Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, JOSEPH, by JOHN HENRY NEWMAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

JOSEPH, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: O purest symbol of the eternal son!
Last Line: Its beaming front, and bore a willing shame.
Subject(s): Joseph, Saint (1st Century B.c.-a.d.)


O PUREST Symbol of the Eternal Son!
Who dwelt in thee, as in some sacred shrine,
To draw hearts after thee, and make them thine;
Norparent only by that light was won,
And brethren crouch'd who had in wrath begun,
But heathen pomp abased her at the sign
And the hid Presence of a guest divine,
Till a king heard, and all thou bad'st was done.
Then was fulfill'd Nature's dim augury,
That "Wisdom, clad in visible form, would be
So fair, that all must love and bow the knee;"
Lest it might seem, what time the Substance came,
Truth lack'd a sceptre, when It but laid by
Its beaming front, and bore a willing shame.





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