'er, 
 And Sirion shakes at its terrific peals. 
 Flash after flash the forest-depths reveals, 
 Shivers the lofty cedars with its stroke, 
 And of its foliage strips the giant oak. 
 Rent is the black and overhanging pall. 
 And welcome torrents on the valleys fall. 
 
 VII. 
 
 What are idols, false and vain ? 
 Lust and blood are in their train ; 
 
68 ELIJAH. 
 
 Sightless eyes and helpless hands ; 
 None his votary understands ; 
 Weak to bless, and weak to ban, 
 Senseless god, and senseless man ! 
 
 vni. 
 
 Our God is in the heavens : He guides 
 The starry paths, the ocean tides ; 
 Nothing too great, nothing too small ! 
 His equal eye is over all ; 
 Dropping with gold the insect's wing, 
 Or widest empires managing. 
 The callow raven's cry he hears, 
 And champion of the poor appears. 
 
 IX. 
 
 They that persecute the just 
 Touch the apple of his eye ; 
 His terrors make th' oppressor fly, 
 And beat the wicked small as dust. 
 Though hand in hand, 
 The wicked band, 
 His people to exterminate ; 
 For Israel's sighs 
 He will arise, 
 Their righteous cause to vindicate. 
 Asunder cut the impious cords, 
 God of gods, and Lord of lords ! 
 
ELIJAH. 69 
 
 X. 
 
 Praise Him in the highest height, 
 Lucid orbs of quenchless light ! 
 Praise Him in the depths below, 
 Lightning's flash, and winter's snow ! 
 
 Praise Him, mountains gray and tall ; 
 Torrents, that in thunder fall ! 
 Birds, whose song the morning wakes ; 
 Beasts, whose roar the forest shakes ! 
 
 Praise Him, ye of mortal race. 
 Sharers of his sevenfold grace ; 
 Gifts of mercy, deeds of power. 
 Witnessed by each grateful hour ! 
 
 Praise Him, princes on the throne ; 
 Praise Him, tribes of every zone ! 
 Join, O Earth ! thy loftiest hymn 
 To the chant of Cherubim ! 
 
 \_Exeunt Omnes. 
 
NOTES TO ELIJAH 
 
 (1.) The sacred car of ivort/ and gold. 
 
 Compare the description of Solomon's chariot, Sonj?, iii. 10. 
 See also Xcnoplion's account of the white chariot and horses of 
 the Sun, (Jyrop. bk. 8, c. xix., and the similar account of Herod- 
 otus, bk. 8, c. Iv. ; and 2 Kings xxiii. 11. 
 
 (2.) TJie Virgins of the Sun thou dost perceive. 
 
 The attaching of women as part of the corps of the temple 
 has always been common in idolatrous countries. The Vestal 
 Virgins of the Romans were indeed bound by solemn vows to a 
 life of chastity, and were buried alive if detected in a trans- 
 gression. They were released from their vows at thirty years 
 of age, and permitted to marry. Their office was to tend the 
 perpetual fire, day and night. " Esta," says Chevalier Ramsay, 
 " is a Chaldce word which signifies fire, and from thence comes 
 the Greek word Estia. The Romans added V to it, and made it 
 Vesta, as of Espcra they made Vcspcra." — Travels of Ci/ncs, p. 
 29, note. But of the Dancing-girls who are found attached to 
 every Hindoo temple, it is no calumny to say that they are any 
 thing but Vestal Virgins. " The first in rank are the sacrificcrs, 
 whose duties are numerous and daily. Next in importance are 
 the Dcvadassi or handmaids of the gods ; they have the charge 
 of the sacred lamps, and generally are concubines to the Brah- 
 mins, and, in fact, low and abandoned in their morals. They 
 dance and sing the impure songs in which the licentious actions 
 of their gods are celebrated. These persons are sometimes dod- 
 
72 NOTES TO ELIJAH. 
 
 icated to this life by their parents, and are not considered as 
 reflecting any disgrace on the family to which they belong. 
 They are the only females who learn to read, to sing, and to 
 dance. Such accomplishments are held in abhorrence by all the 
 virtuous matrons of India." — Malte-Brun's Univ. Geogr. ii. 243. 
 The priestesses of Yenus in Corinth were cf a like character. 
 The famous Lais was of the number. 
 
 It would seem that the worship of the groves among the 
 Syrians, and imitated by the Jews, had the same adjuncts. 
 Josiah, among his other reforms, " brake down the houses of 
 consecrated persons, hakkedesliim (the term is applied in the 
 Scriptures only to the vilest individuals), that were by the house 
 of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove." 
 These women were employed to make rich and costly garments 
 for the shrine, or to dress the image itself; unless we take the 
 word " hangings," with Michaelis, to mean curtains or tents for 
 the concealment of the worshippers. In the lUad, Hecuba is ad- 
 vised by Hector to select her finest peplum, as a present to pro- 
 pitiate Minerva. — Iliad, vi. 2*71. 
 
 " The largest mantle your full wardrobes hold. 
 Most priz'd for art, and labor'd o'er with gold. 
 Before the Goddess' honor'd knees be spread." 
 
 (8.) They the Chemarim are. 
 
 The passage in 2 Kings xxiii. 4-14, already alluded to, is 
 rich in suggestions. " The idolatrous priests whom the kings of 
 Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places," and 
 who seem to be different from the priests of Baal (for it is 
 added, " them a^so that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, 
 and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of 
 heaven"), are in the original called Chemarim, so called accord- 
 ing to Kimchi, because they wore black clothes. This was a re- 
 markable contrast, for the priests of Jehovah were required to 
 wear white linen. These priests, from the circumstance of being 
 robed in black, may be supposed to be dedicated to the infernal 
 powers. 
 
 The Casdim are Chaldeans. The name of the nation became 
 appropriated to that class who dealt in occult studies, as we call 
 
^' O T E S T O E L IJ A H . 73 
 
 a fortune-teller a Gipsy, aud the French, a Bohemian. The 
 ■whole people seem to have had a passion for astrological studies, 
 fostered by the tower of Belus, and the observatoi-y on which 
 Callisthenes found observations recorded for 1903 years, till 
 within fifteen years of the time when the tower was built. 
 Prideaux' Conn. i. 123. Curtius narrates that " Chaldcei Vates'''' 
 warned Alexander not to enter Babylon at his peril. " Chaldsei, 
 non ex artis, sed ex gentis, vocabulo nominati, predicere dicun- 
 tur, quoquisque fate natus esset." — Cic. de Divin, i. 
 
 ^\\Q Chartimimim axQ i\\e " w^a^^c^■ans" of Daniel ii. 2. The 
 word denotes sacred scribes ; they were perhaps students of the 
 secrets of nature, including the idea of genethliacs, or casters 
 of nativities. In Daniel the nice distinctions between the va- 
 rious grades of magicians, astrologers {ashaphim^ whence the 
 sopJioi of the Greeks), sorcerers, and Chaldeans, may be traced 
 to advantage by the critical student. See Poh Synopsis^ in loc. 
 
 (4.) 17ie Prophets of the Grove^ full tiocnty score, 
 Are absent. 
 
 The absence of the prophets of the Grove, who were par- 
 ticularly embraced in the challenge of Elijah, is worth noticing. 
 The reason of their absence must be left entirely to conjecture. 
 Pei'haps, as they were a sort of domestic chaplains of the queen, 
 " which eat at Jezebel's table," and so were under her special 
 patronage, they were not subject to Ahab's direct orders ; or 
 Jezebel may have detained them from prudential considerations : 
 or some punctilio of etiquette or precedence may have kept 
 them from joining with the priests of Baal. 
 
 The word Askerah, translated Grove, is capable of being 
 rendered Astarte ; and this rendering is preferred by Theodoret 
 and Selden, De Dis Syris, 2, c. ii. p. 232. As early as the time 
 of Solomon the worship of " Ashtoreth the abomination of the 
 Zidonians," had been introduced. When Ahab married his 
 Zidonian wife, to gratify her he not only " raised an altar for 
 Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria," but 
 he *' made a grove," or rather, he made an image of Ashtoreth 
 or Astarte, his wife's goddess, conveniently near, 1 Kings xvi. 33. 
 4 
 
74 NOTES TO ELIJAH. 
 
 (5.) The Syrian Goddess. 
 
 The principal authority to be consulted in regard to the 
 mythology of the Syrians, is Lucian, the eminent sophist and 
 satirist. Being a native of Samosata, a city of Syria, not far 
 from the Euphrates, although of Greek ancestry, he was in the 
 habit of calling himself a Syrian or Assyrian. He flourished in 
 the reign of Trajan, and of course is incompetent to testify of 
 what passed a thousand years before ; and his derivation of the 
 Eunuch-priests called Galli from the story of Combabus and 
 Stratonice, wife first of Selcucus and afterward of Antiochus, 
 shows a date six hundred years later than the time of Ahab. 
 Still it cannot be doubted that some of the traditions w hich he 
 cited may be depended on, and particularly the account of the 
 Syrian buildings, deities, and worsliip. Such an account he 
 undertook to give in a dissertation " concerning the Syrian 
 Goddess." From this treatise, w^hicli is known only to scholars, 
 two or three extracts may be acceptable. It is worthy of note 
 that Lucian explicitly affirms that the Assyrians borrowed from 
 the Egyptians their traditions concerning the gods. 
 
 " There is also another great temple in Phoenicia, held by 
 the Sidonians, which they say was erected to Astarte ; by which 
 Astarte, I suppose, they mean the Moon: however, one of the 
 priests told me, that it belonged to Europa, the sister of Cad- 
 mus I saw likewise a temple in Byblis, dedicated 
 
 to Venus [Aphrodite] Byblia, wherein they perform sacred rites 
 to Adonis, and I was instructed in the same. They relate, that 
 the misfortune of Adonis, who was slain by a boar, happened 
 in their country; and, in memory thereof, whip themselves 
 every year, mourning, and performing many ceremonies ; at 
 which time great lamentation is made by them over all the coun- 
 try ; but, when they have done whipping themselves and lament- 
 ing, in the first place, they offer up funeral sacrifices to. Adonis, 
 as being dead ; but then, on the morrow after, they feign he is 
 restored to life again, and ascended up through the air into 
 heaven, when they shave their heads, as the custom of the 
 Egyptians is upon the death of Apis ; but for those women that 
 will not have their heads shaved, this is the penalty inflicted on 
 them ; they are to stand one whole day, and expose their bodies 
 
NOTES TO ELIJAH. 75 
 
 to sale only to strangers ; and the money that they get by so 
 dohig, is offered up as a present to Yenus. But there are some 
 of the Byblians who say, that Osiris the Egyptian was buried 
 amongst them, and that all their lamentation and solemnity is 
 performed, not in honor of Adonis, but Osiris ; in confirmation 
 •whereof they tell you this story, which makes it the more 
 probable. They say a head is brought every year from Egypt 
 to Byblis, over the sea, in the space of seven days, the winds 
 carrying it with such a divine gale, that it turneth neither to the 
 'one side nor to the other, but comes in a straight passage di- 
 rectly to Byblis ; which, though it may seem miraculous, happens 
 every year, and did the same when I was there ; by which means 
 I myself had a sight of the BybUan head." — Di'i/den's Liccian, 
 vol. I. 242. 
 
 By Astarte Lucian understood the Moon. Ashteroth, says 
 Selden, is Astarte in the LXX., and in the Alexandrine Chroni- 
 cle, Eustarte. Rabbi David derives it from a word- signifying 
 sheep, as if from the number of offerings. Philastrius thinks 
 Asthar the name of a man. Ashtoreth was a city in the king- 
 dom of Bashan, Josh. xii. 4. Whether the city was called from 
 the goddess, or the goddess from a city, is uncertain. The Phil- 
 istines put Saul's armor in the house of Ashtaroth. The word 
 is frequently rendered grove. As groves, Uke mountains, were 
 fjivorite places of worship, may there not have been many god- 
 desses worshipped under this name, as Jupiter Endendros of the 
 Rhodians, and Diana Xemorosa ? 
 
 But it is an objection to the translation, grove (though it has 
 the sanction of Josephus), that it is a sense sometimes inconsist- 
 ent with the connection ; thus: "They set them up images and 
 groves in every high hill, and under every green tree." 2 Kings 
 xvii. 10. Surely they did not erect groves in groves, or a tree 
 under a tree. Manasseh pjaced in the temple " a graven image 
 of a grove, Aserah,'''' 2 Kings xxi. 1.- This is said in 'close con- 
 nection with his rearing up altars for Baal, and all the host of 
 heaven. It was from the Sidonians that Ahab borrowed the 
 chief deities Baal and Ashtoreth. But in the Sidonian or Syrian 
 mythology, there is no other deity besides Ashtoreth or Astarte, 
 ("Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians," 1 Kings xi. 5), the 
 
76 K O T E S TO E L IJ A n . 
 
 Moon, called by such names as Asarotb, Asarim, or Asarah, nor 
 is there any evidence of such a thing as a gi'ove being worship- 
 ped under this name. The image might have been made of 
 wood, and so have given rise to the ambiguity ; as Jcsiah burnt 
 Manasseh's image, and Gideon cut down the grove, or image, 
 upon the altar. Wooden images, covered with gold, are men- 
 tioned by Isaiuh and Jeremiah. 
 
 To return to Astarte : — this goddess is said to have borne, as 
 the symbol of dominion, an ox's head, the horns of which indi- 
 cated beams of light. A star, supposed to have fallen from 
 heaven, was dedicated to her in Tyre. Cicero descinbes four 
 goddesses who bore the same name, Juno, Venus, the Moon, and 
 the mistress of Adonis. Chevalier Ramsay identifies the latter 
 with Urania, the queen of stars, degraded to earth. TraV. of 
 Cyrus, p. 185. Jahn coincides in the opinion that Astarte was 
 the Moon. Archgeol. § 409. According to Augustine, she was 
 Juno. According to Euripides, she was lo. There can be no 
 doubt, that as there were many Junes and Yenuses, so there were 
 many Astartes. Selden is in doubt whether Astarte is the same 
 as Beltis or Baakis. But as the Sun is the king of heaven, the 
 Moon may appropriately be styled the queen of hcaAcn. — ^'yn- 
 tagma, II. p. 158. 
 
 Layard identifies her with Hera, or the Assyrian Venus \ and 
 adds, that the monuments hitherto discovered present no cor- 
 roboration of the infamous law which, according to Herodotus, 
 marked her rites at Babylon. " She was 'the Queen of Heaven' 
 frequently alluded to in the sacred volumes. Diodorus mentions 
 the vases which were placed on tables in the Babylonian tem- 
 ple ; the prophet describes the drink-offerings to her ; and ia 
 the sculptures, the king is constantly represented with a cup in 
 one hand, in the act of performing some religious ceremony. 
 The planet which bore her name, was sacred to her, and,. in the 
 Assyrian sculptures, a star is placed upon her head. She was 
 called Beltis, because she was the female form of the great di- 
 vinity, or Baal ; the two, there is reason to conjecture, having 
 been originally but one, and androgyne. Her worship penetrat- 
 ed from Assyria into Asia Minor, where its Assyrian origin was 
 recognized. In the rock tablets of Pterium she is represented, 
 
NOTES TO ELIJAH. 77 
 
 as in those of Assyria, standing erect on a lion, and crowned 
 with a tower, or mural coronet, which, we learn from Lucian 
 was peculiar to the Semitic figure of the goddess. This may 
 have been a modification of the high cap of the Assyrian bas- 
 reliefs. To the Shemites she was known under the names of As- 
 tarte, Ashtaroth, Mylitta, and Alitta, according to the various 
 dialects of the nations amongst which her worship prevailed. 
 ... It has been conjectured that this name [Astarte] was 
 derived from the word 'star' iu the primitive Indo-European 
 • languages, from whence, it is well known, came the Persian fe- 
 male name Satara, the daughter of Darius, and that of the bibli- 
 cal Esthei\ . . . This custom of placing the figure of a star 
 upon the heads Tof idols is probably alluded to by the prophet. 
 *The star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.' Amos 
 V. 26." — Layard's Nineveh, vol II. pp. 346, 347. 
 
 (6.) Samm'ia's Temple- Palace. 
 
 It is said of Ahab that after marrying Jezebel, the Sidonian, 
 "he went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he reared 
 up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in 
 Samaria. And Ahab made a grove." — 1 Kings xvi. 32. 
 
 The Egyptians joined the palace and the temple together, 
 thus surrounding the royal throne with the prestige of divine 
 sanctity. The Assyrian custom seems to have been similar, at 
 least no separate temples have yet been found among the exhu- 
 mations. " As in Egypt, he [the king] may have been regarded 
 as the representative, on earth, of the deity; receiving his power 
 directly from the gods, and the organ of communication between 
 them and his subjects. All the edifices hitherto discovered in 
 Assyria, have precisely the same character ; co that we have 
 most probably the palace and temple combined : for in them the 
 deeds of the king and of the nation, are united with religious 
 symbols, and with the statues of the gods." — Layard's Nineveh, 
 vol. 11. p. 211. 
 
 Lucian's description of the great Phoenician temple of the 
 Syrian goddess at Byblis, is as follows : 
 
 "The place itself, you must know, whereon the temple stand- 
 eth, is the knoll of an hill, lying about the middle of the city. 
 
