SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER



He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge
of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling
into a trance, but having his eyes open: I shall see Him, but not
now; I shall behold Him, but not nigh; there shall come a Star out
at Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite
the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children at Sheth.
Numbers xxiv. 16, 17.

O for a sculptor's hand,
That thou might'st take thy stand,
Thy wild hair floating on the eastern breeze,
Thy tranced yet open gaze
Fixed on the desert haze,
As one who deep in heaven some airy pageant sees.

In outline dim and vast
Their fearful shadows cast
This giant forms of empires on their way
To ruin: one by one
They tower and they are gone,
Yet in the Prophet's soul the dreams of avarice stay.

No sun or star so bright