One night I thought a vision brought
Me to a spacious plain,
Where in its center stood a mount,
Whose top I wished to gain;
Orange, Blue, and Purple too;
Were given me to wear,
And for to see the mystery,
They did me thus prepare.
My guide a pack on my back –
With pillars of an arch –
A staff and script placed in my hand,
And thus I on did march,
Thought desert lands I traveled o’er,
And the narrow road I trod,
Til something did obstruct my path,
In the form of a toad.
So then I saw what did me awe,
Though wandering in a dream –
A flaming bush, though unconsumed,
Before me did remain;
And as I stood out of the wood
I heard a heavenly sound,
Which bade me cast my shoes away,
For it was holy ground.
Two men I saw, with weapons keen,
Which did me sore annoy –
Unto a pyramid I ran
That standing was hard by;
And as I climbed the narrow way,
A hand I there did see,
Which laid the lofty mountains
In the scale of equity.
Blue,
Gold, and Black about my neck,
This apparition placed –
Into a chariot I was put,
Where we drove off in haste;
Twelve dazzling lights of beauty bright
Were brought to guide my way,
And as we drove thro' cypress shades
One of them did decay.
Near to a mount I saw a fount
Of living water flow;
I being dry, they did reply,
To drink you there may go.
The mystic cup I then took up
And drank a health to all,
That were born free and kept their knee
From bowing unto Baal.
One night as I lay on my bed, I fell into a dream,
Some rugged paths I thought I trod, till a sheepfold I came;
Down by a brook, with scrip and crook, a youth I did espy,
I asked his name, from whence he came: he said, a Shepherd's Boy.
The sheepfold being on a plain, near to a camp it lay,
The lovely lambs around their dams did fondly sport and play;
The fields were green, all things there seen, to me did yield much joy,
But nothing there I could compare to the young Shepherd's Boy.
He got a pack
placed on his back, and a staff in his right hand;
This very day I must obey my father's just command;
I masked him where he was bound for, he made me a quick reply,
To yonder camp I must repair, although a Shepherd's Boy.
My brethren I must go and see, they're fighting for the King,
This very hour their hearts I'll cheer, glad tidings I'll Them bring;
I asked him how he could get there, or climb yon mount so high,
A mark, said he, was left for me, to guide the Shepherd's Boy.
When he came into the camp I saw a terrible sight,
Two armies there they did prepare for to renew the fight;
A man six cubits and a span his brethren did defy;
None in that place then dare him face but the young Shepherd's Boy.
The Kings says, this Goliath doth fill our camp with awe,
Whosoever does this monster kill shall be my son-in-law;
Then I will go and lay him low, the youth he did reply,
Then go, says he, Lord be with thee, my valiant Shepherd's Boy.
Then out of the brook five stones he took, and placed them in his scrip,
Undaunted across the plain this gallant youth did trip;
At the first blow he laid him low, cut off his head forbye,
He dropped this sling, and they made a king of the young Shepherd's Boy.
Now to conclude and finish this wondrous dream of mine,
There's none but he who is born shall ever know the sign;
So fill your glass, round let it pass, for I am getting dry,
And toast with me the memory of the young Shepherd's Boy.
One night I left my native home, to my lodge room I went,
My brethren all were sitting there, and seemed to be content.
Soon one request I ask of them, if they would grant to me,
Another step along the road that leads to liberty.
When I began the mount to climb - Mount Horeb was its name -
I saw a bush was burning, just in a mighty flame;
When I beheld the mighty blaze, I knew not what to say,
I went to Mount Carmel, like old prophets, for to pray.
And when my prayers were ended, out of the East did rise,
A little cloud like a man's hand, which did me much surprise.
The next demand was made to me, my chariot to prepare.
With speed I drove along the way like eagles in the air.
Then went I to Golgotha - went to drink a health to all,
The toast went round, my name was found, sirs, brethren we are all.
Then straight to Jericho I went, so Joshua gave command,
It was my business when there to view the promised land.
And soon the king sent after me, all for to take my life,
And a woman did preserve me, that was neither maid nor wife.
'Twas out of a window, with a scarlet thread let down,
And went straight unto a garden, and there my brethren found.
Now to conclude and finish, keep Joseph in your mind,
Through all your weary travels you left him not behind;
I'm sure he was a man of God, he interpreted the King's dream.
I wish you all true brethren ever steady to remain.
The Sabbath it being ended and I besought repose,
My guardian angel shielded me from all insulting foes,
When gentle sleep my eyelids closed in silence on my bed,
A flying roll appeared to me, and thus in it I read:
'When Israel by the Almighty led from Egypt's plains away,
Enrich'd by their oppression's spoil in bondage where they lay;
The Imperial Judah's tent was close by the Almighty God,
And in that Royal Mansion he placed a mystic rod.
That rod he said would testify to ages yet unborn
That they who
would God's Law despise should off the earth be shorn;
Of all the wonders it had done there yet remained one,
To clear a pass through Jordan's Streams to let his army on.
Through Israel's camp his orders sent, they straight obey'd his call,
He ranged his army as they went that none of them should fall;
Old Levi's sons they bore the ark as vanguards on the way;
All marshall'd them on Jordan's banks as well as the Red Sea.
He cut the sea to let them pass, restrain'd the swelling flood,
While piled on heaps on either side the solid waters stood;
A wondrous pillar led them on, compound of shade and light,
A sheltering cloud it proved by day, a leading fire by night.
Though some on this side Jordan's banks have gained their promised land,
Yet two-and-a-half must go before that all might understand,
That until all were safely passed, as very soon they would;
This was to show that there was naught could split their brotherhood.