silent.

STRANGER.

Look again. 160
John answered, There is nothing but the clouds
And seas, and the great sun above the waves,
That goeth forth in beauty.

STRANGER.

Look again.
John answered, Yes, upon the farthest line
Of the blue ocean-track, there is a speck
Of light; no; yes; there is a distant sail
In sight; it seems as speeding hitherward.

STRANGER.

Enough. Look to the west: what seest thou there?

JOHN.

Ah! all that hid the vast and various scene 170
Slowly withdraws, like morning mist. I see
Regions, in light and shade, beyond the isles,
Delos and Mycone, mountains and capes
Unfolding, through the mist, as if they stood
Beneath our feet. There, bays, and gulfs, and plains,
And wandering streams appear; and o'er them, high
Upon a hill, in the pale atmosphere,
A temple vast, as of some god renowned
In pagan lands.

STRANGER.

Thou seest the shores of Greece, 180
And that the illustrious city, so renowned,
Athens; upon that hill, the hill of Mars,
Paul stood, when, pointing to the skies above,
He spoke of fanes "not made with hands;" of God,
Who liveth in the heaven. What seest thou more?

JOHN.

Another land, stretched, like a giant's arm,
Across the deep, with seas on either side.
There, on seven hills, I see a city, crowned
With glittering domes; the nether champagne spread
With aqueducts, and columns, arches, and towers. 190

STRANGER.

It is the Imperial Mistress of the World,
Rome--Rome--now pagan; but a power unknown
Shall rise, and, throned on those seven hills-- 193
When Caesars moulder with their palaces,
Shall hold dominion o'er the prostrate world,
Not by their glittering legions, but the power
Of cowled Superstition, that shall keep
Kingdoms and kings in thrall; till, with a shout,
A brighter angel, from the heaven of heavens,
As ampler knowledge shoots her glorious beams, 200
Shall open the Lamb's book again, and night,
Beckoning her dismal shadows, and dark birds,
Fly hooting from the dayspring of that dawn.[179]
Burns not thy heart to think upon th