# The Sceptic (Hemans)/The Sceptic

THE SCEPTIC.
"Leur raison, qu'ils prennent pour guide, ne présente à leur esprit que des conjectures et des embarrass; les absurdités où ils tombent en niant la Religion deviennent plue insoutenables que les verités dont la hauteur les étonne; et pour ne vouloir pas croire des mystères incompréhensibles, ils suivent l'une après l'autre d'incompréhensibles erreurs," Bossuet, Oraisons Funèbres.
When the young Eagle, with exulting eye, Has learn'd to dare the splendour of the sky, And leave the Alps beneath him in his course, To bathe his crest in morn's empyreal source; Will his free wing, from that majestic height, Descend to follow some wild meteor's light, Which far below, with evanescent fire, Shines to delude and dazzles to expire?
 No! still through clouds he wins his upward way, And proudly claims his heritage of day! —And shall the spirit, on whose ardent gaze The dayspring from on high hath pour'd its blaze, Turn from that pure effulgence, to the beam Of earth-born light that sheds a treacherous gleam,
Luring the wanderer from the star of faith To the deep valley of the shades of death? What bright exchange, what treasure shall be given, For the high birthright of its hope in Heaven? If lost the gem which empires could not buy, What yet remains?—a dark eternity!
 Is earth still Eden?—might a Seraph guest Still 'midst its chosen bowers delighted rest? Is all so cloudless and so calm below, We seek no fairer scenes than life can show? That the cold Sceptic, in his pride elate, Rejects the promise of a brighter state, And leaves the rock, no tempest shall displace, To rear his dwelling on the quicksand's base?
 Votary of doubt! then join the festal throng, Bask in the sunbeam, listen to the song, Spread the rich board, and fill the wine-cup high, And bind the wreath ere yet the roses die! 'Tis well—thine eye is yet undimm'd by time, And thy heart bounds, exulting in its prime; Smile then unmoved at Wisdom's warning voice, And, in the glory of thy strength, rejoice!
 But life hath sterner tasks; e'en youth's brief hours Survive the beauty of their loveliest flowers; The founts of joy, where pilgrims rest from toil, Are few and distant on the desert soil; The soul's pure flame the breath of storms must fan, And pain and sorrow claim their nursling—Man!
Earth's noblest sons the bitter cup have shared— Proud child of reason! how art thou prepared? When years, with silent might, thy frame have bow'd, And o'er thy spirit cast their wintry cloud, Will Memory soothe thee on thy bed of pain With the bright images of pleasure's train?
 Yes! as the sight of some far-distant shore, Whose well-known scenes his foot shall tread no more, Would cheer the seaman, by the eddying wave Drawn, vainly struggling, to th' unfathom'd grave! Shall Hope, the faithful cherub, hear thy call, She who, like heaven's own sunbeam, smiles for all? Will she speak comfort?—Thou hast shorn her plume, That might have raised thee far above the tomb, And hush'd the only voice whoso angel tone Soothes when all melodies of joy are flown!
 For she was born beyond the stars to soar, And kindling at the source of life, adore; Thou could'st not, mortal! rivet to the earth Her eye, whose beam is of celestial birth; She dwells with those who leave her pinion free, And sheds the dews of heaven on all but thee.
 Yet few there are so lonely, so bereft, But some true heart, that beats to theirs, is left, And, haply, one whose strong affection's power Unchanged may triumph through misfortune’s hour,
Still with fond care supports thy languid head, And keeps unwearied vigils by thy bed.
 But thou whose thoughts have no blest home above, Captive of earth! and canst thou dare to love? To nurse such feelings as delight to rest, Within that hallow'd shrine—a parent's breast, To fix each hope, concentrate every tie, On one frail idol—destined but to die; Yet mock the faith that points to worlds of light, Where sever'd souls, made perfect, re-unite? Then tremble! cling to every passing joy, Twined with the life a moment may destroy! If there be sorrow in a parting tear, Still let "for ever" vibrate on thine car! If some bright hour on rapture's wing hath flown, Find more than anguish in the thought—'tis gone!
