The Pillars of the Nave: Moses

Mortal, endow'd with more than Angel's grace !
Admitted to approach, and face to face
Converse with God ; upon the mount profound,
While the thick Darkness sentry kept around ;
Or 'neath His feet, when in the sapphire stone,
The body of the Heavens in clearness shone.

All nature at thy bidding stood aghast ;
And tempests came and went with ready blast ;
And the wild sea drew up his watery bands,
To save or to destroy at thy commands.

Thus didst thou shadow forth the Living Word
Who spoke in thee, and Nature knew its Lord.
Cleft at thy rod was the obedient stone.
And waters learn'd a sweetness not their own :
But more obdurate than the hardy rock,
Less yielding than the waves, thy stubborn flock.

Thus from an ardent soul the meekest man
Came forth ; for so, in the eternal plan,
Do outward circumstance and inward toil
In stern probation join ; 'mid the turmoil
Faith sits at the soul's helm, the storm to brave,
And gains the haven against wind and wave.