VII.

Because _Thou_ didst not leave me, O my God! Thou wert with those that bore the truth of old Into the deserts from th’ oppressor’s rod, And made the caverns of the rock their fold; And in the hidden chambers of the dead, Our guiding lamp with fire immortal fed; And met when stars met, by their beams to hold The free heart’s communing with Thee,--and Thou Wert in the midst, felt, own’d--the Strengthener then as now!