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 BY 
 
 / 
 
 CHARLES W. JEROME. 
 
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 Copyrighted by the 
 Author and Designer, 1897. 
 
 Pr6ss of 
 
 Moffett Bros. & Co. 
 
 Minneapolis. 
 
TO MY PASTOR, 
 
 REV. DAVID N. BEACH, D. D., 
 
 The Following Poem Is Gratefully Inscribed. 
 
 PILLAR he, firm-set, of Doric 
 
 mould. 
 And as the Doric with most 
 
 subtlety 
 Conceals and yet reveals 
 
 that delicacy 
 Of line which styles more 
 
 ornate or less bold 
 Less well express, so we in 
 him behold 
 Both grace and strength blended in unity. 
 Indeed, he seemeth fashioned equally. 
 Like columns in that noblest style of old. 
 For civic hall or for the house where thought 
 Seeks high commune with the Creator's mind, 
 And sees the spirit's last and sure abode. 
 And, when his place no more on earth is sought; 
 Then will he stand, by His own hand designed, 
 A pillar in the temple of his God."^ 
 
 1897. 
 *Rev. Ill, 12. 
 
De Cemptatiom 
 
 "For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with 
 the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points 
 tempted like as we are, yet without s\u.''—IIeb. IV, 75. 
 
 E is gone in the might of his 
 manhood, the grace of his 
 God ; 
 Who could turn the whole 
 world from its course by 
 a word or a nod, 
 Or can summon twelve le- 
 gions of angels at will. 
 He is gone 
 To the desert; where prowl the wild beasts and the black 
 
 chasms yawn, 
 And the ledges of limestone look down on the wadys 
 
 close-walled, 
 And the ash-colored mountains loom lonely and savage 
 
 and bald. 
 He is gone to commune with his Father, ere yet He 
 begins 
 
 CjWJcr.^t. 
 
His vast labor of love to save men from their frailties and 
 
 sins. 
 'Tis the place where the daughter of Jephthah lamented 
 
 her doom; 
 Tis the place where the prophets foresaw, through its 
 
 cloistering gloom, 
 In some measure his grief and his seeming inglorious 
 
 fate; 
 Where his day-star, the second Elijah, waxed won- 
 
 drously great. 
 
 Forty days hath He fasted, and now He is famished 
 
 and faint; 
 Forty days hath He fought with temptation, resisted its 
 
 taint; 
 Forty days hath his spirit grown clear to discern right 
 
 from wrong; 
 And his soul from that striving hath risen triumphant 
 
 and strong. 
 
 I. 
 
 Yet the subtle suggestion of evil, unseen by the 
 
 sense. 
 
 Sheathes a taunt in soft words of persuasion, seductive, 
 
 intense: 
 
 8 
 
"Now, if truly Thou be the Begotten of God, as Thou 
 
 say'st, 
 Know 'twas never his will that his Dearest should die in 
 
 this waste. 
 Thou remember'st of old how Elijah by ravens was fed; 
 O Thou Son of Jehovah, command that these stones be 
 
 made bread." 
 But He answers with grace well befitting his sonship 
 
 sublime, 
 In the word that the Lord spake by Moses to them of old 
 
 time: 
 "It is written that not by bread only but by every word 
 Shall man live, which proceeds from the mouth of his 
 
 Maker and Lord." 
 So our Shepherd and Star, by the force of one strong 
 
 sinless thought. 
 Brings the devil's first counsels, his craft and his wiles 
 
 unto naught. 
 
 II. 
 
 Howe'er baffled, the prince of this world will not 
 yield up his Prey: 
 But prepares an enchantment; the desert hath vanished; 
 and they 
 
Seem upborne on the wings of the morning in mystical 
 flight, 
 
 With a strange fascination, a shudder and thrill of de- 
 light. 
 
 Till they stand on a snow-encrowned mountain's empyr 
 rean height. 
 
 Far below them the valleys lie pensive and lovely 
 
 and still, 
 Fair with orchard and cornfield and meadow and river 
 
 and rill: 
 And He sees all the kingdoms of earth in a moment of 
 
 time; 
 From the fjords and the fens of the Norland to Seba's 
 
 blest clime. 
 O'er the populous East to the utmost confines of Cathay, 
 And as far to the west as the scepter of Caesar holds 
 
 sway. 
 
 Yet wherever He looks, whatsoever enfixes his gaze, 
 Howsoever remote, showeth near in the sun's morning 
 
 rays, 
 
 Azure harebells that lean from the ledges no foot hath 
 e'er pressed; 
 
 10 
 
Inaccessable crags where the bald-eagle buildeth her nest; 
 
 Flashing torrents, white glaciers, wild cliffs the shy 
 chamois loves best; 
 
 Peaceful hamlets, whose thatches are bowered in the 
 purpling vine; 
 
 Pillared palaces carven with bay and acanthus divine; 
 
 Busy ports on whose quays are unburdened the costliest 
 bales; 
 
 Tens of thousands of galleys and numberless shimmer- 
 ing sails; 
 
 Marble villas that gaze o'er the Mediteranean's blue, 
 
 Whose proud lords come and go in their litters with rich 
 retinue; 
 
 The bold heathery headlands that rise from the weltering 
 waves 
 
 Of the misty Atlantic, which ever their brown bases 
 laves; 
 
 Stately cities, grim-gated, strong-bastioned, of ancient 
 renown 
 
 And vast wealth, from whose citadeled rocks massive 
 fortresses frown; 
 
 5\nd his own beloved land, the composite of every clime. 
 
