24 REDEMPTION.
Is here for you, where only seraphs tread,
Where saints alone repair. His loyal spouse,
Th' illustrious parent of th' unsullied Queen,
Up to his royal couch, Joachim leads ;
As when, in Eden's bloom, Adam first led
The virgin Eve within their nuptial bower,
Fresh from the hands of God, sinless and pure.
No carnal thought, no lustful dalliance,
Were there to stain the purity, intact,
Of whom essential Purity ordain'd
To be co-operators in his work.
Th' archangel closer drew his armed guards,
Cohorts of cherubim, innumerous,
Whose two-edged swords in fiery circles blazed,
Whilst all around, horrent with spears thick strown,
The heav'nly embassage appear'd, intent
To ward, or harm or thought of harm, from off
The chosen pair ; or sly approach forefend
Of spirits malign, roaming th' earth around,
Eager for prey. Th' Almighty's arm above,
Beneath, encircled them ; for Deity
A moment left His throne on high, to breathe
A spotless soul within the spotless form
Of this the new created Eve, exempt
From stain, from sin original secured,
Through His redeeming blood, shed from before
The deep foundations of the world were laid,
And to her free applied ; more rich in grace
Than he, who, Israel's woes lamenting, sang ;
Or he, who, the prophetic choirs among
Stands chief, forerunner of the Lord. Fulgent
In graces both, but less than she, who sin
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