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One, whose feet the thorns have wounded entered thither and came back,

With a glory on his footsteps lighting yet the dreary track. Boldly enter where he entered: all that seems but darkness

here,

When thou once hast passed beyond it, haply shall be crystal clear,

Seen from that serener realm the walks of human life may

lie

Like the page of some familiar volume open to mine eye. Haply from the o'erhanging shadow thou may'st stretch an unseen hand

To support the wavering steps that print with blood the rugged land.

Haply, leaning o'er the pilgrim all unweeting thou art near, Thou may'st whisper words of warning and of comfort in

his ear,

Till, beyond the border where that brooding mystery bars the

sight,

Those whom thou hast fondly cherished stand with thee in

peace and light.

WILLIAM C. BRYANT.

Messiah.

E nymphs of Solyma! begin the song—

YE

To heavenly themes sublimer strains belong.
The mossy fountains and the sylvan shades,
The dreams of Pindus and the Aonian maids,
Delight no more-0 thou my voice inspire
Who touched Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire!

Rapt into future times the bard begun :
A virgin shall conceive-a virgin bear a son !
From Jesse's root behold a branch arise
Whose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies!
The ethereal spirit o'er its leaves shall move,

And on its top descends the mystic dove.

MESSIAH.

Ye heavens! from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in soft silence shed the kindly shower!
The sick and weak the healing plant shall aid-
From storm a shelter, and from heat a shade.
All crimes shall cease, and ancient frauds shall fail;
Returning Justice lift aloft her scale,

Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,

And white-robed Innocence from heaven descend.
Swift fly the years, and rise the expected morn!
O spring to light! auspicious babe, be born!
See, nature hastes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incense of the breathing Spring!
See lofty Lebanon his head advance;
See nodding forests on the mountains dance;
See spicy clouds from lowly Sharon rise,
And Carmel's flowery top perfumes the skies!
Hark! 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 the 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 purge the visual ray,
And on the sightless eyeball pour the day;
'Tis He, the obstructed paths of sound shall clear,
And bid new music charm the 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 the eternal wound.
As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture, and the purest air,

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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 covered o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But useless lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad falchion in a plowshare end.
Then palaces shall rise; the joyful son
Shall finish what his short-lived sire begun;
Their vines a shadow to their race shall yield,
And the same hand that sowed shall reap the field;
The swain in barren deserts with surprise

Sees lilies spring and sudden verdure rise;
And starts, amidst the thirsty wilds, to hear
New falls of water murmuring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,
The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods;
Waste sandy valleys, once perplexed with thorn,
The spiry fir and shapely box adorn;

To leafless shrubs the flowery palms succeed,
And odorous myrtle to the noisome weed;

The lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead,
And boys in flowery bands the tiger lead;
The steer and lion at one crib shall meet,

And harmless serpents lick the pilgrim's feet.
The smiling infant in his hand shall take
The crested basilisk and speckled snake-
Pleased, the green luster of the scales survey,
And with their forked tongue shall innocently play.
Rise, crowned with light, imperial Salem, rise!
Exalt thy towery head, and lift thine eyes!
See a long race thy spacious courts adorn;
See future sons and daughters, yet unborn,

A CHRISTMAS HYMN.

In crowding ranks on every side arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barbarous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend;

See thy bright altars thronged with prostrate kings,
And heaped with products of Sabean springs!
For Thee Idume's spicy forests blow,

And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heaven its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day!
No more the rising sun shall gild the morn,
Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn;
But lost, dissolved in thy superior rays,
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze,
O'erflow thy courts; the Light Himself shall shine
Revealed, and God's eternal day be thine!
The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
But fixed His word, His saving power remains ;
Thy realm forever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns!
ALEXANDER POPE.

A Christmas Hymn.

T was the calm and silent night!

IT

Seven hundred years and fifty-three Had Rome been growing up to might, And now was queen of land and sea. No sound was heard of clashing warsPeace brooded o'er the hushed domain; Apollo, Pallas, Jove, and Mars

Held undisturbed their ancient reign,

In the solemn midnight,

Centuries ago.

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'T was in the calm and silent night!
The Senator of haughty Rome
Impatient urged his chariot's flight,
From lordly revel rolling home;
Triumphal arches, gleaming, swell

His breast with thoughts of boundless sway; What recked the Roman what befell

A paltry province far away,

In the solemn midnight,
Centuries ago?

Within that province far away

Went plodding home a weary boor; A streak of light before him lay,

Fallen through a half-shut stable door
Across his path. He passed-for naught
Told what was going on within;

How keen the stars, his only thought-
The air how calm, and cold, and thin,
In the solemn midnight,

Centuries ago!

Oh, strange indifference! low and high
Drowsed over common joys and cares;
The earth was still-but knew not why;
The world was listening, unawares,
How calm a moment may precede

One that shall thrill the world forever!

To that still moment, none would heed,
Man's doom was linked no more to sever-
In the solemn midnight,
Centuries ago!

It is the calm and solemn night!

A thousand bells ring out and throw
Their joyous peals abroad and smite
The darkness--charmed and holy now!

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