OVERTONES Jessie Wiseman Gibbs Class __/^_2 Book . ZLT. GopiglitN^__/^ COPYRIGHT DEPOSITS ©vertones A BOOK OF VERSE BY JESSIE WISEMAN GIBBS BOSTON SHERMAN, FRENCH & COMPANY 1913 01 COPYBIGHT, 1913 ShZEDIAN, FeENCH &* COMPAKY ©CI,A358645 TO MY HONORED FRIEND AND TEACHER DR. OREN BRADSHAW WAITE IN MEMORY OF CLASSROOM DAYS WHEN HE UNVEILED FOR US THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST The author acknowledges with thanks permission to reprint by the following periodicals: Poet- Lore, The Continent, The North- western Christian Advocate, The Central Christian Advocate, The Home Herald, and other magazines. CONTENTS PAGE O Word 1 The Poet's Prayer S God's Wonders 5 A Prairie Rose 7 A Country Ramble 8 The Winds and the Storms of Jehovah . 10 Nature and Prayer 14 To a Caged Bird 16 To a Wren 19 Neighbor Oriole 20 Three Windows 22 Modern Mother 23 The Child and I 25 Spirit of Christmas 26 Thorns 28 A Toast 29 What Courage? 30 Thanksgiving, 1898 31 Dead! 32 The Yellow Curse 34 Our Peace 36 My Country's King 37 Of Such Is the Kingdom 38 Teach Us to Pray 41 Morning Collect 42 Morning Prayer 43 Assurance 44 Satisfaction 45 The Heart of Stone 46 New Life 48 Cry of the Spirit 50 A Psalm of the Spirit 51 PAGE The Sword of the Spirit 52 Revelation 53 Unchanged 54 The Present Need 55 Son of Man 56 Peace, Be Still! 57 Stanzas for a Hospital 58 The Riddle of the Nazarene .... 59 My Witness 60 Jesus, I Come to Thee 63 Friend of Sinners 64 Confession 65 Strength in Weakness 67 Out of the Depths 68 Morning Watch 69 Noonday Prayer 70 Evening Prayer 71 To A Young Convert 73 I Would You Knew My Master .... 74 A Thorny Way 75 Calvary's Hill 76 Christ and the Proud Soul 78 To AN Early Spring Blossom .... 82 The Unseen King 84 The King of Glory 85 Our Captain King 86 King of Men 88 Across the Prairie 89 In the Town 90 One in Christ 91 Blind of Spirit 93 Loaves and Fishes 94 Inscription for a Church Door ... 96 PAGE A Song of God's House 97 A Prayer of This Age 98 Evensong 99 That They May Be One 100 Is God the God of the World? .... 102 Pray Ye Therefore 103 The Present Crisis 104 Whose Son Is He? 105 Easter Meditation 113 SONNETS "In the Days of Thy Youth" .... 125 In the Deluge 126 The Cloud 127 After Doubt of Immortality .... 128 On Losing Faith in God 129 On Doubting the Divinity of Christ . .130 The Sermon 131 The Blind Man 132 Atonement 133 Inevitable 134 The Pivot of the World 135 Bereavement 136 "Whose Loves in Higher Love Endure" . 137 Cupid and Christ 138 O Barren Earth! 139 Signs of the Times 140 Our Star 141 America and the Hague 142 The World's Star 143 O WORD! WORD that dost elude my pen, my lips, my brain. Word that my straining spirit swoons inly to attain, Word to which all the words of men are impo- tent and vain — Pure flower of words, white star of thought, somewhere divinely plain! Thou movest in the millions, to do they dream not what ; Thou thrillest senseless matter, and yet we catch thee not ; Thou calledst me to being, and yet I have for- got ;— word ineff'able, of God's own lips alone begot ! 1 shall not win the thought I crave, nor speak, nor show: So seems it to my yearning; and yet not wholly so, Since all the bliss of Heaven is measured by the woe We spend in striving for its light, and wres- tling, here below. [1] My brain must sweat, my pen must toil, my lips must pray. Till some that have not thought nor sought shall pause and say, "What means the song? How sweet it were if this dull clay Could know the thing that it would sing and melt in bliss away !" So let me sing, although my song soar never near The word itself, but only chant, "How sweet it were to hear!" Let my soul's anguish bear me on, till the black gates appear Through which the immortal Word of Life shall greet me, full and clear ! [2] THE POET'S PRAYER Through the thick atmosphere of years When every mountain high And every grove its heathen altar bears, And righteous rulers die,* Comes to the yearning poet's sight The prophet vision old Of the unseen — unfettered floods of light — With voices manifold. And as he strains to hold it fast, It quivers into wings ; And as his whole soul listens, clear at last, With one acclaim it sings, "0 holy, holy, all Heaven bows ! The Lord of Hosts is He! The whole earth with his glory overflows, Who