 Go! to a voice such magic influence give, Thou canst not lose its melody, and live; And make an eye the lode-star of thy soul, And let a glance the springs of thought control; Gaze on a mortal form with fond delight, Till the fair vision mingles with thy sight; There seek thy blessings, there repose thy trust, Lean on the willow, idolize the dust! Then, when thy treasure best repays thy care, Think on that dread "for ever"—and despair!
 And oh! no strange, unwonted storm there needs, To wreck at once thy fragile ark of reeds.
Watch well its course—explore with anxious eye Each little cloud that floats along the sky— Is the blue canopy serenely fair? Yet may the thunderbolt unseen be there, And the bark sink when peace and sunshine sleep On the smooth bosom of the waveless deep! Yes! ere a sound, a sign, announce thy fate, May the blow fall which makes thee desolate! Not always heaven's destroying angel shrouds His awful form in tempests and in clouds; He fills the summer air with latent power, He hides his venom in the scented flower, He steals upon thee in the Zephyr's breath, And festal garlands veil the shafts of death!
 Where art thou then, who thus didst rashly cast Thine all upon the mercy of the blast, And vainly hope the tree of life to find Booted in sands that flit before the wind? Is not that earth thy spirit loved so well, It wish'd not in a brighter sphere to dwell, Become a desert now, a vale of gloom, O'ershadow'd with the midnight of the tomb? Where shalt thou turn?—It is not thine to raise To yon pure heaven thy calm confiding gaze, No gleam reflected from that realm of rest Steals on the darkness of thy troubled breast; Not for thine eye shall Faith divinely shed Her glory round the image of the dead; And if, when slumber's lonely couch is prest, The form departed be thy spirit's guest, It bears no light from purer worlds to this; Thy future lends not e'en a dream of bliss.
But who shall dare the gate of life to close, Or say, thus far the stream of mercy flows? That fount unseal'd, whose boundless waves embrace Each distant isle, and visit every race, Pours from the throne of God its current free, Nor yet denies th' immortal draught to thee. O! while the doom impends, not yet decreed, While yet th' Atoner hath not ceased to plead, While still, suspended by a single hair, The sharp bright sword hangs quivering in the air, Bow down thy heart to Him who will not break The bruised reed; e'en yet, awake, awake! Patient, because Eternal,$^1$ He may hear Thy prayer of agony with pitying ear, And send his chastening Spirit from above, O'er the deep chaos of thy soul to move.
 But seek thou mercy through His name alone, To whose unequall'd sorrows none was shown. Through Him, who here in mortal garb abode, As man to suffer, and to heal as God; And, born the sons of utmost time to bless, Endured all scorn, and aided all distress.
 Call thou on Him—for He, in human form, Hath walk'd the waves of life, and still'd the storm. He, when her hour of lingering grace was past, O'er Salem wept, relenting to the last, Wept with such tears as Judah's monarch pour'd O'er his lost child, ungrateful, yet deplored; And, offering guiltless blood that guilt might live, Taught from his Cross the lesson—to forgive!
Call thou on Him—his prayer e'en then arose, Breathed in unpitied anguish for his foes. And haste!—ere bursts the lightning from on high, Fly to the City of thy Refuge, fly!$^2$ So shall th' Avenger turn his steps away, And sheath his falchion, baffled of its prey.
 Yet must long days roll on, ere peace shall brood, As the soft halcyon, o'er thy heart subdued; Ere yet the Dove of Heaven descend to shed Inspiring influence o'er thy fallen head. —He who hath pined in dungeons, 'midst the shade Of such deep night as man for man hath made, Through lingering years; if call'd at length to be Once more, by nature's boundless charter, free, Shrinks feebly back, the blaze of noon to shun, Fainting at day, and blasted by the sun.
 Thus, when the captive soul hath long remain'd In its own dread abyss of darkness chain'd, If the Deliverer, in his might, at last, Its fetters, born of earth, to earth should cast, The beam of truth o'erpowers its dazzled sight, Trembling it sinks, and finds no joy in light But this will pass away—that spark of mind, Within thy frame unquenchably enshrined. Shall live to triumph in its bright'ning ray, Born to be foster'd with ethereal day. Then wilt thou bless the hour, when o'er thee pass'd, On wing of flame, the purifying blast, And sorrow's voice, through paths before untrod, Like Sinai's trumpet, call'd thee to thy God!
