CXXXVII.

PROSPERITY.

"When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them."

WHEN mirth is full and free,

Some sudden gloom shall be ;

When haughty power mounts high,

The Watcher's axe is nigh.

All growth has bound; when greatest found,
It hastes to die.

When the rich town, that long

Has lain its huts among,

Builds court and palace vast,

And vaunts,-it shall not last!

Bright tints that shine are but a sign
Of summer past.

And when thine eye surveys,

With fond adoring gaze,

And yearning heart, thy friend,—

Love to its grave doth tend.

All gifts below, save Truth, but grow

Towards an end.

d.

CXXXVIII.

FAITH AGAINST SIGHT.

"As it was in the days of Lot, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man."

THE world has cycles in its course, when all

That once has been, is acted o'er again :Not by some fated law, which need appal

Our faith, or binds our deeds as with a chain; But by men's separate sins, which blended still The same bad round fulfil.

Then fear ye not, though Gallio's scorn ye see,

And soft-clad nobles count you mad, true hearts! These are the fig-tree's signs; rough deeds must be,

Trials and crimes: so learn ye well your parts.

Once more to plough the earth it is decreed,

And scatter wide the seed.

δ.

TRADE.

CXXXIX.

TYRE.

HIGH on the stately wall

The spear of Arvad hung;

Through corridor and hall

Gemaddin's war-note rung.

Where are they now? the note is o'er ;
Yes! for a thousand years and more

Five fathom deep beneath the sea

Those halls have lain all silently;

Nought listing save the mermaid's song,

While rude sea-monsters roam the corridors along.

Far from the wondering East

Tubal and Javan came.

And Araby the blest,

And Kedar, mighty name—
Now on that shore, a lonely guest,
Some dripping fisherman may rest,
Watching on rock or naked stone
His dark net spread before the sun,
Unconscious of the dooming lay,

That broods o'er that dull spot, and there shall brood

for aye.

B.

CXL.

ENGLAND.

TYRE of the West, and glorying in the name

More than in Faith's pure fame !

O trust not crafty fort nor rock renowned

Earned upon hostile ground;

Wielding Trade's master-keys, at thy proud will

To lock or loose its waters, England! trust not still.

Dread thine own power! since haughty Babel's prime

High towers have been man's crime.

Since her hoar age, when the huge moat lay bare,
Strong holds have been man's snare.

Thy nest is in the crags; ah! refuge frail!
Mad counsel in its hour, or traitors will prevail.

He who scanned Sodom for his righteous men,
Still spares thee for thy ten,

But, should vain hands defile the temple wall,

More than His Church will fall :

For, as Earth's kings welcome their spotless guest, So gives He them by turn, to suffer or be blest.

CXLI.

UNITED STATES.

d.

"Because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha! she is broken that was the gates of the people; she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste: Therefore thus saith the LORD GOD: Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus."

TYRE of the farther West! be thou too warn'd, Whose eagle wings thine own green world o'erspread, Touching two Oceans: wherefore hast thou scorn'd Thy fathers' GOD, O proud and full of bread?