Page:The Christian Year 1887.djvu/118




 * It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord. 1 King xiii. 26.

Prophet of God, arise and take With thee the words of wrath divine, The scourge of Heaven, to shake O'er yon apostate shrine.

Where Angels down the lucid stair Came hovering to our sainted sires Now, in the twilight, glare The heathen's wizard fires.

Go, with thy voice the altar rend, Scatter the ashes, be the arm, That idols would befriend, Shrunk at thy withering charm.

Then turn thee, for thy time is short, But trace not o'er the former way, Lest idol pleasures court Thy heedless soul astray.

Thou know'st how hard to hurry by, Where on the lonely woodland road Beneath the moonlight sky The festal warblings flowed;

Where maidens to the Queen of Heaven Wove the gay dance round oak or palm, Or breathed their vows at even In hymns as soft as balm.

Or thee, perchance, a darker spell Enthralls: the smooth stones of the flood, By mountain grot or fell, Pollute with infant's blood;

The giant altar on the rock, The cavern whence the timbrel's call Affrights the wandering flock:- Thou long'st to search them all.

Trust not the dangerous path again - O forward step and lingering will!