was, and is to be!" And lifting high his sight to where The seraphs start the word. Upon a throne, unutterably fair. The poet sees the Lord. * 1901. [3] Then anguish strikes the poet, "Woe Is me, I am a man Of unclean lips, and all my people go In sin, since time began ! "How shall I live? O vain to speak! My own false Sibboleth Betrays me from the kindred of the weak And dooms me to my death ! "O living Fount of Being, Thou Whose heart alone is pure. Send down thy seraph with his live coal now To work his burning cure! "Purge out the dross and stain of earth ; Thy light in me unroll, Until I know my own eternal worth — A liberated soul ! "Till I no longer feel the doubt Of them that know Thee not. But hold thy truth within and speak it out, All fear of men forgot ! "Till never veil shall flutter more Between my word and me. But all my breath in utterance outpour The things I hear and see !" [4] GOD'S WONDERS God laid not all his wonders bare Before the eyes of men, But some He hung in spaces rare Beyond their fancy's ken. And some He sifted through the air, Too fine to be discerned, And some He dropt in ocean, where Unquenchably they burned. And some He hid in caves of earth, And some within the forms That come and go in death and birth, And some He masked in storms. And when man thought he knew her face, He bent his back to dig Into the great earth's secret place. With gold and jewels big. And not content with depths of clay. He dived beneath the sea — Beheld through dimly filtered ray New realms of mystery; [5] And made him eyes of glass to watch The dusts that air immerse, And other eyes of glass to catch Dusts of the universe. And thus from age to age he finds God working everywhere, And each new miracle reminds Him of his infant prayer. [6] A PRAIRIE ROSE I WILL not call thee rose, For thou art not a thing — The flame that on me glows Is but thine earthward wing. Thou art a thought of God, His loving thought for me, Breathed through my native clod Where I can feel and see. "Heaven is not hid above: Fear not, O child of care, I am thy Father, and my love Is round thee, like the air." Someone will pluck the rose, But it will fade and die; God's thought within me grows And blooms eternally. [7] A COUNTRY RAMBLE My long trudge through the heat Has made the scene more sweet. The railroad track behind, I wander with the wind Beneath a prairie sky Wide as the All-seeing Eye, Filled with such melting hues As might themselves diffuse About the unblinded sight Of Him whose life is light. O deep and silent sky. Deep as infinity. Calm as eternity — What native majesty Glows in thine outstretched wings That brood o'er man and things With tender, yearning love. Yet stoop not from above! The showers have left the grasses meet To bear unsoiled a fairy's shining feet. O never have I seen so subtle green (That might be light, but for its deeper sheen) As threads the brookside now; Nor witnessed water flow With such transparent bliss [8] Through light and shade, as this. Pure little streamlet, tell Me from what hidden well Thou pourest forth thy heart, That I may seek thine art! Those clouds of willows seem To hang above the stream, As though their splendor grew But from the upper view Of its sweet purity; All mystical they lie Upon its waving breast, Living, yet lulled to rest. How is't I love thee so, But that thou art for me And I akin to thee? Dear Nature let us grow! This is God's world, God's love unfurled. And nothing is forlorn ; In Nature's arms faith cannot die God's world is good, and so am I, 'Tis well that I was born ! [9] THE WINDS AND THE STORMS OF JEHOVAH The winds and the storms of Jehovah Swept over the mountain in wrath; The forest of beauty majestic Lay straight in their terrible path. The towering trees of the forest Flung up their great arms side by side, "Thy winds and thy storms, O Jehovah, Withhold them, withhold them!" they cried. "Lo, here on this altar eternal We serve Thee by day and by night; We leap into life at thy bidding; We mount into joy in thy sight. "0 spare us to worship before Thee! Turn back thy fierce weapons in haste, Ere the life and the love of thy creatures Lie dead in a desolate waste!" The winds and the storms of Jehovah Sped steadily on to the wood ; They struck it with crashing