Search Well Another World.
IS now clear day: I see a rose
Bud in the bright east, and disclose
The pilgrim sun; all night have I
Spent in a roving ecstacy
To find my Saviour; I have been
As far as Bethlehem, and have seen
His inn and cradle: being there
I met the wise men; asked them where
He might be found, or what star can
Now point him out, grown up a man ?
To Egypt hence I fled, ran o'er
All her parched bosom to Nile's shore,
Her yearly nurse; came back, inquired
Among the doctors, and desired
To see the temple; but was shown
A little dust, and for the town
A heap of ashes, where some said
A small bright sparkle was a-bed,
Which would one day (beneath the pole)
Awake, and then refine the whole.
Tired here, I came to Sychar; thence
To Jacob's well, bequeathed since
Unto his sons; where often they
In those calm golden evenings lay,
Watering their flocks; and having spent
Those white days, drove home to the tent
Their well-fleeced train; and here (O fate!)
I sit where once my Saviour sate.
The angry spring in bubbles swelled,
Which broke in sighs still as they filled.
And whispered Jesus had been there,
But Jacob's children would not hear.
Loth hence to part, at last I rise,
But with the fountain in my eyes;
And here a fresh search is decreed,
He must be found where He did bleed.
I walk the garden, and there see
Ideas of his agony,
And moving anguishments, that set
His blessed face in a bloody sweat:
I climbed the hill, perused the cross,
Hung with my gain, and his great loss;
Never did tree bear fruit like this,
Balsam of souls, the body's bliss!
But, O his grave! where I saw lent
(For he had none) a monument,
An undefiled and new hewed one,
But there was not the Corner Stone ;
"Sure then," said I, "my quest is vain,
He'll not be found where He was slain.
So mild a lamb can never be
'Midst so much blood and cruelty;
I'll to the wilderness, and can
Find beasts more merciful than man;
He lived there safe, 'twas his retreat
From the fierce Jew, and Herod's heat;
And forty days withstood the fell
And high temptations of hell.
With seraphims there talked He,
His Father's flaming ministry:
He heavened their walks, and with his
Made those wild shades a paradise:
Thus was the desert sanctified,
To be the refuge of his Bride.
I'll thither then; see! it is day;
The sun's broke through to guide my way."
But as I urged thus, and sit down,
What pleasures should my journey crown; What silent paths, what shady cells, Fair virgin flowers, and hallowed wells, I should rove in, and rest my head Where my dear Lord did often tread; Sweetening all danger with success, Methought I heard one singing thus: "Search well another world; who studies this Travels in clouds, seeks manna where none is."
ET why drown fancy in such depths as these? Return, presumptuous rover! and confess The bounds of man, nor blame them as too small. Enjoy we not full scope in what is seen? Full ample the dominions of the sun! Full glorious to behold! how far, how wide, The matchless monarch, from his flaming throne, Lavish of lustre, throws his beams about him, Farther and faster than a thought can fly, And feeds his planets with eternal fires! Beyond this city why strays human thought? One wonderful enough for man to know!
One firmament enough for man to read!
Nor is instruction here our only gain:
There dwells a noble pathos in the skies,
Which warms our passions, proselytes our hearts.
How eloquently shines the glowing pole !
With what authority it gives its charge,
Remonstrating great truths in style sublime,
Though silent, loud! heard earth around, above
The planets heard; and not unheard in hell;
Hell has its wonder, though too proud to praise.
Divine Instructor! thy first volume this,
For man's perusal; all in capitals!
In moon and stars (heaven's golden alphabet!)
Emblazed to seize the sight; who runs may read,
Who reads can understand: 'tis unconfined
To Christian land, or Jewry; fairly writ
In language universal, to mankind:
A language lofty to the learned, yet plain
To those that feed the flock, or guide the plough,
Or, from its husk, strike out the bounding grain.
A language worthy the great Mind that speaks!
Preface, and comment, to the sacred page!
Stupendous book of wisdom to the wise!
Stupendous book, and opened, Night! by thee.
By thee much opened, I confess, O Night!
Yet more I wish; say, gentle Night, whose beams
Give us a new creation, and present
The world's great picture, softened to the sight;
Say, thou, whose mild dominion's silver key
Unlocks our hemisphere, and sets to view
Worlds beyond number; worlds concealed by day
Behind the proud and envious star of noon!
Canst thou not draw a deeper scene?—and show
The mighty Potentate, to whom belong
These rich regalia, pompously displayed?
Oh! for a glimpse of Him my soul adores!
As the chased hart, amid the desert waste,
Pants for the living stream; for Him who made her
So pants the thirsty soul, amid the blank
Of sublunary joys: say, goddess, where?
Where blazes his bright court? where burns his
throne?
Thou know'st, for thou art near Him; by thee, round
His grand pavilion, sacred fame reports,
The sable curtains drawn: if not, can none
Of thy fair daughter-train, so swift of wing,
Who travel far, discover where He dwells ?
A star his dwelling pointed out below:
Say ye, who guide the wildered in the waves,
On which hand must I bend my course to find
Him?
These courtiers keep the secret of their King;
I wake whole nights, in vain, to steal it from them.
In ardent contemplation's rapid car,
From earth, as from my barrier, I set out;
How swift I mount! diminished earth recedes ; pass the moon; and, from her further side, Pierce heaven's blue curtain; pause at every planet,
And ask for Him who gives their orbs to roll.
From Saturn's ring I take my bolder flight,
Amid those sovereign glories of the skies,
Of independent, native lustre, proud;
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