"O beautiful for situation, thou, Jerusalem!" he fervently bursts forth. "Peace be within thy walls, prosperity Within thy palaces! Yea, yet again, Now for my brethren and companions' sakes, Say I, 'Within thee, peace!' Lo, my vow hear: For that the temple of the Lord my God Is in thee, I henceforth thy good will seek. And Thou, Jehovah in the heavens! behold, Saul for himself that ancient promise claims: 'Prosper shall he Jerusalem who loves.' For love not I Jerusalem, with love To anguish, for her anguish and her tears? Take pleasure in her stones, favor her dust, O God, my God! Is not the set time come? Do I not hear Thee say: 'Awake, awake, Put on thy strength, O Zion, long forlorn, And beautiful thy garments put thou on, Jerusalem! Henceforth no more shall come The uncircumcised into thee, nor the unclean!'" "Amen!" Saul added, with a gush of tears, The light mercurial feeling in his heart Less to sad sinking, weighted down, than all, With fluent lapse, to pleasing pathos changed. Into that strain, so ardent and so true, Of patriot prayer, deeply had braided been, Half to himself unknown, a silent strand Of subtle self-regard, vague personal hope That would have spurned to be imprisoned in words: 'The new Jerusalem that was to be, Should she not Saul her chief deliverer hail!' Musing, and praying, and beholding, so, Saul suddenly a sound of clanging hoofs Heard, and, his eyes quick thither turning, saw, Between hill Scopus, on whose top he stood, And the Damascus gate through which he came, Advancing toward him on the Roman road-- Cemented solid with its rutted stones, Like an original stratum of the sphere-- A turm of horse, large not, but formidable, Caparison and armor gleaming bright, And with a nameless air forerunning them Of wide-renownéd might invincible Expressed in that momentous rhythmic tread Four-footed, underneath which from afar With pulse on pulse now rock to iron rang. The cavalcade, by slow degrees more slow, Moved up the acclivity till, reached the brow, Sank to a walk their pace, when Saul perceived An arméd escort was convoying one Thereby betokened an ambassador, Somewhither posting on affair of state, Or haply citizen of high degree Honored with ceremonious retinue.