And did all fail thee in the hour of wrath, When burst th’ o’erwhelming vials on thy path? Could not the voice of Fame inspire thee then, O spirit! sceptred by the sons of men, With an immortal’s courage, to sustain The transient agonies of earthly pain? --One, one there was, all-powerful to have saved When the loud fury of the billow raved; But him thou knew’st not--and the light he lent Hath vanish’d from its ruin’d tenement, But left thee breathing, moving, lingering yet, A thing we shrink from--vainly to forget! --Lift the dread veil no further! Hide, oh hide The bleeding form, the couch of suicide! The dagger, grasp’d in death--the brow, the eye, Lifeless, yet stamp’d with rage and agony; The soul’s dark traces left in many a line Graved on _his_ mein, who died--“and made no sign!” Approach not, gaze not--lest thy fever’d brain Too deep that image of despair retain. Angels of slumber! o’er the midnight hour Let not such visions claim unhallow’d power, Lest the mind sink with terror, and above See but th’ Avenger’s arm, forget th’ Atoner’s love! O Thou! th’ unseen, th’ all-seeing!--Thou whose ways, Mantled with darkness, mock all finite gaze, Before whose eyes the creatures of Thy hand, Seraph and man alike, in weakness stand, And countless ages, trampling into clay Earth’s empires on their march, are but a day; Father of worlds unknown, unnumber’d!--Thou, With whom all time is one eternal _now_, Who know’st no past nor future--Thou whose breath Goes forth, and bears to myriads life or death! Look on us! guide us!--wanderers of a sea Wild and obscure, what are we, reft of Thee? A thousand rocks, deep-hid, elude our sight, A star may set--and we are lost in night; A breeze may waft us to the whirlpool’s brink, A treacherous song allure us--and we sink! Oh! by _His_ love, who, veiling Godhead’s light, To moments circumscribed the Infinite, And heaven and earth disdain’d not to ally By that dread union--Man with Deity; Immortal tears o’er mortal woes who shed, And, ere he raised them, wept above the dead; Save, or we perish! Let Thy word control The earthquakes of that universe--the soul; Pervade the depths of passion; speak once more The mighty mandate, guard of every shore, “Here shall thy waves be stay’d;” in grief, in pain, The fearful poise of reason’s sphere maintain. Thou, by whom suns are balanced! thus secure In Thee shall faith and fortitude endure; Conscious of Thee, unfaltering, shall the just Look upward still, in high and holy trust, And by affliction guided to Thy shrine, The first, last thought of suffering hearts be Thine.