Orson F. Whitney

“ Frail lambs, fresh penned within the Saviour's fold,
And, like Him, manger-nurst, homeless on earth's threshold.
Homeless a nursing nation, born e'en so—
Born in a day. O Day! and eyes of Night! 3010
Watch now the "little one" "a thousand" [5] grow,
As grows the torrent from the trickling height,
The blaze of noonday from the dawning light;—
The birth-throes of an empire, whose blest reign,
Bounding from lowliness, soars past the sight
Of all save prophecy, while cities twain [6]
Sceptre the universe, with foot on land and main!
Whose but a prophet's eye such end could see? ”

“ The Jew struck blind that Gentile hosts might see [23] ?
Predestined Israel, martyred, immolate [24] ,
That nations, blood-besprent, might look and live;
A burden-bearer for the universe,
Outcast and homeless for humanity,
Descending like his Lord all else below,
And yet with Him to rise all else above,
Extremes of woe and weal encompassing,
Wisdom by sweet and bitter made more wise.
From blight springs blessing, and from darkness day; 840
E'en Canaan's neck from 'neath the yoke [25] shall come.
Japheth shall feel the Spirit minister,
And Jacob see and hear his risen Lord [26] . ”

“ Of Israel ere Earth knew Abraham [6] ;
Sealed in the forehead with the sacred Name,
Bearing the Ark of God, the Sword of Flame [7] ;
Behold them coming, coming, as they came 2060
Whene'er was kindled here the beacon blaze
By each Elias of the olden days!
Truth, error, shine and shadow [8] , alternate,
As oft as mankind proves degenerate.
But ever, as the day-beam sinks and dies,
The stars reset their lanterns in the skies;
And unto Moses in the wilderness
Comes greater light, succeeded by the less [9] . ”

“ The kingdom of the King whose throne all worlds sustain.
Here dawns that universal liberty—
Theme of the prophet tongue, the poet pen—
When, winged with power and crowned with purity,
Earth shall be heaven, and gods shall dwell with men;
Fraternity divine, that e'er hath been,
And e'er shall be, the blissful lot of those
Who, conquering self, bind Satan, fetter sin,
And soar beyond the reach of mortal woes, 1590
Rising to sainted heights, as all past Zions rose [32] .
Till then no king upon this crownless land,
Reserved to freedom and to righteousness. ”

“ Hailing the morn on heights of holiness,
Proclaiming peace and freedom to the world. 2620
'Twas time disorder fled, time justice reigned,
And rightfully were held dominion's keys;
Time pure religion's sceptre should return,
By poesy extolled, by art adorned,
With science and with reason reconciled;
Time feeble earth her panacea found,
Time health gave life its old longevity,
Time pride should bend, time lust to love should yield,
And self confess the joy of sacrifice.
'Twas time an Enoch came [17] , a Zion rose. 2630
Sound, trump of God! ”

“ But truth taught charity, gave me to see,
As face to face one sees familiar friend,
Why men are not alike in magnitude.
Some souls, than others, have more summits climbed,
More light absorbed, more moral might evolved.
Dowered are they with wealth from earlier spheres;
Hence wiser, worthier, than those they lead
Through precept's vale, up steep example's height, 200
To where love, beauty, wealth, power, glory, reign. ”

“ To races, nations, men, there is a time
To come and go, as wisdom shall decree,— 1420
Wisdom supreme, Tongue of Eternity.
But strikes the hour as men and nations will.
Unfettered in their choice of destiny,
They, by their deeds, the fateful measure fill;
Electing to be clean, or unclean lingering still.
Race upon race has perished in its pride;
And nations lustrous as the lights of heaven
Have sinned and sunk in reckless suicide,
Upon this ground, since that dread word was given.
Realms battle-rent, and regions tempest-riven; 1430
The wrath-swept land for ages desolate ”

“ Inherit glory, gracious eyes might see
A spark I kindled beaming endlessly,
And lighting other wanderers to the goal
Where blends the life that is with life to be;—
Now done, or well or ill, the lettered scroll
Of what is writ on heart and mind I here unroll.
CANTO ONE As From a Dream [1]
Youth's morn was breaking, when I dreamed a dream,
Splendid as springtime's weft of wonders rare;
Idyllic vision, beauteous, bright romance,
Glory of love and glamor of renown.
I dreamed that fame held all of happiness,
Save the sweet charm that lurked in woman's smile. ”

“ Reacted be, and ruin, spawn of pride,
Spring from the soil where nations great as thine have died.
Hesperia [17] , be just—the right maintain,
And foe without, nor foe within, prevails!
Here nations slay themselves, if they be slain,—
Brother 'gainst brother, sire 'gainst son, till fails 1510
The fount of widow's tears and orphan's wails.
Hear thou that servant [18] whom the Father sends—
Hear him and heed, ere Japheth's planet pales,
That peace and freedom may remain thy friends,
While hither, from all lands, all worlds, God's legion [19] wends. ”

