Page:Poems Hoffman.djvu/158

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THE CHAMBERS OF IMAGERY

(Ezekiel 8:12.)

In the chambers of imagery the aged prophet stood,
And gazed upon the things unseen save by the eye of God.
From vision unto vision by the guiding Spirit led
He had looked on living beings that to all the world were dead;
He had listened to their voices, he had heard the gathering sound
Of their wings, whose mighty rushing filled the heavenly courts around.

And the voice of God had spoken hidden secrets to his ear,
While the heavens ablaze with jewels filled his soul with joy and fear.
Then from out the amber brightness the old prophet's soul was swept
To the dark and hidden chambers where the thoughts of men are kept.

In the chambers of imagery the aged prophet gropes—
Where are all his jeweled visions? Where are now his rainbow hopes?
Standing in the dark and dampness of those light-forsaken halls,
See him scan the forms ignoble pictured on the silent walls;
Forms of low and creeping reptiles that are hiding from the light—
Forms of beasts that crouch in cruel expectation of the night;
While without, the stars are gemming regal nature's azure crown.

Here are forms of soulless idols, where the souls of men bow down,
And the prophet hears, while standing in the dark more dense than night,
Voices whispering, "These are hidden from the Lord of life and light."

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