But hopest thou, in thy panoply of pride, Heaven's messenger, affliction, to deride? In thine own strength unaided to defy, With Stoic smile, the arrows of the sky? Torn by the vulture, fetter'd to the rock, Still, demigod! the tempest wilt thou mock? Alas! the tower that crests the mountain's brow A thousand years may awe the vale below, Yet not the less be shatter'd on its height, By one dread moment of the earthquake's might! A thousand pangs thy bosom may have borne, In silent fortitude or haughty scorn, Till comes the one, the master-anguish, sent To break the mighty heart that ne'er was bent.
 Oh! what is nature's strength? The vacant eye, By mind deserted, hath a dread reply! The wild delirious laughter of despair, The mirth of frenzy—seek an answer there! Turn not away, though pity's cheek grow pale, Close not thine ear against their awful tale. They tell thee, Reason, wandering from the ray Of Faith, the blazing pillar of her way, In the mid-darkness of the stormy wave, Forsook the struggling soul she could not save! Weep not, sad moralist! o'er desert plains Strew'd with the wrecks of grandeur—mouldering fanes, Arches of triumph, long with weeds o'ergrown, And regal cities, now the serpent's own: Earth has more awful ruins—one lost mind, Whose star is quench'd, hath lessons for mankind,
Of deeper import than each prostrate dome Mingling its marble with the dust of Rome.
 But who, with eye unshrinking shall explore That waste, illumed by reason's beam no more? Who pierce the deep, mysterious clouds that roll Around the shatter'd temple of the soul, Curtain'd with midnight?—Low its columns lie, And dark the chambers of its imag'ry,$^3$ Sunk are its idols now—and God alone May rear the fabric by their fall o'erthrown! Yet from its inmost shrine, by storms laid bare, Is heard an oracle that cries—"Beware! Child of the dust! but ransom'd of the skies! One breath of Heaven—and thus thy glory dies! Haste, ere the hour of doom—draw nigh to him Who dwells above, between the cherubim!"
 Spirit dethroned! and check'd in mid career, Son of the morning! exiled from thy sphere, Tell us thy tale!—Perchance thy race was run With science in the chariot of the sun; Free as the winds the paths of space to sweep, Traverse the untrodden kingdoms of the deep, And search the laws that Nature's springs control, There tracing all—save Him who guides the whole!
 Haply thine eye its ardent glance had cast Through the dim shades, the portals of the past; By the bright lamp of thought thy care had fed From the far beacon-lights of ages fled,
The depths of time exploring, to retrace The glorious march of many a vanish'd race.
 Or did thy power pervade the living lyre, Till its deep chords became instinct with fire, Silenced all meaner notes, and swell'd on high, Full and alone, their mighty harmony, While woke each passion from its cell profound, And nations started at th' electric sound?
 Lord of th' ascendant! what avails it now, Though bright the laurels waved upon thy brow? What, though thy name, through distant empires heard, Bade the heart bound, as doth a battle-word? Was it for this thy still-unwearied eye Kept vigil with the watchfires of the sky, To make the secrets of all ages thine, And commune with majestic thoughts that shine O'er Time’s long shadowy pathway?—hath thy mind Sever'd its lone dominions from mankind, For this to woo their homage?—Thou hast sought All, save the wisdom with salvation fraught, Won every wreath—but that which will not die, Nor aught neglected—save eternity!
 And did all fail thee in the hour of wrath, When burst th' o'erwhelming vials on thy path? Could not the voice of Fame inspire thee then, O spirit! scepter'd by the sons of men, With an immortal's courage, to sustain The transient agonies of earthly pain?
