DANIEL'S FIRST VISION—DANIEL VII.
By J. B. Dymot
Now Nebuchadnezzar the monarch is dead,
And his grandson Belshazzar commands in his stead;
And Daniel the prophet, a stripling no more,
In vision, looks sea-ward from off a wild shore.
Alone he is standing, while lowers the sky,
And lashed by the tempest, the billows run high. But forth to the prophet the ocean now brings
A beast like a lion with eagle-like wings
That bore him aloft; but now on the sand,
Unfeathered, disheartened, the monster doth stand.
A bear, raised one-sided, with terrible power,
Blood tasting, now rises much flesh to devour.
His purpose accomplished, his prowess doth wane,
As a four-headed leopard ascends from the main,
With four spreading pinions, which rapidly urge
To mighty dominion. But out of the surge,
A dreadful and terrible monster doth rise,
Whose strength doth his greatest opponent surprise.
The former three beasts he treads down with his feet;
And with great iron teeth, the whole earth he doth eat.
Ten horns on his head did this nondescript wear,
Which Daniel considered with suitable care. From the former three beasts their dominion was riven,
Yet life for a season was unto them given.
But the fourth, when his empire was taken, was slain;
And of his vile carcass, but ashes remain. Then Daniel drew near unto one who stood by,
And asked him the truth of the vision. Reply
The angel thus made: "The great beasts which are four,
Four earth-risen kingdoms denote, that shall o'er
All nations bear rule, till the Highest bestow
On his saints the dominion and kingdom below
The wide-spreading heaven; and gratefully they
Their sovereign ruler shall serve and obey.
That mighty, that gentle dominion shall bear
Its sway o'er the countries, wide, happy, and fair.
Its people no more the destroyer shall dread,
Nor fear lest the tyrant should over them tread;
For theirs that bright kingdom from ocean to sea,
Forever, and ever, and ever shall be."