Select Poetry.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3975, 24 September 1881, Page 1

Select Poetry.

LUX VENIT AB ALTO.

BY H. J DANIEL. Light cometh from above—the gladsome lights The light of Heaven that cheers as weli as guides, And giveth to the soul high hope besides; Whene'er it shines, it banishes the night ■ Where error grows, and doubt in darkness hides.

From sun, from moon, from stars, a shirting host Comes the swift light to gladden the green earth, Of all created things the first in birth; Above all gold the rich man's pride and boast, Ay, far above, its great, its priceless worth.

Where God's Almighty fiat raws: through space Let there be light ! it came; though all before Was deepest darkness, darkness then no more. With solemn awe the bright angelic race Beheld, and knelt to worship and adore.

Mysterious in thy nature, effluence bright, Mo3t mighty and most marvellous ! Canst thou be A mirror'd Remblance of the Deity ? For is not God the uncreated light Which human vision is not formed to see ?

Our summer flowers in all their rich array, - . The purple hill, the valley's emerald green, And the unpillar'd welkin's sapphire fchaen, But for the colour-giving light of day, [been 7 Nature's great limner! whore would these have

Imagine the great sun eclipsed for years, ' And every star oxtinguished—over all i Darkness descending like a sable pall, And millions for the light that ne'er appears Watching in vain on this terraguious ball.

Beyond conception possible! Yet He Who made the light could in a moment bring This dire catastrophe, for He is King O'er all, and more than all the eye can see, The Ruler and the Lord of everything.

God made the light, howbeit needing none: There is a living light that dwells in Him, Its unyeil'd glory awes the Seraphim, And will as brightly shine when stars and sun, After the lapse of ages have grown dim.

The solar's splendour and the moon's pale ray Which make our little world surpassing fair, Are wanted riot in Heaven—God's presence there Is the sole source of one eternal day; Too pure, too bright for human eyes to bear. Plymouth (England), July, 1881.