Rise of the Nile.
"King and Father, gift and giver,
God revealed in form of river,
Issuing perfect and sublime,
From the fountain-head of time;
"Whom eternal mystery shroudeth,
Unapproached, untraced, unknown;
Whom the Lord of heaven encloudeth
With the curtains of his throne;
"From the throne of heaven descending,
Glory, power, and goodness blending,
Grant us, ere the daylight dies,
Token of thy rapid rise."
Ha, it cometh! Furrowing, flashing,
Red blood rushing o'er brown breast;
Peaks and ridges, and dome dashing
Foam on foam, crest on crest!
But the time of times for wonder
Is when ruddy sun goes under;
And the dust throws, half afraid,
Silver shuttles of long shade.
Opens then a scene, the fairest
Ever burst on human view;
Once behold, and then comparest
Nothing in the world thereto.
Every skiff a big ship seemeth,
Every bush with tall wings clad;
Every man his good brain deemeth
The only brain that is not mad.
'Tis the signal Thebes hath waited,
Libyan Thebes, the hundred-gated;
Rouse and robe thee, River-priest
For thy dedication feast!