Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79. | | | | Syria: Moriah (Zion), the Mount | | The Temptation | | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) |
| | (From The Divine Tragedy)
LUCIFER TOO weak, alas! too weak is the temptation | |
| For one whose soul to nobler things aspires | |
| Than sensual desires! | |
| Ah, could I, by some sudden aberration, | |
| Lead and delude to suicidal death | 5 |
| This Christ of Nazareth! | |
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| Unto the holy Temple on Moriah, | |
| With its resplendent domes, and manifold | |
| Bright pinnacles of gold, | |
| Where they await thy coming, O Messiah! | 10 |
| Lo, I have brought thee! Let thy glory here | |
| Be manifest and clear. | |
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| Reveal thyself by royal act and gesture, | |
| Descending with the bright triumphant host | |
| Of all the highermost | 15 |
| Archangels, and about thee as a vesture | |
| The shining clouds, and all thy splendors show | |
| Unto the world below! | |
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| Cast thyself down, it is the hour appointed; | |
| And God hath given his angels charge and care | 20 |
| To keep thee and upbear | |
| Upon their hands his only Son, the Anointed, | |
| Lest he should dash his foot against a stone, | |
| And die, and be unknown. | | | | |
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