78 N O T E S T O E L IJ A H . 
 
 and hath a double Avali encompassing it round ; of which -walla 
 the one is ancient, and tlio other not much older than the age 
 we live in. But the porch of the temple lieth towards the north, 
 in circumference about one hundred fathoms, wherein the Pria- 
 pusses [(paXXoi] stand, whom Bacchus dedicated, being three 
 hundred cubits high, into one of which a man getteth up every 
 year twice, and dwelletli seven days together at the top of the 
 Phallus [to .pray nearer the gods]. ... As for the temple, 
 it looks towards the sun-rising, but its form and workmanship is 
 after the same manner as the temples in Ionia. There stands a 
 great basis of about two fathoms in heiglit, whereon the tower is 
 erected, to. the which you go up by stone steps ; and when you 
 are once ascended, the porch before the temple is very admira- 
 ble and delightful to the view, being adorned not only with 
 golden doors, but the whole temple glistering exceedingly with 
 gold, and the roof covered with the same ; from Avhence you 
 may perceive a divine fragrant scent, equal to the best odors in 
 Arabia. Being ascended a great heiglit, it emits a most pleasant 
 smell, and the same likewise when you descend, insomuch that 
 your garments for a long time after retain the scent, and you your- 
 self cannot but always remember it. Within the chapel there is a 
 temple [S-oAa/tos] with a small ascent to it ; it hath no doors, but 
 lieth always open. Now all enter into the great temple, but 
 only the priests into the chapel ; yet not all of them either, but 
 such only as are nearest related to the gods, and devote their 
 whole lives to the service of the temple. Herein are placed the 
 statues of the gods, as Juno and Jupiter, wdiom they call by 
 another name, of their own denomination. Both are of gold, 
 and are made both sitting, but Juno is carried by lions, and Ju- 
 piter by bulls. ... I formerly mentioned, on the left hand, 
 as you enter into the temple, there stands first the throne of the 
 sun, but without any image of the sun itself; for the sun and 
 moon only have no statues amongst them, and, as I understand, 
 the ground thereof was this : they say, that it is a holy thing to 
 erect statues to other gods, inasmuch as their forms arc not 
 manifest to us ; but the sun and moon are evidently seen by all, 
 wherefore it would be unnecessary to make the images of what 
 v\-c daily behold in the air. After this throne is placed the statue 
 
NOTES TO ELIJAH. ^9 
 
 of Apollo, . . . with a long beard. . . . Whensoever 
 he hath a mind to give answer, he first of all raoveth himself in 
 the seat, ... if the thing proposed displeases him, he re- 
 tires backward ; but if he approves of it, he then drives and hur- 
 ries on his supporters forwards, as a coachman drives his horses ; 
 and in this manner they collect his answers. ... I will here 
 also acquaint you with another thing, that happened while I was 
 present. The priests, having lifted him up, throwing them down 
 he quitted their shoulders, and walked himself in the air. Now 
 ■ after Apollo, the next is, the statue of Atlas, then Mercury, and 
 then of Lucina ; which is the side-furniture of the temple : but 
 without there standeth a great altar made of- brass, besides a 
 thousand other brazen statues of kings and priests." — Dryden's 
 Lucian, vol. I. p. 259-205. * 
 
 For a description of the Temple of the Sun in Cuzco, the city 
 of the Incas, the reader is referred to Prescott's History of Teru. 
 A brief and graphic account of it is presented from the pen of an 
 English traveller : '* Where now stands the church of San Do- 
 mingo, then rose that glorious fane, the Temple of the Sun, with 
 its grand central door, and massive cornice of pure gold. The 
 interior was decorated with a magnificence suited to the holy 
 uses to which it was dedicated. A large golden sun, studded 
 with emeralds and turquoises, covered the side facing the door ; 
 a sacred flame constantly burned befoi'e the representative of 
 the deity; and vases of gold, a metal which the Incas believed 
 to be ' the tears shed by the sun,' stood, filled with sacrificial 
 first fruits, on the floor of the temple. The other sides of the 
 Yntip-pampa were occupied by massive stone temples dedicated 
 to Quilla, or the moon, in which all the utensils were of silver ; 
 to Coyllur-cuna, or the hosts of heaven ; to Chasca, the planet 
 Venus, called ' the youth with flowing golden locks ; ' to Ccuicha, 
 or the rainbow; and to Yllapa, or thunder and lightning. . . 
 The convent of the virgins of the Sun, called the aclla-huasi, was 
 situated near the Yntip-pumpa." — Markha;nVi Cuzco, pp. 120, 123. 
 
 (7.) Their silver helms with disc and crescent topped. 
 Osburn, from a careful study of the wall-paintings of Egypt, 
 has been enabled to reproduce a very satisfactory description of 
 
80 NOTES TO ELIJAH. 
 
 the Sidonian warriors. He says the Sidonians, "in personal ap- 
 pearance, were a fine muscular race. Their features resembled 
 those of the Arvaditcs and Tyrians. Their statesmen and mer- 
 chants wore the hair and beard long with the fillet round the 
 head. Their warriors cut the hair, beard, and whiskers short. 
 Their arms and accoutrements were worthy of the fame and 
 riches of their great city. The helmet was of silver, with a sin- 
 gular ornament at the crown, consisting of a disc and two horns 
 of a heifer or of the crescent moon. This symbol is not at all 
 like any thing worn in Egypt, but strikingly resembles the horns 
 of Astarte, on the coins and medals of Phoenicia. This disc was 
 the badge of a prince. Inferior ranks were denoted by the two 
 horns only. The armor consisted of plates of some white metal, 
 probably silver, quilted upon a whife linen garment, which was 
 laced in front and reached up to the armpits, being supported by 
 shoulder-straps. The shield was large and circular, like that of 
 the Philistines. It was of iron rimmed with gold and ornament- 
 ed with golden studs or bosses. The sword, which was of 
 bronze, was two-edged, and shaped like the modern poniard. 
 The spear was a long lance." — Osburn's Ancient Egypt, p. 119. 
 
 (8.) A7id live queen Isabel ! 
 
 The sacred historian mentions it as an aggravation of Ahab's 
 Avickedness, that he took to wife the daughter of Ethbaal, or 
 Ithobal, king of the Sidonians, and with her introduced her 
 country's idols to the Israehtes. Her name in the original He- 
 brew is Izebely in the LXX., lezebel, corresponding nearly to our 
 modern Isabel, and much more euphonious than the name Jeze- 
 bel ; in which the / is hardened by Anglo-Saxon usage into J. 
 According to Eollin, the Tyrian princess Dido was the grand- 
 niece of Jezebel, being great-granddaughter of Ithobal, or Eth- 
 baal, called by Josephus king of both Tyre and Sidon. There is 
 nothing in the chronology to conflict with the opinion. 
 
 It will be perceived, that while I have (with Krumraacher) 
 depicted Ahab as an easy, weak, capricious monarch, addicted 
 to sensual pleasures, but not naturally either ambitious or cruel ; 
 I have represented Jezebel as a beautiful, fascinating, accom- 
 plished, ambitious, and unscrupulous woman, just such as were 
 
N OTES T O'' E LIJAH. 81 
 
 Cleopatra, Catharine of Guise, Mary, queen of Scots, and Lady 
 Macbeth. That with her great administrative quahties she had 
 Queen Elizal^cth's personal vanity is inferrible from her painting 
 her face and tiring her head when about to present herself be- 
 fore Jehu. 
 
 (9.) Of CavmcVs imll-pois'd ynomit. Garden of God ! 
 
 The most satisfactory description of Mount Carmel is to be 
 found in Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine." According to this 
 writer, the mountains of Palestine are generally bare and rugged. 
 Mount Carmel is one of the rare exceptions, being covered with 
 verdure to its very summit. It is this feature which gave it its 
 name, Carm-El, "the Garden of God." It owes its distinction 
 to its beauty rather than its loftiness ; for it is nowhere higher 
 than 1,100 feet above the level of the sea. It is a long mountain 
 range, extending eighteen miles from the interior, and terminat- 
 ing in a bluff promontory. Tliis promontory, which, from its his- 
 torical associations, has monopolized the name, boldly overlooks 
 the Levant, opposite Acre (the old Accho); and is surrounded 
 by a "broad beach, easily traversed by the successive armies of 
 the Philistines, Egyptians, .and Crusaders. The bay, bounded 
 by Carmel on the south and by the hills of Galilee on the north, 
 forms the embouchure of the great plain, or battle-field of Es- 
 draelon. 
 
 The commanding position of the promontory is alluded to by 
 Jeremiah: "Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as 
 Carmel is by the sea, so shall the king of Babylon come." Jer. 
 xxvi. 18. The luxuriance and fertility of the mountain are indi- 
 cated in various passages of Holy Writ. Isaiah celebrates " the 
 excellency of Carmel and Sharon." Isa. xxxv. 2. To an Isra- 
 elite, says Stanley, it seemed like a natural park ; it was a type 
 and standard of beauty, and its sterility was the consummation 
 of misfortune. "The top of Carmel shall wither." Amos i. 2. 
 "The earth mourneth and languisheth ; Lebanon is ashamed and 
 hewn down ; Sliaion is like a wilderness ; and Bashan and Car- 
 mel shake off their fruits." Is?., xxxiii. 9. When cultivated, as 
 in the time of Uzziah, who had "vine-dressers" there (2 Chron. 
 xxvi. 10), and adorned with vineyards, groves of olives, and 
 4^c 
 
82 NOTES TO ELIJAH. 
 
 orchards of almond and fig-trees, it might -well deserve its 
 name. 
 
 Hence we see the appropriateness of likening to it the orna- 
 ments of an Eastern bride, " thy head upon thee is like Carmel." 
 Solomon s Song, vii. 5. Carne says that no mountain in Pales- 
 tine retains so much of its ancient beauty as this. — Letters from 
 the East, vol.11. 119. Van Richter describes it as "entirely 
 covered with verdure: on its summit are pines and oaks; "and 
 farther down olives and laurel-trees. Many odoriferous flowers, 
 as hyacinths, jonciulUes, tazcttes, anemones, &c., grow wild upon 
 the mountain. From it issue a multitude of brooks emptying 
 into the Kishon, the largest of which is the so-called fountain of 
 Elijah." — See Robinson's Calmet, Art. Carmel. 
 
 It has been supposed that when Amos said, " though they 
 hide themselves in the top of Carmel," Amos ix. 3, be meant the 
 caves or grottoes, which are numerous and intricate ; in some 
 of which Obadiah may have concealed the Lord's prophets, 
 (" an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave," 
 1 Kings xviii. 4,) and wliich were the favorite resort of both 
 Elijah and Elisha. But we are assured, that there are no caves 
 in the summit, though there are very large ones under the 
 western cliffs. Hence the language of the prophet must be re- 
 ferred to the thick vegetation, which would furnish a sufficient 
 screen. — Mission of Inq. to the Jews, p. 235. Sinai and Pal. 
 p. 345. 
 
 The view, in every direction from the top of the mountain, 
 is magnificent, *' Mount Carmel," says Lamartine, " begins to 
 rise, at some minutes' walk from Kaipha. "We climbed it, by a 
 tolerably good road, cut in the rock, on the very edge of the 
 promontory ; every step we ascended discovered to us a new 
 prospect 6f the sea, of the hills of Palestine, and the borders 
 of Idumea."— Pilgr. to the Holy Land, vol. I. 209. The view 
 takes in the plain of Esdraelon, the winding Kishon, the site of 
 Jezreel, and Samaria, with Mount Tabor and Great Hermon, 
 which Lieut. Lynch saw covered with snow in June. — See 
 Official Report, 4to, p. IIG. 
 
 The geological character of the mountains of Syria was 
 carefully examined by Dr. Anderson, Avho accompanied Lyuch's 
 
NOTES TO ELIJAH. 83 
 
 exploring party. They arc of secondary and later limestones, 
 with basaltic and tertiary interruptions, once covered by the 
 waters of the great Jurassic Ocean. A few miles from the con- 
 vent on Mt. Carmel, arc found remai'kable petrifactions known 
 as " Elijah's melons," said by the legends to be fruit turned into 
 stone by the prophet, to punish the refusal of the owner to sup- 
 ply his wants. These quartz nodules, pebbles, or " turk^s-heads,^^ 
 are round and smooth, and were used by Djezzar Pasha for 
 cannon balls. — Stanley, p. 153. Lynch's Off. Rept. p. 95. 
 
 The botanical features of Mt. Carmel were observed by Dr. 
 Griffith. He noticed the following specimens : Rammculacece ; 
 Adonis autumnalis, common from Mt. Carmel and Nazareth to 
 the sources of Jordan, with varieties in the tints. Malvaccce ; 
 Lavatera thuringiniana, at the foot of the mountain. Fahacece ; 
 Genista monosperma, the Rotem of the Arabs, and Juniper of 
 the Bible, its roots unfit for food. (But Bonar insists that it is 
 broom. Desert of Sinai, p. 389.) Astcracece ; Helychrysum 
 Orientale. Solanacece ; Mandragora autumnahs, or mandrake, 
 Jiabora of the Arabs, the Dudaira of Genesis, and still valued 
 for supposed aphrodisiac powers. — Liliaccce ; Asphodelus ra- 
 mosus, or Asphodel. — Off. Rept. pp. 59-67. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Scott has supposed, and Dr. Robinson seems to 
 f ivor the opinion, that the assembling of the priests took place 
 at the base of the mountain. The commonly received opinion 
 is that it occurred upon the summit, and the description may 
 be explained in accordance with this belief. There had been an 
 ancient altar there, 1 Kings xviii. 30 ; xix. 10, which Elijah re- 
 paired ; and it is not probable that an altar would have been 
 erected except on the sumn;it, in conformity witli the prevalent 
 passion for "high places." It is said also that Elijah brought 
 the prophets of Baal " doicn to the brook Kishon, and slew 
 them there." He bade Ahab prepare his chariot, and get him 
 doion. When it is afterward said, that " Elijah went zip to the 
 top of Carmel," this may easily be understood either of his re- 
 turning thither after the slaughter at Kishon, or of his going to 
 a higher eminence than was occupied by king Ahab. 
 
 Mr. Stanley's views on this point are worthy of notice. He 
 arcrucs that the scene of the sacrifice could never have been the 
 
84 X O 'J' K S T O K i. IJ A II . 
 
 spot occupied by the modern convent, but one more remote, 
 according to tradition. " But be the tradition good or bad, the 
 localities adapt themselves to the event in almost every particu- 
 lar. The summit thus marked out is the extreme eastern point 
 of the range, commanding the last view of the sea behind, and 
 the first view of the great plain in front, just where the glades 
 of forest, the ' excellency of Carmel ' sink into the usual barren- 
 ness of the hills and vales of Palestine. There on the highest 
 point of the mountain, may well have stood, on its sacred 
 ' high place,' the altar of the Lord, which Jezebel, had cast down. 
 (The rocky fragments lying around, would naturally afford the 
 materials for the ' twelve stones ' of which the natural altar was 
 built.) Close beneath, on a wide upland sweep, under the shade 
 of ancient olives, and round a well of water, said to be peren- 
 nial — and which may, therefore, have escaped the general drought, 
 and have been able to furnish water for the trenches round the 
 altar — must have been ranged, on the one side the king and 
 people, with the 850 prophets of Baal and Astarte, and on the 
 other side the solitary and commanding figure of the Prophet 
 of the Lord. Full before them opened the v,hole plain of 
 Esdraolon, with Tabor and its kindred ranges in the distance; 
 on the rising ground, at the opening of its valley, the city of 
 Jezreel, with Ahab's palace and Jezebel's temple distinctly visible ; 
 in the nearer foreground, immediately under the base of the moun- 
 tain, was clearly seen the winding stream of the Kishon, working 
 its way through the narrow pass of the hills into the Bay of 
 Acre." — Sinai and Pal. p. 346. 
 
 Dr. Thomson, familiar, as a missionary, with every nook 
 of Palestine, agrees with Mr. Stanley in assigning, as the scene 
 of the sacrifice, the traditional spot called El Mukhrakah, or the 
 place of hurninfj, near the ruined village of El Mansurah. In 
 the absence of rival claims, and coinciding, as it does, with 
 " the altar in the open air, without a temple or even a statue," 
 where, according to Josephus, Vespasian offered sacrifice, the 
 tradition seems worthy of credit. — Sec The Land and the Book, 
 IL p. 223. 
 
 (10.) Lo! nature's priest, majestic Lebanon. 
 
 " Lebanon closes the Land ol' Promise on the north, as the 
 
JfOTES TO ELIJAH. 85 
 
 Peninsula of Sinai on the south, but with this difference, that 
 Lebanon, though beyond the boundaries of Palestine, is almost 
 always within view. . , . Tlie ancient names of its double 
 range are all significant of this position. It was ' Sion,' ' the 
 upraised ; ' or ' Hermon,' ' the lofty peak,' or ' Shenir ' and ' Sir- 
 ion,' the glittering ' breastplate of ice ; ' or above all, 'Leb- 
 anon,' the ' Mont Blanc ' of Palestine ; ' the White Moun- 
 tains ' of ancient times ; the mountain of the ' Old White-head- 
 ed man,' or the ' Mountain of Ice ' in modern times. So long 
 ^s its snowy tops were seen, there was never wanting to the 
 Hebrew poetry the image of unearthly grandeur, which nothing 
 but perpetual snow can give. The ' dews ' of the mists that 
 rose from its watery ravines, or of the clouds that rested on 
 its summit, were perpetual witnesses of freshness and coolness, 
 the sources, as it seemed, of all the moisture, which was to the 
 land of Palestine what the fragrant oil was to the garments 
 of the High Priest ; what the refreshing influence of brotherly 
 love was to the whole community. And deep within the re- 
 cesses of the mountain, beneath its crest of ice and snow, was 
 the sacred forest of cedars, famous, even to those who had never 
 seen them, for their gigantic magnificence, endeared to the heart 
 of the nation by the treasures thence supplied to the Temple 
 and the Palace of Jerusalem," — Stanley's Sinai and Pal. p. 395. 
 
 (11.) Chaldean numbers, big loitli coming fate. 
 
 The Orientals have always had, and still have, a great passion 
 for divination, magic, and the interpretation of dreams. Sorti- 
 lege was a universal practice. Auguries from birds were ob- 
 tained by observing their flight, whether to the right or left 
 hand, their singing, and their eating or not eating. The use of 
 arrows is alluded to in Ezekiel, ch. xxi. 21, when the king of 
 Babylon, besides inspecting images or teraphim, and inspecting 
 the livers of beasts, is described as also deciding on the direction 
 of his march at the parting of two ways, by the use of arrows, 
 in Hebr. sons of the quiver. Probably arrows inscribed with 
 the names of certain cities which he proposed to attack, as Kab- 
 bah, Jerusalem, &c., were placed in a quiver, and shaken to- 
 gether, and the name drawn out decided his movements. 
 
