Rear thou aloft thy standard.--Spirit, rear Thy flag on high, and glory in thy strength. But do thou know the season yet shall come, When from its base thine adamantine throne Shall tumble; when thine arm shall cease to strike, Thy voice forget its petrifying power; When saints shall shout, and Time shall be no more. Yea, he doth come--the mighty champion comes, Whose potent spear shall give thee thy death wound, Shall crush the conqueror of conquerors, And desolate stern Desolation's lord. Lo! where he cometh! the Messiah comes! The King! the Comforter! the Christ!--He comes To burst the bonds of Death, and overturn The power of Time.--Hark! the trumpet's blast Rings o'er the heavens! They rise, the myriads rise-- Even from their graves they spring, and burst the chains Of torpor,--He has ransom'd them,... Forgotten generations live again, Assume the bodily shapes they own'd of old, Beyond the flood:--the righteous of their times Embrace and weep, they weep the tears of joy. The sainted mother wakes, and in her lap Clasps her dear babe, the partner of her grave, And heritor with her of Heaven,--a flower, Wash'd by the blood of Jesus from the stain Of native guilt, even in its early bud. And, hark! those strains, how solemnly serene They fall, as from the skies--at distance fall-- Again more loud--the halleluiahs swell; The newly risen catch the joyful sound; They glow, they burn; and now with one accord Bursts forth sublime from every mouth the song Of praise to God on high, and to the Lamb Who bled for mortals. * * * * * Yet there is peace for man.--Yea, there is peace Even in this noisy, this unsettled scene; When from the crowd, and from the city far, Haply he may be set (in his late walk O'ertaken with deep thought) beneath the boughs Of honeysuckle, when the sun is gone, And with fix'd eye, and wistful, he surveys The solemn shadows of the Heavens sail, And thinks the season yet shall come, when Time Will waft him to repose, to deep repose, Far from the unquietness of life--from noise And tumult far--beyond the flying clouds, Beyond the stars, and all this passing scene, Where change shall cease, and Time shall be no more. * * * * * Footnotes: [1] This Poem was begun either during the publication of Clifton Grove, or shortly afterwards, but never completed: some of the detached parts were among his latest productions. [2] The Author was then in an attorney's office. [3] Alluding to the first astronomical observations made by the Chaldean shepherds. CHILDHOOD.[1] A POEM. PART I.