"And thou shalt offer every day a bullock, for a sin offering."— Exodus xxix. 36.
Sweet fire of Love, consume the sacrifice!
Long labored I to bring the bullock here.
Stiff-necked self-will, that reared so proudly up,
And ever broke his chair., to trample free
O'er all the tender flow'rs of budding Spring!
Dear Lord, and e'en at last, when strong in hand
I held the chain, and toward the altar-foot
Dragged on the roaring animality;—
Once more — hoof down upon my breast,
Upreared he, furious, and then again
Was loosed to trample all the fragrant flowers.
As I lay there, too weak to even weep,
There paused a radiant Angel near;—
Blazing upon her breast a dazzling Word;—
'Twas Science!
Surely before, I never saw,
That glorious form! Yet it seemed as 'twere
The one and only form I ever knew;
The filling full of all the empty forms
Of Truth and Beauty man had ever dreamed.
