The Pillars of the Nave: Abraham

Great emblem of the righteous, who shall stand
Girt with bright clouds on the eternal strand,
And see the world in ruin going by,
Stood Abraham, and for Sodom look'd from high.

Behind a misty bank, skirted with gold,
The morning was contending, to unfold
And open all the gloom, where lightnings now
Retiring show'd black waters far below ;
And nothing but destruction seem'd alive,
Save where was seen a hurrying fugitive
With his two daughters, suddenly reveal'd,
And Zoar — by dark clouds again conceal'd.

'Twas on that mount where, at last evening's close,
He stood with God ; strengthened with thought that rose
On his true soul, when importuning love
Long interceded, nor all vainly strove.

Was it in that dread hour that Bethlehem's star
Gleam'd on thy sorrowing heart, and shew'd afar
That Coming, which shall light this vale of woe ?
Sure that deep calm was thine, which spirits know
When, first awak'ning from the world's alarms,
They feel beneath the everlasting arms.