Poems (Frances Elizabeth Browne)/On the vision of St. John

by Frances Elizabeth Browne

ON THE VISION OF ST. JOHN, DURING HIS BANISHMENT TO THE ISLAND OF PATMOS.

    Thou, to whose favored view
    Heaven's portals open flew,
And visions bright of glorious things were given!
    Thou, to whose piercing ken,
    Unseen before of men,
The Saviour oped the golden gates of heaven!

    Beloved by Him whose love
    No change could ever move,—
No, not the dazzling change from earth to heaven!—
    He to thy ravished sight
    Disclosed his glories bright,
When, scorned by men, to exile thou wert driven.

    Vain Cæsar's vaunted power—
    Poor emperor of an hour!—
To banish thee from earthly courts of clay,
    When thy Almighty Friend,
    Before whom kings must bend,
Could bear thee to the courts of heavenly day!

    How mean thy purple robe,
    Proud tyrant of the globe,
Would seem, contrasted with the brilliant sight
    Of Jesus' glorious state,
    And all who round him wait,
Those countless hosts, arrayed in purest white!

    And are there here a few
    To Jesus' precepts true,
Who, scorned by men, are yet beloved by Heaven?
    A little flock there is,
    Designed for heavenly bliss,
To whom Christ's love, to whom Christ's grace, is given,

    John saw a countless band,
    From every clime and land,
Redeemed from among men, heaven's presence fill;
    All clothed in robes of light,
    By Jesus' blood made white
In Calvary's stream, that fountain open still.

    In Christian virtues fair,
    They Jesus' image bear,
In spirit and in truth and heavenly love;
    Till, having left below
    All for his sake, they go
To join the hosts of his redeemed above.