791    L.M.     J. Hart
The Rainbow. Gen. 8. 20-22; 9. 13-17

1 When, deaf to every warning given,
  Man braved the patient power of heaven,
  Great in his anger, God arose,
  Deluged the world, and drowned his foes.

2 Vengeance, that called for this just doom,
  Retired to make sweet mercy room;
  God, of his wrath repenting, swore
  A flood should drown the earth no more.

3 That future ages this might know,
  He placed in heaven his radiant bow;
  The sign, till time itself shall fail,
  That waters shall no more prevail.

4 [The beauties of this bow but shine
  To vulgar eyes as something fine;
  Others investigate their cause
  By mediums drawn from nature’s laws.

5 But what great ends can men pursue
  From schemes like these, suppose them true?
  Describe the form, the cause define,
  The rainbow still remains a sign.

6 A sign in which by faith we read
  The covenant God with Noah made;
  A noble end and truly great;
  But something greater lies there yet.]

7 This bow that beams with vivid light,
  Presents a sign to Christian sight,
  That God has sworn (who dares condemn?)
  He will no more be wroth with them.

8 [Thus the believer, when he views
  The rainbow in its various hues,
  May say, “Those lively colours shine
  To show that heaven is surely mine.

9 “See in yon cloud what tinctures glow,
  And gild the smiling vales below;
  So smiles my cheerful soul to see
  My God is reconciled to me.”]