divine refreshment, when I stood 50
Upon the mount of vision with our Lord
That day when in transfigured form he rose.
Oh! well do I remember it, who saw,
With James and Peter, by the sight oppressed,
The glorious apparition. Each stray cloud
Wandered far off, and lost in the blue sky,
And not a freckle stained the firmament
High overhead. The mystic mount itself,
Tabor, seemed rising up to heaven, and loomed
In such illumination, that the track 60
Below, and all the plains of Galilee,
Rivers and lake to the great western sea, 62
Looked cold and dim, even in the morning sun;
Such was the glory of the sudden blaze
That wrapped the mount. The crowd of lesser hills
On to the city of Tiberias,
Appeared below o'er which the eagle sailed,
Mute, for his eyes yet blenched from the excess
Of light, unlike the sun, that startled him,
With bursting splendour, where he slept. He flew, 70
High soaring o'er the hills of Jezreel,
On to the mountains of Samaria.
We fell upon the ground, and with our hands
Covered our faces, when we raised our eyes,
We saw three glorified appearances;
Two, as of aged prophets, with their beards
Streaming; each held a book, and in the midst,
And, buoyant in the air, his countenance
Bright as the sun, our Saviour's form appeared
Above them, while his vest, intensely white, 80
Floated, as thus transfigured he arose.
With clasped hands, and eyes upraised to heaven,
Peter, in joy and wonder, ardently
Cried: Let us build three tabernacles here,
To Moses, and Elias, and to thee,
Saviour and God! not knowing what he said.
A cloud now interposed between the light,
Softening its glory, while a voice was heard
From the bright cloud, Lo, my beloved Son--
Hear him! At once the shadowy imagery, 90
The visionary pomp, the radiant cloud,
Were rolled away, and Jesus stood alone;
For they who held high converse, and whose forms,
Appeared in thinner air, above the blaze,
Were gone with the departing cloud: his hand
He placed upon our heads, and said, Fear not! 96
And that calm look of dignity and love
Was placed upon us, as before. Again
We saw the sun--the cloudless cope of heaven--
The long g