Classic Poem

PAUL ACCUSED BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL OF THE AREOPAGUS

Listen , that voice! upon the hill of Mars,
Rolling in bolder thunders than e'er peal'd
From lips that shook the Macedonian throne;
Behold his dauntless outstretch'd arm, his face
Illumed of heaven: he knoweth not the fear
Of man, of principalities, of powers.
The Stoic's moveless frown; the vacant stare
Of Epicurus' herd; the scowl and gnash malign
Of Superstition, stopping both her ears;
The Areopagite tribunal dread,
From whence the doom of Socrates was utter'd;
This hostile throng dismays him not; he seems
As if no worldly object could inspire
A terror in his soul; as if the vision
Which, when he journey'd to Damascus, shone
From heaven, still swam before his eyes,
Out-dazzling all things earthly; as if the voice
That spake from out the effulgence ever rang
Within his ear, inspiring him with words,
Burning, majestic, lofty, as his theme —
The resurrection, and the life to come.