 The Chaldean, or Babylonian numbers, were also in high 
 
86 NOTES TO ELIJAH. 
 
 repute. They were astrological calculations. Horace warns 
 against their use : " Xec Babylonios tentaris numeros." Auso- 
 nius also speaks of " coeli numeros et conscia sidera fati." Taci- 
 tus denounced them under the title of mathematicians, "mathc- 
 maticos ; " and Tiberius banished them fi-om Rome. He was 
 careful, however, to discriminate between the calculating Geneth- 
 liacs and the Geometers. From Lieut. Burnes we learn that 
 the Tartars will not start on a journey till the astrologers have 
 pronounced the hour lucky. The Chinese are grossly addicted 
 to this art, making use of what are known as the Eight- Dia- 
 grams, invented by the Emperor Fuh-hi, more than 3,000 years 
 before Christ. These have been multiplied into 64, the mines of 
 wisdom in which have never been explored. Many books have 
 been written in explanation, the most noted of which is a Avork 
 in six volumes. The responses are obtained by studying the va- 
 rious combinations of the 64 diagrams, which are aifected by the 
 objects sought, and the meaning of the characters designating 
 the current month and day. The characters have also a myste- 
 rious connection with the five elements, metal, wood, water, fire, 
 and earth. If the character representing the day of birth is con- 
 nected Avith wood, and that representing the month with metal, 
 the augury is unfortunate, for metal cuts wood. *!But if one of 
 the characters is connected with water, the result will be auspi- 
 cious, because water promotes the growth of wood. The di- 
 viner is a shrewd fellow, and by a series of astute questions, 
 finds out how to adapt his answers to his questioner. Then the 
 events of a man's life are under the influences of 28 stars, each 
 of which is an object of worship. They are traced on the pe- 
 riphery of the horoscope, and with the aid of the eight diagrams, 
 determine the fortunes of the year, the month, or the day. The 
 expense of these calculations sometimes amounts to several dol- 
 lars. — See Nevius's Letters on the Eeligion and Superstitions of 
 China, Lett. xiii. (Home and For. Record, Oct. 1858.) 
 
 (12.) Round and round in mystic ring., 
 Choir of 'planets symhollimj. 
 Pope's lines will readily recur to mind, 
 
 " A.S eastern priests in giddj' circles run, 
 And turn their heads to imitate the giin."' 
 
NOTES TO ELIJAH. 87 
 
 " The Egyptians had their solemn dances as well as the Jews ;• 
 the principal was their astronomical dance ; of which the sacri- 
 legious dance round the golden calf was an imitation." — Hor. 
 Smith's Festivals, Games, &c., p. 195 
 
 (13.) First the courier of the dawn 
 Wakes the lark tipoii the laicn. 
 As Linnffius constructed a clock of flowers, according to the 
 time- of day when they expanded their blossoms, so a German 
 woodsman is said to have invented an ornithological clock. The 
 earliest riser seems to be the chaffinch, whose song precedes the 
 dawn, being heard in summer from half past 1 to 2 o'clock. 
 From 2 to half past 2, comes the black-cap ; from half past 2 to 
 3, the quail ; from 3 to half past 3, the hedge-sparrow ; from 
 half past 3 to 4, the blackbird ; from 4 to half past 4, the lark, 
 which has hitherto monopolized, without title, the credit of giv- 
 ing the earliest signal. From half past 4 to 5, the tit-mouse is 
 heard, and last, and laziest of all, from 5 to half past o, the 
 sparrow. 
 
 (14.) And thou nhouldst he a king indeed. 
 
 " The Rev. John Welch, a Scottish exile, was chosen pastor of 
 a French Protestant congregation in St. Jean de Angely. This 
 is the same Welch who married a daughter of John Knox, and 
 of w^hom King James exclaimed when he heard it, ' Knox and 
 Welch ! the devil never made such a match as that.' * It's 
 right like, sir," replied Mrs. Welch, 'for we never speired his 
 advice.' Louis XIII. having besieged and taken the town in 
 which Welch ministered, and which ho had been active in de- 
 fending, summoned him into his presence to vindicate himself 
 for preaching contrary to law in a place where the court was resi- 
 dent. 'Sir,' replied Welch, 'if your Majesty knew what I 
 preached, you would not only come and hear it yourself, but 
 make all France to hear it ; for I preach not as those men you 
 use to hear. First, I preach that you must be saved by the 
 merits of Jesus Christ, and not your own ; and I am sure your 
 conscience tells you that your good works will never merit 
 heaven. Next, I preach tliat, as you arc king of France, there 
 
88 NOTES TO ELIJAH. 
 
 is no man on earth above you. But these men whom you hear 
 subject you to the pope of Rome, which I will never do.' 
 Pleased with this reply, Louis said to him, ' He blen, votes sercz 
 1)10)1 minist)'e — very good, you shall be my minister ; ' and, ad- 
 dressing him by the title of ' father,' assured him of his protec- 
 tion. Ho was as good as his word ; for, in 1621, when the town 
 was again besieged, he gave directions to take care of his miins- 
 ter, and he was safely conveyed with his family to Rochelle." — 
 McCric's Sketches of Scot. Hist., I. p. lYG. 
 
 (15.) Whofcardh God can have no m.ea)ic)' fear. 
 Tiie admirer of Racine may be reminded of that beautiful and 
 celebrated line in Athalic : 
 
 " Je crains Dieu, cber Abncr, ct ii'ai point d'autre craintc." 
 
 (10.) Ev^n Abi'alia))!, their vaimied patriarch ^ 
 A Chaldea7i tvaSf and worshipper of fire. 
 Abraham emigrated from Urof the Chaldees, a city of Meso- 
 potamia, now called Orfah, but anciently Edessa. "Ur(Hebr. 
 Oor), signifies light and fire, and, as the Chaldees were idolaters, 
 this place might have been thus denominated from the sacred 
 fire of their worship." — Bush's Q. and N. on Genesis, p. 132. 
 " The Jews have a fable concerning the death of Haran : they 
 say that Terah was not only an idolater, but a maker and seller 
 of images ; and that one day going abroad, he left his son Abra- 
 ham in the shop to sell them, who, during his father's absence, 
 broke them all to pieces, except one ; upon which, when Terah 
 returned and found what was done, he had him before Ninirod, 
 who ordered him to be cast into a burning furnace, and he 
 would see whether the God he worshipped would come and save 
 him ; and whilst he was in it, they asked his brother Haran in 
 whom he believed ? He answered, if Abraham overcomes, he 
 would believe in his God, but if not, in Nimrod : wherefore they 
 cast him into the furnace, and he was burnt ; and with respect to 
 this it is said, a)id Hai'an died before the face of Terah his father ; 
 but Abraham came out safe before the eyes of them all." — Gill 
 on Gen. xi. 28. This is one of the Talmudical legends clumsily 
 
N O T E S TO E L IJ A H . 89 
 
 designed to explain a difficulty wliicli does not exist, for the ob- 
 vious nieiuiing is, that Ilarau died in his fiithcr's lifetime, and it 
 is, without doubt, in part borrowed from a like feat of Gideon, 
 the young Iconoclast, which gave him the name of Jerubbaal, or 
 the judge of Baal. — Sec Judg. vi. 27. 
 
 (17.) Profoundcst truths of astronomic lore. 
 The close connection of the astronomy and the mythology of 
 the Ethnics cannot have escaped the notice of the most cursory 
 , student of antiquity ; how much they were mutually indebted to 
 each other it is not easy to decide. See Origen contra Celsum, 
 lib. I, p. 11. Instead of troubling the reader with attempts to 
 reconcile the discrepancies of the various legends about Adonis 
 or Tammuz, suffice it to say, that I have adhered to the simple 
 and popular story, as it is told in every classical dictionary. The 
 death and revivification of Adonis was exalted into an astronom- 
 ical myth, adumbrating the alternations of winter and summer. 
 Adonis, Baal, Bel, Tammuz, Apollo, or Hercules, is the same as 
 the sun. Astarte or Ashteroth is the moon. Gesenius has de- 
 voted much learning to prove that Baal was the planet Jupiter, 
 and Astarte the planet Venus. This might have been so in later 
 times, but originally it is scarcely to be doubted that the sun and 
 moon, as above designated, were worshipped as the generative 
 and productive powers of nature. Wo find these two powers or 
 principles still worshipped by the Hindoos. Much may be found 
 on this whole subject, especially in regard to Urania and Adonis 
 in Chev. Kamsay's Travels of Cyrus, Bk. vn. pp. lSo-194. 
 
 As to the identity of Osiris and Adonis, see an ancient epi- 
 gram preserved by Warburton, Div. Leg. of Moses, Bk. iv. 
 Sec. 5 : 
 
 " Ogyyi:i mo Eacchum vocat, 
 
 Osii-in ^gyptus putat, 
 
 Mysi riianaccm nomiiinnt, 
 
 DionyHon Indi cxifitiniaut, 
 
 Romaua sacra Libcriim, 
 
 Arabica Gens Acioiicnnii, 
 
 Lucaniacus rantlicum." 
 
 (18.) 117^0 xoould tJC citi) of palm-trees dare rebuild. 
 
 Joshua, in his adjuration, did not say that Jericho should 
 
90 N O T E S T O E L IJ A II. 
 
 never be rebuilt, but only pronounced a curse upon the builder. 
 Josh. vi. 26. The literal fulfilment is recorded in 1 Kings xvi. 34. 
 Hiel is called the Bcthelite. Bethel was the southern seat of the 
 idolatry of the golden calves, and Hiel may well be supposed, 
 therefore, with a malignant hatred towards the Jewish religion. 
 As it is said, this was done in the reign of Ahab, "in his days ;" 
 perhaps these words are meant to convey the idea, not merely of 
 synchronism, but of the royal concurrence and approbation. 
 
 (19.) Sidon^ the populous mart of all the ivorld. 
 
 Sidon, or Zidon, was a city of great antiquity. It is sup- 
 posed to have been founded soon after the Noachic deluge by 
 Sidon, the son of Canaan. In the book of Joshua it is commem- 
 orated as "great Zidon," It was allotted to the tribe of Asher, 
 but that tribe never succeeded in taking it. The city of Laish 
 is said to have "dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zido- 
 nians, quiet and secure." Judg. xviii. 1. It is also mentioned 
 by Homer. It was older than Tyre, which was its colony ; hence 
 Tyre is called "the daughter of Zidon." Its commerce was ex- 
 tensive, and its merchants were princes. The Sidonians have 
 the credit of inventing glass. None were skilled like them to 
 carve in wood in the time of Solomon. The famous Tyrian dye, 
 coveted by princes, was found in shell-fish taken off their coasts. 
 The richness of their military equipments has already been de- 
 scribed in note, (p. 80). Their superiority in the fine products 
 of the loom has been immortalized in the Ihad : 
 
 "The Phrygian queen to her rich wardrobe went, 
 Where treasured odors breath'd a co«tly scent : 
 There hiy the vestures of no vulgar art, 
 Sidoiiian maids embroidered every part."— II. vi. 2S9. 
 
 Enriched by a vast commerce, Sidon long revelled in uninter- 
 rupted prosperity, as well as in that luxurious vice which is its 
 usual concomitant, though even Sidon had its Abdolonymus. But 
 at length the thunder broke. Prophet after prophet, Isaiah, Jere- 
 miah, Ezekiel, Joel, Zechariah, denounced the wrath of Jehovah 
 against its heaven-daring impiety, and devoted it to ruin and de- 
 population. In these predictions there is a nice discrimination 
 
NOTES TO ELIJAH. 91 
 
 very worthy of notice, and which, by a singular oversight, es- 
 caped the keen eye of Keith, who, in his work on the pi'ophccies, 
 is totally silent upon Sidon. While in the prophecies against 
 Tyre utter desolation is denounced, even to the minute predic- 
 tion that it should be only a place for fishermen to spread their 
 nets on, no such threat is to be found against Sidon. Her com- 
 merce was to dwindle, and her position to sink into insignifi- 
 cance, but no such entire disappearance is threatened as is 
 against Tyre, " Thou shalt be sought for, yet thou shalt never 
 be found again." — Ezek. xxiv. 21. 
 
 In remarkable accordance with this discrimination Tyre is at 
 this day deserted save by a few fishermen ; but Sidon, or Saida, 
 is a small walled city of some 7,000 inhabitants, and it keeps up 
 a petty trade in exports of fruits. — Prime's Trav. II. 821. It 
 is well to bear this fact in mind, especially as Lamartine leaves 
 the impression on his readers of the exact contrary : " Saide, the 
 ancient Sidon — a mere shadow of the mined city, of which it has 
 lost even the name — retaining no trace whatever of its past gran- 
 deur. A circular jetty formed of huge stones surrounds a haven 
 filled with sand, from which a few fishermen and their children 
 were pushing into the sea a frail bark without masts or sails — 
 the sole maritime image remaining of this second queen of the 
 seas." — Pilgr. I. 171. Dr. Robinson gives a much more satisfac- 
 tory and circumstantial account : "The ancient harbor was 
 formed by a long low ridge of rocks, parallel to the shore in 
 front of the city. Before the time of Fakhr-ed-Din, there was 
 here a port capable of receiving fifty galleys ; but that chief- 
 tain, in order to protect himself against the Turks, caused it to 
 be partly filled up with stones and earth ; so that ever since his 
 day only boats can enter it. Larger vessels lie without the en- 
 trance, on the north of the ledge of rocks, where they are pro- 
 tected from the south-west w^inds, but exposed to those from the 
 northern quarter. . . . The commerce of Saida, which five 
 and twenty years ago Avas still considerable, has of late years 
 fallen off, in consequence of the prosperity of Beirut ; the latter 
 having become exclusively the port of Damascus. . . . The 
 beauty of Saida consists in its gardens and orchards of fruit-trees, 
 which fill the plain and extend to the foot of the adjacent hills." 
 — Robinson's Bibl. Researches in Palestine, II. p. 478. 
 
92 NOTES ON ELIJAH. 
 
 Although "the kings of Sidou" have long since been dis- 
 crowned, Jer. V. 22 ; and " the strength of the sea" mourns over- 
 its fallen fortunes, Isa. xxiii. 4 ; Sidon is not abandoned to deso- 
 lation. It is still prosperous on a small scale, and the exterior 
 of the town presents "a most lovely appearance." — Paxton's 
 Lett, from Palestine, p. 238. 
 
 (20.) The very sands toith crystal treasures teem. 
 
 Moses predicted to Zebulon, "treasures hid in the sand," 
 Deut. xxxiii. 19, which Dr. Gill thinks may allude to the dis- 
 covery of glass. The tradition ran, according to Pliny, that the 
 discovery was accidentally made by the crew of a merchant ves- 
 sel near the river Belus, which is on the boundary line of Zebu- 
 lon. Layard mentions glass bowls among the antiquities found 
 in the palace of Nimroud, bearing the name of Sargon, and, of 
 course, fabricated about the latter part of the seventh cen- 
 tury, B. c. Opaque glass, found in Egypt, exists of the fifteenth 
 century, b. c. — Xin. and Bab., p. 166. 
 
 (21.) Old man ! thou art severe ! 
 
 A native of the obscure transjordanic village of Thisbe, 
 among the Avild mountains of Gilead ; probably a child of pov- 
 erty and inured to hardship, as may be inferred from his coarse 
 garment of camel's hair fastened with a leathern girdle ; Elijah 
 is presented abruptly in the sacred history. We know nothing 
 of him except from his own words and actions. He seems to 
 have been one of the Sons of Thunder, like John the Baptist, 
 whose prototype he was, whom Divine Providence occasionally 
 raises up to utter portentous warnings, to breast the tide of cor- 
 ruption, to inaugurate reforms, or at least to stand up as a wit- 
 ness for the truth. 
 
 The general conception of Elijah's character is that of a 
 stern and uncompromising prophet of wrath and judgment, with 
 nothing soft or amiable in his nature. And yet his tender solici- 
 tude and fervent prayers for the poor son of the widow of Za- 
 rephath ; his deep humiliation and self-reproaches in the wilder- 
 ness ; his mourning over the apostasy of his nation ; and his 
 considerate desire that Elisha should be spared the pain of part- 
 
NOTES TO ELIJAH. 93 
 
 ing, when he foreknew that he was about to leave the world ; 
 all indicate a heart, so far from being devoid of human sympa- 
 thies, capable of the most generous, profound, and even delicate 
 feeling. 
 
 In these respects, a similarity may he traced between the 
 'Tishbite, and the Reformer of Scotland. In each we see the 
 same dauntless and fiery daring, confronting the throne and ut- 
 tering truths unpalatable to royal ears, at the hazard of being 
 stigmatized as bigoted and fanatical. And in each we also de- 
 tect a hidden vein of tenderness running deep below the surface, 
 and by those who scan only the surface, quite unsuspected. 
 Knox, when charged by Queen Mary with harshness, protested 
 that, on the contrary, it irked him to appear severe, and that he 
 could not chastise even his own children without tears. 
 
 (22.) If thou 
 
 Must lyrophesy of ill, to Judah turn. 
 See the actual prototype of this advice given to Amos. 
 Amos vii. 12, 13. 
 
 (23.) With rights of conscience I ne!er interfere. 
 
 " The principle of hberty of worship, though stated in gen- 
 eral terms, refers especially to liberty of conscience. The State 
 has no right to ask account o( personal faith. But when, leav- 
 ing these private individual prayers and devotions, citizens meet 
 together to worship openhj, the French government, regarding 
 the important interests of society, has never hesitated to give 
 the State the right of previous authority." — Report of M. Rou- 
 land. Minister of Public Instruction and of Worship to the Em- 
 peror of France, 1859. (See N. Y. Ob,s., May 26, 1859.) One 
 might be tempted to think that King Ahab had borrowed his 
 sentiments from the French Minister, so striking a similarity is 
 there in both the thought and the expression ; it becomes, there- 
 fore, necessary to state that the lines in the drama were written 
 several years before the appearance of M. Roulaud's Report. 
 
 (24.) Dread Lord of HeaiPn, sole source of day ! 
 
