The Tree of Rivelin

by Ebenezer Elliott

The lightning, like an Arab, cross'd
    The moon's dark path on high,
And wild on Rivelin writhed and toss'd
    The stars and troubled sky,
Where lone the tree of ages grew,
    With branches wide and tall;
Ah! who, when such a tempest blew,
    Could hear his stormy fall?
But now the skies, the stars are still,
    The blue wave sleeps again,
And heath and moss, by rock and rill,
    Are whispering, in disdain,
That Rivelin's side is desolate,
    Her giant in the dust!
Beware, O Power! for God is great,
    O Guilt! for God is just!
And boast not, Pride! while millions pine,
    That wealth secures thy home;
The storm that shakes all hearths but thine
    Is not the storm to come.
The tremor of the stars is pale,
    The dead clod quakes with fear,
The worm slinks down, o'er hill and vale,
    When God in wroth draws near.
But if the Upas will not bend
    Beneath the frown of Heaven,
A whisper cometh, which shall rend
    What thunder hath not riven.