Poems (Hoffman)/The Earthquake

by Martha Lavinia Hoffman

THE EARTHQUAKE.

("He looketh on the earth and it trembleth, he
toucheth the hills and they smoke."—Psalm 104:32.)

O language of matchless grandeur,
Of eloquence truly sublime!
What words more grandly beautiful
Are engraved on the tablets of time,
Than these that come to me sweetly
Like a voice from the quaking sod,
Ascribing all power and dominion
Not to Nature, but Nature's God;
As full to-day of new meaning
As when first the psalmist spoke:
 "He looketh on the earth and it trembleth,
 He toucheth the hills and they smoke."

The hurricane's fearful ravage,
Leaving death and destruction behind,;
The perils of land and ocean,
With which life's pathway is lined,
Sweep by in their awful terror,
With blighting, withering breath;
But where shall we go for refuge
When the solid earth quakes beneath?
Lo! 'Tis the voice of the psalmist
To each quaking age it spoke:
 "He looketh on the earth and it trembleth,
 He toucheth the hills and they smoke."

'Tis a voice from the burning mountains,
From their streams of melting rock,
Bursting forth from fissured craters,
At the earthquake's dreadful shock.
Will you flee to the hills for refuge?
Lo, their rock-ribbed sides are rent
To emit the poisonous vapors
In the earth's interior pent!
Stand still in Jehovah's presence.
Will you still His anger provoke
 Who "looketh on the earth and it trembleth,"
 Who "toucheth the hills and they smoke?"

'Tis a voice from the buried cities,
From the dust where they long have lain;
From their crumbling shrines and idols,
From the ashes of their slain.
Was it only a law of Nature,
When those pent-up vapors became
A mighty force, that the mountains
Burst forth in floods of flame?
Ah! 'tis the words of the psalmist,
With their swift destruction yoked:'
 "He looketh on the earth and it trembleth,
 He toucheth the hills and they smoke."

Be calm, oh my soul within me,
Thy God will thy refuge find;
Who maketh the clouds His chariot,
Who rideth on the wings of the wind.
Whose voice in its awful grandeur,
As heard in the thunder's crash;
Whose arrows flying earthward
In the lightning's lurid flash,
May strike down the proud in a moment
Or splinter the giant oak.
 Who "looketh on the earth and it trembleth,
 Who toucheth the hills and they smoke."

When the solid earth beneath us,
Grows frail as a tossing boat;
There is but one hand can guide it,
One power that can keep it afloat.
O ye, who would seek a refuge,
By a thousand perils awed;
Earth is but a storm-tossed vessel,
There is safety only in God.
His guidance seek through all danger,
His love and protection invoke
 Who "looketh on the earth and it trembleth,"
 Who "toucheth the hills and they smoke."