::R1950 : page 56::

THE GREAT PYRAMID

O mighty structure of a time
When nations dead were in their prime;
Whose lines and measurements immense
Were fashioned by Omnipotence,
And laid, without a word to check,
By king and priest Melchizedek!
What precious symbols long unknown
Were built beneath thy corner stone!
How faultless, graceful, every line,
In those stupendous walls of thine!
A sign and wonder, heaven-planned,
For saints, if wise, to understand;
An altar and a pillar tall,
To warn, instruct and comfort all,
Who faithful all their talents give
And, dying daily, die to live.

A witness mute, yet eloquent,
A marvel and a monument,
Upreared by hands inspired to prove
That God Eternal reigns in Love;
For in thy labyrinths we trace
His dealings with the human race—
The path to glory hard to tread,
The death of those to goodness dead,

The rough hewn narrowness of ways
That lead to life and endless days;
The step on step to life complete,
The Head, the Body and the Feet,
Of a great following joined in one
Eclipsing many a dazzling sun;
The depths unfath’mable profound,
Without an echo or a sound,
A symbol of the death of One,
Our Savior and Jehovah’s Son;
With signs and tokens scattered round
To prove He burst each icy bond
Of death the conqueror, conquered then,
For sinful and believing men;
The planes and parallels to guide
His Church elect and faithful Bride.

Its sure foundation solid rock,
Like faith impregnable. No shock—
Of ‘whelming flood, or raging storm—
Can shake an atom, or deform
That towering witness strong, divine,
To us a miracle—and sign
Of promised blessings sure to come,
A guide omnipotent to home. —R. S. FOSTER.

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— March 15, 1896 —