 Selden, in his learned work, " De Dds Syris,'''' has exhausted 
 
94 N O T E S T O E L IJ A n . 
 
 the subject of Syrian mythology. His treatise is the Thesaurus 
 from which all subsequent writers have drawn. 
 
 Haviug shott'n tiiat "Syrian" and "Assyrian'' were words 
 used indiscriminately in the LXX., and that Virgil called Tyrian 
 purple the Assyrian dye (Georg. iii.), he draws attention to the 
 fact, that the Syrian deities Avere knov^-n by Hebrew, not Ara- 
 raiBan or Babylonian names ; as Gad, Baal, Baalim, Baaizcbub, 
 Asliteroth, Succoth Benoth ; Dagon from the Hebrew dag, or 
 fish ; Moloch and Milcom from melech, a king. The Hebrew, 
 he conceives to have been the mother tongue. — Proleg. p. 22. 
 
 Baal, or Bel, and its plural form, Baalim, are of frequent oc- 
 currence in the sacred writings, as common to various gods. 
 From the Phoenician Baal the Chaldeans dropped the middle let- 
 ter, and made Bel. Josephus sometimes says Bel, and some- 
 times Baal. He is the Belus of the Greeks and Romans. The 
 name. Lord, originally signified tlie Supreme Creator. Hence 
 the LXX. render Jehovah by the corresponding v;ord Adonai, or 
 the Lord. So Hosca says, " thou shalt call me Zs/a, i. c. my hus- 
 band ! and shalt call me no more Baall, i. e. my Lord ! " — Hos. 
 ii. IG. This was in consequence of the name Baal or lord hav- 
 ing become abused and perverted to idolatrous purposes. 
 
 As the primitive meaning of the term signified a lord, pos- 
 sessor, master, or owner, it was applied to various objects of 
 which possession was predicable ; as the lord of a house, or 
 owner ; the lord of a family, or fiither ; the lord of a wife, or 
 husband ; the lord of a wing, or a bird ; the lord of horns, or a 
 ram ; the lord of the tongue, or a talker ; and hence, very natu- 
 rally, was applied to the sun, the lord of light, which was, ac- 
 cording to Sanconiathon, called Beelsamaion, or Beelsamen, i. e. 
 the lord of heaven. Cities had the name in composition, as Baal- 
 gad, Baal-Zephon, Baal-perazim, Baal-tamar. In the same way, 
 the Carthaginians, who were of Phoenician origin and worshipped 
 Baal or Bel, (as Dido did, "a Belo soliti,^''), used the god's name 
 in composition, as Annibal, Asdrubal, Adherbal. So Daniel was 
 called Belteshazzar, after the Chaldean god. Bel is ahuded to 
 by Isaiah and Jeremiah, and the Apocryphal story of Bel and the 
 Dragon is familiar to all. 
 
 An altar in the house of the Mattheii bcvond the Tiber, bore 
 
N OTES T O EL IJ A II. 95 
 
 the inscription, ^^ Soli Alagahalo Jtdhis Balbillus Aqidla.'''' Bal- 
 billus was a priest of the Sun in the time of Severus. Selden de- 
 rives the word Gabalus, by a common change of letters, from 
 Agal-Baal, the round lord, or lord of the spliere, as Derceto 
 was formed from Atargate, and Baisampsa from Beth-shemesh. 
 
 As the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, Baal, Adon, and Moloch are all 
 employed among the ancient writers in inextricable confusion, 
 the conclusion Selden reaches is as follows : " Since Saturn, Ju- 
 piter, Coelus, Uranus are so confused in fable, that neither Phoe- 
 .bus himself could discriminate between them, or recognize him- 
 self among them ; and since that numerous crowd of divinities 
 may be reduced by mythologists to the god Apollo or the Sun, 
 we need not hesitate to conclude that from the one Bel or Baal, 
 or Jove (under which names those who first devijited from the 
 worship of the true God adored the Sun), invoked after the 
 ridiculous manner of the ancients, innumerable titles v/ere de- 
 rived. The more these titles were multiplied, the more honor 
 they thought they paid their deity, till, as error advanced, what 
 were at first only names of superstition came to be regarded as 
 distinct-deities." — Syntagma, I. p. 110, 
 
 It is observable, that Elijah, more than once, charged Ahab 
 with having follov/ed Baalim. This might mean either the 
 whole host of heaven, or that not content with the Baal of the 
 Zidonians, he worshipped others of the same name. Baal-berith 
 is the presidcr over covenants, corresponding to the Jupitcr- 
 fidius of the Romans ; Baalzebub, the lord or banisher of flies, 
 in allusion to deliverance from a plague of insects, correspond- 
 ing to Jupiter Apomuios ; Baal-peor, the lord or possessor of 
 shame, corresponding to the Roman Priapus. Jerome thought 
 this latter, or Baal Phegor, was Maachah's idol, 
 
 (25.) And floioer and river still retain 
 
 The inem^ry of that mournful stain. 
 " There is also another wonder in this country of Byblis, and 
 that is, a certain river runneth out of Mount Libanus into the 
 sea, the name whereof is Adonis. Now this river, every year, 
 is turned into blood, and being so discolored, falleth into the 
 sea ; a considerable part whereof it tinctures of a purple color, 
 
96 N O T E S T O i: L IJ A H . 
 
 thereby signifying to the Bybhaus the time when to begin their 
 mourning. They also further relate, how that at that very time 
 Adonis, being wounded on Libanus, and his blood running into 
 the water, changed the color of the river, and giveth the denom- 
 ination to the current : which things are reported by the vulgar. 
 But a certain Byblian of credit related to me another cause of 
 this accident, which was this. The river Adonis (said he) pass- 
 eth through Mount Libanus, which consists of a very red mould ; 
 so that strong winds, arising at that time of the year, carry the 
 earth into the I'iver, and turn it into a reddish color ; which the 
 Byblian assured me was the true cause of that accident, and not 
 the blood they talk of." — Drydcn's Lucian, vol. I. p. 2-i2-244. 
 (The translations are by different hands. That of " the Syrian 
 Goddess" is by Charles Blount.) 
 
 (26.) Tammuz is dead ! 
 
 The prophet Ezekiel, directed by divine inspiration, beheld 
 within a secret apartment of the temple, upon whose walls was 
 portrayed " every form of creeping things and abominable beasts, 
 and idols," seventy of the ancients or elders of Israel standing in 
 the attitude of worship, each holding a burning censer. From 
 these " chambers of imagery," he was brought to the inner court, 
 and between the porch and the altar, he discerned five and 
 twenty men, with their backs to the temple and their ftices tow- 
 ard the east, worshipping the sun. Thence he was conducted 
 to the north gate of the temple, " and behold, there sat women 
 weeping for Tammuz." — Ezek. viii. 14. 
 
 There are various opinions, says Selden, about Thammuz. 
 He has been confounded with Mars, with Osiris, with a king of 
 Egypt, with an Egyptian prophet of that name, slain by Pha- 
 raoh ; upon whose death all the images from all the ends of the 
 earth assembled in the Temple of the Sun in Babylon, where, 
 suspended in the air, he told them their histories, and they wept 
 and lamented all night, and at daybreak returned to their places. 
 Hence, says the Rabbi Moses, the custom of mourning for the 
 prophet on the first day of the month Thammuz. Jerome con- 
 ceived him to be the same as Adonis, and to have been called 
 Thammuz from the month of his worship. Whether the god was 
 
NOTES TO ELIJAH. 97 
 
 denominated from the month, or the month from the god, Sel- 
 den is at a loss to determine. 
 
 Adonis, according to Hesychius, is the same as the Syrian 
 Adon, or lord, which is merely a title, not a name. So also the 
 word Thammuz signifies concealed. The fable runs, that Adonis 
 or Thammuz was a beautiful youth beloved by Venus, whose 
 passion he did not return with equal ardor. He being slain by a 
 wuld boar, she prevailed with the infernal powers to permit his 
 return to upper air ; but Proserpine, having meantime become 
 ' also enamored of him, the two goddesses agreed that they 
 should enjoy his company in turn, each six months at a time. 
 All which, understood astronomically of the Sun, symbolized the 
 winter and summer solstices. The Egyptian feasts were mova- 
 ble, but those of the Israelites were fixed. Therefore the festi- 
 val, with them, occurred in the same month, Tammuz, which was 
 at the summer solstice, answering to June and July. — Selden's 
 Syntagma, II. pp. 240-249. 
 
 (27.) While ''Baal ! Baal ! Baal ! " is their cry. 
 
 Much of the worship of the heathen was, and is, an exercise 
 of the lungs. It consisted, also, in great part, of those " vain 
 repetitions" condemned by our Lord; "Battology," the Greeks 
 called it, from one Battus, a stutterer. That no title of honor 
 or other mark of respect might be omitted, they spoke syllable 
 by syllable, and often repeated both syllables and words. A 
 young Brahmin in India has been known to be in the habit of 
 repeating in a day, the name of Siva 6,250 times, and that of 
 Ram, 12,500. Zell, in his Handbook of Roman Epigraphy (see 
 N. Y. Obs., vol. XXX. p. 364), gives a fragment of the sacrificial 
 liturgy of the Field Brotherhood, a sacerdotal corporation of 
 Rome. This curious relic amply illustrates the above positions. 
 
 " Help us, ye Lareg 1 
 Help us, ye Lares 1 
 Help us, ye Lares 1 
 Suffer no sickness, Mars, to invade the multitude ! 
 Suffer no sickness, Mars, to invade the multitude I 
 Suffer no sickness, Mars, to invade the multitude I 
 Be filled, O Mars I leap to the threshold of the god, and stand 
 there, fat wether 1 
 
98 N O T E S T U Ji: L IJ A II . 
 
 Be filled, O Mars ! leap to the threshold of the god, and stand 
 
 there, fat wether I 
 Be filled, O Mars ! leap to the threshold of the god, and otand 
 
 there, fat Avether 1 
 Ye twin Tenates, the whole people has called you to its aid ! 
 Ye tAvln Penates, the whole people has called you to its aid ! 
 Ye twin Penates, the whole people has called you to its aid I 
 
 Help us, O Mars ! 
 
 Help us, O Mars ! 
 
 Help us, O Mars ! 
 Triumpe ! Triumpe ! Triumpe I Triumpc I Triumpe 1 " 
 
 (28.) Cut with lancets keen. 
 
 This cutting was not from vexation at their disappointment, 
 but in accordance with the persuasion that their deities delighted 
 in blood. Not only were human sacrifices occasionally offered, 
 as to Hercules, Saturn, Moloch, Diana of Tauris, &c. ; the priests 
 were accustomed, with many mad gestures, to wound themselves 
 with swords. So did the Persian priests in the worship of Mith- 
 ra (Josephus, Ant. Jud. bk. 8. c. 13. § 5, n.), and so did the wor- 
 shippers of Bellona. Tertullian says of them, "to this day they 
 consecrate to Bellona the blood issuing from their slashed 
 thighs." — Apol. c. ix. p. 826. Which is corroborated by Lac- 
 tantius, "Sacerdotes non alieno, sed suo cruore sacrificant. 
 Sectis namque humcris, et utraque manu districtos gladios exse- 
 rentes, currunt, efferuntur, insaniunt.'' — Inst. bk. i. c. 21. vol. 
 I. p. 74. Similar practices obtained in the worship of Isis, as we 
 learn from Herodotus : " After the ceremonies of sacrifice the 
 whole assembly, to the amount of many thousands, flagellate 
 themselves, but in whose honor they do this, I am not at liberty 
 to disclose. The Carians of Egypt treat themselves at this so- 
 lemnity with still more severity ; for they cut themselves in the 
 face with swords, and thus distinguish themselves from the Egyp- 
 tian natives." — Herod. II. c. 01. 
 
 At the great feast in the spring, "the whole multitude is 
 drawn into the temple, where the Galli, and other priests which 
 I formerly mentioned, perform the orgies, wounding their arms, 
 and thumping their backs one against another. In the mean 
 time many play upon music, and beat drums by them, whilst 
 others bawl out sacred catches, and this is all performed without 
 
NOTES TO ELIJAH. 99 
 
 the temple. At the. same time, the Galli are also made; for as 
 they sound with the pipes, and perform the sacrifices, this fury 
 of mutilating themselves seizeth upon many, and several coming 
 to see the show, have been drawn thereby to do the like." — Dry- 
 den's Lucian, vol. I. p. 268. 
 
 " In Hierapolis, the young men always consecrate the shav- 
 ings of their beards, and the children suffer their hair to grow 
 from their very infancy till the time they cut it off in the tem- 
 ple ; when, putting it into vessels either of silver or gold, they 
 hang it up in the temple, and so depart, having inscribed every 
 one's name upon the vessel ; the same I likewise did myself, 
 when I was very young, so that both my hair and my name are 
 yet remaining in the temple." — Dryden's Lucian, vol. I. p. 2*71. 
 
 " J^Tow there are many priests belonging to this place ; where- 
 of some kill the sacrifices, others carry the drink-offerings ; others 
 are called fire-bearers, and others waited on "the altar; but, in 
 my time, more than three hundred attended on the sacrifice, 
 having all of them on white garments, and a bonnet [iriXou] 
 upon their heads. A new high-priest is chosen among them 
 every year, who only wcareth purple, and a golden turban on 
 his head. Tliere is also another company of men consecrated, 
 as pipers, fiddlers, and Galli, or mutilated priests, besides frantic 
 and enthusiastic women." — Dryden's Lucian, vol. I. p. 266. 
 
 (29.) Perchance he sleeps. 
 
 Elijah had a good right to banter the idolaters about the 
 drowsiness of their god, for it was the general belief that the 
 gods yielded to the influence of sleep. For this we have the 
 high authority of Homer ; who describes the gods, in common 
 with the crested warriors of earth, "sleeping all night long." — 
 II. II. 1, 2. Some have said, that the heathen would not enter 
 into the temples at noon for fear of disturbing the siesta of the 
 divinities at that hour. As for their travelling propensities, the 
 same bard represents Jupiter, attended by all the gods, as hav- 
 ing gone 
 
 " to grace 
 The feasts of Ethiopias's blameless race ; 
 Twelve days the powers indulge the genial rite, 
 licturning with the twelfth revolving light."— Iliad, bk. i. 1. 423. 
 
100 NOTES TO ELIJAH. 
 
 (yo.) Sons of the Prophets. 
 
 " Some of the scribes seem to have held schools for public 
 instruction ; some of which, under the care of Samuel and other 
 prophets, became in time quite illustrious, and were called the 
 schools of the prophets, 1 Sam. xix. 19, et seq. ; 2 Kings ii. 3, 5 ; 
 \v. 38 ; vi. 1. The disciples in these schools were not children 
 or boys, but young men, who inhabited separate edifices, as is 
 the case in the Persian academies. They were taught music and 
 singing, without doubt writing also, the Mosaic law, and poetry. 
 They were denominated, in ref^ence to their instructors, the 
 sons of the prophets, teachers and prophets being sometimes 
 called /fi^Aers." — Jahn's Bibl. Arch^ol., § 86, p. 92. 
 
 The earliest intimation of an organized body of prophets is 
 found in 1 Sam. x. 5. His emissaries saw "the company of the 
 prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over 
 them." At Naioth then there would seem to have been a col- 
 lege or school of prophets, a house of doctrine, as the Targum 
 calls it, over which Samuel presided. This presidency was not a 
 chance or occasional thing, for he was "appointed" over them. 
 By whom the appointment was made, or when, or how, we have 
 no means of knowing. In the reign of Ahab, Jezebel cut off the 
 prophets of the Lord, and Obadiah hid a hundred of them by 
 fifties in a cave, probably one of the caves of Carmel, and fed 
 them with bread and water. — 1 Kings xviii. 4. It is after this mas- 
 sacre we meet with the expression, for the first time, "the sons 
 of the prophets." " A certain man of the sons of the prophets," 
 called, in a following verse, "the prophet," and again, "of the 
 prophets," accosted Ahab. — 1 Kings xx. 35. After this we read 
 repeatedly of "the sons of the prophets," at Bethel, at Jericho, at 
 Gilgal, &c. They seem to have lived in houses of their own, se- 
 cluded from others, for the sons of the prophets once said to 
 Elisha, "the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for 
 us." — 2 Kings vi. 1. Whereupon, with Elisha at their head, they 
 went to Jordan and felled timber sufficient to construct a suitable 
 lodging. " These were establishments obviously intended to 
 prepare young men for certain offices analogous to those which 
 are discharged in our day by the different orders of the clergy ; 
 maintained in some degree at the public expense [the log-house 
 
NOTES TO ELIJAH. 101 
 
 built by their own hands hardly looks like it ; on the contrary, 
 the twenty loaves of barley, and the full ears of corn presented 
 by a man of Baal-shaUsha, indicate that they were aided by 
 the voluntary contributions of the people. — 2 Kings iv. 42] ; and 
 placed under the superintendence of persons who were distin- 
 guished for their gravity and high endowments." — Russell's Pal- 
 estine, p. 89. 
 
JASODA, OR THE SUTTEE 
 
JASODA, OE THE SUTTEE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Where lordly Ganges rolls his ample flood, 
 Adored with horrid rites of lust and blood, 
 A group is standing, by their country's Pride 
 And Banians' pillared shade o'ercanopied. 
 Day's glowing axle downward plunges steep, 
 To cool its fervors in the western deep ; 
 And distant towers and burnished pagods gleam 
 In long reflection on th' empurpled stream. 
 The west is bathed in floods of molten gold, 
 While rosy tints superior empire hold ; 
 The rosy tints by russet are o'ercast, 
 And Night on dusky wing comes flying fast. 
 Brief twilight ! where the unveiled orb of day 
 Pours his directest and his hottest ray. 
 
 II. 
 
 The hour has come, fit hour for deeds, whose birth 
 Sprang from the fiends, that darkling roam the earth. 
 A corpse reposes on a low-built pile, 
 Where Bramins ply their hellish task the while. 
 5* 
 
106 JASODA. 
 
 With eye unmoved Jasoda stands beside, 
 Sparkling with gems, and radiant as a bride, 
 Through grief, or fear, or opiate's potent spell, 
 To all the joassing scene insensible ; 
 Unless, perchance, her simple, ignorant mind, 
 Untaught to think, to childish toys confined, 
 Now first expands beneath a conscious thought, 
 With gorgeous visions of the future wrought. 
 
