But sorrows else have shadowed all things there;
The voice of mourning drowns the voice of prayer. 2960
Dampened e'en now with death's prophetic dew,
Thy cold, pale brow, O fated, fair Nauvoo!
Remains for thee no peace, for thine no rest,
Till on the parching plain, the frozen crest;
A desert land of unlocked mystery,
Frowning on hope, and dumb to history.
Yet ere the burning wilderness be won,
Shines down on other deeds the shuddering sun.
City of Joseph[33]! Look! from 'leaguered walls,
Where Calvary's crimson light on Carthage falls! 2970
Ere murderous fate the martyr's bolt hath sped,
While deepening darkness glooms a sky of lead,
And thundrous threatenings tone their notes of dread,
Looms to the fore an archangelic form,
A sunlit summit shining o'er the storm;
A towering rock above the rushing tide
Of eager souls that surge on every side,
Where living waters from the fountain play,
And glowing words light up the darkened way.
Undaunted 'neath the shadow of his doom, 2980
Calm as a statue, solemn as a tomb,
Heedless of self, while hoarsely rumbles near
Hate's fiery flood, that alien to all fear,
That more than man, nor less than godlike soul,
Erect upon life's summit, at death's goal,
Unlocks time's portal, swings the future's gate,
And opes to Ephraim's gaze his glorious fate.
O diver in the days and years to be!
Searching the caves of that prophetic sea,
What bringest from the deeps of destiny? 2990
CANTO TEN
The Parted Veil[1]
Choice Seer, with spirit eye did he behold
The sanguine scene that told his tragic fate?
Surged by the flood of grief and shame that rolled
Above the murdered honor of a State[2],
Where innocence again fell prey to hate?
There be who say he visioned all to come—
Forsaken cities, weeping, desolate,
The desecrated fane, the blazing dome[3],
The weary wanderings far in quest of peace and home.
Saw, then, a tender hopeful tragedy 3000
(Pathetic omen of his tribe's increase)
Uncurtained 'neath the star-hung canopy:
Babes, new-born babes[4], there slumbering in a fleece
Of moon-lit frost, as buds that bide release,
When winter casts its mantle white and cold,
Protecting life where life hath seemed to cease;
Frail lambs, fresh penned within the Saviour's fold,
And, like Him, manger-nurst, homeless on earth's threshold.