106

 106. Progress of Unbelief  NOW is the Autumn of the Tree of Life;  Its leaves are shed upon the unthankful earth, Which lets them whirl, a prey to the winds' strife,  Heartless to store them for the months of dearth.  Men close the door, and dress the cheerful    hearth, Self-trusting still; and in his comely gear Of precept and of rite, a household Baal rear.  But I will out amid the sleet, and view  Each shrivelling stalk and silent-falling leaf. Truth after truth, of choicest scent and hue,  Fades, and in fading stirs the Angels' grief,  Unanswer'd here; for she, once pattern chief Of faith, my Country, now gross-hearted grown, Waits but to burn the stem before her idol's throne.

   At Sea .  June 23, 1833.