796. L. M. Mrs. Sigourney. The Upas Tree.

1 There sprang a tree of deadly name:
Its poisonous breath, its baleful dew
Scorched the green earth like lava-flame,
And every plant of mercy slew.

2 From clime to clime its branches spread
Their fearful fruits of sin and woe;
The prince of darkness loved its shade,
And toiled its fiery seeds to sow.

3 Faith poured her prayer at midnight hour;
The hand of zeal at noon-day wrought;
An armor of celestial power
The children of the cross besought.

4 Behold the axe its pride doth wound;
Through its cleft boughs the sun doth shine;
Its blasted blossoms strew the ground:
Give glory to the arm divine.

5 And still Jehovah's aid implore,
From isle to isle, from sea to sea,
From peopled earth's remotest shore,
To root that deadly Upas Tree.