In solemn council sat the Gods;
From Kolob's height supreme,
Celestial light blazed forth afar
O'er countless kokaubeam;
And faintest tinge, the fiery fringe
Of that resplendent day,
'Lumined the dark abysmal realm
Where earth in chaos lay.
Silence. That awful hour was one
When thought doth most avail;
Of worlds unborn the destiny
Hung trembling in the scale.
Silence self-spelled, and there arose,
Those kings and priests among,
A power sublime, than whom appeared
None nobler 'mid the throng.
A stature mingling strength with grace,
Of meek though God-like mien;
The glory of whose countenance
Outshone the noonday sheen.
Whiter his hair than ocean spray,
Or frost of Alpine hill.
He spake;—attention grew more grave,
The stillness e'en more still.
"Father!"—the voice like music fell,
Clear as the murmuring flow
Of mountain streamlet trickling down
From heights of virgin snow.
"Father," it said, "since one must die,
Thy children to redeem,
From spheres all formless now and void,
Where pulsing life shall teem:
"And mighty Michael foremost fall,
That mortal man may be;
And chosen Savior yet must send,
Lo, here am I—send me!
I ask, I seek no recompense,
Save that which then were mine;
Mine be the willing sacrifice,
The endless glory Thine!
"Give me to lead to this lorn world,
When wandered from the fold,
Twelve legions of the noble ones
That now thy face behold;
Tried souls, 'mid untried spirits found,
That captained these may be,
And crowned the dispensations all
With powers of Deity.
"Who blameless bide the spirit state
Shall clothe in mortal clay,
The stepping-stone to glories all,
If man will God obey,
Believing where he cannot see,
Till he again shall know,
And answer give, reward receive,
For all deeds done below.
"The love that hath redeemed all worlds
All worlds must still redeem;
But mercy cannot justice rob—
Or where were Elohim?
Freedom—man's faith, man's work, God's grace—
Must span the great gulf o'er;
Life, death, the guerdon or the doom,
Rejoice we or deplore."
Still rang that voice, when sudden rose
Aloft a towering form,
Proudly erect as lowering peak
'Lumed by the gathering storm;
A presence bright and beautiful,
With eye of flashing fire,
A lip whose haughty curl bespoke
A sense of inward ire:
"Send me!"—coiled 'neath his courtly smile
A scarce concealed disdain—
"And none shall hence, from heaven to earth,
That shall not rise again;
My saving plan exception scorns.
Man's will?—Nay, mine alone.
As recompense, I claim the right
To sit on yonder throne!
"Ceased Lucifer. The breathless hush
Resumed and denser grew.
All eyes were turned; the general gaze
One common Magnet drew.
A moment there was solemn pause—
Listened Eternity,
While rolled from lips Omnipotent
The Father's firm decree:
"Jehovah, thou my Messenger!
Son Ahman, thee I send;
And one shall go thy face before,
While twelve thy steps attend;
And many more on that far shore,
The pathway shall prepare,
That I, the First, the last may come,
And earth my glory share.
"After and ere thy going down,
An army shall descend—
The host of God, and house of him
Whom I have named my friend.
Through him, upon Idumea,
Shall come, all life to leaven,
The guileless ones, the sovereign Sons,
Throned on the heights of heaven.
"Go forth, thou Chosen of the Gods,
Whose strength shall in thee dwell!
Go down betime and rescue earth,
Dethroning death and hell,
On thee alone man's fate depends,
The fate of beings all.
Thou shalt not fail, though thou art free—
Free, but too great to fall.
"By arm divine, both mine and thine,
The lost thou shalt restore,
And man, redeemed, with God shall be,
As God forevermore.
Return, and to the parent fold
This wandering planet bring,
And Earth shall hail thee Conqueror,
And Heaven proclaim thee King."
'Twas done. From congregation vast
Tumultuous murmurs rose;
Waves of conflicting sound, as when
Two meeting seas oppose;
'Twas finished. But the Heavens wept;
And still their annals tell
How one was Choice of Elohim,
O'er one who fighting fell.
("Elias," Canto III, Part One.)
