Elias Part 6

Earth rose from wintry sleep[14], baptized and cleansed, And on her tranquil brow, that seemed to feel The holy and confirming hand of Heaven, The warm light in a wealth of comfort streamed; Nature's great floor green-carpeting anew For some glad change, some joyful happening, 1170 Told in the countless caroling of birds, Gilding the foliage, glorying the flowers, Mirroring mingled hues of earth and sky.

Glad happening, in sooth, for ne'er before, Since burst the heavens when Judah's star-lit hills Heard angel choristers peal joy's refrain Above the mangered Babe of Bethlehem, Had earth such scene beheld, as now within The bosom of a sylvan solitude, Hard by the borders of a humble home, 1180 Upon that fair and fateful morn was played.

Players, immortal twain and mortal one, Standing but fourteen steps upon life's stair, An unlearned boy, thinker of thoughts profound, Boy and yet man, dreamer of lofty dreams.

Not solemn, save betimes, when hovered near Some winged inspiration from far worlds, Some great idea's all-subduing spell-- His heart grew humbler then, his look more grave; Not melancholy--mirthful, loving life, 1190 And br.i.m.m.i.n.g o'er with health and wholesome glee.

A stalwart spirit in a st.u.r.dy frame, Maturing unto future mightiness.

Bowing to G.o.d, yet bending to no creed, Adoring not a loveless deity, That saved or d.a.m.ned regardless of desert, Ne'er reckoning the good or evil done; Loving and worshipping the G.o.d of love, The gracious G.o.d of reason and of right, Long-suffering and just and merciful, 1200 Meting to every work fit recompense, Yet giving more, far more, than merit's claim; Bowing to Him, but not to man-made G.o.ds, And shunning shameful strife where peace should dwell, He holds aloof from those degenerate sects, Bewildering Babel of conflicting creeds, And pondering the apostolic line, "Let any lacking wisdom, wisdom ask, And G.o.d will freely give, upbraiding none,"

He puts the promise to the utter test. 1210

What pen can paint the marvel that befell?

What tongue the wondrous miracle portray?

Than theirs, the Vision's own, what voice proclaim Whose dual presence[15] dimmed the noonday beam, Communing with him there, as friend with friend, And giving to that prayer reply of peace?

Tell how, as Moses on the unknown mount[16], From whom in rage fled baffled Lucifer, Who fain had guised him as the Son of G.o.d, To win the worship of that prophet pure-- 1220 Tell how with gloom he strove ere glory dawned, And black despair met bright deliverance.

Tell how in heart of that sweet solitude, Within the silent grove, sequestered shade, While spirit hosts unseen spectators stood, Watching the simple scene's sublimity, Eternity high converse held with time; Time, parent of the hovering centuries, Mother of dispensations, travailing, And bringing forth her last and mightiest child; 1230 Heaven's awful Sire, through Him both Sire and Son, There blazoning the beginning of the end.

Wane the swift years; the boy a youth now grown; And on his brow, woe-carved, a world of care.

Bending, an Atlas,[17] 'neath the t.i.tan's load, Daily he climbs the hill of sacrifice, Viewing from far the mount of martyrdom.

Nor marvel at his lot; hath he not told-- A crime man ne'er forgave in fellowman-- Told the wise world that G.o.d hath spoke again? 1240

"'Twas from below!" Thus bigotry in rage.

"Nay, from above," the meek though firm reply.

"No vision is there now--the time is past."

"But I have seen," affirms truth's constancy.

"G.o.d is a mystery, unknowable."

"G.o.d is a man--I saw Him, talked with Him."

"Man?" "Ay, of holiness--Exalted Man[18]."

A strife of words, of warring tongues, now waged, And weapons vied with words the truth to slay; Nor truth alone, but her brave oracle, 1250 A boy, by men, by neighborhoods, oppressed.

Still through his soul the solemn warning rang, Still from his mouth the startling message flamed: "No church the Christ's. None, therefore, can I join.

All sects and creeds have wandered from the way.

Priestcraft in lieu of Priesthood sits enthroned.

Dead forms deny the power of G.o.dliness.

Men worship with their lips, their hearts afar.

None serve acceptably in sight of heaven.

Wherefore a work of wonder shall be wrought, 1260 And perish all the wisdom of the wise[19]."

The wrangling sects forgave--well nigh forgot Their former feuds and fears and jealousies; And, joining hands, as Pilate Herod joined, One guilty day when G.o.d stood man-condemned, In friendly reconcilement's cordial clasp, They doomed to death and h.e.l.l "this heresy."

None sought, from "Satan's wile," a soul's reclaim, But all were bent his humble name to blast; And pious, would-be murder led the van 1270 Of common hatred and hostility.

But Truth, thou mother of the living thought, The deathless word, the everduring deed!

What puny hand thy giant arm can stay?

When crushed or backward held, thine hour beyond?

Can bigot frown or tyrant fetter quell Thy high revolt, O Light Omnipotent!

When G.o.d would speak with man, who tells Him nay?

