"On which the shadowy moonlight seem'd to rest; "Then a pale mariner, who never spoke, "Convey'd me hither, swift as silently 66 Swift, tho' the passing keel no murmur made, "As the dim sail no shadow cast. I look'd, "When I had reach'd the shore, and it was gone. 66 "I saw thy mountain-cave: I stood and gaz'd Awhile, on thy grey hairs, as thou didst sleep, "And the same voice which came, after the wind, "That shall HEREAFTER be, as I unfold.' "I watch'd when the great Vision came to thee, "Hearing the voice and answer it was sent "To animate thy hope! Art thou refresh'd, "As now these airs of morn blow soothingly, “And breathe a sad repose?" John plac'd his hand, Pale and emaciate, on his breast, and said— "Thy words might raise from earth the heaviest "heart." Then both, in silence, gaz'd on the blue sea,* And heard it murmuring. John, his full look, Towards his face who spoke, now turn'd intent, To mark his features. Dignity serene Was on that face; and as the fresh'ning airs Stirr'd the dark locks that cluster'd round his brow, A faint rose mantled on his cheek; his cloak, Gather'd upon his breast, descending touch'd His sandals; while, with more majestic mien, Pointing to Asia's hills, he spoke again"Old man, lift up thine eyes-turn to the east : "How fair, with tow'r and turret, by the stream "Of clear Cayister, shines that EPHESUS, "Beneath thy tow'rs, and piers, and bastions, "Far-seen, thro' intermingled cypresses, Ships from all nations, with their ensigns, float "Silent; but lo! a purer light from Heav'n "Is on thy walls, while from the citadel "Streams the triumphant banner of the Cross. “And beautiful thy sisters of the Faith,* "First, in the east, when the wide world was dark, "LAODICEA-PHILADELPHIA "And PERGAMOS, and THYATIRA, shine, "While SARDIS, at the foot of Tmolus high, "Seems, from the wild'ring plains below, to gleam. "Like a still star that guides the sailor's way "O'er Adria!t But, alas! here ANTICHRIST "Shall rise with power, permitted from on high"MOURN, EPHESUS, thy glory and thy light * Seven Churches of Asia. + Adriatic. D "Extinguish'd! SARDIS*-THYATIRA-MOURN : "Yet the blest kingdom of the Lamb again "Shall be restor❜d, and all the earth bow down "To the unarmed Conq'ror of the World.'+ "Turn to the south-there are the pines of Crete, And, hark! the frantic Coribantes‡ shout, "To Cybele, the mother of the Gods, "Drawn, by gaunt lions, in her car: they move, "In stern subjection, and, with foot-fall slow, "And shaggy necks hung down, tho' their red 66 eyes "Flash fire beneath ;-silent and slow they pace "Mid cymbals, shouts, and songs, and clashing "swords, * Sardis, now Sart. Thyatyra, now Ist-kissar, or White Castle. † A fine expression of Sharon Turner. Priests of Cybele. "She bears aloft her calm brow, turreted." JOHN. Oh! direst pomp of proud idolatry! Crete, thy fair sister* heard far other sounds, When Christian Faith there touch'd a heathen's heart. I was in Cyprus, with my brother Paul- The wizard, beckon'd up his shadows: Paul Dark in the mid-day sun. STRANGER. Was not the hand Of God here visible, that ships of Tyre * Cyprus. |