Saul knew himself defeated, overwhelmed. By how much he had purposed in his heart, And buoyantly expected, beyond doubt Or possible peradventure, to prevail, More than prevail, triumph, abound, redound, And overflow, with ample surplusage Of prosperous fortune far transcending all Public conjecture of his hoped success; By so much now he found himself instead Buried beneath discomfiture immense And boundless inundation of defeat. For multitudes of new believers won To Stephen's side from Saul's thronged to the Way, Storming the kingdom of heaven with violence. It was a nation hastening to be born, Like Israel out of Egypt, in a day. As Israel out of Egypt were baptized To Moses in the cloud and in the sea, So Israel out of Israel Saul now saw Baptized obedient into Jesus' name. Dissolving round about him seemed to Saul The earth itself with its inhabitants, And, to bear up the pillars of it, he A broken reed that could not stand alone! But, while thus worsted Saul forlornly felt Himself, he by whom worsted missed to know. His challenge was to Stephen; how should he Guess that in Stephen God would answer him? Unconsciously with God at enmity, But with God's servant Stephen consciously, Saul chafed and raged in proud and blindfold hate; Half yet, the while, despising too himself, Detected hating thus, by his own heart Detected hating, his antagonist, For the sole blame of visiting on him The fortune he had purposed to inflict.