All light was swallowed up, all objects seen,
Faded ; and the Incarnate, visible
Alone, held every eye upon Him fixed !
The wicked saw his majesty severe,
And those who pierced Him, saw his face with

clouds

Of glory circled round, essential bright!
And to the rocks and mountains called in vain,
To hide them from the fierceness of his wrath :
Almighty power their flight restrained, and held
Them bound immoveable before the bar.

:

The righteous, undismayed and bold—best

proof This day of fortitude sincere-sustained By inward faith, with acclamations loud,

Received the coming of the Son of Man ;
And, drawn by love, inclined to his approach,
Moving to meet the brightness of his face.

Meantime, 'tween good and bad, the Judge,

his wheels

Stayed, and, ascending, sat upon the great White Throne, that morning founded there by

power Omnipotent, and built on righteousness And truth. Behind, before, on every side, In native, and reflected blaze of bright Celestial equipage, the myriads stood, That with his marching came ; rank above rank, Rank above rank, with shield and flaming sword.

'Twas silence all : and quick, on right and left, A mighty angel spread the book of God's Remembrance; and, with conscience, now sincere, All men compared the record written there, By finger of Omniscience, and received Their sentence, in themselves, of joy or wo, Condemned or justified, while yet the Judge, Waited, as if to let them prove themselves.

ܪ

The righteous, in the book of life displayed,
Rejoicing read their names ; rejoicing read
Their faith for righteousness received, and deeds
Of holiness, as proof of faith complete.
The wicked, in the book of endless death,
Spread out to left, bewailing read their names;
And read beneath them, Unbelief, and fruit
Of unbelief, vile, unrepented deeds,
Now unrepentable for evermore;
And gave approval of the wo affixed.

This done, the Omnipotent, Omniscient Judge,

Rose infinite, the sentence to pronounce ;

The sentence of eternal wo or bliss !

All glory heretofore seen or conceived;
All majesty, annihilated, dropped
That moment; from remembrance, and was lost;
And silence, deepest hitherto esteemed,
Seemed noisy to the stillness of this hour.
Comparisons I seek not ; nor should find,

If sought: that silence, which all being held,
When God's Almighty Son, from off the walls
Of heaven the rebel angels threw, accursed,
So still, that all creation heard their fall
Distinctly, in the lake of burning fire,
Was now forgotten, and every silence else.
All being rational, created then,

Around the judgment seat, intensely listened; No creature breathed : man, angel, devil, stood, And listened; the spheres stood still, and every

star

Stood still and listened ; and every particle

Remotest in the womb of matter stood,

Bending to hear, devotional and still.

And thus upon the wicked first, the Judge Pronounced the sentence, written before of old:

Depart from me, ye cursed, into the fire Prepared eternal in the Gulph of Hell, Where ye shall weep and wail for evermore ; Reaping the harvest which your sins have sown.” So saying, God grew dark with utter wrath ; And drawing now the sword, undrawn before, Which through the range of infinite, all round, A gleam of fiery indignation threw, He lifted up his hand omnipotent, And down among the damned the burning edge Plunged; and from forth his arrowy quiver sent, Emptied, the seven last thunders ruinous, Which, entering, withered all their souls with

fire.

Then first was vengeance, first was ruin seen ! Red, unrestrained, vindictive, final, fierce! They howling fled to west among the dark; But Aled not these the terrors of the Lord :

Pursued, and driven beyond the Gulph, which

frowns
Impassable, between the good and bad,
And downward far remote to left, oppressed
And scorched with the avenging fires, begun
Burning within them, they upon the verge