12
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.
"And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
"When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt.
"And was there until the death of Herod : that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son."Matthew ii. 13—15.
A glorious landscape—clear as faith the sky,
Hath only sunshine, and the few bright clouds
Are turned to golden shadows. Stately trees
Do mock the last year's memory,—so green,
So full of life and summer are their leaves,
That fading seems impossible. The stream
Winds peacefully between its pastoral banks,
Where surely care comes not, and scarcely toil;
An earth so fertile, that the sun and air
Are the sole labourers. Yet how wearily
Those travellers are resting in the shade.
Man's doom is paramount—and even ye,
Thrice blessed and thrice glorious, ye now share
The common lot of all humanity.
