JOHN.
Above the throne150
Interminable space of glorious light
Is spread, and angel-troops and hierarchies,
With golden harps, half-seen, into the depths
Of that interminable light recede,
Till the tired vision shrinks. The sea, the sea,
Gives up its dead! and Death and Hell pour forth,
All hushed and pale, their countless multitudes,
Shivering to meet the light; and millions pray,
In silence: Hide us, hide us, earth, again!
A gulph, beneath them, black as tenfold night,160
Glaring at times with intermittent flames,161
Opens; and, hark! sad sounds, and shrieks of woe,
Come through the darkness. At the dreadful voice,
Depart from me, ye cursed! John, amazed,
Looked 'round: he saw the blue Ægean shine,
And the approaching sail white in the wind.
Then he who stood by him thus spoke: Awake;
Let us toward the sea, for, look! the ship
Approaches nearer to the eastern bay.
As near, and still more near, she speeds her course,170
On this gray column, prostrate in the dust,
Its tale unknown, the sole sad relic here
Of perishable glory,[184] and, who knows,
Perhaps a pillar of some marble fane,
Raised to dark pagan idols, let us rest,
And muse upon the change of mortal things.
The Apostle sat, and as he watched the sail,
Leaned on his staff to hear.
The stranger spoke:
Lo! the last fragment of departed days,180
This shaft of a fallen column; and even so
Shall all the monuments of human pride
Be smitten to the desert dust, like those
Who raised them, long to desert dust returned.
Where are the hundred gates of regal Thebes!
Let the clouds answer, and the silent sands.
Where is the Tower of Babel, proudly raised,
As to defy the Lord, above the clouds!
He raised his arm, and, as a dream, it sank.
Waters of Babylon, by thy sad shores190
The children of captivity sat down,
Sat down and wept, when they remembered thee,
O Sion! But the trump and cornet bray;193
It is Belshazzar's midnight feast! He sits
A god among his lords and concubines.
A thousand torches flame aloof; the songs
Of wantonness and blasphemy go up!
And are those golden vessels, from the shrine
And temple of the living God, brought forth,
In impious derision? Does the hymn200
Resound to Baal, and the gods of gold?
And at this hour, do all the princes rise?
Is the wine poured from vessels which the Lord
Had consecrated? Do they drink, and cry,
The King shall live for ever? Ah! how changed
His countenance! he trembles, and his knees,
Smite one against the other! Look, how changed!
God of eternal justice, what is that?
The fingers of a man, against the wall,
Moving in shadow, and inscribing words210
Of dreadful import, but which none may read.
Call the Chaldeans and Astrologers!
Are they all mute? Call the poor captive slave,
Daniel, the prophet of the Lord! The crowd
All turn their looks in silence, with their breath
Hushed by their terrors. Has he spoken? Yes!
Thy sceptre is departed! Hear, O King!
He hears and trembles; and that very night,
He who blasphemed is gone to meet his Judge!
Proclaim the conquering Persian; it was God220
Who led his armies forth, who called his name
Cyrus;[185] and under him again shall rise
The temple at Jerusalem, shall rise
In beauty and in glory, till the day
Of tribulation smite it to the earth,
As we have seen! Weep for Jerusalem;226
But in the light of heaven, the Church of Christ
Shall lift its battlements, till He shall come,
With all his jubilant, acclaiming hosts,
Amid the clouds!
The old man raised his eyes,
And on his forehead placed his withered hand,
A moment musing; then he turned his look
Again to his companion at his side.
Ah! he is gone; but, hark! a rustling sound
Is heard, and, bright above the eastern cliffs,
Behold, a glorious angel's pennons spread.
Look! he ascends into the azure depth
Of light; he still ascends, till the blue sky
Is only interrupted by some clouds240
Of lightest brede and beauty, o'er the sea
Transparent hung. John gazed with hands outspread,
But nothing in the airy track was seen,
Save those small clouds. Then pensive he sat down,
His withered hands extending as in prayer.
But, lo! the vessel drops its sail; a boat
Is hurrying, smooth and rapid, through the spray—
The sounds of men are heard—see, they approach!
