Stands the archangel Lucifer on a stormy planet near, And the hollow sound of his mighty voice fills many worlds with fear; “Vain _earth_,” he said, “thy pigmy lords may strive from thee to rise, May gasp their hopes in frequent verse, they half philosophize, Build temples to the monarch steam, be victors o’er the sea-- Their pride, their power shall disappear at one dark glance from me! O for the fierce wild rapture of that fast approaching day, When man and his brief dwelling in the storm are swept away.” Far in the centre of all space burns the eternal throne, Where God, unseen, ineffable, dwells in his light alone. “My Son,” the one existence saith, “_earth_ speeds its course to thee, And soon beneath thy rule of love its kingdoms shall be free. The demons dream of fury, of swift, consuming fire, Dream that the spirit of the Lord is stern resentful ire: But the whole universe shall know that mercy is divine-- Beloved Son! Men, angels, friends, for evermore are thine.” _Carrera._ I believe this _earth_ on which we stand Is but the vestibule to glorious mansions, Through which a moving crowd for ever press. _Joanna Baillie._ As trees beneath the soil must shoot, Before they form the grove, So man in _earth_ must spread his root, That hopes to bloom above. _Thomas Ward._ _Earth_ hath of thee had glimpses, shaped to suit The contemplative Spirit, suffering From occultation of the absolute, The shadow of the spiritual thing That passing, veils the Truth. Let it pass on! Shine forth, O Sun! the universal King, Intelligible God. Thy steadfast Throne For ever is immovable, and _Earth_ Light from thine aspect borrows, and, anon, In constant revolution, giveth birth To darkness, not forsaken: for the Moon And Stars reflect thy glory faintly forth, In night, most holy night, in whose high noon Majestic Heaven itself alone reveals To faith,--a starry spell,--a visible tune,-- Until thy reappearing opes the seals Of the mysterious Tome, and supersedes Their borrowed lights--their spirit-motioned wheels. Yet are they God’s! how happy he who reads Their office rightly;--oracles _Earth_ hears In visionary slumber, hears and heeds; The Deities of darkness, on the spheres Enthroned, Angels of Night, whose choral gleams Echo the word unto the worlds He cheers. _J. A. Heraud._ ELEMENTS. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the _elements_ of the world.--Galatians, iv. 3.