 Where are mingled the oak and the date-palm, the wal- 
 nut and lime; 
 
 11 
 
Halls hypostyle, incredibly grand, by the waves of the 
 Nile, 
 
 Where men pray to the sun and to calves and the foul 
 crocodile; 
 
 Druid forests, where mistletoe grows on the oaks gnarled 
 and old. 
 
 Whose mysterious depths, dense and dark, tragic secrets 
 enfold; 
 
 Lonely mountains, where magians guard the pure fire 
 day and night; 
 
 Columned temples, the glory of Greece, which gleam 
 down from their height 
 
 O'er the towns whence processions go up their twelve 
 gods to implore; 
 
 The fantastical fanes of far Ind, where the Brahmins 
 adore, 
 
 Labored piles, whose pagodas and pinnacles heavenward 
 soar 
 
 Though the misty-gold ether, and pierce e en the low- 
 floating clouds: 
 
 But, wherever men dwell. He sees tyranny, violence, 
 crowds 
 
 Of swart slaves lading ships, at the oars, heaving pon- 
 derous stone; 
 
 12 
 
Hears the shrieks of the victims of Moloch, the captive's 
 low moan; 
 
 Hears fair brides bid at auction, the orphan's faint deso- 
 late cry, 
 
 And the wail of the infants exposed on the mountains to 
 die; 
 
 And He thinks on these things and on woman's lament- 
 able lot: 
 
 And in pity He looks, till his tears fall indignant and hot. 
 
 Then the tempter: *'Thou seest the things which thy 
 
 Father's world mar! 
 Than a worship so hopeless, than scenes so revolting, 
 
 just war, 
 In a cause so compelling and holy, were better by far. 
 
 Son of David, arise; claim his throne; 'tis thy 
 foreordained right: 
 For thy hands shall the Lord teach to war and thy fingers 
 
 to fight. 
 At thy right hand thy Father shall strike in the day of 
 
 his wrath 
 Through earth's powerfullest kings. He shall strew with 
 dead bodies his path. 
 13 
 
With a rod shalt Thou shatter the vessel of clay into 
 shards, 
 
 Till thy foes be thy footstool. Then followeth calm af- 
 terwards. 
 
 Thou shalt cut off the cruel, and humble the haughty 
 and proud; 
 
 All shall turn to thy light: at thy Name every knee 
 
 shall be bowed. 
 
 Then the bow shall be broken, the chariot burned 
 
 in the fire; 
 War shall cease to the ends of the earth. Then shall 
 
 come thy desire: 
 And the heathen no more shall the house of thy Father 
 
 profane; 
 For in peace universal, eternal, secure shalt Thou reign; 
 And the isles of the seas, as the prophet Isaiah foretold, 
 They shsiW send thee rich tribute of jewels and silver 
 
 and gold; 
 And the stateliest ships of Phoenicia shall fetch from afar 
 Judah's sons and his daughters, thy measureless glory 
 
 to share. 
 
 If so dazzling to Thee seem this vision, *tis no 
 
 empty dream; 
 
 14 
 
For the whole world shall bow to one scepter, one Sover- 
 eign supreme: 
 
 Else what else is thy lot but obscurity, poverty, 
 
 shame, 
 
 Ignominious death? If Messiah, make good then thy 
 claim. 
 
 All this power and the glory of them will I give 
 unto Thee, 
 
 For world's power and world's glory were long since de- 
 livered to me. 
 
 I will give to whomever I will, their bestowal is mine; 
 
 Unto one who can give Thee such power are due honors 
 divine: 
 
 If Thou therefore wilt fall down and worship me, all shall 
 be thine." 
 
 But the Prince of Peace answers: whose baptism 
 was from above 
 
 With the seal of God's Spirit, his voice and the heaven- 
 sent dove, 
 
 "In the heart must I reign, not by fear nor brute force 
 but by love. 
 
 15 
 
Get thee hence, thou deceiver, who seekest my purpose 
 
 to swerve; 
 It is said: Thou shalt worship thy Lord, and Him only 
 
 shalt serve.' " 
 
 Lo! the great apparition dissolves: the blank ledges 
 
 of stone, 
 Grim and gaunt, again front Him; He is with his Father 
 
 alone. 
 So again does the Hero escape from the wicked one's 
 
 toils; 
 So again, for our race, for all time, his foul counsels He 
 
 foils. 
 
 III. 
 
 Yet one avenue still to temptation remaineth: and 
 
 there 
 (His last hope) doth the devil, with art, fresh illusion 
 
 prepare, 
 If less powerful, more subtle, if milder, more specious by 
 
 much; 
 And through this, if he win, is Melchizedek's Heir in his 
 
 clutch. 
 
