VII.

Because Thou didst not leave me, O my God!

Thou wert with those that bore the truth of old

Into the deserts from th’ oppressor’s rod,

And made the caverns of the rock their fold;

And in the hidden chambers of the dead,

Our guiding lamp with fire immortal fed;

And met when stars met, by their beams to hold

The free heart’s communing with Thee,—and Thou

Wert in the midst, felt, own’d—the Strengthener then as now!