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When hark ! her ear a voice angelic caught,
"What aileth thee, O Hagar? Fear thou naught!"

An then, with vision quickened, she beheld
A sparkling stream that from the desert welled
In sweet and plenteous store its gracious flow, -
Green ripples, bubbling pearls, and foaming snow.
She caught the plenteous flood with eager hand, -
Her child was saved amid that desert land.

And still read on, through sacred stories grand,
That tell how ever at their God's command,
These radiant visitants to earth have come,
With faces bright, from their eternal home.
Read how to Abraham their message came;
Read how they blessed Manoah's altar flame -
How, when Elisha prayed the heavens disclose
The hosts that go with man to meet his foes,
In chariots gleaming with celestial fires
They swarmed where mountains raised their rocky spires,

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