The beauteous pyramid of harmless flame
Spelled G O D for Moses; but the thundered law
Was needed for the wild, unruly crowd.
The awful test of swift-consuming fire
Alone shewed Baal false to Baal’s friends;
The “still, small voice” touched lone Elijah’s heart.
So God speaks variously to various men:
To some in nature’s sternest parables;
To others, in the breath that woos the flowers,
Until they blush and pale, and blush again.
To these the Decalogue were just as true
If uttered on a summer Sabbath-day
In village church—to those there is no God,
Till fiery rain has scarred the face of earth.