electric spark or flash of lightning may combine them and produce water
instantaneously.]


"Thus when ELIJA mark'd from Carmel's brow
560 In bright expanse the briny flood below;
Roll'd his red eyes amid the scorching air,
Smote his firm breast, and breathed his ardent prayer;
High in the midst a massy altar stood,
And slaughter'd offerings press'd the piles of wood;
565 While ISRAEL'S chiefs the sacred hill surround,
And famish'd armies crowd the dusty ground;
While proud Idolatry was leagued with dearth,
And wither'd famine swept the desert earth.--
"OH, MIGHTY LORD! thy woe-worn servant hear,
570 "Who calls thy name in agony of prayer;
"Thy fanes dishonour'd, and thy prophets slain,
"Lo! I alone survive of all thy train!--
"Oh send from heaven thy sacred fire,--and pour
"O'er the parch'd land the salutary shower,--
575 "So shall thy Priest thy erring flock recal,--
"And speak in thunder, "THOU ART LORD OF ALL."--
He cried, and kneeling on the mountain-sands,
Stretch'd high in air his supplicating hands.
--Descending flames the dusky shrine illume;
580 Fire the wet wood, the sacred bull consume;
Wing'd from the sea the gathering mists arise,
And floating waters darken all the skies;
The King with shifted reins his chariot bends,
And wide o'er earth the airy flood descends;