quote · Legacy record
Why crowd ye cities forth? some reed to find, Some vain reed trembling to the careless wind? Or throng ye here to view with doting eye, Some chieftain stand in purple pageantry? Some dwell in kingly domes—no silken form Woos the stern wind and braves the mountain storm. What rush ye there to seek? some Prophet-seer? One mightier than the Prophets find ye here— The loftiest bard that waked the sacred lyre, To him in rapture poured his lips of fire; Attuned to him the voice of Sion fell— Thy name, Elias, closed the mystic shell.
Why crowd ye cities forth? some reed to find, Some vain reed trembling to the careless wind? Or throng ye here to view with doting eye, Some chieftain stand in purple pageantry? Some dwell in kingly domes—no silken form Woos the stern wind and braves the mountain storm. What rush ye there to seek? some Prophet-seer? One mightier than the Prophets find ye here— The loftiest bard that waked the sacred lyre, To him in rapture poured his lips of fire; Attuned to him the voice of Sion fell— Thy name, Elias, closed the mystic shell.
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
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- C. H. Johnson (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 52 · printed citation: C. H. Johnson · subject: BAPTIST, JOHN THE
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.