 III. 
 By one sharp moment's fiery^ sacrifice, 
 Hopes she to lift her loved one to the skies, 
 And share his joys ; while the Eighth King of Gods 
 Shall govern those voluptuous abodes 1 
 To both, for one short pang, 'twill then be giv'n. 
 To wander, hand in hand, through Indra's Heav'n,^ 
 'Mid spacious palaces, whose roofs of gold 
 Pillars of solid diamond uphold, 
 While jasper, chrysolite, and sapjDhire vie 
 To shame the splendors of the midday sky. 
 There balmy breezes play through shady bowers. 
 O'er limpid pools, and ever brilliant flowers. 
 Whose blushing petals to the sun expand, 
 And shed delicious odors on the land. 
 There softly floating symphonies entrance, 
 While twinkling feet move in the mazy dance ; 
 And neither Sickness, Sorrow, Pain, nor Care 
 With knitted brow, is ever heard of there. 
 
J AS O DA. 107 
 
 IV. 
 
 And does the hope to be so sweetly blest, 
 With exultation heave that youthful breast ; 
 Is't that her busy thoughts are far away, 
 And, lost in dreams, heed not the fatal day ? 
 Lo ! round the silent, passive devotee, 
 Haste to their close th6 rites of cruelty. 
 Bathed in the sacred stream, whose mystic wave 
 Hath power at once to purify and save. 
 On her slow steps the throng, admiring, strew 
 Garlands, and precious dust of crimson hue. 
 The golden flower of love that incense breathes, 
 With ruddy lotus twined, in gaudy wreaths. 
 
 The mystic O'M receives due homage first,^ 
 Soul of the world. From watery Chaos burst, 
 Beneath its ripening smile, the swelling sphere, 
 Which held the germs of all things that appear. 
 Next, Mahadeva's all-absorbing power, 
 Lord of the trident, and the parting hour ; 
 Vishnu, with triple crown and flaming wheel, 
 And conch that wakes creation with its peal ; 
 Chrishna, to whom; in winning grace arrayed. 
 Her softest vows breathes every Hindoo maid f 
 Inferior gods the rites theurgic share,* 
 Sun, Moon, and Planets, Water, Fire, and Air. 
 
108 JASODA. 
 
 VI. 
 
 " From your far home, 
 Celestial Devas, throned in radiance bright, 
 And ye, propitious spheres of living light, 
 
 Come, Spirits, come ! 
 
 " From shady vale, 
 Cool grot, or mountain haunt, Avitli torrents gushing, 
 Or, on hoarse-bellowing blasts from ocean rushing, 
 Plail, Spirits, hail ! 
 
 " Through middle air, 
 Swift as the ruddy flash that rends the pole, 
 Its mortal dross by fire refined, the soul 
 To Siva bear. 
 
 " Yama we dread,^ 
 "Who waits severe, far from the cheerful dawn. 
 Where the tempestuous South's black caverns yawn, 
 To judge the dead. 
 
 " Dark spells restrain 
 And mantra chant, his troop for blood athirst, 
 Who smiff the fumes afar, and pant to burst 
 The viewless chain. 
 
 " Appear ! appear ! 
 Celestial Devas, throned in radiance bright. 
 And ye, propitious Spheres of Living Light, 
 Hear. Spirits, hear ! " 
 
JASODA. 109 
 
 vn. 
 
 Thrice round the fatal pile, with measured pace, 
 They lead the victim, ere the last embrace ; 
 Then place her on the wood, the corpse beside, 
 Her arms with knotted cords securely tied , 
 The supple bamboo's length they stretch athwart, 
 And bind the beating to the lifeless heart ; 
 The heaped-up faggots hide her from the sight, 
 And all is ready for the torch to light. 
 That torch, a son's untrembling hand must wave, 
 Her to consume, who life and nurture gave ; 
 That hand how oft her lip had fondly pressed, 
 Proud of the babe that smiled upon her breast. 
 Unnatural task ! in the same hapless day, 
 That bids him mourn a father's lifeless clay, 
 The boy a dying mother's side must leave, 
 A self-made orphan, sinning if he grieve ! 
 
 vni. 
 
 Swift at the torch, around the crackling pyre, 
 Flashes a raging serpent-coil of fire ; 
 Rapid and fierce the curling blazes rise, 
 And shoot their forked tongues, and lick the skies. 
 Waked by the scorching pain, but waked too late, 
 To all the dreadful horror of her fate ; 
 Stifled with smoke and putrefaction's steam, 
 Her quivering flesh crisped by the sheeted flame ; 
 
110 J AS O DA. 
 
 Fain would she snap the reed and flaxen tie, 
 But reed and flax her feeble strength defy. 
 Her eyes are all that she has power to movOj 
 Her eyes in vain she turns to heaven above ; 
 Exulting fiends mock with malicious grin, 
 And blood-smeared Kalee gloats upon the scene 
 
 IX. 
 
 In vain she calls a son's forbidden aid, 
 
 In vain th' unfeeling Bramins that betrayed ; 
 
 In vain she shrieks ; her piercing shrieks are drowned 
 
 By barb'rous horns, and cymbals' clashing sound. 
 
 With roll of drum, and thundering gong, and shell 
 
 Braminical, and tongue of clamorous bell. 
 
 While naked Yogees, and the Soodra crowd, 
 
 Swell the discordant din with shout so loud, 
 
 Some angel, home returning, well might think, 
 
 That unawares he trod near Tophet's brink, 
 
 And heard the demons, with infuriate yell. 
 
 Burst their dark chains, and storm the gates of hell ! 
 
 X. 
 
 Oh bear me, ye impetuous gales that sweep 
 On wings of storm across the Indian deep, 
 Past the broad belt, where sickly Sirius shines, 
 Where plants luxuriate, but where Virtue pines ! 
 There prowls the Plague-fiend, 'mid the general hush 
 Of night, a nation's budding joys to crush. 
 
JASODA. Ill 
 
 Thick hurtling on the air, by his hot breath 
 Empoisoned, fly the fire-tipt shafts of death ; 
 If but his shadow o'er the waters pass. 
 They turn into a green and slimy mass ; 
 Men's hearts for fear fail at his bloodshot gaze, 
 And melt away as wax before the blaze. 
 
 XI. 
 
 But deadlier than all plagues that hovered o'er 
 Old Memphis, or the jungles of Jessore,*' 
 There sullen Superstition scowls unblest ; 
 A row of sculls adorns her shrivelled breast : 
 Her hundred hands a hundred scourges shake, 
 Each scourge a knotted, writhing, hissing snake. 
 Frowning upon Orissa's dreary coasts,' 
 A fane as gloomy as her faith she boasts ; 
 A sandy Golgotha around it lies, 
 Strewn with the bleaching bones of centuries ; 
 Ere the last victim festers in decay, 
 Vultures and jackals battle o'er the prey. 
 
 XII. 
 
 " Ye linger, slaves ! " the Fiend relentless calls, 
 
 " The gods are wroth, haste ere their vengeance falls ! " 
 
 Her scorpions hiss ; the hook, the spike, the car, 
 
 Tell how omnipotent her orders are ; 
 
 The smiling babe she tosses to the flood, 
 
 Spurns Nature's laws, and writes her own in blood. 
 
112 J A SO DA. 
 
 xm. 
 
 Speed the blest hour, by ancient seers foreshown, 
 Truth's happier reign o'er all that burning zone ! 
 By Bentinck ushered, spread the triumph far/ 
 The Golden Age of the Tenth Avatar ; ' 
 Mercy, instead of Sacrifice, abound, 
 And Brama fall, like Dagon, to the ground ; 
 A purer faith supplant the impious shrine, 
 And all be Christ's from Indus to the Line ! 
 
NOTES TO JASODA 
 
 (1.) Through Indra^s heaveti. 
 
 Tndva is king of the inferior heaven, where reside the 
 330,000,000 lesser gods, and those mortals whose merits elevate 
 them thither. He was preceded by seven dynasties, and will be 
 followed by seven others. His heaven is eight hundred miles in 
 circumference, and forty miles high.' In voluptuousness it rivals 
 the paradise of Mohammed. 
 
 (2.) The mystic 0'3I. 
 
 The Hindoos are reluctant to pronounce the name of the 
 Supreme Being; and to hear this monosyllable uttered by a 
 stranger fills them with horror. It is compounded of the three 
 letters, A. U. M ; denoting the sacred Trimurti, or Hindoo Trin- 
 ity, Brama, Vishnoo, and Siva. The esoteric doctrine maintains 
 a great eternal essence, the Soul of the Universe ; an emanation 
 from which, the goddess Sattee, by the shadow of her eyes on 
 the waters of Chaos, produced three Eggs, from which sprang 
 the Sacred Triad. The Sattee, or Suttee, is intended to com- 
 memorate Ihis goddess having burnt herself to avenge a fancied 
 insult. I am indebted to the Rev. W. W. Scudder for a transla- 
 tion of the celebrated Gayathri, the most sacred of all their 
 forms of prayer. In Tamil it runs thus : " Om—poor—piiver— 
 suver — tcJsavethnru—varene — yam—parko—thayvaRcya — themake 
 — they oyona— per asothay City The translation is as follows : 
 "O'M, earth, sky, heavens! We meditate on that adorable 
 Ijf^ht of the resplendent sun ; may it direct our intellects ! " 
 
114 NOTES TO JASODA. 
 
 (3.) Chrishna. 
 
 Chrisbna was an incarnation of Yishnoo, in the form of a 
 shepherd. He was beloved by fourteen thousand milkmaids, 
 and multiplied himself into as many shepherds, so that each 
 maid believed herself sole mistress of his affections. The car of 
 Juggernaut, or Jagger-Nath (which means, The Lord of the 
 World), is intended to represent this Hindoo Don Juan taking 
 the milkmaids to ride in his chariot. 
 
 (4.) The rites theurgic. 
 
 Theurgy differed from magic and necromancy in being the 
 invocation of good gods. (See St. Augustine's City of God, bk. 
 c. 9.) Deva is the Sanscrit for Deity. 
 
 (5.) Yama we dread. 
 
 Yama, or Yuma, is the Indian Pluto. His tribunal is at the 
 uth Pole. 
 
 (6.) TJie jungles of Jessore. 
 
 The Asiatic cholera first appeared in 1817, in Jessore. Unu- 
 sually heavy rains had made the marshes and jangles of the Sun- 
 derbunds, along the Delta of the Ganges, one vast sheet of stag- 
 nant water. 
 
 (V.) Orissa's dreary coasts. 
 
 In Orissa stands the famous temple of Yishnoo, or Jugger- 
 naut. It is built of coarse red granite. The scenery is dreary 
 in the extreme, and Buchanan, in his Researches, tells of quanti- 
 ties of pilgrims' bones, which he saw bleaching, unburied, on the 
 sands of the sea-coast. 
 
 (8.) £i/ Bentinck ushered. 
 
 The Suttee was prohibited by Lord William Bentinck, Gov- 
 ernor-General of India, in 1829, not without violent opposition 
 from the Brahmins. The word Sati, according to Sir William 
 Jones, signifies purity ; and is hence appropriated to the highest 
 act of self-devotion. 
 
NOTES TO JASODA. 115 
 
 (9.) The Tenth Avatar. 
 
 The Tenth Avatar, or Incarnation of Vishnoo the Preserver, 
 is loolved for with intense solicitude by the Hindoos. At the ex- 
 piration of the Iron Age, he will descend from heaven on a white 
 winged horse, armed with a scimetar, and destroy Infidelity. 
 The Golden Age will immediately succeed. It is impossible not 
 to be reminded of John's description in the Apocalypse, xix. 
 11-16. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, 
 
THE TEIUMPH OF DAVID. 
 
 1 Samuel xviii. 6, 7. 
 
 What mean tnose sounds that break upon the ear, 
 Like martial music, faint by turns and clear ? 
 'Tis Saul's returning legions, conquest-crowned, 
 With captive banners trailing on the ground. 
 But who is he, the youth that leads the host, 
 His years too tender for so high a trust ; 
 Before him borne a grim and gory head, 
 Of giant size, upon a giant blade ? 
 
 Full forty days the champion called to fight. 
 Full forty days no warrior sought his sight. 
 In vain the king to tempt with honors tried. 
 In vain he roused the veteran soldier's pride ; 
 None with the giant challenger could cope. 
 Or in th' unequal combat safety hope. 
 
 Then left the stripling David flock and crook. 
 His arms a sling and pebbles from the brook. 
 With scorn the giant looked upon the lad, 
 And for a jest his near approach he bad. 
 
120 THE TRIUMPH OF DAVID. 
 
 Ill-timed his mirth ! the pebble smote his brain, 
 And his huge bulk fell thundering on the plain. 
 Their champion fall'n, the foe began to quail, 
 And panic-stricken fled from Elah's vale. 
 Hot the pursuit. The roads to Gath that led, 
 Ekron and Ascalon, were choked with dead. 
 Saul, the young shepherd's prowess to reward, 
 Made him the captain of his royal guard. 
 Forth rush the multitude, intent to meet 
 And with triumphal pomp the brave to greet ; 
 Gay smiles each countenance with pleasure light, 
 That late was ashy pale with sore affright ; 
 The magistrates th' advancing troops await, 
 And elders ranged in order by the gate. 
 
 ^ They come ! the cornets sound their shrill salute, 
 The cymbals clash, nor are the sackbuts mute ; 
 The sky is rent with long acclaim and loud, 
 And not a voice is still in all the crowd. 
 A band of white-robed maidens next advance, 
 And carol, as they lead the graceful dance. 
 
 Sweet is the mellow flute, at twilight still, 
 And sweet the music of the tinkling rill ; 
 Sweet are the strains from lark or linnet's throat. 
 That on the liquid noon exulting float ; 
 But sweeter far a maiden's voice than these, 
 Rich in exuberant, gushing melodies, 
 
THE TRIUMPH OF DAVID. 121 
 
 From a young happy heart that have their birth, 
 
 In very wantonness of innocent mirth. 
 
 Such are the notes, so gay, so jubilant, 
 
 The while their choral hymn the virgins chant. 
 
 See, he comes ! with pipe and tabor 
 
 Greet the hero's safe return ! 
 Shivered is the hostile sabre ; 
 
 Maids and matrons cease to mourn ! 
 Flow'rets strew of beauty peerless, 
 
 Twine we wreaths of glory's leaf, 
 For the brow of Valor fearless, 
 
 For the conquering Warrior-Chief ! 
 Saul his thousand foes o'erthrew, 
 David his ten thousands slew. 
 
 II. 
 
 " I'll pursue and give to slaughter," 
 
 Cried the vaunting enemy, 
 " Ambushed by the springs of water, 
 
 None shall 'scape the archer's eye." 
 Long, from latticed window leaning, 
 
 Shall Philistia's mothers look ; 
 Of their sons' delay complaining, 
 
 Counting up the spoil they took* 
 Saul his thousand foes o'erthrev*^, 
 David his ten thousands slew. 
 6 
 
122 THE TRIUMPH OP DAVID, 
 
 III. 
 
 The brave son of Jesse staid not 
 
 'Mid the bleatings of the fold ; 
 Though in twisted mail arrayed not, 
 
 Shield or helm inlaid with gold. 
 'Mid the battle's uproar deaf'ning, 
 
 Shone he in the murky fight, 
 Like the star that leads the evening, 
 
 Flashing splendor on the night. 
 Saul his thousand foes o'erthrew, 
 David his ten thousands slew. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Lord of Hosts ! in dread and danger, 
 
 Patron and Protector thou ! 
 At thy call appears th' Avenger, 
 
 At thy frown th' oppressors bow. 
 Shattered is the arm gigantic, 
 
 Hushed the tongue of blasphemy ; 
 Fled the alien army frantic. 
 
 Rings the shout of victory. 
 Saul his thousand foes o'erthrew, 
 David his ten thousands slew. 
 
THE TRIUMPH OF MUSIC 
 
 AN ODE. 
 2 Kings iii. 12—15. 
 
 I. 
 
 Three kings before the prophet stood, 
 And meekly for his counsel sued ; 
 But of the royal suppliants, two, 
 Full well the holy prophet knew, 
 Though forced to ask his guiding word. 
 Despised the prophet and his Lord. 
 
 II. 
 He cared not, in his righteous scorn, 
 How high their state, how nobly born. 
 And, silent, would have turned away, 
 But Judah's king, less vile than they, 
 Though leagued to humble Moab's pride, 
 Had ne'er his fathers' God denied, 
 Nor e'er had bowed at' other shrine 
 Than that his fathers ow^ned divine. 
 A prince so generous and so true, 
 The seer was loth should perish too ; 
 
124 THE T 11 I U M P H OF MUSIC, 
 
 Snatched must he be from threat'ning doom, 
 Nor find in Edom's wilds a tomb. 
 
 III. 
 " Bring me the minstrel ! Let him stand 
 And touch the harp with skilful hand ! " 
 And straight his hand the minstrel flings 
 Gracefully o'er the trembling strings. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Soft as vernal zephyrs rise, 
 Fit to soothe and tranquillize, 
 Mild as moonlight on the main 
 Floats the clear and silvery strain ; 
 Like a fountain's languid hum, 
 Whose murmurs heavily, drowsily come, 
 As it purls across its pebbly bed, 
 Beneath the bending willow's shade. 
 
 V. 
 
 Now in cadence sad and slow, 
 Plaintively the numbers flow ; 
 Wandering, wild, and strangely pleasing, 
 All the springs of passion seizing, 
 Like a spirit's thrilling wail, 
 Borne upon the fitful blast, 
 When the maiden's cheek turns deadly pale, 
 And the startled traveller shrinks aghast. 
 
THE TRIUMPH OF MUSIC. 125 
 
 VI. 
 
