Elias: An Epic of the Ages. Whitney Orson Ferguson

      A stature mingling strength with grace,

          Of meek though godlike mien;

      The glory of whose countenance 490

          Outshone the noonday sheen.

      Whiter his hair than ocean spray,

          Or frost of alpine hill.

      He spake;—attention grew more grave,

          The stillness e'en more still.

      "Father!" the voice like music fell,

          Clear as the murmuring flow

      Of mountain streamlet trickling down

          From heights of virgin snow.

      "Father," it said, "since one must die, 500

          Thy children to redeem

      From spheres all formless now and void,

          Where pulsing life shall teem;

      "And mighty Michael[3] foremost fall,

          That mortal man may be;

      And chosen saviour Thou must send,

          Lo, here am I—send me!

      I ask, I seek no recompense,

          Save that which then were mine;

      Mine be the willing sacrifice, 510

          The endless glory Thine!

      "Give me to lead to this lorn world,

          When wandered from the fold,

      Twelve legions of the noble ones

          That now Thy face behold;

      Tried souls[4], 'mid untried spirits found,

          That captained these may be,

      And crowned the dispensations all

          With powers of Deity.

      "Who blameless bide the spirit state, 520

          Clothe them in mortal clay,

      The stepping-stone[5] to glories all,

          If man will God obey,

      Believing where he cannot see,

          Till he again shall know,

      And answer give, reward receive,

          For all deeds done below.

      "The love that hath redeemed all worlds[6]

          All worlds must still redeem;

      But mercy cannot justice rob— 530

          Or where were Elohim?

      Freedom—man's faith, man's work, God's grace—

          Must span the great gulf o'er;

      Life, death, the guerdon or the doom,

          Rejoice we or deplore."

      Still rang that voice, when sudden rose

          Aloft a towering form,

      Proudly erect as lowering peak

          'Lumed by the gathering storm;

      A presence bright and beautiful, 540

          With eye of flashing fire,

      A lip whose haughty curl bespoke

          A sense of inward ire.

      "Send me!"—coiled 'neath his courtly smile

          A scarce concealed disdain—

      "And none shall hence, from heaven to earth,

          That shall not rise again.

      My saving plan exception scorns[7].

          Man's will?—Nay, mine alone.

      As recompense, I claim the right 550

          To sit on yonder Throne!"

      Ceased Lucifer. The breathless hush

          Resumed and denser grew.

      All eyes were turned; the general gaze

          One common magnet drew.

      A moment there was solemn pause—

          Listened eternity,

      While rolled from lips omnipotent

          The Father's firm decree:

      "Jehovah, thou my Messenger[8]! 560

          Son Ahman, thee I send;

      And one shall go thy face before,[9]

          While twelve thy steps attend.

      And many more on that far shore

          The pathway shall prepare,

      That I, the first, the last may come,

          And earth my glory share.

      "After and ere thy going down,

          An army shall descend—

      The host of God, and house of him 570

          Whom I have named my friend[10].

      Through him, upon Idumea[11],

          Shall come, all life to leaven,

      The guileless ones, the sovereign sons,

          Throned on the heights of heaven.

      "Go forth, thou Chosen of the Gods,

          Whose strength shall in thee dwell!

      Go down betime and rescue earth,

          Dethroning death and hell.

      On thee alone man's fate depends, 580

          The fate of beings all.

      Thou shalt not fail, though thou art free—

          Free, but too great to fall.

      "By arm divine, both mine and thine,

          The lost thou shalt restore,

      And man, redeemed, with God shall be,

          As God forevermore.

      Return, and to the parent fold

          This wandering planet bring[12],

      And earth shall hail thee Conqueror, 590

          And heaven proclaim thee King."

      'Twas done. From congregation vast,

          Tumultuous murmurs rose;

      Waves of conflicting sound, as when

          Two meeting seas oppose.

      'Twas finished. But the heavens wept;

          And still their annals tell

      How one was choice of Elohim,

          O'er one who fighting fell.

      —-

      A stranger star that came from far 600

          To fling its silver ray,

      Where, cradled in a lowly cave,

          A lowlier infant lay;

      And led by soft sidereal light,

          The orient sages bring

      Bare gifts