 'Tis a feast-day in Zion, the joyfullest fe^st of the 
 
 year; 
 
 16 
 
Glad with greetings of kindred, — such greetings as start 
 
 the quick tear; 
 For now all are gone up to the city from far and from 
 
 near; 
 E'en from alien shores, to the Temple which all hold so 
 
 dear 
 As the chosen abode of Jehovah, more fair than the 
 
 morn.^ 
 
 Thither also, in spirit, our Savior by Satan is borne; 
 
 And is set on the loftiest spire of her great Royal Porch, 
 
 That upsprings from its marvellous mazes of pillar and 
 arch. 
 
 He looks down on that Temple, resplendent with marble 
 and gold, 
 
 And abroad on Melchizedek's city, the Salem of old. 
 
 In her girdle of gardens, with graces and charms mani- 
 fold. 
 
 As a beautiful bride she awaiteth the Bridegroom fore- 
 told. 
 
 Tis the last, that great day of the feast, and the 
 gaily-dressed throngs 
 
 *A substitute for the following reading, which was-r rejected be- 
 cause the architectural probabilities appear to be against it: 
 That most glorious pile which gilt pinnacles countless adorn. 
 
 17 
 
Rend the air with their shouts and hosannas and jubilant 
 songs. 
 
 "Son of God," saith the tempter, "his Priest, if that 
 
 truly Thou be, 
 Leap from hence to the valley beneath; for 'tis written 
 
 that He 
 Shall give charge to his Angels concerning Thee; and in 
 
 their hands, 
 Only less than Divine, they shall bear Thee, by his clear 
 
 commands, 
 Lest thy footfThou shalt dash 'gainst a stone. 
 
 Look! 
 
 the thousands below! 
 How they march round the walls, as their fathers round 
 
 cursed Jericho; 
 Or stream down with the priests to where Siloah's soft 
 
 waters flow! 
 When the feast-days are ended, to every land they wUl 
 
 go. 
 Thou hast heard how of^old on the hill-tops the watches 
 
 were set; 
 
 And, when first they had sighted the new moon; on 
 
 Mount Olivet 
 
 18 
 
Bright her beacon-fire blazed; and how crest unto crest 
 spread the story 
 
 Far and wide in an hour, and enkindled the land into 
 glory: 
 
 So to every coast they will bear this thy miracle's fame; 
 
 And no heart can withstand Thee, no tongue but shall 
 blazon thy Name. 
 
 Hast considered the Rabbis? what burdens the^bind up- 
 on men? 
 
 And their precepts, how puerile? how false their tradi- 
 tions, a fen 
 
 Whose foul vapors envelope the Law? how they clutch 
 wisdom's key; 
 
 Enter not, and who would they but hinder? the blind bet- 
 ter see. 
 
 How all this Thou may'st change by one deed in the 
 flash of an eye? 
 
 And no voice can dispute thine authority, none make 
 reply. 
 
 'Tis the prince of the power of the air bids Thee 
 cast Thyself down; 
 All will glorify God, and rejoice thine high -priesthood 
 to own." 
 
 19 
 
But the Holy One answers: "Again it is written; 
 'Thy Lord 
 And thy God thou shalt tempt not.' Behold, this I read 
 in his Word." 
 
 Like the former so fadeth this vision, though this 
 
 unto light; 
 For the devil, thrice vanquished, at last for a season 
 
 takes flight. 
 The sore conflict is ended; the struggle, the agony 
 
 past. 
 And the angels of God wait upon Him. Peace cometh 
 
 at last; ' - 
 
 For though still that old serpent may harass and greatly 
 
 annoy, * 
 
 Nevermore hath he power among men to consume and 
 
 destroy. 
 
 As from Sinai came the Lawgiver, and strangely his 
 face, 
 From communion with God, the revealed, shone with 
 
 glory and grace: 
 So Christ comes in the power of the Spirit to Galilee 
 now, 
 
 20 
 
To teach men; yet unveiled is that Godlike ineffable 
 brow. 
 
 O, the mightiest souls have the strongest tempta- 
 tions, perforce; 
 
 And the saintliest spirits the subtlest seductions, yea, 
 worse 
 
 Than those grosser temptations which come to mankind 
 every one. 
 
 O, what joy could we lift from the heart of a 
 
 brother that stone; 
 Yet desire oft seems powerless, and oft each must wrestle 
 
 alone — 
 Not alone, not alone: if we pray with strong crying and 
 
 tears, 
 Then God's Spirit shall strive with our own; and at last, 
 
 o'er the years, 
 We shall look back in triumph and bless Him whose help 
 
 now endears. 
 
 Though we figure the devil a great angel fallen 
 
 from grace: 
 
 21 
 
Yet the the heart of each one is his tempter, each bosom 
 
 the place 
 Where the battle is fought, lost or won; while our Father 
 
 looks down, 
 And in pitying love seems to say: "Strength, my child; 
 
 lo, thy crown!" 
 
 1895. 
 
 22 
 

 
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