On Tabor's height a glory came, <br />And, shrined in clouds of lambent flame, <br />The awestruck, hushed disciples saw <br />Christ and the prophets of the law. <br />Moses, whose grand and awful face <br />Of Sinai's thunder bore the trace, <br />And wise Elias, in his eyes <br />The shade of Israel's prophecies, <br />Stood in that wide, mysterious light, <br />Than Syrian noons more purely bright, <br />One on each hand, and high between <br />Shone forth the godlike Nazarene. <br />They bowed their heads in holy fright, <br />No mortal eyes could bear the sight, <br />And when they looked again, behold! <br />The fiery clouds had backward rolled, <br />And borne aloft in grandeur lonely, <br />Nothing was left "save Jesus only." <br /> <br />Resplendent type of things to be! <br />We read its mystery to-day <br />With clearer eyes than even they, <br />The fisher-saints of Galilee. <br />We see the Christ stand out between <br />The ancient law and faith serene, <br />Spirit and letter; but above <br />Spirit and letter both was Love. <br /> <br />Led by the hand of Jacob's God, <br />Through wastes of eld a path was trod <br />By which the savage world could move <br />Upward through law and faith to love. <br />And there in Tabor's harmless flame <br />The crowning revelation came. <br />The old world knelt in homage due, <br />The prophets near in reverence drew, <br />Law ceased its mission to fulfill, <br />And Love was lord on Tabor's hill. <br /> <br />So now, while creeds perplex the mind <br />And wranglings load the weary wind, <br />When all the air is filled with words <br />And texts that ring like clashing swords, <br />Still, as for refuge, we may turn <br />Where Tabor's shining glories burn, <br />The soul of antique Israel gone, <br />And nothing left but Christ alone.<br /><br />John Hay<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mount-tabor/