—One, one there was, all-powerful to have saved, When the loud fury of the billow raved; But him thou knew'st not—and the light he lent Hath vanish'd from its ruin'd tenement, But left thee breathing, moving, lingering yet, A thing we shrink from—vainly to forget! —Lift the dread veil no further—hide, oh! hide The bleeding form, the couch of suicide! The dagger, grasp'd in death—the brow, the eye, Lifeless, yet stamp'd with rage and agony; The soul's dark traces left in many a line Graved on his mein, who died—"and made no sign!" Approach not, gaze not—lest thy fever'd brain Too deep that image of despair retain; Angels of slumber! o'er the midnight hour, Let not such visions claim unhallow'd power, Lest the mind sink with terror, and above See but th' Avenger's arm, forget th' Atoner's love!
 O Thou! th' unseen, th' all-seeing!—Thou whose ways, Mantled with darkness, mock all finite gaze, Before whose eyes the creatures of Thy hand, Seraph and man alike, in weakness stand, And countless ages, trampling into clay Earth's empires on their march, are but a day; Father of worlds unknown, unnumber'd!—Thou, With whom all time is one eternal now,
Who know'st no past nor future—Thou whose breath
Goes forth, and bears to myriads life or death! Look on us, guide us!—wanderers of a sea Wild and obscure, what are we, reft of Thee? A thousand rocks, deep-hid, elude our sight, A star may set—and we are lost in night; A breeze may waft us to the whirlpool's brink, A treacherous song allure us—and we sink!
 Oh! by His love, who, veiling Godhead's light, To moments circumscribed the Infinite, And heaven and earth disdain'd not to ally By that dread union—Man with Deity; Immortal tears o'er mortal woes who shed, And, ere he raised them, wept above the dead; Save, or we perish!—Let Thy word control The earthquakes of that universe—the soul; Pervade the depths of passion; speak once more The mighty mandate, guard of every shore, "Here shall thy waves be stay’d"—in grief, in pain, The fearful poise of reason's sphere maintain, Thou, by whom suns are balanced!—thus secure In Thee shall Faith and Fortitude endure: Conscious of Thee, unfaltering, shall the just Look upward still, in high and holy trust, And by affliction guided to Thy shrine, The first, last thought of suffering hearts be Thine.
 And oh! be near when, clothed with conquering power, The King of Terrors claims his own dread hour: When on the edge of that unknown abyss, Which darkly parts us from the realm of bliss,
Awe-struck alike the timid and the brave, Alike subdued the monarch and the slave, Must drink the cup of trembling$^4$—when we see Nought in the universe but Death and Thee, Forsake us not—if still, when life was young, Faith to thy bosom, as her home, hath sprung, If Hope's retreat hath been, through all the past, The shadow by the Rock of Ages cast, Father, forsake us not!—When tortures urge The shrinking soul to that mysterious verge; When from Thy justice to Thy love we fly, On Nature's conflict look with pitying eye, Bid the strong wind, the fire, the earthquake cease, Come in the small still voice, and whisper—peace!$^5$
 For oh! 'tis awful!—He that hath beheld The parting spirit, by its fears repell'd, Cling in weak terror to its earthly chain, And from the dizzy brisk recoil, in vain; He that hath seen the last convulsive throe Dissolve the union form'd and closed in woe, Well knows that hour is awful—In the pride Of youth and health, by sufferings yet untried, We talk of Death, as something, which 'twere sweet In Glory's arms exultingly to meet, A closing triumph, a majestic scene, Where gazing nations watch the hero's mien, As, undismay'd amidst the tears of all, He folds his mantle, regally to fall!
 Hush, fond enthusiast!—still, obscure, and lone, Yet not less terrible because unknown,
Is the last hour of thousands—they retire From life's throng'd path, unnoticed to expire; As the light leaf, whose fall to ruin bears Some trembling insect's little world of cares, Descends in silence—while around waves on The mighty forest, reckless what is gone! Such is man's doom—and, ere an hour be flown, —Start not, thou trifler!—such may be thine own.
 But, as life's current in its ebb draws near The shadowy gulf, there wakes a thought of fear, A thrilling thought, which haply mock'd before, We fain would stifle—but it sleeps no more! There are who fly its murmurs 'midst the throng, That join the masque of revelry and song; Yet still Death's image, by its power restored, Frowns 'midst the roses of the festal board, And when deep shades o'er earth and ocean brood, And the heart owns the might of solitude, Is its low whisper heard?—a note profound, But wild and startling as the trumpet sound, That bursts, with sudden blast, the dead repose Of some proud city, storm'd by midnight foes!
