Page:Redemption, a Poem.djvu/83

 REDEMPTION. 77

Bounded her heart with infinite delight, Loud hymns of rapture trembled on her tongue, And beams of joy suffused her glowing cheeks. Thus happy, buskly flew the busy wheel, Till reels of sanguinary hue reward Her pious toil. The beauteous fabric soon Bedights the loom, beamy with radiant dyes, With gold, and white, and red, enamel'd o'er. Pleased, she surveys the wonderous design, As swiftly 'neath her practiced hand it grew; Then raised her fulgent eye in silent praise To whence all beauty comes, all harmony, All skill ; whether of mighty moving spheres, The bow of promise that dispans the skies, Or variegated hues that deck the flowers, Or sparkle in the handy-works of man. Whilst thus her thoughts responsive to her task, With genial pleasure constant glow, and still Fresh themes of praise excite, loud thunder racks The sky, sudden invades the fretted air, And dread reverberates along the ground. As sudden, cloth' d in dazzling white, with wings In iris dipp'd, cerulian, green and gold, A seraph visible before her stands. Agile of limb, at ease, with feigned grace, The Tempter seem'd ; but, ill advised, breaks forth : " Goddess divine ! Empress of heaven and " She heard no more ; not scarcely this ; but fled Amazed ; that instant fled ; by instinct taught, And innate virtue led ; not as before An unaccustom'd sight, for angels oft To her from heav'n brought messages of love,

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