 But livelier soon the measure bounds, 
 
 Lighter the flying finger bounds, 
 And wakes a lay 
 So brisk and gay, 
 
 A hermit's lagging blood 'twould quicken ; 
 Like the spirit-stirring note 
 From the trumpet's brazen throat, 
 When the brave their lives devote, 
 
 And rush where dangers thicken. 
 
 vn. 
 
 But hark ! the minstrel strikes a heavier tone, 
 The lowest, deepest, gravest chords upon ; 
 Slowly and grandly, how it rolls along, 
 A full, majestic, swelling tide of song ! 
 So the pent waves, when once the barrier rock 
 No longer can sustain the mighty shock. 
 At once, precipitate, down, tremendous pour. 
 With thundering, sullen, deep, and long- resounding 
 roar ! 
 
 vm. 
 Hold, minstrel, hold thy hand ! he speaks ! 
 From his long trance the prophet breaks ; 
 Gazing intent, with upward eye. 
 Dissolved as 'twere in ecstacy. 
 
126 THE TKIUMPH OF MUSIC, 
 
 A heavenly influence inspires ; 
 
 He kindles with diviner fires ; 
 
 He bids the waiting kings dismiss their fear, 
 
 And tells the glorious triumph they shall share. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Hail ! heavenly art ! whose potent spell 
 
 Can bid tumultuous passion cease ; 
 The tempest of the soul can quell, 
 
 And whisper peace. 
 Should mine be e'er those sombre hours, 
 When passion madly overpowers, 
 Oh ! for some friendly hand to roll 
 A flood of music o'er my soul ! 
 
 So, soothed to rest, like his of old, 
 Shall my rapt spirit rise. 
 
 In holy calm, prepared to hold 
 High converse with the skies. 
 
THE EYEISriKG OF LIFE 
 
 " At evening time it shall be light,"— Zech. xiv. 7. 
 
 Oh ! grant, sweet Heaven, a lingering ray 
 To cheer me on my lonely way, 
 
 And guide me down the vale \ 
 The evening shades are length'ning still, 
 The evening dews are falling chill, 
 
 And strength and courage fail. 
 
 The early friends I sadly mourn, 
 Who, one by one, were from me torn, 
 
 As mourns the widowed dove ; 
 I've none my joys or griefs to share, 
 I've nothing left to hope or fear, 
 
 I've nothing left to love. 
 
 Then grant, sweet Heaven, a lingering ray, 
 To cheer me on my lonely way. 
 
 And guide me down the vale ! 
 Then let me gently sink to rest 
 Upon my Saviour's friendly breast, 
 
 Whose love can never fail ! 
 
TOO LATE. 
 
 Matthew xxii. 1—13. 
 I. 
 
 'Tis a nuptial festival ; 
 
 And the grand old palace-hall 
 
 Streams with music, streams with light, 
 
 Eaising rapture to its height. 
 
 n. 
 
 But without the gate, behold ! 
 Shivering in the night-wind cold, 
 Cowers a group of wretches, pale, 
 Lifting up a piteous wail. 
 
 in. 
 
 Early had they bidden been, 
 But despised the festal scene ; 
 Taken up with trivial things. 
 Merchandise or pleasurings. 
 
TOO LATE. 129 
 
 IV. 
 
 Now they come — but come too late, 
 Knocking at the palace-gate ; — 
 Housed are all ; the door is shut ; 
 And the Warder knows them not. 
 
 V. 
 
 Bitterly their fault they rue, 
 Clamorous for admission sue ; 
 But, though tears should fall like rain, 
 Ne'er the portal opes again. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Heaven's the palace, Christ the king. 
 Life the time of entering ; 
 Prompt the moment seize, before 
 Death shall come and shut the door ! 
 6* 
 
THE APOSTLE PAUL AT MALTA. 
 
 Oh, who would build upon the changing flood ; 
 
 Or trust the air his footsteps to sustain ; 
 Or lean on the capricious multitude, 
 
 Than changing flood, than empty air, more vain ? 
 
 " A god ! a god ! " cries Lystra, *' oxen bring, 
 Milk-white, with gilded horns and fillets gay ! " — 
 
 And scarce can Paul restrain the offering, 
 Paul — stoned and left for dead another day. 
 
 For him Galatia would her ready eyes 
 
 Have plucked out ; God's angel not more dear ; 
 
 But soon, estranged by error's witcheries, 
 To gall her fondness turns, her love to fear. 
 
 With generous haste the shipwrecked crew he leads, 
 Shivering,,and numbed, on Melita's wild strand, 
 
 Where fagots pour a cheerful blaze, nor heeds 
 The viper fastening on his busy hand. 
 
PAUL AT MALTA. 131 
 
 " A murderer, sure ! " the Punic people cry, 
 
 " Spared, for more horrid fate, from ocean's brine ! " 
 
 But when nor harm nor swelling they espy, 
 Their fickle fancy owns him as divine. 
 
 Brave Paul ! no thought of human praise or blame 
 Thy w^ell-poised soul from duty could allure ; 
 
 Onward thy course, come honor or come shame, 
 Conscience thy guide, and Christ thy cynosure. 
 
 No sea-girt cliff, patient of driving rains. 
 
 And lashed by angry wind and brawling wave, 
 
 Tempest and thunder more unmoved sustains, 
 
 While harmless round its bsse the breakers rave.* 
 
 Be thou our model ! ours the same high part, 
 
 Ours the same loyal faith to Heaven's loved Lord, 
 
 Ours the same eagle eye and lion heart, 
 
 And ours, from Christ's dear hand, the same reward ! 
 
 * "Ma come alle procelle esposto monte, 
 Che percosso dai flutti al mar sovraste, 
 Sostien fermo in se stesso i tuoni e I'onte 
 Del cielo irato e i venti e I'onde vaste." 
 
 Tasso, Gier. Lib. c. ix. st. 31. 
 
I'LL THINK OF THEE. 
 
 ' la the night his song shall be with me."— Ps. xlii. 8 
 Composed during a night of sleeplessness. 
 
 While others, O my God ! refuse 
 To keep in mind thy memory, 
 
 How can my grateful heart but choose 
 To think of Thee ! 
 
 Thine eye had pitied me, ere yet 
 
 I saw my hapless misery ; 
 My Eather ! can I e'er forget 
 
 To think of Thee I 
 
 When Nature shall her beauties spread, 
 Hill, dale, and brook, and shady tree, 
 
 I'll mark the wisdom there displayed. 
 And think of Thee. 
 
 Should tempests black the sky deform, 
 And men and herds to shelter flee, 
 
 I'll smile to look beyond the storm, 
 And think of Thee. 
 
I'LL THINK OF THEE. 133 
 
 Should prosperous breezes fill my sail, 
 Smooth wafting o'er life's happy sea, 
 
 Grateful, O let me never fail 
 To think of Thee! 
 
 And if to earth my hopes should fall, 
 And friends withhold their sympathy, 
 
 Then as my portion and my all, 
 I'll think of Thee. 
 
 By doubts and fears, if, sore distrest, 
 
 Thy charming smile I cannot see, 
 Still on thy promises I'll rest. 
 
 And think of Thee. 
 
 Whene'er th' uneasy couch I press. 
 
 Nor slumber brings relief to me, 
 Amid those hours of w^akefulness 
 
 I'll think of Thee! 
 
 And when is hushed my feeble voice, 
 And loosed the silver cord shall be, 
 
 Then may my parting soul rejoice 
 To think of Thee ! 
 
SUBMISSION. 
 
 I. 
 
 Child of sorrow, child of clay, 
 Weeping through life's wintry day, 
 Meekly fold thy hands, and pray, 
 And in sweet submission say, 
 " Thy will be done ! " 
 
 n. 
 
 Child of sorrow, child of grief, 
 Art thou sighing for relief? 
 Oh, bethink thee, life is brief, 
 Sow in tears, and full thy sheaf 
 At harvest home.* 
 
 III. 
 Child of sorrow, child of hope. 
 Cast away the cowl and rope. 
 Nor in gloomy cloister grope, 
 But to God's blest sunshine ope 
 Ihine eye and heart. 
 
 * Ps, xxvi. 6. 
 
SUBMISSION. 135 
 
 IV. 
 
 Child of sorrow, child of heaven, 
 By misfortune roughly driven, 
 See the cloud of trouble riven, 
 See the Bow of Promise given, 
 Thy fears to soothe ! 
 
 Child of sorrow, child of prayer, 
 Bravely climb Grief's narrow stair, 
 Leading to a purer air, 
 Widening to a prospect fair. 
 
 The summit gained ! * 
 
 * Ezek. xli. 7. 
 
A TEILOGY, 
 
 ON THE NATIVITY, THE CRUCIFIXION, AND THE 
 RESURRECTION. 
 
 g. dL^ristmas §aUaiy, 
 
 OF PROVIDENCE AND THE EMPEHOR. 
 
 The Emperor sate on his chair of state, 
 
 And his courtiers stood around ; 
 And with sinful pride was his heart elate, 
 As he thought of his power and his "treasures great, 
 
 And the world to his footstool bound. 
 
 " This Rome," said he, " so rich and grand, 
 
 • I found it of dingy brick ; 
 But now, beneath my fostering hand, 
 Long lines of marble palaces stand, 
 And statues that all but speak. 
 
A CHRISTMAS BALLAD. 137 
 
 " And where is the king that against my control 
 
 A finger dares to move 1 
 My empire stretches from pole to pole, 
 "Where the farthest waves of ocean roll, 
 
 And the painted savages rove." 
 
 Then flew a sprite, a lying sprite, 
 
 Like that to King Ahab sent, 
 To tempt him to rush to the fatal fight ; 
 And of God permitted, this lying sprite 
 
 To the vain old Emperor went. 
 
 And the sprite, he perched on the ivory chair, 
 
 Unseen by mortal eye. 
 And he whispered into the Emperor's ear. 
 To number the people far and near 
 
 That owned his sovereignty. 
 
 The flattery worked in the monarch's breast, 
 
 And unto his nobles he spake, 
 " Go, ride ye east, and ride ye west. 
 And of all that are subject to my behest 
 
 An exact enrolment make." 
 
 But little dreamt, when he spake that word. 
 
 Great Caesar upon his throne, 
 Little dreamt Cyrenius, as fast he spurred, 
 Or Jewry, that flocked to be registered. 
 
 It was all for Mary's Son. 
 
138 A CHRISTMAS BALLAD. 
 
 Mary, she travels four weary days, 
 
 To be by Joseph's side ; 
 Joseph the governor's call obeys ; 
 The governor's will the monarch sways ; 
 
 And the monarch is swayed by pride. 
 
 Dear God ! thy hand the whole did frame, 
 
 And touched the secret springs. 
 To bring the Lord Christ to Bethlehem, 
 Heir of great David's ancient name, 
 
 And the throne of the Hebrew kings. 
 
 Oh ! cease, ye scoffers, your unbelief, 
 
 Nor longer babble of chance ; 
 For the meanest peasant, the mightiest chief, 
 The wheeling sparrow, the falling leaf, 
 Are the care of Providence. 
 
 II. 
 
 gt iljr^nobg nn t^t €xntilhian. 
 
 I. 
 
 Woe ! woe ! 
 
 Oh ! heart of sorrow, overflow, 
 
 For Nature's self, or Nature's Lord, expires ! * 
 
 In the broad heaven forgetful of his fires, 
 
 * Sec the remarkable exclamation ascribed to Dionysius the 
 Areopagite, in Lardner, vol. VII. p. 124. He saw the darkness 
 
THRENODY ON THE CRUCIFIXION. 139 
 
 The sun doth blindly go, 
 
 A mourner sad and slow, 
 
 And wrapped in grief and horror, shuts his eye, 
 
 His light refusing to man's treachery. 
 
 II. 
 
 Old Mother Earth 
 
 Feels the dread shock through all her nerves, 
 
 And from her balance swerves. 
 
 And trembles like a ship by surges struck ; 
 
 Ne'er since her birth. 
 
 Not when man's impious hand the fruit did pluck, 
 
 So quaked she to her inmost heart, 
 
 As if her very frame would all asunder part. 
 
 III. 
 Upon that cross-crowned hill 
 All is dark, and all is still, 
 Dark as night, and still as death ; 
 Fear chains each foot, and holds each breath. 
 All is hushed, and all is still. 
 On that low and cross-crowned hill. 
 Save a faint moan of pain. 
 And a dull plashing, as of rain. 
 Dropping, dropping, dropping slow, 
 Into the crimson pools that stain the ground below. 
 
 of the Passion in Egypt, and said, "Either the Deity suffers, or 
 sympathizes with one who suffers ! " 
 
140 THRENODY ON THE CRUCIFIXION. 
 lY. 
 
 No\Y is the hour 
 
 Of Darkness and its Prince. With bloodshot eye 
 
 Through the close air the gathering demons glower, 
 
 And boast their horrid triumph nigh. 
 
 They feast upon each groan, 
 
 Nor dream that cross shall prove a judgment throne,* 
 
 Whence they, in shameful flight, 
 
 Like baleful birds of night. 
 
 Back to their dismal dens shall swift be driven, 
 
 Scarred with the thunder of avenging heaven ; 
 
 While to the cursed tree. 
 
 Death, and Death's master, nailed fast shall be.f 
 
 V. 
 
 Beyond the grisly band, 
 Hover the legions of the blest ; each hand 
 Grasj)ing tight his heaven-bathed sword,J 
 Waiting impatient for a signal word, 
 
 * "Tfee judgment, because the Prince of this world is 
 judged." — John xvi. 11. 
 
 f " That through death he might destroy him that had the 
 power of death, that is, the devil." — Heb. ii. 14. 
 
 X " For my sword shall be bathed in heaven." — Isa. xxxiv. 5. 
 " Inebriatus," says Lowth, " drunk with blood." *'In the sight 
 of God," says Prof. Alexander, "the sword, though not yet ac- 
 tually used, was already dripping blood." But Dr. Gill thinks 
 the allusion may be to the bathing of swords in some sort of 
 liquor, to harden or brighten them, preparatory to use. 
 
THRENODY ON THE CRUCIFIXION. 141 
 
 To burst upon the caitiff crowd 
 
 Like lightning from a summer cloud. 
 
 For they have not forgot the fight, 
 
 When all those rebel Sons of Night 
 
 Down heaven's steep battlements they hurled 
 
 Into the nether world. 
 
 They look and long, but look and long in vain, 
 
 Their eager zeal they must awhile restrain ; 
 
 No strengthening angel has a mission now, 
 
 To w^ipe the bloody sweat from off that beaded brow. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Woe ! woe ! 
 
 Oh, heart of sorrow^ overflow ! 
 
 Life's Lord doth die ; 
 
 Of mysteries the mystery, 
 
 Confounding Nature's wonted laws ; 
 
 A God the sufferer, and man's sins the cause ! 
 
 To save our hearts grief that none utter may, 
 
 Upon the cross he bled ; 
 
 He gathered all the thorns that strewed our way, 
 
 And twined them round His own dear head ! * 
 
 * Tertullian says the crown was made of thorns and nettles, 
 as a figure of the evils of sin ; but the efificacy of the cross has 
 taken them away, blunting all the stings of death upon the pa- 
 tient head of the divine sufferer: '■'■In Dominici capitis toleran- 
 tia ohtundens.'''' — De Cor. Mil., c. xiv 
 
142 THRENODY ON THE CRUCIFIXION. 
 VII. 
 
 By the thorns and by the spear ; 
 
 By the death-pang most severe ; 
 
 By Thy wound's unclosed smart ; 
 
 By Thine aching, breaking heart ; 
 
 By the unkno^\^l agonies * 
 
 Of Thine awful sacrifice ; 
 
 By Thy dying act of grace, 
 
 Pardoning the merciless ; 
 
 Tremblingly we Thee entreat, 
 
 Christ most patient ! Christ most sweet ! 
 
 For us sinners intercede, 
 
 Now, and at our utmost need ! 
 
 Matchless martyr ! Sorrow's Son ! 
 
 Bearing burdens not thine own ; 
 
 Let our sins all buried be 
 
 Deep in Joseph's tomb with thee ! 
 
 * So read tlie Greek liturgies : " Sia ruv ayuaffrwv crov ira^rj- 
 /tarw;/." See Barrow on the Creed, s. xxvi. Those unknown 
 agonies were, beyond all doubt, the sharpest of all. 
 
EPIN I CI ON. 143 
 
 III. 
 
 ^pimnoiT, 0r S^ritim|r^l f gmu 011: th 'gmmttiwn,* 
 
 I. 
 
 Ye bronzed veterans of a hundred wars, 
 Covered with honorable scars ! 
 What mean the pulse's altered beat, 
 The stony stare, the quick retreat 
 Of blood that never froze before. 
 On Caspian or on Rhenic shore ? 
 Is it the morning-star's bright glance, 
 Reflected back on helm and lance ? 
 Is it the ray of rising sun, 
 Shimmering on shield and habergeon ? 
 Is it the lightning, sharp and red. 
 That fills a warrior's heart with dread ? 
 
 More awful, far, 
 
 Than rising sun or morning-star. 
 Or sudden flash of blinding levin. 
 That portent from the bursting heaven ! 
 
 * " Epinicion, or Triumphal Hymn," was the name given to 
 the Angels' Song, "Holy, holy, holy! Lord God of Hosts," when 
 sung in the ancient communion service. It was followed by the 
 Allelujah, which, in some churches, was never sung but once a 
 year; that is, at Easter, in honor of the resurrection of our 
 Lord. So in the Liturgy ascribed to St. James, it is called " the 
 triumphal song of the magnificence of thy glory." — Bingham's 
 Chr. Antiq., vol. V, pp. 82, 246. 
 
144: EPINICION. 
 
 To match a foe of mortal mould, 
 
 Trenchant blade, and linked mail, 
 And sinewy arm may eath * avail ; 
 But where the champion bold, 
 His steel against Unearthly Might to aim. 
 That comes with earthquake tread, and eyes of flame ? 
 
 n. 
 
 Ye haughty demons ! but of late 
 Insolent with glutted hate. 
 
 What disconcerts you now. 
 
 And gathers tenfold blackness on your brow ? 
 Ye deemed a signal triumph was achieved, 
 When the first mother ye deceived. 
 
