16 REDEMPTION.
Through it the torrent Cisson dcdalous,
Rolls its foul waters to the neighb'ring sea
A various plain, fertile and arid, dank
And dry, with beetling crags darkly o'erhung.
Within this dreary waste Joachim pass'd
His mournful days, bemoaning his sad lot,
His fruitless loins; with winds mingling his sighs,
And with the torrent floods of tears. " Ah me !"
He cried ; " why was I e'er conceived and born ?"
The scorn of men, deprived the smiles of Heav'n ;
Outcast from Israel, and from the hope
Of Israel's Consolation, soon to be.
What hath befall'n thy promise, Lord, that none
Among thy chosen seed, childlessness shall know?
Shall Nazareth as Jericho become,
And no Eliseus arise with power
To heal the fount of barrenness and death?
Forbid it Thou, who barren mak'st rejoice,
With many children joyfully dispensed.
Or, 'gainst me only is thy wrath outpour'd?
Me and thy handmaid, who, nor day nor night,
Cease to extol thy name, and frequent heap
Thine altars with the choicest of the flock ?"
So breath'd he loud his plaint, so urged his pray'r, With sighs and tears, low bending o'er the brook, Nor heard the sound of footsteps drawing near.
"Why weep'st thou, Joachim?" the angel ask'd; " Why art thou sad? All nature teems with joy; The valleys smile, with vernal honors deck'd, The fruitful hills rejoice, peace fills the earth, And universal expectation hails Messias' reign. Nor hcar'st thou not the voice,
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