 Oh! vainly Reason's scornful voice would prove That life had nought to claim such lingering love, And ask if e'er the captive, half unchain'd, Clung to the links which yet his step restrain'd? In vain Philosophy, with tranquil pride, Would mock the feelings she perchance can hide, Call up the countless armies of the dead, Point to the pathway beaten by their tread,
And say—"What wouldst thou? Shall the fix’d decree, Made for creation, be reversed for thee?" —Poor, feeble aid!—proud Stoic! ask not why, It is enough, that nature shrinks to die! Enough, that horror, which thy words upbraid, Is her dread penalty, and must be paid! —Search thy deep wisdom, solve the scarce defined And mystic questions of the parting mind, Half check'd, half utter’d—tell her, what shall burst, In whelming grandeur, on her vision first,
When freed from mortal films?— what viewless world Shall first receive her wing, but half unfurl'd? What awful and unbodied beings guide Her timid flight through regions yet untried? Say, if at once, her final doom to hear, Before her God the trembler must appear, Or wait that day of terror, when the sea Shall yield its hidden dead, and heaven and earth shall flee?
 Hast thou no answer?—Then deride no more The thoughts that shrink, yet cease not to explore Th' unknown, th' unseen, the future—though the heart, As at unearthly sounds, before them start; Though the frame shudder, and the spirit sigh, They have their source in immortality!
Whence, then, shall strength, which reason's aid denies, An equal to the mortal conflict rise?
When, on the swift pale horse, whose lightning pace, Where'er we fly, still wins the dreadful race, The mighty rider comes—O whence shall aid Be drawn, to meet his rushing, undismay'd? —Whence, but from thee, Messiah!—thou hast drain'd The bitter cup, till not the dregs remain'd; To thee the struggle and the pangs were known, The mystic horror—all became thine own!
 But did no hand celestial succour bring, Till scorn and anguish haply lost their sting? Came not th' Archangel, in the final hour, To arm thee with invulnerable power? No, Son of God! upon thy sacred head The shafts of wrath their tenfold fury shed, From man averted—and thy path on high Pass'd through the strait of fiercest agony; For thus th' Eternal, with propitious eyes, Received the last, the almighty sacrifice!
 But wake! be glad, ye nations! from the tomb Is won the victory, and is fled the gloom! The vale of death in conquest hath been trod, Break forth in joy, ye ransom'd! saith your God! Swell ye the raptures of the song afar, And hail with harps your bright and Morning Star.
 He rose! the everlasting gates of day Received the King of Glory on his way! The hope, the comforter of those who wept, And the first-fruits of them, in Him that slept.
He rose, he triumph'd! he will yet sustain Frail nature sinking in the strife of pain. Aided by Him, around the martyr's frame When fiercely blazed a living shroud of flame, Hath the firm soul exulted, and the voice Raised the victorious hymn, and cried, Rejoice! Aided by Him, though none the bed attend, Where the lone sufferer dies without a friend, He whom the busy world shall miss no more Than morn one dewdrop from her countless store, Earth's most neglected child, with trusting heart, Call'd to the hope of glory, shall depart!