“ The title "Elias," signifying restoration and preparation,—the lesser going before the greater with those objects in view,—is used to denote and personify the Genius of Progress, whose beneficent workings, under the guidance of the Infinite Spirit, through the aeons and the ages, behind the scenes and upon the stage of human action, are the warp and woof of the entire poem. The medial point is the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, the era of restitution, when the House of God is to be set in order, and all things in Christ are to be gathered into one. ”

“ Inheriting the Glory of the Sun,
Symbol a greater union yet to be,
When heaven and earth shall wed eternally,
And restitution's edict seal and bind
Eternal matter to eternal mind, 2270
Like unto like, for night weds not with day,
And order's mandate e'en the gods obey.
"The sealing of the sexes, mate to mate,
Earnest of exaltation's lofty state,
Where evermore they reign as queens and kings,
And endless union endless increase brings ”

“ Climbing far heights, where fame, eternal fame,
White as the gleaming cloak of Arctic hills,
Rests as a mantle, fadeless, faultless, pure, 170
On loftiest lives, whose snowy peaks, sun-crowned,
Receive but to dispense their blessedness.
"Eternal life demands a selfless love.
Hampered by pride, greed, hate, what soul can grow [11] ?
Conceive a selfish God! Thou canst not, man!
Then let it shame thee unto higher things.
Who strives for self hates other men's success;
Who seeks God's glory welcomes rivalry. ”

“ And, shorn of glory, would all light bedim;
Where many, wrecked, to awful depths go down,
While few return to wear the waiting crown,
Reigning where others serve.
"Each woe, each bliss,
In after worlds, the yield of life in this; 2180
Here garnered are the fruits from fields of yore,
And sown the harvest of the evermore.
"The called are not the chosen past mischance;
The sanctified to glorified advance,
And stewardship becomes inheritance.
Redemption free, for God hath paid the price;
All else man wins by toil and sacrifice. ”

“ The golden glory of the hemispheres, 2770
Jehovah's throne through all the Thousand Years.
The land where Adam fell, where Enoch rose,
Where time began and history shall close.
Thereto and thence, by brand and fagot driven,
His fault to man, his fealty to heaven,
With here and there, perchance, an idle word
Vainglorious zeal or vengeful might afford,
Flies Ephraim, scorched and scourged, from Japheth's
wrath [8] ,
Pushed on and on o'er steep and thorny path, 2780
Whipt, plundered, wounded, bleeding, to the goal,
Where joy in fullness crowns the conquering soul. ”

“ Where erst he fled [28] , a fugitive from wrath;
Fated to flee till ebbs that westward flow,
Bearing from Japheth bitter curse and blow,
While patient heaven holds off the woeful fate
That cometh swift and layeth desolate
The powers that prey on Jacob—all that hate 2910
The God of Joseph, and the just decree
That builds him here a boundless destiny.
Westward, burn westward, morn divinely bright!
Morn of Jehovah, morn of Jacob's might!
But stand thou still on Zion, glorious light!
For there must dawn the day that knows no night. ”

“ Philistia's shoulder bearing Israel's flight,
That Japheth, too, may come to Zion's light,
And Joseph be o'er all his brethren blest,
A saviour in his Egypt of the West [24] ,
Where corn and wine, 'mid famine, comfort life,
Where peace and plenty shame a world at strife,
And, bending from the ice-barred North, shall come— 2880
As bent their stars in his, the dreamer's dome—
Assyria's long lost captives [25] , wending home.
Westward, far westward, chase the lingering night,
Impelling Spirit! Angel of the Light!
Westward, still westward, till the morn shall burn
In high meridian glory ”

“ Of Israel, as branches bend with snow,
Unto his sheaf grown mightiest! Here, as leaves
For multitude, the son the great sire's glory weaves.
Ere chimes for him the earth-departing hour,
Summoning a weary soul to restful toil
In risen worlds, where life puts on all power,
Lehi his house convenes,—their hearts the while 1680
Aglow beneath the burning words that pile
A pyramid of prophecy whose spire
Empierces heaven,—and lest they soil
The prospect pure, and tempt Jehovah's ire,
Warns them 'gainst ways of pride and paths of dark desire.
He speaks of Joseph's, Judah's, destiny ”

