Its span, oh, bow splendid!
How noble its height!
Its colors, how blended
And soft to the sight!
It tells us of gladness,
Of refuge from care,
Of smiling in sadness; —
This arch in the air.
But, see! It is fading
And passing away;
For clouds are now shading
The orb of the day.
How like human pleasure!
A moment it cheers,
Then leaves us at leisure
For trials and tears.
A God-chosen token,
With glory endow’d,
The Rainbow hath spoken
This vuice from the cloud:
That ne’er shall the fountains.
Again overflow
The heights of the mountains,
Nor flesh overthrow.
The Ark from the waters
Kept Noah, his wife,
His sons and his daughters,
And all that had life:
So, those in Christ hiding
No judgment shall know;
In Him over-riding
Its waves and its woe.