31. THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH. HAR ARK! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers; Prepare the way! a God, a God appears! A God, a God! the vocal hills reply; The rocks proclaim th' approaching Deity. Lo, earth receives Him from the bending skies; Sink down, ye mountains; and, ye valleys, rise; With heads declined, ye cedars, homage pay; Be smooth, ye rocks; ye rapid floods, give way! The Saviour comes, by ancient bards foretold! Hear Him, ye deaf; and all ye blind, behold! He from thick films shall the visual ray, purge And on the sightless eyeball pour the day: 'Tis He th' obstructed paths of sound shall clear, And bid new music charm th' unfolding ear: The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego, And leap exulting like the bounding roe. No sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear; From every face He wipes off every tear: In adamantine chains shall Death be bound, And hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound. As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care, Seeks freshest pasture, and the purest air; Explores the lost, the wandering sheep directs; By day o'ersees them, and by night protects; The tender lambs he raises in his arms, Feeds from his hand; and in his bosom warms; Thus shall mankind His guardian care engage,— The promised Father of the future age. No more shall nation against nation rise, Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes, Nor fields with gleaming steel be cover'd o'er, green lustre of the scales survey, And with their forky tongue shall innocently play. POPE. 32. HE NEVER SMILED AGAIN.* THE HE bark which held a prince went down, And what was England's glorious crown He lived for life may long be borne, Why comes not death to those who mourn? There stood proud forms before his throne, But which could fill the place of one, That one beneath the wave? *It is recorded of Henry the First, that, after the death of his son, Prince William, who perished by shipwreck off the coast of Normandy, he was never seen to smile. Before him pass'd the young and fair, In pleasures reckless train; But seas dash'd o'er his son's bright hair - He sat where festal bowls went round; A murmur of the restless deep A voice of winds that would not sleep- Hearts, in that time, closed o'er the trace And strangers took the kinsman's place Graves, which true love had bath'd with tears, Fresh hopes were born for other years— MRS. HEMANS. 33. THE HARE AND MANY FRIENDS. FRI RIENDSHIP, like love, is but a name, The child whom many fathers share, A Hare who, in a civil way, Was known by all the bestial train And, where a lady's in the case, The goat remark'd her pulse was high, The sheep was feeble, and complain'd, GAY. 34. THE BATTLE OF THE BALTIC. OF Nelson and the North, Sing the glorious day's renown, When to battle fierce came forth All the might of Denmark's crown, E |