quote · Legacy record
Oft hast thou heard our elder patriarchs tell How Adam once by disobedience fell; Would that my tongue were gifted to display The terror and the glory of that day, When seized and stricken by the hand of death, The first transgressor yielded up his breath! ***** With him his noblest sons might not compare In God-like features and majestic air; Not out of weakness rose his gradual frame, Perfect from his Creator’s hand he came; And as in form excelling, so in mind The sire of men transcended all mankind; A soul was in his eye, and in his speech A dialect of heaven no art could reach; For oft of old to him the evening breeze Had borne the voice of God among the trees; Angels were wont their songs with his to blend, And talk with him as their familiar friend. But deep remorse for that mysterious crime, Whose dire contagion through elapsing time Diffused the curse of death beyond control, Had wrought such self-abasement in his soul, That he whose honour was approached by none, Was yet the meekest man beneath the sun.
Oft hast thou heard our elder patriarchs tell How Adam once by disobedience fell; Would that my tongue were gifted to display The terror and the glory of that day, When seized and stricken by the hand of death, The first transgressor yielded up his breath! ***** With him his noblest sons might not compare In God-like features and majestic air; Not out of weakness rose his gradual frame, Perfect from his Creator’s hand he came; And as in form excelling, so in mind The sire of men transcended all mankind; A soul was in his eye, and in his speech A dialect of heaven no art could reach; For oft of old to him the evening breeze Had borne the voice of God among the trees; Angels were wont their songs with his to blend, And talk with him as their familiar friend. But deep remorse for that mysterious crime, Whose dire contagion through elapsing time Diffused the curse of death beyond control, Had wrought such self-abasement in his soul, That he whose honour was approached by none, Was yet the meekest man beneath the sun.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- J. Montgomery (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 12 · printed citation: J. Montgomery · subject: ADAM AND EVE
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.