The Rainbow. Gen. 8. 20-22; 9. 13-17
J. Hart L.M.
1
When, deaf to every warning given,
Man braved the patient power of heaven,
Great in his anger, God arose,
Deluged the world, and drowned his foes.
2
Vengeance, that called for this just doom,
Retired to make sweet mercy room;
God, of his wrath repenting, swore
A flood should drown the earth no more.
3
That future ages this might know,
He placed in heaven his radiant bow;
The sign, till time itself shall fail,
That waters shall no more prevail.
4
[The beauties of this bow but shine
To vulgar eyes as something fine;
Others investigate their cause
By mediums drawn from nature’s laws.
5
But what great ends can men pursue
From schemes like these, suppose them true?
Describe the form, the cause define,
The rainbow still remains a sign.
6
A sign in which by faith we read
The covenant God with Noah made;
A noble end and truly great;
But something greater lies there yet.]
7
This bow that beams with vivid light,
Presents a sign to Christian sight,
That God has sworn (who dares condemn?)
He will no more be wroth with them.
8
[Thus the believer, when he views
The rainbow in its various hues,
May say, “Those lively colours shine
To show that heaven is surely mine.
9
“See in yon cloud what tinctures glow,
And gild the smiling vales below;
So smiles my cheerful soul to see
My God is reconciled to me.”]
