He hears the solemn dispensations[3] chime, From morn till eve, from birth to death, of time; 2010 He notes the markings of the horologe, The set times of the great unerring Judge; Then sees those dispensations as they run Their 'lotted course, like hours 'twixt sun and sun. Wave after wave rolls o'er the shining sand, Wave after wave breaks higher up the strand, With all of weal or woe the ages send. As sundered ocean tides that shoreward tend, Now past and future o'er the present pend, Till on the narrow isthmus sea meets sea, 2020 And time no longer parts eternity. He hears the soundings of the trumpets seven[4], Whose angels, stooping from the heights of heaven, Proclaim, in tones to rend the echoing spheres, The secrets of the Seven Thousand Years; The secret of a book with seven seals, That all of mortal mystery reveals; Man's course, God's chronicle, life's tale told true, Nor tinged with favor's tint, with hatred's hue; Earth's week of history, whose sabbath chime 2030 Summons to rest the weary soul of time. The Holy Order[5] that for aye hath reigned, For loyal faith and lofty deeds ordained; The all-creating, all-controlling chain, Whereby the Gods perpetuate their reign, Whereby the higher, bending, lift the lower; Wielding the sceptre of Almighty Power, Ruling by right the nations, ill aware Whence came the thrones that have been, thrones that are; 2040 Which sets up one and puts another down, Their fate proclaimed as fortune's smile or frown; The power that reigns not save in righteousness, Persuades in meekness, chastens but to bless; The might of heaven, the pure and potent chain Stainless, save mortal links their lustre stain, And plunged through fire are purified again, He sees extending through the storms of time, Anchor and cable of a ship sublime. Pilots of life on death's fierce tempest tossed, 2050 Love's legionaries, saviors of the lost; A sacred army's solemn pride and boast, The janissaries of the heavenly host; The jeweled circlet of the Central Gem, Jehovah's body-guard--the Gibborim. The guileless followers of the guiltless Lamb, Of Israel ere Earth knew Abraham[6]; Sealed in the forehead with the sacred Name, Bearing the Ark of God, the Sword of Flame[7]; Behold them coming, coming, as they came 2060 Whene'er was kindled here the beacon blaze By each Elias of the olden days! Truth, error, shine and shadow[8], alternate, As oft as mankind proves degenerate. But ever, as the day-beam sinks and dies, The stars reset their lanterns in the skies; And unto Moses in the wilderness Comes greater light, succeeded by the less[9]. Till truth the fulness of its ray restores, And heaven o'er earth the holy unction pours, 2070 By ministers upon each hemisphere,[10] Sent to proclaim what every soul must hear.