Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/49

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ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH.

31

Gentle and still shall be his voice,
No threats from him proceed;
The smoking flax he shall not quench,
Nor break the bruisèd reed.

The feeble spark to flames he'll raise;
The weak will not despise;
Judgment he shall bring forth to truth,
And make the fallen rise.

The progress of his zeal and pow'r
Shall never know decline,
Till foreign lands and distant isles
Receive the law divine.

He who erected heav'n's bright arch,
And hade the planets roll,
Who peopled all the climes of earth,
And formed the human soul.

Thus saith the Lord, Thee have I raised,
My prophet thee instal;
In right I've raised thee, and in strength
I'll succour whom I call.

I will establish with the lands
A covenant in thee,
To give the Gentile nations light,
And set the pris'ners free.

Asunder burst the gates of brass;
The iron fetters fall;
And gladsome light and liberty
Are straight restored to all.

I am the Lord, and by the name
Of great Jehovah known;
No idol shall usurp my praise,
Nor mount into my throne.

Lo! former scenes, predicted once,
Сonspieuous rise to view;
And future scenes, predicted now,
Shall be accomplished too.

Sing to the Lord in joyful strains!
Let earth His praise resound,
Ye who upon the ocean dwell,
And fill the isles around!