POEMS ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS.

THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL.1

HAPLESS Israel! sad, dejected,
Woe-worn, wandering to and fro,
Long hast thou, forlorn, rejected,
Drank the bitter cup of woe:
From the land of promise driven,

From thine Eden land, and home,
With a heart all wrung and riven,
Doom'd the wide, wide world to roam :

2

As the dove, with weary pinion,
Driven from her peaceful nest,
O'er the desert's wild dominion,
Wandering on with beating breast,
Gentile vultures swift pursuing,3
Hovering o'er thy hapless flight,
All thy path with misery strewing,
As thou fleest, day and night,

"Who the bard is that mourns over the Prospects of Israel we do not know; but we are quite sure it will be admitted, that he or she can clothe the most fervent feelings of religion in the most flowing verse."-Fraser's Magazine, Dec., 1833, p. 749.

2 Ezekiel vii, 16.

3 Lamentations iv, 19.

O'er the dark and gloomy mountains,

O'er the desert's burning sand,

Parch'd with thirst, where cooling fountains

Never lave the barren land;

Ever on and onward flying

From the tyrant's cruel grasp,

Or in bitter bondage sighing,

Slavery's fetters doom'd to clasp ;

Doom'd in captive bonds to languish,
Still to drag the galling chain;
Doom'd to reap the bread of anguish,
Sown in tears, and toil, and pain;
Doom'd to fierce and fiery trials
For rejection of thy God;

Smitten 'neath heaven's wrathful vials,
And Jehovah's chastening rod.

But, O Israel! captive daughter!1
Loose thee from thy weary chain,
From thy prison-house of slaughter
Rise to light and life again,
Burst thy cruel bonds asunder,
Rise from thy captivity,

Strike thy foes with dread and wonder,

Rise, and be thou ever free :

For the dawn of blissful ages,
Chasing sorrow's gloomy night,
Long foretold by holy sages,

Bursts upon thy longing sight;
Glory's sun has risen o'er thee,

"Rise, and shine; thy light is come;'

God Himself shall go before thee,—1
He shall lead the captive home.

Tinged with gold, and hues vermilion,
See the cloud, thy guide by day,"
And the flaming, bright pavilion
Which shall light thy nightly way;
For a glory and a covering,3

Lo! Jehovah's shrine shall move,
Guardian angels round thee hovering,1
And his banner o'er thee,-Love.5

All thy foes shall flee astounded,"
Wither'd in their strength of pride;
Host on host shall fall confounded,7

Strown like leaves on autumn's tide
Native scenes, long lost, yet cherish'd,
Fondly buried, in the heart,
Which, tho' all around have perish'd,
Die not there, nor e'er depart,-

Hallow'd scenes of sacred story,-
Native lands and native skies
Beaming in millennial glory,-
Soon shall burst upon thine
Dewy Hermon ever vernal,

eyes:

Parent source of many a rill;
Lebanon's lofty heights eternal,
Flowery Carmel's fruitful hill;

1 Isaiah lii, 12; Micah ii, 12, 13.

;

2 Micah vii, 15, compared with Isaiah iv, 5, and Exodus xiii, 21.

3 Isaiah iv, 5.

5 Canticle ii, 4.

4 Psalm lxviii, 13, 17: Matt xxv, 31.

6 Micah vii, 16, 17; v, 9, 15.

7 Isaiah lxiii, 3, 4, 6: Psalm xxi, 8-10: Deut. xxxii, 41-43.

Sharon's rosy plains and valleys,

Where the virgin lily grows;
Verdant meads, and leafy alleys,

Where the peaceful flocks repose;
Judah's plains, and shady mountains ;
Jordan's banks, and flowing tide;
Siloa's pure and sparkling fountains;
Kedron's streams that softly glide;

Zion's turrets brightly beaming,
And fair Salem's lofty towers;
Vineyards with ripe fruitage teeming,
Orange groves, and olive bowers :
Wheresoe'er thine eye may wander,
Eden scenes shall still arise,1
Gardens where soft streams meander
O'er thy land of paradise.

But from scenes of joy and gladness
Thou shalt turn to one of woe,

To a sight of solemn sadness,
Causing bitter tears to flow;
For thine eyes shall yet behold Him2
Whom thy fathers crucified,

And, tho' glory's beams enfold Him,
View His hands and pierced side.

Prostrate on the earth before Him,
Thou shalt weep repentant tears ;3
As thy God and King adore Him,
And thy faith dispel thy fears:

1 Isaiah li, 3: Ezek. xxxvi, 35.

2 Rev. i, 7: Zech. xii, 10: John xix, 37.

3 Zech. xii, 10: Rev. i, 7.

He in love shall smile upon thee,
And His cov'nant gifts impart,'
Pour His Holy Spirit on thee,

Write His laws within thine heart.

Thou shalt see His throne descending,"
New Jerusalem from above;
And His glorious saints attending,3
Rais'd to share His reign of love.
Thou, with all the race of mortals,1
Shalt to His high court repair,
And, beneath its beaming portals,
Pay thy vows and homage there;

Where His saints, in regal splendour,
As His bright immortal bride,
To thy tribes shall judgment render,"
And to all the nations wide ;6
Where Messiah,-Son of David,—
Aye shall reign on David's throne ;7
Realms, no more by sin enslaved,8

Shall His righteous sceptre own.

1 Jer. xxxi, 31-34: Ezek. xi, 17-20; xxxvi, 24-28: Isaiah lx,

21: Zech. xiv, 20, 21.

2 Revelation xxi, 2.

3 Revelation xxi, 3.

4 Rev. xxi, 24-26: Isaiah lxvi, 23: Zech. xiv, 10; viii, 21-23: Psalm lxxxvi, 9; lxii, 11; lxviii, 29-32.

5 Matt. xix, 28.

6 Rev. ii, 26; iii, 21; v, 10; xx, 4: 1 Cor. vi, 2, 3: Luke, xxii, 30: Psalm xlix, 14: Daniel vii, 18, 27.

7 Isaiah ix, 7:

2-4, 28, 29.

Luke i, 32, 33: Psalm cxxxii, 11-18; lxxxix,

8 Daniel vii, 14: Psalm ii, 6, 8—12; cx, 1—3; lxxii.