 And say, cold Sophist! if by thee bereft Of that high hope, to misery what were left? But for the vision of the days to be, But for the comforter, despised by thee. Should we not wither at the Chastener's look, Should we not sink beneath our God's rebuke, When o'er our heads the desolating blast, Fraught with inscrutable decrees, hath pass'd, And the stern power who seeks the noblest prey, Hath call'd our fairest and our best away? Should we not madden when our eyes behold All that we loved in marble stillness cold, No more responsive to our smile or sigh, Fix'd—frozen—silent—all mortality? But for the promise, all shall yet be well, Would not the spirit in its pangs rebel, Beneath such clouds as darken'd, when the hand Of wrath lay heavy on our prostrate land;
And thou,* just lent thy gladden'd isles to bless, Then snatch'd from earth with all thy loveliness, With all a nation's blessings on thy head, O England's flower! wert gather'd to the dead? But thou didst teach us. Thou to every heart, Faith's lofty lesson didst thyself impart! When fled the hope through all thy pangs which smiled, When thy young bosom o'er thy lifeless child, Yearn'd with vain longing—still thy patient eye To its last light beam'd holy constancy! Torn from a lot in cloudless sunshine cast, Amidst those agonies—thy first and last, Thy pale lip, quivering with convulsive throes, Breathed not a plaint—and settled in repose; While bow'd thy royal head to Him, whose power Spoke in the fiat of that midnight hour, Who from the brightest vision of a throne, Love, glory, empire, claim'd thee for his own, And spread such terror o'er the sea-girt coast, As blasted Israel, when her Ark was lost!
 "It is the will of God!"—yet, yet we hear The words which closed thy beautiful career; Yet should we mourn thee in thy blest abode, But for that thought—"It is the will of God!" Who shall arraign th' Eternal's dark decree, If not one murmur then escaped from thee? Oh! still, though vanishing without a trace, Thou hast not left one scion of thy race,
Still may thy memory bloom our vales among, Hallow'd by freedom and enshrined in song! Still may thy pure, majestic spirit dwell, Bright on the isles which loved thy name so well, E'en as an angel, with presiding care, To wake and guard thine own high virtues there.
 For lo! the hour when storm-presaging skies Call on the watchers of the land to rise, To set the sign of fire on every height,$^6$ And o'er the mountains rear with patriot might, Prepared, if summon'd, in its cause to die, The banner of our faith, the Cross of victory!
 By this hath England conquer'd—field and flood Have own'd her sov'reignty—alone she stood, When chains o'er all the scepter'd earth were thrown, In high and holy singleness, alone, But mighty in her God—and shall she now Forget before th' Omnipotent to bow? From the bright fountain of her glory turn, Or bid strange fire upon his altars burn? No! sever'd land, 'midst rocks and billows rude, Throned in thy majesty of solitude, Still in the deep asylum of thy breast Shall the pure elements of greatness rest, Virtue and faith, the tutelary powers, Thy hearths that hallow, and defend thy towers!
 Still, where thy hamlet-vales, O chosen isle! In the soft beauty of their verdure smile,
Where yew and elm o'ershade the lowly fanes, That guard the peasant's records and remains, May the blest echoes of the Sabbath-bell Sweet on the quiet of the woodlands swell, And from each cottage-dwelling of thy glades, When starlight glimmers through the deep'ning shades, Devotion's voice in choral hymns arise, And bear the land's warm incense to the skies.
 There may the mother, as with anxious joy To Heaven her lessons consecrate her boy, Teach his young accent still the immortal lays Of Zion's bards, in inspiration's days, When angels, whispering through the cedar shade, Prophetic tones to Judah's harp convey'd; And as, her soul all glistening in her eyes, She bids the prayer of infancy arise, Tell of his name, who left his Throne on high. Earth's lowliest lot to bear and sanctify, His love divine, by keenest anguish tried, And fondly say—"My child, for thee He died!"
NOTES.
* ↑ Note 1, page 6, line 13. Patient, because Eternal. "He is patient, because He is eternal." St Augustine.
* ↑ Note 2, page 7, line 4. Fly to the City of thy Refuge, fly! "Then ye shall appoint you cities, to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither which killeth any person at unawares.—And they shall be unto you cities of refuge from the avenger."—Numbers, chap. 35.
* ↑ Note 3, page 9, line 8. And dark the chambers of its imag'ry. "Every man in the chambers of his imagery." Ezekiel, chap. 8.
* ↑ Note 4, page 13, line 3. Must drink the cup of trembling. "Thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out."—Isaiah, chap. 51.
* ↑ Note 5, page 13, line 14. Come in the still small voice, and whisper—peace. "And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." Kings, book i. chap. 19.
* ↑ * The Princess Charlotte.
* ↑ Note 6, page 19, line 9. To set the sign of fire on every height. "And set up a sign of fire."—Jeremiah, chap. 6.