The following Poem having been suggested by the perusal of a manuscript treatise on "The Holy Angels," by the Author's late highly esteemed friend, R. C. Brackenbury, of Raithby, is most respectfully inscribed to Mrs. Brackenbury.
ALL that of angels God to man makes known,
Here by the light of his clear word is shown.
'Tis Jacob's dream ;-behold the ladder rise,
Resting on earth, but reaching to the skies,
Where faith the radiant hierarchies may trace
Abroad in nature, providence, and grace,
Descending and returning by that path,
On embassies of mercy or of wrath;
Here the stone pillow and the desert-sod
Become the gate of heaven, the house of God;
-Put off thy shoes, approach with awe profound,
The place on which thou stand'st is holy ground.
Spirit made perfect, spirit of the just!
Thy hand which traced these leaves is fall'n to dust,
Yet, in the visions of eternity,
Things unconceived by mortals thou canst see,
-Angels, as angels stand before the throne,
By thee are without veil or symbol known:
Oh! couldst thou add one brilliant page, and tell
What those pure beings are who never fell,
-Those first-born sons of God, ere time began,
Though elder, greater, not more loved than man,
Thrones, principalities, dominions, powers,
Cherub or seraph, midst empyreal bowers,
Who in themselves their Maker only see,
And live, and move, and dwell in Deity :
-But 'tis forbidden;-earthly eye nor ear
Heaven's splendours may behold, heaven's secrets hear;
To flesh and blood that world to come is seal'd,
Or but in hieroglyphic shades reveal'd.
We follow thee, bless'd saint! our tongues, ere long, May learn from thine the church-triumphant's song; For well, I ween, thy minstrel soul of fire Can compass all the notes of Raphael's lyre; -That soul, which once, beneath the body's cloud, Sang, like an unseen sky-lark, sweet and loud; Louder and sweeter now thy raptures rise, Where cloud nor sun are seen in purer skies. But what of angels know we ?-Search that book On which the eyes of angels love to look, Desiring, through its opening seals, to trace The heights and depths of that transcendent grace, Which from the Father's bosom sent the Son, Himself the ransom for a world undone.
First, with the morning stars when nature sprang,
These sons of GOD for joy together sang;
Diviner wonders day by day explored,
Night after night with deeper awe adored;
Till, o'er his finish'd work, JEHOVAH placed
Man, with the stamp of his own image graced :
Even angels paused a moment then to gaze,
Ere burst from all their choirs such shouts of praise,
As not in heaven at their own birth were known,
Nor heard when Satan's host were overthrown.
When man lost Eden for his first offence,
The swords of cherubim expell'd him thence,
Those flaming signs of heaven with earth at strife
Turn'd every way to guard the tree of life.
Angels, thenceforth, who in God's presence stand, As ministering spirits, travel sea and land;
Onward or upward, rapt through air and sky,
From heaven to earth, from earth to heaven they fly;
Like rays diverging from the central sun,
Which through the darkness of creation run,
Enlightening moons and planets in their course,
And thence reflected seek their glorious source.
WHEN Abraham dwelt in Mamre angels spoke,
As friend to friend, with him beneath the oak:
With flocks and herds, with wealth and servants blest,
Of almost more than heart could wish possest,
One want the old man felt,-an hopeless one!
Oh! what was all he had without a son?
Heaven's messengers brought tidings to his ear,
Which nature, dead in him, found hard to hear;
Which faith itself could scarce receive for joy,
But he believed, and soon embraced a boy;
Nor, while the line of Adam shall extend,
Will faithful Abraham's promised issue end.
Hence, when his lifted arm the death-stroke aim'd
At him, whom God mysteriously reclaim'd,
At him, whom GOD miraculously gave,
An angel cried from heaven the youth to save,
And he who found a son when he believed,
That son again as from the dead received.
When Hagar, wo-begone and desolate,
Alone, beside the desert fountain sate,
And o'er her unborn babe shed bitter tears,
The angel of the LORD allay'd her fears,
And pledged in fee to her unportion'd child
The lion's range o'er Araby the wild :
"Here have I look'd for Him whom none can see !" She cried;" and found, for thou, GOD, seest me!" -Again, when fainting in the wilderness,
An angel-watcher pitied her distress,
To Ishmael's lips a hidden well unseal'd,
And the long wanderings of his race reveal'd,
Who still, as hunters, warriors, spoilers, roam,
Their steeds their riches, sands and sky their home.
Angels o'erthrew the cities of the plain,
With fire and brimstone in tempestuous rain,
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