Yes, they are messengers of peace! they come
With tidings to the lonely habitant.250
Two elders of the Church of Ephesus
Greet him with salutations from the ship
Whose banner streams—the banner of the Cross—
Beneath the rocks of Patmos: from the beach
The elders slow advanced, and one thus spoke:
Hail, father! Cæsar is no more! Thy Church
At Ephesus again, by us, implores
Thy presence and thy guidance; and, behold!
The bark now waits to bear thee o'er the deep,
For Nerva has reversed the stern decree200
Passed for thy banishment: arise, return,
Return; for now the light of heaven again
Gleams on the temple of our infant faith;
The radiance of the "golden candlestick,"
That shone in the deep darkness of the earth,
Shall flame more bright. Arise—arise—return!
John took their hands, and, blessing them, gave thanks
To God who rules above; then cried, I go—
With many thronging thoughts—back to the world,
To wait how Heaven may yet dispose my lot,270
Till the grave close upon my pilgrimage.
Yet would I stay a while, to bid farewell
To that, my cave,[186] where I have seen strange things,
And heard strange voices, and have passed five years
In loneliness and watching, and in prayer.
Let me not part till I have said farewell!
Hereafter I shall tell what I have seen.
But now, O Lord and Saviour! strengthen me,
A poor old man, returning to the world;
Oh! look and let me feel thy presence now,280
Whom I have served so long I shall not see
Again thy glorious form upon the earth,
But I have lived to see thy Church arise,
Now in its infancy, and gathering power
From day to day; and thou shalt be adored
Till the remotest isles, and every land,
Shall praise and magnify thy glorious name!
My days are well-nigh told, and few remain,
But I shall live, protected, to record,
O Lord and Saviour! all which I have seen,290
High and mysterious; as I declared,
In the beginning was the Word; the Word,292
In the beginning, was with God; the Word
Was God!
And now farewell! Oh! may I pass
What yet remains of life in faith and hope,
Till Christ shall call me in his mercy hence,
And lead me gently to my last repose.
Then may his Church, which he has raised on earth,
Stand, though the tempest shake its battlements,300
Stand, till the trumpet, the last trumpet sound,
And He shall come in clouds who founded it!
As thus he spoke, his stature seemed to grow
More lofty, with a step more firm he trod;
Whilst a mild radiance, lambent on his face,
Shone, as the radiance from the mercy-seat.
He held his way, oft looking back to mark
The cave where he had lived, when, lo! the dove,
So often fed from his pale hand, has left
The cliff, and flies, faint-murmuring, round his hair.310
And now he turns his eyes upon the deep;
Yet scarce had reached the margin, when he saw
The sullen dwellers on these rugged shores,
Led on by him who had confessed his sins—
The robber of Mount Carmel, in his chains—
Kneel at his feet. They blessed him, sorrowing
That they should see his face on earth no more.
The stern centurion hid a starting tear;
The poor emaciate youth knelt down, and she
Who tended him with love and tenderness,320
Wept, as he faintly sank, and breathed his last,
His hands extending feebly, as he sunk,
To John, in fervent prayer! The Grecian girl
Fell, desolate and sobbing, on his breast.
But, lo! the wind has veered, and, streaming out,
The red cross pennant points to Asia,326
As heaven-directed. Speed, ye mariners!
The sails are swelling, and the widening deep
Is all before you, surging to the gale.
So they kept on their course to Ephesus,
And o'er the Ægean waves beheld, far off,
The cave, the lonely sands and lessening capes
Of dreary Patmos sink to rise no more.
APOCALYPTIC HORSES.
WHITE HORSE, RED HORSE, BLACK HORSE, PALE HORSE.
Black Horse.—The period of the "black horse and rider with the balance" is generally referred to the reign of Severus. But here the commentators are at a loss. "The balance" sometimes betokens justice; sometimes is considered as indicative of a season of scarcity. The "black horse" is always associated with calamity. I humbly differ from all commentators. The "horse is black," say some, to show the "severity of the nature" of this emperor. But his nature was generally the reverse of severity. Now I shall give reasons for considering that "the balance" is the balance of Justice, and the "bread for a penny, and oil and wine," indicative of plenty, not scarcity—of plenty owing entirely to the prudent provisions of this emperor; and in proof of this, as well as what I shall say further on the subject, I adduce, not the testimony of professed Christian commentators, but the undesigned testimony—the stronger for that reason—of one of the most astute adversaries of Christianity—Gibbon.