 And planted in Earth's breast the thorn ; 
 Ye deemed redemption nipped in the bud. 
 When treason sold the sacred blood. 
 
 And crucified the Woman-Born. 
 
 Behold the Hostage free ! 
 As when refreshed with sleep a giant wakes, 
 Like willow withes his bonds he breaks ; 
 
 Ended is his and our captivity. 
 His foot is on the usurper's neck. 
 The mfernal gates with terror quake ; 
 And fastened to his girdle are the keys, 
 To ope or shut, henceforth, as he alone shall please. 
 
 * Easily. *' The fort is eath to enter." — Fairftix's Tasso. 
 
EPINICION, 145 
 
 Back to your dens, ye disappointed fiends, 
 And howl your empty curses to the winds ! 
 
 III. 
 Ye angels ! in whose looks do meet 
 Awe, wonder, joy, in union strange and sweet ; 
 Again, again, 
 Lift up the jocund chant. 
 With chorus jubilant. 
 That sounded erst on Ephrath's midnight plain ! 
 
 " From spheres of highest worth, 
 From humblest depths of earth, 
 
 Glory to God ! 
 From seraphs' fire-tipt tongues, 
 From infants' lisping songs. 
 
 Glory to God ! 
 From loftiest cherubims, 
 From martyrs' dying hymns. 
 
 Glory to God ! 
 Welcome love's happy reign. 
 Goodwill and peace to men. 
 
 Glory to God ! 
 Tiirice holy ! Lord most high ! 
 All Earth aloud doth cry 
 
 Glory to God ! " 
 
 The Conqueror comes ! the morning light reveals 
 God's foe and man's bound to his chariot-wheels. 
 
 1 
 
146 EPINICION. 
 
 Celestial cohorts, close your serried files, 
 
 And through long streets of stars, with shout and 
 
 trump,* 
 And banners spread, conduct the solemn pomp ; 
 While rapture every sinless bosom thrills. 
 On golden .hinge expand the pearly gate, 
 The poor Estray, 
 
 That once shot madly from its sphere away, 
 'Mid heaven's high sanctities to reinstate ! 
 
 IV. 
 
 Ye veiled women ! starting at each sound, 
 Bending your tearful eyes upon the ground. 
 What mean those early feet, those spices rare ? 
 
 Come ye to cull the choicest flowers. 
 
 In morning's fresh and dew^y hours, 
 A fragrant chaplet to prepare ? 
 
 All unheeded, all unseen, 
 
 Fountain, flower, and myrtle hedge. 
 
 Alley trim, and boscage green ; 
 
 Graver cares your thoughts engage, 
 
 AYondering much who shall unlock 
 
 The secrets of the caverned rock. 
 
 * " God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of 
 a trumpet ! " — Psalm xlvii. 5. This verse may be recommended 
 to Professor Longfellow, and all other lovers of the hexameter, 
 as a beautiful and faultless specimen of that measure. 
 
EPINICION. 147 
 
 The stone is rolled away ! and from your hearts 
 A load as heavy as that stone departs ; 
 For with that stone is rolled away the curse. 
 That cast a shadow o'er the universe. 
 
 Mercy's message now proclaim 
 
 In the ear of Guilt and Shame ; 
 
 Crushed and bleeding hearts bind up, 
 
 Tenting them with balmy hope. 
 
 Bid the saint no longer dread 
 
 What Christ's touch hath hallowed ; 
 
 Radiance from the angel's face 
 
 Lingers still around the place. 
 
 Not in dust the members groan, 
 
 When the Head is on a throne ; 
 
 Christ hath risen ! our brother, He ! 
 
 Where our Kindred reigns, reign we.* 
 
 * "Ubi caro mca regnat, ibi me regnare credo."— Augus- 
 tine's Meditations. 
 
DIES lEJE.* 
 
 Dies irsD, dies ilia 
 Solvet sseclum in favilla, 
 Teste David cum Sybilla. 
 
 Day of wrath ! that day is hasting, 
 
 All the world in ashes wasting, 
 
 David with the Sybil testing. 
 
 Quantus tremor est futurus, 
 
 Quando Judex est venturus, 
 
 Cuncta stricte discussurus ! 
 
 Oh, how great the consternation. 
 When the Judge shall take his station. 
 For a strict investigation ! 
 
 * A version of "Dies Ir^" can hardly be classed among 
 Milton's "things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme," since 
 there are extant more than a hundred translations in various 
 languages. Those of Dr. Coles are among the latest and best. 
 Where so many have made the attempt, a new competitor needs 
 no apology. The present version is offered to the attention of 
 scholars, as adhering to the literal words of the original, at least 
 as closely as any preceding. 
 
DIES IK^. 149 
 
 Tuba, mirum spargens sonum 
 
 Per sepulchra regionum, 
 
 Coget omnes ante thronum. 
 
 Wondrously the trumpet swelling 
 Spreads through each sepulchral dwellmg, 
 All before the throne compellmg. 
 
 Mors stupebit et natura, 
 
 Quum resurget creatura 
 
 Judicanti responsura. 
 
 Death and nature it surprises, 
 When from dust the creature rises, 
 Summoned to the great assizes. 
 
 Liber scriptus proferetur, 
 
 In quo totum continetur 
 
 De quo mundus judicetur. 
 
 Then shall be produced the volume. 
 Proofs of guilt in every column. 
 For the world's arraignment solemn. 
 
 Judex ergo quum sedebit, 
 
 Quicquid latet apparebit, 
 
 Nil inultum remanebit. 
 
 When the Judge begins th' inspection, 
 Nothing hid shall 'scape detection, 
 Nothing shall evade correction. 
 
150 DIES IK^. 
 
 Quod sum miser tunc dicturus, 
 
 Quem patron um rogaturus, 
 
 Quum vix Justus sit securus ? 
 
 Wretched, what shall I be saying, 
 To what patron then be praying, 
 When the just has fears dismaying ? 
 
 Rex tremendse majestatis, 
 
 Qui salvandos salvas gratis, 
 
 Salve me, fons pietatis ! 
 
 King majestic, clothed with terror, 
 
 Of salvation free conferrer, 
 
 Fount of grace, save me from error ! 
 
 Rocordare, Jesu pie, 
 
 Quod sum causa tuse vise, 
 
 Ne me perdas ilia die ! 
 
 Jesus ! grant me recognition ; 
 Me, the object of thy mission, 
 That day, doom not to perdition ! 
 
 Quserens me, sedisti lassus, 
 
 Redemisti crucem passus : 
 
 Tantus labor non sit cassus ! 
 
 Worn and weary me thou soughtest. 
 On the cross my ransom boughtest, 
 Fruitless leave not all thou wroughtest ! 
 
DIES IR^. 151 
 
 Juste Judex ultionis, 
 Donum fac remissionis 
 Ante diem rationis ! 
 
 Judge impartial in decision, 
 
 Grant the gift of full remission 
 
 Ere the last account's revision ! 
 
 Ingemisco tanquam reus, 
 
 Culpa rubet vultus meus ; 
 
 Supplicanti parce, Deus ! 
 
 Groaning like a guilty creature, 
 Blushes mantling every feature. 
 Spare, O God ! the poor beseecher ! 
 
 Qui Mariam absolvisti, 
 
 Et latronem exaudisti, 
 
 Mihi quoque spem dedisti. 
 
 Thou who Mary's guilt hast shriven, 
 And hast heard the robber even, 
 Hope to me hast also given. 
 
 Preces meoe non sunt dignae, 
 
 Sed tu bonus fac benigne 
 
 Ne perenni cremer igne ! 
 
 Though my prayers deserve thy spurning, 
 Of thy love's benignant yearning, 
 Snatch me from eternal burning ! 
 
152 DIES IK^. 
 
 Inter oves locum prassta, 
 
 Et ab lioedis me sequestra, 
 
 Statuens in parte dextra ! 
 
 'Mongst the sheep in safety set me, 
 From the goats, oh, separate me, 
 To thy right hand elevate me ! 
 
 Confutatis maledictis, 
 
 riammis acribus addictis, 
 
 Voca me cum benedictis ! 
 
 While the curst, their guilt confessed, 
 To the fiercest flames are chased, 
 Call me upward with the blessed ! 
 
 Oro supplex et acclinis. 
 Cor contritum quasi cinis ; 
 Gere curam mei finis ! 
 
 Hear my lowly, contrite sighing ; 
 
 See my heart as ashes lying ; 
 
 To the last thy care supplying ! 
 
 Lachrymosa dies ilia, 
 
 Qua resurget ex favilla 
 
 Judicandus homo reus : 
 
 Huic ergo parce, Deus ! 
 
 Oh, that day of woe surprising ? 
 Guilty man from ashes rising, 
 For the judgment must prepare him : 
 Therefore, God of mercy, spare him ! 
 
TO THE DEITY. 
 
 A SONNET. 
 
 Being, incomprehensible and dread ! 
 
 Long time have men been feeling after Thee, 
 
 And scanned the heavens in vain thy paths to see, 
 Piercing the clouds that wrapt thine awful head ; 
 In vain the legendary rocks they read, 
 
 Yet scarce spelled out one letter of thy Name. 
 
 Presumptuous we appear, and much to blame. 
 Curious to pry where seraphs reverent tread. 
 Thou the great Ocean of Existence art. 
 
 Without a sounding and without a shore ; 
 While we are but a fragmentary part, 
 
 With all the worlds, chance drops of spray — no 
 more — 
 And of thy lightest breath the helpless sport, 
 
 The surface of Immensity driven o'er. 
 
HOPE. 
 
 A SONNET. 
 
 O Hope ! the Echo of the Future, thou ; 
 
 The Music of a far-off March ; first ray 
 
 Of coining Joy ; the rosy flush and gay 
 Of dawning Happiness ; bright haze that now 
 The Star announces, ere its blazing brow 
 
 Athwart the field of vision takes its way ; 
 
 The soft Eefraction, which the God of Day 
 Gives prematurely to the Guebre's vow. 
 Our Hopes transformed Recollections are : 
 
 Persons and place and date are changed ; not so 
 The story's passionate groundwork, love, or war. 
 
 Past joys, past feelings, Fancy's glass will show, 
 But varied ; as we reproduce some rare 
 Old play with decorations new and fair. 
 
GENIUS. 
 
 A SONNET. 
 
 Majestic emblem of the Omnipotent, 
 
 Thyself creative in a lesser sphere ; 
 
 Unbounded thy adventurous career, 
 Profuse thy miracles magnificent ! 
 To gold thy touch the basest element 
 
 Transmutes ; to silk converts the leaflet sere ; 
 
 Illumined by thy glance, the mists appear 
 An arch of glory in the firmament. 
 The arrow flames a meteor from thy hand ; 
 
 Yawning barrancas smile like Eden's bowers ; 
 Even error we forget to reprimand, 
 
 Festooned with grace, and veiled o'er with flowers. 
 Why linked with vice, thy birth dishonoring, 
 Shouldst thou thy plumage stain, and stoop thy lofty 
 wing 1 
 
WHO SHALL BE CEOWISTED? 
 
 A SONNET. 
 
 Bring forth the wreath the "worthiest to crown ; 
 
 But who of mortals shall the worthiest be ; 
 
 Who best deserveth immortality — 
 A name the listening ages shall send down, 
 Imperishable, unrevoked renown ? 
 
 Is it the soldier breathing fierce commands. 
 
 Pride on his brow and gore upon his hands, 
 Begrimed with smoke from many a burning town ? 
 Is it the scholar, bent, but not with years, 
 
 Wrinkled and lean, from studious vigils pale ; 
 Who in his nearest volume never peers, 
 
 Unknowing what his own heart may reveal 1 
 Crown thou the man himself who hioios ; nay, more, 
 Subdues ; of prejudice, pride, passion — conqueror. 
 
THE COTTEE'S SATUEDAY NIGHT. 
 
 A SONNET. 
 
 I LOVE the Ayrshire ploughman, strong and bright, 
 As his own share that spared the daisy's blush : 
 What peals of merriment tumultuous rush 
 
 At thought of Tarn and Alloway's wild night, 
 
 The drouthy skellum, and his maudlin fright ! 
 Pensive the strain, and soft as evening's hush, 
 When Highland Mary bids the tear-drop gush, 
 
 Or Nature's praise inspires a mild delight. 
 
 Nor less to memory dear the charming scene 
 Of the douce Cotter's modest, happy home ; 
 
 The patriarch's lyart locks and reverent mien, 
 The artless anthem, and the sacred tome, 
 
 A Household altar, with a glory sheen 
 
 That seldom gilds the proud cathedral's dome. 
 
EVENTIDE 
 
 "I have always found that the fittest time for myself is the even- 
 ing, from Bun-Betting to the twilight. I the rather mention this, because 
 it was the experience of a belter and wiser man ; for it is expressly said, 
 ' Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide.' " — Baxter. 
 
 There is an hour when he, whose soul is given 
 To sober contemplation, loves to stroll 
 With noiseless step along the dusky glade, 
 And bare his brow to woo the cooling breeze. 
 The sun trails o'er the ground his level ray, 
 And slowly sinking, veils his ardent orb 
 In canopies of purple and of gold ; 
 A rich pavilion on th' horizon reared, 
 Where streaming banners float with regal pomp, 
 In gorgeous crimson, or in amber clear. 
 But when the brilliant monarch drops from sight. 
 And the gray clouds, like courtiers out of place, 
 Disport in flaunting liveries no more. 
 Then comes the hour, still twilight's solemn hour. 
 To meditation sacred, and the thoughts 
 Which, shaking ofl'the world, look up to heaven. 
 
EVENTIDE, 159 
 
 Then, one by one, peep forth the meek-eyed stars, 
 Showering down radiance from their golden urns, 
 And sweetly trembling on the lucid waves ; 
 Then queenly Night with quiet hand unlocks 
 The gorgeous jewel-chamber of the skies. 
 And binds upon her pure and polished brow 
 The sparkling splendors of her mystic reign. 
 There Sirius burns, a diamond unstained. 
 And red Arcturus flames undimmed by age; 
 There ruby, amethyst, and topaz vie, 
 And milder emerald sheds its paly ray. 
 
 A calm and hallowed quiet breathes around, 
 Scarce interrupted by the rustling leaf. 
 Or city's distant hum, subdued and faint. 
 Or cricket's chirp, or katydid's shrill pipe. 
 Or nestling birds, that, twittering on their perch, 
 Wake the faint echoes of the darkening grove. 
 Who has not owned the witchery of that hour, 
 When, sauntering to some cool, delicious haunt 
 Familiar to his steps — some rustic bridge. 
 With striding arch so regularly round — 
 His heart forgets the trivial cares of life, 
 Th' ignoble, numerous anxieties. 
 Earth-born, and earthward- tending, that subdue 
 And tame to their dull level the poor drudge ! 
 Forgotten all ! — the strife for power and place ; 
 The scowl of Envy ; the envenomed sting 
 Of Calumny ; the oppressive hand of Power ; 
 
160 EVENTIDE. 
 
 The hollow smile of cold Civility ; 
 The superciliousness of haughty Rank ; 
 The coarse and vulgar jest of upstart Wealth ; 
 All fade from view ; as lovers at their tryst 
 Heed not the bell that tells of wasting time. 
 
 His eye, delighted, scans the varied scene, 
 Or grand, or beautiful ; and as the nerve 
 The image to the sensory conveys, 
 (Of busy Thought, mysterious seat and throne !) 
 His heart with conscious happiness dilates. 
 Not such from Delphian cleft the boisterous airs, 
 That fiercely shook the bosom they inspired. 
 As hovereth, on noiseless wing, the bee 
 To rob the honeysuckle of its dew — 
 As openeth its cup the flower of eve, 
 To drink the zephyr's fresh and balmy kiss — 
 So the wrapt soul, in quiet transport bathed. 
 Is mellowed into exquisite repose. 
 
 ^ Nor could the Sabine more desire the hour 
 That brought him to his loved Egeria's side, 
 Than he to whom sweet Nature's face is dear, 
 Longs for the moment when he can escape 
 From dust and turmoil, tranquilly to gaze 
 On soft green mead, the mountain's waving line, 
 The crag abrupt, or rivulet's foamy plunge ; 
 Nor recks he, though the world may shake the head, 
 And scorn the musing, visionary man. 
 
EVENTIDE. J61 
 
 Even in boyhood's years, ere yet he knew 
 What the strange feeling was, he learned to love 
 Th' unlonely solitude of wood and glen. 
 His schoolmates might the bounding ball propel, 
 Upheave the massy quoit with sinewy arm, 
 Or straining in the leap, surpass the mark ; 
 In petty sports like these he little joyed, 
 And though he gazed and wondered at the feat, 
 He burned not with an emulative zeal. 
 He rather chose to ramble by the brhik 
 Of some cool plashing waterfall, where shade 
 Of spreading sycamore and poplar tall 
 To soft repose invited. There he lay. 
 Outstretched for hours upon the velvet sward, 
 While murmuring winds and waters, all day long, 
 Intoned their dreamy music in his ear. 
 And so he grew to manhood. What the boy 
 Did love, still loves the man — to seek the shade, 
 And people solitude with busy thoughts. 
 
 Then fancy bids the scenes of former days 
 Revive again, and walk their stirring round. 
 Then Athens from her ruins seems to rise, 
 And shake the dust of ages from her brow, 
 Such as at Marathon or Sakmis 
 She frowned the Eastern despot into awe. 
 Again the sunbeams glance on colonnade 
 And heavy. sculptured frieze, whose marble forms 
 Start into life, and lead the solemn pomp. 
 
162 EVENTIDE. 
 
 Again the glorious dreamer of the grove, 
 With honeyed accents wins the wayward youth. 
 
 Anon the vision shifts to Salem's towers, 
 And that sad tomb where once reposed the head 
 Thorn-crowned, the heart that bled upon the spear. 
 Like some stout cliff that breasts the surge unmoved, 
 The Soldan fierce beats back Lord Godfrey's foin ; 
 Or Tancred sore bewails his Pagan maid. 
 Killed and baptized by his unwitting hand ; 
 Or brave Rinaldo stays Armida's steel. 
 Her lovely bosom ere th' enchantress wounds. 
 And two estranged hearts are blent in one ; 
 The tenderest scene the hapless bard e'er drew. 
 
