Part 6 — THE ANGEL AND THE CHILD.

Upon a barren steep, Above a stormy deep, I saw an Angel watching the wild sea; Earth was that barren steep, Time was that stormy deep, And the opposing shore—Eternity! "Why dost thou watch the wave? Thy feet the waters lave, The tide engulfs thee if thou dost delay." "Unscathed I watch the wave, Time not the Angel's grave, I wait until the ocean ebbs away." Hush'd on the Angel's breast I saw an Infant rest, Smiling upon the gloomy hell below. "What is the Infant press'd, O Angel, to thy breast?" "The child God gave me, in The Long Ago. "Mine all upon the earth, The Angel's angel-birth, Smiling each terror from the howling wild." Never may I forget The dream that haunts me yet, Of Patience nursing Hope—the Angel and the Child