POETRY.
RELIGIO ACADEMICL—II.
WJIAT ? You have nowhere found Him ? And I, I see Him
around me Everywhere ; here first, throned in the spirit of Man.
Not in the rushing of worlds, or the timeless passage of ages ; Not in the sunbuilt arch ; not in the cataract's roar ; Not in the mightiest wing that soars o'er the summit of Andes ; Not in the tiniest life born in a drop of the sea!
But in the human spirit ! 0 Man, imperial Master, Swifter than light thought-borne through the great Ocean on high, Tracking a sunbeam here, and there with balance gigantic Holding a star in thy hand, puny but weighing a world : " Know thyself " yet greater than all thy vision beholdeth ; Wonderful all, yet thou wonderful even beyond !
Hark ! 'Tis His voice ; thou hear'st Him. A God is speaking within thee ; Terrible now it commands ; Sinai thunders within ; " This thou shalt, thou shalt not." Anon, as after the thunder Follows a gentle rain, soft with the piping of birds, So in the calm still bosom is heard the cry of a Father,— Tenderly now it approves,--" Son, be thou ever with me !"
Beautiful ! Here is beauty, above the hue of the rainbow : Majesty stern, but sweet : Father and Mother in one.
Rainbow-promise is good; but beacon-warning is better, Over the lurid waves lighting the mariner home.
And thou hast loved her, Beauty ? Thou doest well. 'Tis a maiden Fairer than words; her smile drawn from the bosom of Love. Guard her, and let no touch of the beast or Satyr assail her ; Honour her ; hear from her lips, ponder her story divine ! Who, when the morning stars in the bridal joy of Creation Shouted her birth, came forth loveliest daughter of God ; name and to cheer men's souls, with the brake and briar con tending, Gave to the thistle a bloom, budded a rose on the thorn ; Flowers in her track sprang up as she passed, and winds of the woodland Sighed into melody : man heard, and his spirit grew mild. Fair is she—fairer than all. But shall her beauty ensnare thee Slave to her smile, love-bound, yearning for nothing beyond? Dreamer, content with a dream, and the sunlit wall of a dungeon Deeming a palace P A cell, seeming a kingdom to thee ? Nay but, 0 man, look upward ! Her hand shall lift thee, and lead thee, Up to the home of her birth, back to her Father and thine. Up through the burnished clouds, and the flaming track of the sunset; Up through the golden stars, gleam of a glory beyond ; World flashing light to world as they pass, like ships in the darkness Showing a light, then soon dash into darkness again; Up through the endless spaces, expansion after expansion ; Up to the great white throne ; up to the presence of God !
There shall she fold her wing, and, all her mission accomplished, Join with the spirits on high, singing to ravish the spheres :
4' Glory to God in the highest." The lifelong struggle is over ; Over, the fire and the fret ; over, the rack and the pain ;
Failure of hope ; love's discord! The joy that ended in madness, Over at last ! Life closed, like its beginning, in tears !
Mystery all, for God was the cause. But Love in the distance, Holding an amaranth crown, Love was the goal of it all.
" B.," OXFORD.
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