Can h.e.l.l prevent when heaven on earth would smile?

Pillowed in prayerful thought the wakeful seer. 1280 Without, broods darkness o'er a dreaming world; Within, an angel's face turns night to day: "A messenger from G.o.d[20] to thee I come; Thy sins are pardoned through thy penitence; Henceforward heard in every creed and clime The good and evil tongues that trump thy fame.

Behold!"

Amazement now fresh wonder views; And while enwrapt, as wave-like visions roll Their spirit splendors on that gifted gaze, 1290 In words akin to these the tale tells on:

"A slumbering secret hides in yonder hill, Graven on gold, in characters unknown-- Unknown to thee, but known to me and mine, The language of my people, ages gone.

Beside the sacred volume, buried there At His behest who gave my sire command, The seer-stones, Urim, Thummim, named of old, Whereby thou shalt dispel the mystery That hangs above this heaven-favored land, 1300 And Joseph, speaking from the dust, shall join With Judah, page to page[21], G.o.d's grace to tell.

"But be aware, lest Mammon's charm allure, And tempt from truer wealth that shines within.

More than the lamp the light--be this thy quest: Seek thou the gold that gilds eternity.

"The winter of the Gentile reign is o'er, And Israel's springtime putteth forth its leaves.

Fruit planted in the gardens of the past Hath ripened and is ready for the fall[22]. 1310

"Elias comes[23], Messiah's Messenger, G.o.d's host to summon, and His house to save-- First by persuasion's pleading; that contemned, By voice of wrath and stroke of violence.

He speaks--the mountains kneel, the valleys rise; Rolls to the north the land-dividing wave; Equality--nay, justice, holds the helm, Each hath his own, the lost lamb finds the fold.

Elias comes--'tis rest.i.tution's reign, And order hurls disorder from the throne. 1320

"War sheathes his fangs, aloft on fearless wing Peace broods above a restful universe; A common faith and interest unite, But conscience still her fullest freedom[24] sees.

Wider than Church extends the Kingdom's bound: The law from Zion, and the royal word, The Monarch's edict, from Jerusalem; A centralized diffusion's balanced sway, G.o.d's might, man's right, in equilibrium.

"Babel no more--stilled all her strifeful tongues; 1330 The primal language[25] o'er the world prevails; And all is found again as at the first, While ransomed hosts, rejoicing, shout and sing: The Lord His ancient people hath redeemed; The Lord hath gathered all things into one; And earth becomes a heaven, for she is clothed In garments as the glory of His light Who reigneth in the midst, Life's Majesty.

"But ere it break, that bright millennial day, There falls a nightlier hour than night hath known, 1340 When sun shall frown, moon blush, when dizzy stars, Drunken with fumes of man's iniquity, Shall hurl them headlong from their sparkling thrones, And grovel darkly in the deep abyss; While heaven shall tremble as if palsy-struck, Earth as an aspen shaken in the wind.

Men's hearts shall fail, and where be safety found?

For tribulations till that hour unknown, Save in the feeble typings of the past, Terrors of famine, fire, and pestilence, 1350 Terrors of whirling wind and whelming wave, Allied to horrors strange as manifold, Shall stalk abroad to humble humankind, To lift the lowly and abase the proud, To straight the crooked and make smooth the crude, Jehovah's awful pathway to prepare-- Jehovah, He who cometh to his own, And by His own at last is recognized.

"No more a lowly Lamb, to slaughter led; A Lion in his risen majesty-- 1360 Lion and Lamb, for gentleness and might, Mercy and justice, there go hand in hand.

"But first, the sickle in the ripened grain, Reaping where faith is found, while hope endures, Drawing the Gentile unto Israel's G.o.d, And gathering the strewn of Abraham.

"Wells truth from earth, pours righteousness from heaven, Till wisdom's waters inundate the world.

Bestirred the wave by angel trumpets blown, Wafting the chosen seed to safety's strand, 1370 Winning the West ere yet the East be spoiled.

"Elijah comes--Elijah, he whose rays Bespeak the Lord of Glory, from whose light All splendors, paling, hide their tapers dim.

He comes the world to reap, the vineyard prune, The wheat to garner, and the tares to burn; He comes, his face a furnace, melting pride, Consuming wickedness and cleansing worth.

He comes the hearts of sons and sires to turn, To plant anew the promises of old, 1380 Binding the present to the parent past, Part unto whole, time to eternity.

He comes the priestly fulness to unfold, The capstone of life's temple here to lay.

He comes lest man be taken unaware, And laggard earth be smitten with a curse.

"Hark to that prophet--outstretched Arm of G.o.d, Who comes the ancient order to restore; And list to him who leads, as Moses led, The gathered house and host of Abraham!" 1390

Thrice through the night the radiant messenger In burning words breathed forth the marvel told; Till memory's page, as traced with pen of fire, Glowed with each utterance ineffable.

And on the morrow stood the sacred twain-- Mortal, immortal, present linked with past-- Above the spot where slumbering truth reposed; Not to be wakened yet till autumns four Had rained their dews upon its resting-place.