Poems (Henderson)/The Revelation of a Thought
THE REVELATION OF A THOUGHT.
Once, through the infinitude of starry splendor,
I gazed, till leaping pulses seemed to cease;
Till through the immeasurability of space,
The separated soul released,
From bond of mortal pain, and sore desire,
Did hang entranced above Earth's circle round,
And view through Heaven's immortal lenses,
Peoples, and kingdoms, of the great world's bound.
Storms and earth-quakes far below me,
Raged, and held their mighty sway,
And the awed eyes of mortals lifted,
Shone dim through cloudy spray.
I gazed, till leaping pulses seemed to cease;
Till through the immeasurability of space,
The separated soul released,
From bond of mortal pain, and sore desire,
Did hang entranced above Earth's circle round,
And view through Heaven's immortal lenses,
Peoples, and kingdoms, of the great world's bound.
Storms and earth-quakes far below me,
Raged, and held their mighty sway,
And the awed eyes of mortals lifted,
Shone dim through cloudy spray.
The lights and shadows of the dim world blended,
Into that sea that men call Time,
Empires rose, and fell confounded,
Controlled by Avarice and Crime.
And men, their fellows e'er oppressing,
Built high-walled towers, and prison cells,
And reared great domes wherein to worship,
The while their souls did harbor hells.
The planets, in the thin air folded,
Too, held their peopled spaces high,
And creatures like to Earth's went roaming,
Through their immensity of sky.
Into that sea that men call Time,
Empires rose, and fell confounded,
Controlled by Avarice and Crime.
And men, their fellows e'er oppressing,
Built high-walled towers, and prison cells,
And reared great domes wherein to worship,
The while their souls did harbor hells.
The planets, in the thin air folded,
Too, held their peopled spaces high,
And creatures like to Earth's went roaming,
Through their immensity of sky.
Save that there dwelt no pain among them,
No lifted hand its brother smote,
No tyrant throned above his fellows,
Clutched at his kinsman's throat.
Ambition, Fame, and Victory fell,
Like bubbles floating on the expansive flood,
And banners waved, and God's green valleys,
Ran deep with human blood.
No lifted hand its brother smote,
No tyrant throned above his fellows,
Clutched at his kinsman's throat.
Ambition, Fame, and Victory fell,
Like bubbles floating on the expansive flood,
And banners waved, and God's green valleys,
Ran deep with human blood.
All elements of sky and earth,
Imprisoned lay in His great hand,
And upper worlds in ether vanished,
Or peopled, grew at His command.
Earth's surface deep with rifted fissures,
Shot forth triumphant tongues of flame,
That gathering power through shifting ages,
Roared, and seethed, and groaned in pain.
Waiting the hour, when its own strength consuming,
All Earth should quiver at her base,
And men, and centuries, should vanish,
In Dissolution's fierce embrace.
Imprisoned lay in His great hand,
And upper worlds in ether vanished,
Or peopled, grew at His command.
Earth's surface deep with rifted fissures,
Shot forth triumphant tongues of flame,
That gathering power through shifting ages,
Roared, and seethed, and groaned in pain.
Waiting the hour, when its own strength consuming,
All Earth should quiver at her base,
And men, and centuries, should vanish,
In Dissolution's fierce embrace.
But He, the unfathomed Mystery of thought,
Sat throned, all firmaments above,
The heavenly bow of beauty shining,
With suns and planets far below;
Above Him rose, Oh! eye, thou could'st not fathom,
The boundless immeasurability of space,
No mortal eye of his creating,
Can view His awful face.
Sat throned, all firmaments above,
The heavenly bow of beauty shining,
With suns and planets far below;
Above Him rose, Oh! eye, thou could'st not fathom,
The boundless immeasurability of space,
No mortal eye of his creating,
Can view His awful face.