 Perchance his thoughts a graver vein assume. 
 Nor weave fantastic troubles from a shade. 
 Turned from the spell of genius, and the flame 
 That lights the patriot's path, the poet's lyre, 
 He meditates upon the state of man, the ills 
 That crush his hopes when fairest bourgeoning — 
 Benumb youth's sanguine ardor — turn to gall 
 The unsuspecting trust of love betrayed. 
 So the light sail spreads gaily to the breeze, 
 On the clear bosom of the placid sea, 
 While summer skies invite to confidence ; 
 But, ere the song has ceased its buoyant strain. 
 The black cloud hovers, and the roughening breeze 
 
EVENTIDE. 163 
 
 Increases to a gale ; the swelling gale 
 Becomes a piping blast ; the blast a storm ; 
 Then stream the sails in ribbons ; fall the masts ; 
 The foamy billows o'er the bulwarks sweep ; 
 And disobedient to the helm, the bark 
 Is dashed upon the breakers. There she lies, 
 Another victim of the treacherous deep. 
 
 O beauteous Star of Evening ! lucid orb, 
 Pure and serene, all bathed in tenderness ! 
 Thou mind'st me of that sweeter Star of Hope, 
 To sin-wrecked souls on Life's tempestuous sea. 
 That hallowed beam — may it my footsteps guide 
 "Where those of Eastern Sashes erst were led ! 
 
THE OLD MAl^. 
 
 Eeturnless years of youth and pleasance past, 
 Why have ye spread the wing, and fled so fast ; 
 And left me thus, in blank amaze to stand, 
 A hopeless wreck on life's deserted strand ; 
 While memory vainly lingers near the shore, 
 Bridging the roaring seas and time-gulfs o'er ? 
 
 A thousand recollections pour their tide ; 
 A thousand early dreams before me glide ; 
 A thousand goodly plans, dispersed in smoke ; 
 A thousand healthful vows forgot and broke. 
 Vanished, the fond conceits that fired my blood, 
 Eanking me with the laurelled brotherhood ; 
 Vanished, the visions of high-pillared fame, 
 A nation's worship, and a world-wide name. 
 The night shuts in ; few sands remain to run ; 
 And life's great purpose scarcely is begun. 
 Errors and frailties rise in long review, 
 The ill I've done, the good I've failed to do ; — 
 Oh, human nature ! still, 'mid my chagrins, 
 Blushing for follies oftener than for sins. 
 
THE OLD MAN. 165 
 
 Could I thy wheels, inexorable Time, 
 Eoll back ! — but no ! a laggard in my prime, 
 Vain all resolves ; to the propitious hour 
 Unequal once, unequal eyermore. 
 
 My hollow temples, sprent with wintry snow, 
 Bear the deep footprint of the tell-tale crow ; 
 The eye asks aid, the sinewy limb is shrunk ; 
 The cheek, once plump and ruddy, wan and sunk ; 
 The young avoid me ; though, methinks I feel 
 Light as a lapwing, and as gleeful still. 
 
 No more can be disguised th' unwelcome truth ; 
 111 fits me now the levity of youth : 
 To graver cares be my whole thoughts inclined, 
 And loftier objects fill my serious mind. 
 On Tally's charming page portrayed I see 
 The art of growing old with dignity ; 
 While from the wiser Hebrew I may learn 
 To wreathe immortal hopes around my urn. 
 
AN EPISTLE TO A YOUJSTG LADY, 
 
 WHO ASKED, THROUGH A CORRESPONDENT, A POST- 
 SCRIPT FROM THE AUTHOR. 
 
 " A Postscript " did you say ? oh, no ! 
 I could not bear to treat you so, 
 
 I'll send an ample sheet ; 
 Pleased, if my unpretending strain 
 Have power awhile to entertain 
 
 So great a favorite. 
 
 Pull well, I ween, the courtly style, 
 That flatters only to beguile. 
 
 You'll not expect from me ; 
 You wish me, and I feel inclined. 
 To utter all my candid mind. 
 
 In frank sincerity. 
 
 'Tis not the charms that court the view, 
 The rounded form, the brilliant hue, 
 
 That I most highly prize ; 
 The gay coquette, the forward flirt, 
 The caustic wit, the pedant pert, 
 
 I heartily despise. 
 
EPISTLE TO A YOUNG LADY. 107 
 
 I love intelligence and grace 
 
 In every look and tone to trace ; 
 
 A cheerful, sunny smile ; 
 An unaffected piety ; 
 A sweet, obliging temper, free 
 
 From envy, spite, and guile. 
 
 When youth is past, and beauty flies, 
 These captivating qualities 
 
 Survive th' inferior wreck ; 
 Eelume the eye with softer fire. 
 Each feature with fresh charms inspire, 
 
 And Time's rude inroads check. 
 
 Be yours, my friend ! each lovely trait, 
 That, like the fairy's fabled pet, 
 
 Your lips may drop with gems ; 
 Each word you utter fall in showers 
 Of pearls, and gold, and fragrant flowers, 
 
 And rings, and diadems ! 
 
PEAIEIE S0:N"G. 
 
 I. 
 
 Away to the Prairie, away, away ! 
 
 With the first red streak of breaking day ; 
 
 While the bees with their hum wake the dogwood 
 
 flowers, 
 And the mocking-birds trill in the hazel bowers. 
 
 II. 
 
 Away to the Prairie, away, away ! 
 W^here healthful breezes around us play ; 
 And leave the close air of the city impure, 
 With its stifling steams from gutter and sewer. 
 
 ni. 
 
 Away to the Prairie, away, away ! 
 
 Where never hypocrisy learned to stray ; 
 
 But where the brave hunter, bold, manly, and true. 
 
 Wears his heart on the outside, all open to view. 
 
PRAIRIE SONG. 169 
 
 IV. 
 
 Away to the Prairie, away, away ! 
 And leave the false town, meretricious and gay ; 
 Where all the day long, rings the jargon of trade, 
 And the one sole thought is, how money is made. 
 
 V. 
 
 Away to the Prairie, away, away ! 
 And the purest instincts of nature obey ; 
 Our wants are few, and we will not complain, 
 While the deer and the buffalo range the plain. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Away to the Prairie, away, away ! 
 No grander temple wherein to pray 
 The sun, moon, and stars are its lamps alone, 
 And the winds and the waters the psalm intone. 
 8 
 
LET THE OCEAN HEAYE TO 
 THE TEMPEST'S WUSTG! 
 
 I. 
 
 Let the ocean heave to the tempest's whig, 
 
 And the foam-crested waves dash high ! 
 Let the winds through the shrouds all shrilly sing, 
 
 And the creaking masts reply ! 
 Dash ! dash ! ye waves, with j'our fiercest spite, 
 
 And drown the ship in spray ; 
 I'll pace the deck with wild delight. 
 
 For I love your boisterous play. 
 
 II. 
 I love to hear the thunder roll 
 
 Above the deaf 'ning blast ; 
 And the scream of the petrel thrills my soul, 
 
 As she flies like lightning past. 
 Oh ! give me the storm for a funeral dirge, 
 
 To pour its wail over me ; 
 For a winding-sheet the swelling surge, 
 
 For a sepulchre the Sea ! 
 
LET THE OCEAN HEAVE. 171 
 III. 
 
 Down, down, a thousand fathoms deep, 
 
 All on my coral bed ! 
 As sweet as in hallowed ground I'll sleep, 
 
 With the marble o'er my head. 
 The tide may swell, and the winds may rave, 
 
 And the storm in fury roll ; 
 My body I'll calmly commit to the wave, 
 
 And to Heaven's sw^eet mercy my soul. 
 
CONTEISTTMEITT. 
 
 "I have learned, iu whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 
 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound."— Puil. iv. 
 11, 12. 
 
 Yes ! Blessed Paul ! and -well thou didst approve, 
 By self-denying acts, thy fervent love. 
 By toil, by pain, by persecution tried, 
 Thy faithful trust in Jesus never died ; 
 Nothing that well-placed confidence could shake, 
 Content with all things for thy Master's sake. 
 By thee instructed, I would murmur less, 
 And learn the secret of true happiness. 
 
THE MISSIOINTAKY'S HYMK 
 
 INSCRIBED IN THE ALBUM OF THE REV. RICHARD ARM- 
 STRONG, MISSIONARY TO THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
 
 I. 
 
 Jesus, Master ! let me hear thee 
 
 Speak in tones of tender love ! 
 Fain would I be sheltered near thee, 
 
 Never from thee would remove. 
 Was it not thy blood that bought me, 
 
 And my costly ransom paid ; 
 Was it not thy hand that brought me, 
 
 Here the Gospel news to spread ? 
 
 n. 
 
 I would fain the precious story 
 
 To the heathen nations tell ; 
 Tell them of the Lord of Glory, 
 
 How to love Immanuel. 
 Grant me, Lord, thy constant guiding, 
 
 Lead me where I ought to go ; 
 Let thy Spirit's kind abiding 
 
 Teach me all I need to know ! 
 
174 THE missionary's HYMN, 
 
 m. 
 
 Give me zeal, and faith, and patience ; 
 
 Strengthen all my mortal powers ; 
 And, with heavenly consolations, 
 
 Comfort my desponding hours ! 
 Then, when life's last toils are ending, 
 
 Sighs its last my heaving breast, 
 On the wings of love ascending, 
 
 Take me, Saviour, to thy rest ! 
 
COMPEITSATIONS 
 
 Let us aye be cheerful, 
 
 Whatsoe'er betide ; 
 Life is not all tearful, 
 
 There's a sunny side. 
 Vernal zephyrs banish 
 
 Winter's frosts afar ; 
 Midnight's spectres vanish 
 
 With the morning star. 
 
 II. 
 
 Every deep depression, 
 
 With its chills and blights, 
 Has a compensation 
 
 In the neighboring heights. 
 Birds of plumage plainest 
 
 Lift the sweetest song ; 
 Pangs that rack the keenest 
 
 Seldom tarry long. 
 
176 COMPENSATIONS. 
 
 III. 
 
 Oft the richest uses 
 
 Come from humblest things, 
 As the marsh produces 
 
 Tribes of brilliant wings. 
 Larks, at heaven's gate singing, 
 
 Nestle in the corn ; 
 Mountains, proudly springing, 
 
 Were in valleys bom. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Churned from ocean-chamber, 
 
 'Mid the tempest's roar. 
 See the precious amber 
 
 Thrown upon the shore ! 
 So each stormy trial 
 
 Yields us fruits of good. 
 Wisdom, self-denial, 
 
 Strength, and fortitude. 
 
 V. 
 
 Kavens once did cater 
 
 To Elijah's need ; 
 And a fish for Peter 
 
 Tribute-money paid. 
 There's a charming story, 
 
 How the widow's cruse, 
 
COMPENSATIONS. 17 
 
 Blest by prophet hoary, 
 Poured an overplus. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Thorniest afflictions 
 
 Sharper might have been ; 
 Healing benedictions 
 
 Mitigate the pain. 
 See the Ark rise higher, 
 
 With the swelling flood ; 
 Ever drawing nigher 
 . To the Mount of God ! 
 
 VII. 
 
 'Tis a sight of beauty, 
 
 When a noble heart 
 Bravely does its duty, 
 
 Though each fibre smart. 
 Courage, Faith, and Patience, 
 
 Principles divine, 
 In the worst vexations, 
 
 Like the rainbow shine. 
 
 8* 
 
THE OLIYE AND THE PINE 
 
 Let others praise, in sounding phrase, 
 
 The olive and the vine, 
 A southern sun's relaxing rays 
 
 Shall be no vaunt of mine. 
 Give me the mountain capped with snow, 
 
 The crystal lake beneath ! 
 Though keen the breezes o'er them blow, 
 
 There's health in every breath. 
 
 Health of the body and the mind, 
 
 Of fibre and of thought ; 
 Each motion free and unconfined, 
 
 With manly vigor fraught. 
 The active step, the beaming eye. 
 
 The glow upon the cheek, 
 The ample forehead, pure and high, 
 
 A thoughtful race bespeak. 
 
 Simple in manners and in faith, 
 
 Their stalwart tribes I see, 
 Intrepid champions to the death, 
 
 For truth and liberty. 
 
THE OLIVE AND THE PINE. l79 
 
 Then let them praise, in sounding phrase, 
 
 The olive and the vine ; 
 Give me the bracing wind that plays 
 
 Amid the mountain pine ! * 
 
 * These lines were written in the house of Dr. Malan, in 
 Geneva (March 8, ISSY), after a fruitless winter spent in Italy in 
 quest of health. The first feeling of amendment was perceived 
 at the foot of the Alps, and the fact is gratefully, if not grace- 
 fully, commemorated in the foregoing verses. 
 
THE PAGE OF LIFE. 
 
 FOR AN ALBUM. 
 
 The Page of Life, like this fair sheet, 
 
 Lies freshly opened at your feet, 
 
 As yet without a blot or blur, 
 
 Your maiden heart with shame to stir. 
 
 As years their onward course shall speed. 
 
 How will Life's motley record read 1 
 
 "What tender memories shall rise, 
 
 What various souvenirs meet your eyes ! 
 
 Heaven grant that no remorseful feeling 
 
 Shall spring to light with Time's revealing ! 
 
 But may the Angel's pen, upon 
 
 The closing page, inscribe, " Well done ! " 
 
THE KESOLYE. 
 
 Josephine, when very young, was betrothed to the Viscount Beau- 
 harnais, but her affections had been given to William de K. When she 
 was about to leave for France, he solicited a private interview, but 
 though, no doubt, it cost the tender-hearted girl a severe struggle, duty 
 prevailed, and she denied the request. — Mem. of Jos., i. 65. 
 
 Yes ! I have loved thee, all too wildly loved thee, 
 As love the passionate children of the sun ; 
 
 And when confiding, gentle, kind, I proved thee. 
 Not blood, but lava, through my veins has run. 
 
 To see thee, hear thee, silent sit beside thee. 
 
 No higher joys I coveted than these ; 
 The hope is o'er ; but wheresoe'er thou hide thee, 
 
 There's none can rob me of these memories. 
 
 From dreams of bliss, a glimpse of heaven revealing. 
 Now rudely waked, how mournful is my fate ! 
 
 Truth, duty, honor, every noble feeling, 
 Tear me away, and bid us separate. 
 
 Yet take with thee one sigh, heart-heaved and tearful. 
 One breathing prayer that happier days be thine ; 
 
 Thy bosom's lord be ever light and cheerful, 
 And round thy starlit brow may roses twine ! 
 
THE IDEAL IN ART. 
 
 When Rome's imperial eagle flapped his wings 
 O'er conquered continents and vassal kings ; 
 While yet sweet Maro's was the mother-tongue, 
 And peasants spoke the language Flaccus sung ; 
 Triumphant Art time-honored Arms displaced, 
 And her own brow with rival laurels graced. 
 Then were the Arts as Liberal designed, 
 Or Servile : these, to low-bred slaves confined ; 
 The Liberal, such as Freemen might pursue, 
 Demanding intellect and leisure too. 
 
 A nicer line our moderns draw of late, 
 As usefulness or grace predominate. 
 Such as the principles of Taste combine 
 With skill mechanical, are styled the Fine ; 
 The Useful Arts an humbler aim attain, 
 Convenience, or necessity, or gain. 
 'Tis Taste that must the richest charm impart, 
 The Inspiration and the Soul of Art. 
 
THE IDEAL IN ART. 183 
 
 Ere yet a simpler faith those dreams dispelled, 
 Beautiful fictions ! of the days of eld, 
 Behold Imagination's subtle power 
 Peopling each sunny hill and shady bower ! 
 In every fount a Naiad cool disports, 
 To every sylvan shade a Faun resorts ; 
 By her loved oak the Dryad keeps her ward, 
 And on the sea the Nereid is adored. 
 
 Nor groundless quite. The social instincts lead 
 
 O'er universal space ourself to spread ; 
 
 Transfuse our feelings, morbid or elate, 
 
 And Nature echoes but what we dictate. 
 
 The landscape smiles ; threaten the angry skies ; 
 
 Dark frowns the rock ; the rustling zephyr sighs ; 
 
 The sullen pool ; the cliff's commanding brow ; 
 
 The laughing waves that play around the prow ; 
 
 The cheerftil spring ; — who ever dreams that he, 
 
 In terms like these, is talking poetry ? 
 
 'Tis but the social impulse that creates 
 
 Friends out of stones, and planets animates ; 
 
 In every lucid wave a picture sees, 
 
 And hears a legend in each whispering breeze. 
 
 If virgin nature, with a borrowed life, 
 Thus breathes and speaks, with human feeling rift'. 
 Shall plastic Art refuse her chartered skill, 
 Nor mould the inert masses at her will ] 
 
184 THE IDEAL IN ART. 
 
 Shall she not haste, with trembling eagerness 
 Her warm conceptions, ere they fade, t' express 1 
 Till, waked to life beneath her glowing hand, 
 Embodied, the Ideal forth shall stand ; 
 And as it meets th' entranced spectator's eyes, 
 Emotions, to her own responsive, rise. 
 
 'Twas thus the anguished chief Timanthes drew. 
 
 But half concealed, and hid the face from view ; 
 
 'Twas thus the Dying Gladiator lay. 
 
 And thought of his young Dacians all at play ; 
 
 'Tis thus wild sounds from forest and from field. 
 
 To rhythm reduced, the ear fresh pleasure yield ; 
 
 The song of birds, the hum of rural life, 
 
 The thunder's growl, the elemental strife. 
 
 'Tis thus columnar glories proudly grow. 
 
 And nature's lines in stubborn marble show. 
 
 From clustered shafts light springs the arch on high. 
 
 Again the forest-vista charms the eye ; 
 
 While spires and pinnacles profusely rise, 
 
 And lead devotion upward to the skies ; 
 
 Nature beholds her fairest works outdone, 
 
 A solemn anthem in perpetual stone ! 
 
 THE END.