“ Voice of the Shepherd, by the sheep well known.
A living prophet unto dying time,
Heralding the Dispensation of the End,
When Christ once more His vineyard comes to prune,
When potent weak confound the puny strong,
Threshing the nations by the Spirit's power, 1150
Rending the kingdoms with a word of flame;
That here the Father's work may crown the Son's,
And earth be joined a holy bride to heaven,
A queen 'mid queens, crowned, throned, and glorified.
Wherefore came down this angel of the dawn,
In strength divine, a stirring role to play
In time's tense tragedy, whose acts are seven. ”

“ Equality—nay, justice, holds the helm,
Each hath his own, the lost lamb finds the fold.
Elias comes—'tis restitution's reign,
And order hurls disorder from the throne. 1320
"War sheathes his fangs, aloft on fearless wing
Peace broods above a restful universe;
A common faith and interest unite,
But conscience still her fullest freedom [24] sees.
Wider than Church extends the Kingdom's bound:
The law from Zion, and the royal word,
The Monarch's edict, from Jerusalem;
A centralized diffusion's balanced sway,
God's might, man's right, in equilibrium. ”

“ Harp of the Hebrew seer! Be thine to break
The muse's slumber, bid the world awake,
And glow o'er deeds yet done for conscience' sake.
What tongue than Zion's own can loose the spell?
Whose voice than modern Leah's, Rachel's, tell
The story of a burden borne so well?
Bending, not breaking, 'neath thy load of care,
Sowing to joy, thou shalt not reap despair!
Planting the hope of human purity,
That righteousness may crown futurity,— 2950
Patience! endure! for pain shall bring thee power [32] . ”

“ Jacob's, not Esau's hand [27] shall rear Messiah's throne. 5070
"Great the beginning—glorious the end;
Elijah comes, the Kingdom to complete [28] .
Farewell! This from your father, brother, friend.
No more your prophet, patriarch, ye meet,
Till here all prophets, patriarchs, ye greet,
Mingling with Gods, while heaven on earth shall dwell,
To drink the wine of wisdom at His feet,
The Husbandman and Vine of Israel.
Thus saith the God of Jacob—Joseph's God. Farewell!" ”

“ The Holy Order [5] that for aye hath reigned,
For loyal faith and lofty deeds ordained;
The all-creating, all-controlling chain,
Whereby the Gods perpetuate their reign,
Whereby the higher, bending, lift the lower;
Wielding the sceptre of Almighty Power,
Ruling by right the nations, ill aware
Whence came the thrones that have been, thrones that
are; 2040
Which sets up one and puts another down,
Their fate proclaimed as fortune's smile or frown;
The power that reigns not save in righteousness,
Persuades in meekness, chastens but to bless ”

“ Time's the full reflex of Eternity's.
Visioned the Dispensation of the End,
Where Zions meet, where dispensations blend,
And time's sad rivers cease their mighty moan
In sobbing requiem o'er his sunken throne,
Till death departs, and joy, from zone to zone,
Welcomes the rightful Heir unto his own.
Visioned the Council of the Ancient One [12] ,
Where stars make ready for the rising Sun; 2090
Where Adam yields the mortal world he won,
Unto the Sabbath Lord, till sabbath done,
And Sire receives the Kingdom from the Son.
Ere when, award of fulness is there none ”

“ The Northland chose, lured by a favoring star,
For South, as North, of human soul was bare.
But liberty loves most a northern zone, 1570
Where nature's ramparts e'en 'gainst nature's war
Put forth protection. Liberty alone
Mahonri's realm [30] might rule—no king, no crown, no throne.
Still, mighty spirit, thou art manifest!
What creed or clan shall win Columbia's crown?
Though freedom weep, by anarchy opprest,
Hesperia's face reflect Europa's frown,
Sceptered religion ne'er shall tread men down. ”

“ Mind's inmost thought, in deepest dungeon pent;
Or liker still to inward boiling peak
Of fires volcanic, vainly seeking vent
Where adamantine bolts and bars prevent;—
Thou'rt doomed to utter stillness, and shalt keep 300
The burden of thy bearing till is rent
Yon heavenly veil, and earth and air and deep
Tell secrets that shall rouse the dead from solemn sleep.
And must I be as mute, O silent mount!
Muse of all Melody, shall I not sing?—
Burst these dumb bars, when e'en yon babbling fount
May find in every breeze a wafting wing,
Afar its lightest murmured word to fling? ”

“ The spirit's might, the body's weight, between,
Deem not that e'en earth's wisest can be wise,
Till heaven the blindness touch that seals all human eyes.
"One little fold I lift of that vast veil:
How came he God, to whom all gods must bow—
The very Sire, whom all the sons now hail
As mightiest of the mighty? I avow
That even He was once as we are now; 5020
That we like Him can be—yea, by degrees,
Mount unto loftiest heights, till on each brow
Be writ the Name of Names. Not angels these,
But Gods, e'en Sons of God, through all eternities. ”