HARK! through the desert wilds, what awful voice

Swells on the gale, and bids the world rejoice?
What Prophet form, in holy raptures led,

The gray mists hov'ring o'er his sacred head,
Prepares on earth Messiah's destin'd way,

And hastes, the mighty Messenger of Day

Lo! echoing skies resound his gladsome strain, "Messiah comes! ye rugged paths be plain;

The Shiloh comes! ye tow'ring cedars bend,

"Swell forth, ye valleys, and, ye rocks, descend; "The wither'd branch let balmy fruits adorn, “And clust'ring roses 'twine the leafless thorn; "Burst forth, ye vocal groves, your joy to tellThe God of Peace redeems his Israel."

How beauteous are the feet of those who bear Mercy to man, glad tidings to despair! nav once Far from the mountain's top, they lovelier seem() Than moonlight dews, or morning's rosy beam;~ Sweeter the voice than spell or hymning sphere, And list ning Angels hush their harps to hear. W Rous'd at the solemn call, from all her shores/ Her eager tribes, behold, Judæa pours!

Tho' scarce the Morn asserts her bashful sway, T And doubtful Darkness still contends with day,' I see them rush, like rolling surges driven, A Or night-clouds, riding o'er the glooms of Heav'n. There waves the white robe, thro' the dusky glade, 129 Here passing helms gleam dreadful thro' the shade, Faint o'er the cliffs the fading torch-light plays, And dying watchfires fling their sullen blaze;oë Fly the scar'd panthers from their pierc'd retreats,

While Salem wond'ring mourns her desert streets.

Why crowd ye cities forth? some reed to fin

18

find?

Some vain reed trembling to the careless wind?M
Or throng ye here to view, with doating eye, l
Some chieftain stand in purple pageantry Prí
Such dwell in kingly domes-no silken form
Woos the stern cliff, and braves the mountain storm.
What rush ye then to seek ? some Prophet-Seer?
One mightier than the Prophets find ye here
The loftiest bard, that wak'd the sacred lyre,T
To Him in rapture pour'd his lips of fire;ob baA
Attun'd to Him the voice of Sion fellst 9se I

Thy name, Elias, clos'd the mystic shell.fein 0
si Alas! how dark a flood of woes and crimes, IT
Since that dread hour, has whelm'd the fateful times!
How oft has Israel's Ark, by tempests toss'd, is
Sent forth her raven's wing, and found no coast!

a The advent of St. John under the name of Elijah, the last circumstance foretold in ancient prophecy, is here alluded to.

Now fairer scenes her kindling eye discerns, 10w of T With Hope's green branch the welcome Dove re

turns,

And, gladly soaring past the prospect drear, W Hails the bright Star that tells the Day-spring near

Yes! surely born to more than mortal pow'r, T Glory hath mark'd him from his earliest hour:of'] Offspring of age, on wings of radiance borne,

bs!)

A warning Angel told his natal morn'; # od: boot 2iH
Hail'd by prophetic matrons to the earth, **) (97810
The speechless spake, to bless him at his birth.dl
Sweet was the strain, when first with fond surprise
The hoary parent kiss'd his infant eyes, di Aurb sil
From his rapt lips the spell of silence broke,
And Inspiration thrill'd him as he spoke.

Such was his birth! nor less august appears

b St. John is called "the Morning Star to the Sun of 1 as of 000 buc 9 OT

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Righteousness."

The wondrous fate that led his rising years:

1.

woй

W

For, lol sequester'd from the haunts of men,
Deep to the stillness of some shaggy glen,
Where vice and folly faded from his view,
The lonely youth, impell'd by Heav'n, withdrewei.
There, near some brook, that dash'd in murmurs by,
The rock his pillow, and his roof the sky,

Clad in such savage robes as deserts yield,

His food the wild sweets of the flow'ry field, • Grave, pensive, bold, majestic, undefil'd, vid To holy manhood dwelt Devotion's child;

Descending Angels bless'd his rude abode, ar

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He drank th' inspiring flame, he felt the rushing

God.

Oft ere the dawn had ting'd the tallest steep,

And man and nature still were hush'd in sleep,

High o'er yon ridge, in darkness, would he stray, To muse and wonder till returning day.