of thunder That shook all the ground where it stood. [10] They struck it with flashing of lightning More bright than the middle of day, That printed its writhing contortions On darkness, then vanished away. With sobs as of giants in anguish The forest resounded with woe ; With crackling of bones that were broken The valley re-echoed below. In pain and in terror and passion The trees wrestled all through the night With the winds and the storms of Jehovah — Jehovah, who guarded his height. But after the struggle, in blessing. Great tears dropt the storm o'er the wood, And it lifted itself at the dawning In chastened and penitent mood. More patient and still for its weakness, More tender and pure for its tears, It bowed in the grace of submission, "Forgive, O Jehovah, our fears." Then bright shone the sun o'er the mountain ; A voice still and small, as of peace. Spoke clear in the marvelous silence, "Thy vision the Lord shall increase. [H] "Look forth in the valley below thee, Look down at thy feet on the soil, — Behold what the winds of Jehovah Have wrested from thee for their spoil. "They scatter the slope and the valley — Dead branches that hung like a frown — No longer ye raised them to Heaven ; Ye could not, yourselves, lay them down. "And yonder the ranks that are fallen Were fair as the fairest to see, But rotten and weak at the center, They perished, unworthy of thee. "Those boughs that were sunken with fruitage Have learned it is better to give Their burden of life and of beauty That something below them may live. This rugged stem wounded with lightning — 'T will reach through the ages to come A luminous hand in the darkness To point the lost wanderer home. "And he that was pride of the forest, That fell in his beauty and power. Has bridged the black chasm of peril That lay in thy depths till this hour. [12] "And lo, one who socks for the summit This moment the broad trunk has trod And hastens with joy to the heavens And stands in the presence of God." Then calm in the hallowed silence The forest uplifted the strain, "Thy mercy endureth forever! Amen, and forever, Amen!" [13] NATURE AND PRAYER I LOVE to brood on a river And feel that God is calm And that He pours forever A life-restoring balm. I love to bend o'er a blossom And feel that God is pure, That on his tender bosom My soul may rest secure. I love to stand in a forest And feel that God is great And hark the anthem chorused Through aisles of native state. I love to look on a mountain And feel God is sublime And find my soul abound in The strength to rise and climb. I love to roam o'er the prairie And feel that God is wide, Nor time nor space can carry My soul beyond his side. I love to walk by the ocean And feel that God is strong, That through earth's vast commotion Right yet must conquer wrong. [14] I love to gaze on the night sky And feel that God is wise, Until it grow a bright sky Lumined with Paradise. And oft I love to bow me Alone before my God, Until He stoop to show me The comfort of his rod. [15] TO A CAGED BIRD Thou little restless form That chlrpest in thy cage, Thou wast not made to feel the storm, Or know the wild wind's rage. Nay, cruel were the sin To send thee forth to roam — Thou wouldst be lost and frightened in The oak tree's leafy dome. Thou couldst not find thy food, Nor rustic fount to sup, But I must choose thee what is good And bring it in a cup. Thou couldst not read the signs And wonders that foretold. In livid flames and hazy lines, The coming of the cold; Nor o'er the shivering wood Couldst wing thy distant way; Nor guess if greener forests stood In Maine or Paraguay. Thou hast forgot the spring Of splendor veiled in showers ; Thou hast forgot the eager wing That fanned the budding flowers. [16] Thy wilder note is hushed, And let the art of man — The freedom of thy nature crushed — Restore it if she can. O there are human birds Shut in their houses strong, Who never know the depth of words, As thou dost not of song. Their mouths are filled with mirth. With wit and learning sage, But they have never seen God's earth That lies beyond their cage. They have forgot the sounds By woodland muses thrilled ; They have forgot the spreading grounds Their stalwart fathers tilled. O let me be the bird That joyous builds her nest Where all