Volume 3 — BANNED AND BLESSED.
Reading edition
"And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth; . . . . Cursed is the earth in thy work. "And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Bud out, glad earth, in beauty, Ring out, glad earth, in song; The funeral pall is lifted That covered thee so long: The heavy curse laid on thee For Eden's primal wrong. Long ages gone, the angels Hailed thee with pure delight. The blooming of thy day-time. The radiance of thy night; And e'en thy Maker named thee As pleasant in his sight-- Soon lost that early joyance, Brief worn that birth-day crown! The very stars of heaven Look sorrowfully down On fairest flowers withered Beneath man's sinful frown. Blinded, and banned, and broken, Along thy penance-path. Thy vesture streamèd over With the torrents of man's wrath; Thou treadest through the ether A thing of shame and scath. {307} Lift up thy head, poor mourner, Shake the ashes from thy brow; Lay off thine age-worn sackcloth And wear the purple now: Amid the starry brethren, Who honor hath, as thou? The dust from off thy bosom The Maker deigns to wear; "The word made flesh," in heaven, Hath given thee such share No grandeur of thy brethren With it can hold compare. Blest art thou that his footsteps Along thy pathways trod; Blest art thou that his pillow Has been thy grassy sod; And blest the burial shelter Thou gavest to thy God. And for that little service, Divine the meed shall be: When "fervent heat" hath melted The starry choirs and thee, The moulded dust of Eden Shall live eternally. "The first-born of all creatures" Doth wear it on his throne, The vesture of humanity By which he claims his own. How infinite the pardon That doth thy penance crown! GENEVIEVÉ SALES. March 22, 1806
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