At once he cried, “I see! I see the seer! His very form, his very shape and air! By yonder fount;--the same his robes appear; The same his radiant eyes and flowing hair; Mary! my children! come! his accents hear; See age and youth one heavenly beauty share!” They with him moved, (yet ne’er the vision saw,) Until the father paused, transfixed in sacred awe. XLIII. For strange to tell, youth’s lingering light began To spread fresh glories o’er that aged face; Till over beard, and hair, and visage wan, Burst the full splendor of angelic grace; A lambent flame about the forehead ran, And rainbow hues the earthly robes displace; The curling locks, like beams of living light, Streamed back and glowed insufferably bright. XLIV. The figure seemed to grow; its dazzling eyes Were for a while upon Sire Williams bent, Then upward turned, and, looking to the skies, Spake hope in God with silence eloquent. Still did it brighten, still its stature rise, With Heaven’s own grandeur seeming to augment;-- The pilgrim staff no longer did it hold, But on an Anchor leant that blazed ethereal gold. XLV. Our Father gazed, and, from that heavenward eye, Beheld the clear angelic radiance flow; And saw that figure, as it towered on high, With inward glory fill, dilate and grow Translucent,--and then fade,--as from the sky The sunset fades or fades the radiant bow; Until, dissolving in transparent air, It disappeared and left no traces there. XLVI. Then low, on bended knees, he drops to own The Heaven-born vision, and his soul declare; His wife and children, near him kneeling down, Send up their hearts upon the wings of prayer; The dusky tribes, in crescent round them shown, Give ear;--hill, vale and forest listeners are; Force to each word their faithful echoes lend, And with their Ruler’s prayers their own ascend. XLVII. “Mysterious Power! who dost in wonders speak, We note thy tokens and their import spell; Let Persecution still its vengeance wreak-- Let its fierce billows roll with mountain swell, Here must we Anchor, and their force repel. Here, more securely, shall our bannered State Blazon the conscience sacred--ever free; Here shall she breast the coming storms of fate And ride triumphant o’er the raging sea, Her well-cast Anchor here, her lasting Hope in Thee! XLVIII. “Here, thy assurance gives our wanderings rest, And shows where all our future toils must be; Lord! be our labors by thy mercies blest, And send their fruits to far posterity; Let our example still the Conscience free, Where’er she is by tyrant force enchained, And while the thraldom lasts, Oh! let her see Her safety here, where, ever unprofaned By persecution, her free altars are maintained. XLIX.