Now, Christian reader, mark his undesigned corroboration of the veracity of this prophecy, as applied to Severus.
Scripture—"Balances in his hand."
What says Gibbon? "Salutary laws were executed with inflexible firmness." "In the administration of justice, the judgments of the emperor were characterised by attention, discernment, and impartiality;[187] and whenever he deviated from the strict line of equity, it was generally in favour of the poor and oppressed."—Gibbon.
Scripture.—"A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine."
Gibbon.—"He left in the public granaries a provision of corn for seven years, at the rate of 2500 quarters a day."
But the "black horse." Does this colour seem suitable to a period of general equity and justice? How simple is one explanation, at least so it appears to me, the first, I believe, who ever remarked the circumstance, and how minutely does the singular fact tend to attest the awful truth of the prophecy—"Severus was an African!"—Gibbon. And the "horse is black," not as indicative of calamity, but of the country of which Severus was a native.
The prophecy connected with the "horses" seems as regular as possible, beginning from the times of the Apostle. The white horse and rider is universally considered as emblematic of the gospel, going forth "conquering and to conquer." The red horse is the horse of blood, under Trajan, who literally took "peace from all the earth." The pale horse designates the famine and dreadful pestilence under Gallienus. I have shown, not from the writers in favour of Christianity, but from the attestation of the most astute and insidious writer against it, the regular succession and wonderful accordance, in the several successive periods, of the fact and the prophetic adumbrations. Under Gallienus, how remarkable are these words, as applicable to the "pale horse," and pestilence, in the third century, commencing about one hundred and fifty years after the death of John! "Famine is almost always followed by epidemical diseases: other causes, however, must have contributed to the furious plague which, from the year 250 to the year 265, raged, without interruption, in every province, every city, and almost every family of the Roman empire. Five thousand died daily in Rome; and we might suspect, that war, pestilence, and famine had, in a few years, consumed the moiety of the human race."—Gibbon.
The Red Horse.—"Take peace from all the earth." Trajan's conquests. "Every day the astonished Senate received intelligence of new names and new nations that acknowledged his sway. The kings of Bosphorus, Colchis, Albania, &c.; the tribes of the Median and Carducian hills had implored his protection; Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria were reduced to provinces."—Gibbon.
For the elucidations of this last book, I have referred, generally, to commentators, chiefly Bishop Newton, though the reader may sometimes be disposed to smile rather than acquiesce.
But I cannot omit my own views of some particular passages. One head of the beast, wounded, "but not to death," is most singularly descriptive of the Roman empire, restored to strength and power, under Claudius the Second and Aurelius. "And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion." How unexpectedly do they tally with what Gibbon says of the Roman empire at the time, consisting of the "tyrants" (lions)—"soldiers," scattered through the vast and various provinces, and "barbarians"—Goths, indicated by the bear!
I may observe, further, that the "locusts and crawling things like scorpions," issuing out of the smoke, are, first, locusts—the innumerable northern armies; secondly, "crawling things like scorpions"—the loathsome vileness attributed to nature by the succession of Gnostic sects, depraving the beautiful code of Christianity, and all agreeing in one doctrine, derived from the Chaldean philosophers. The Genius of Evil, according to the philosophy of the Chaldeans, produced the body, as Orosmades the soul! Hence "forbidding to marry," unnatural austerities, &c.; and remark, one book of Tertullian to the Gnostics is called—what? Scorpio.
FOOTNOTES:
[112] These sonnets have been printed in their chronological order in the preceding volume of Mr Bowles' poems.
[113] Particularly Joanna Baillie, Mrs Hemans, Miss Landon, and my namesake—no otherwise related than by love of kindred music—Caroline Bowles.
[114] Criminals were banished to this island.