51. Abraham
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{101}
THE better portion didst thou choose, Great
Heart, |
Thy God's first choice, and pledge of
Gentile
grace! |
| Faith's truest type, he with unruffled face |
| Bore the world's smile, and bade her slaves depart; |
| Whether, a trader, with no trader's art, |
| He buys in Canaan his last resting-place,— |
| Or freely yields rich Siddim's ample space,— |
| Or braves the rescue, and the battle's smart, |
| Yet scorns the heathen gifts of those he saved. |
| O happy in their soul's high solitude, |
| Who commune thus with God, and not with earth! |
| Amid the scoffings of the wealth-enslaved, |
| A ready prey, as though in absent mood |
| They calmly move, nor reck the unmanner'd mirth. |
At Sea.
December 27, 1832. |