the blasts of March are heard, And warms it with her breast ! Who does not fear to dwell Beneath the open sky. But feels her song in rapture swell At its infinity ! [17] Whose lamps are stars above, Whose floor the blooming sod, Whose only prison walls are love, Whose minister is God! [18] TO A WREN Wee birdie, do not flit — I own I'm wrong To be so heavy knit With care; thy song Bubbling from its golden springs, Falls in bright rain Such as warms frost-bound things To life again. Drenched in my prison-room, I, too, relent ; Of mine own wintry gloom And fear repent. My opening heart doth drink, Nor wonders how The Lord of Life bade think On such as thou! [19] NEIGHBOR ORIOLE Neighbor oriole, if you knew How your singing thrills my heart, You'd not hide yourself from view With so shy an art. Why can you not feel my smile? Why can my heart's love not reach Back again and yours beguile With my human speech? I would have you come and build Here in mine your nest of joy, Where the tempest's wrack is stilled, Where no foes annoy. You should have a downy bed And your little ones should grow Unafraid, unfailing fed. Spite of drouth or snow. So you would but be my guest. You should come and go at will. Homing from each airy quest All my house to fill With the Heaven of your song, Till a nest of singing grew Even within my breast, made strong By that rapture true; [20] All my hours of gloom to soothe With that liquid tenderness ; Waking deeper founts of youth Through my deep distress. Ah, God knows, no doubt, I care For you thus but selfishly ; So He smiles and keeps you there With Him in the sky. Or, perhaps. He means to call Me from out my dark house through Your wild singing, and enthrall Me with Heaven, too. [21] THREE WINDOWS Three windows men look through on Paradise : The first is the clear crystal of the skies; The second is a maiden's lifted eyes; The third the cross whereon the Lord Christ dies. For him who blots from men the firmament, Who taints with shame those glances innocent, Who mocks the hope of sinners penitent, 'Twere better he in blackest Hell were pent. [22] MODERN MOTHER Lowly down I bow before thee, Offspring of my human love, All my hoarded heart outpour thee, For thou, too, art from above ! Angel with the lily wand Whispered me in words immortal. Words none else could understand. Thou hadst slipped the heavenly portal! Never heard I sounds of singing Such as rang above thy birth; Never saw I starlight flinging Such pure luster o'er the earth; Never felt I love so deep, Never peace so richly broken. As we thrilled with 'round thy sleep, As fell on thy crib, unspoken! Surely Heaven has opened upon us ! Surely in thine innocence The Immaculate hath won us To abiding penitence ! Surely in thy life begins All the power of recreation That shall cleanse us from our sins. That shall work in us salvation ! [2S] Lowly Babe of Bethlehem's manger, Thou dost scorn it not in me That I find this heavenly stranger In my bosom, type of Thee! 'Tis thy halo on his brow; 'Tis thine angels singing o'er him; 'Tis thy love within us now. As we lay our gifts before hii nm [24 1 THE CHILD AND I I WALKED with bent, contracted brow Preoccupied and slow, When up there ran a little child, And with an absent instinct mild, Half vacantly, I smiled. And all her face beamed up in mine With its blue eyes ashine With joy to shame my senses dull, So little of ''love's miracle" Had filled her heart so full ! And Thou, O God, dost smile on me As I were all to Thee, And in thy love's divinest ray I grope disconsolate, and stray, And empty turn away! [25] SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS O SIT not chill and cheerless, But fill thy house with light ; Nor let thine eye be tearless, But gather in thy sight Thy dear beloved, and fearless A stranger more invite! Pile high the roaring ingle; Set forth the feast and bring The fir-tree in to mingle Your hearts in magic ring, While children's voices tingle- To-day a Child is King! O think not on the morrow And have not any care; In mirth drown every sorrow And joyous holly wear; Of childhood's heart go borrow An hour of glee most rare ! And let's forget the grudges That yesterday we bore; And he that harshly judges. Let him do so no more ; And he that blindly drudges, Let him to-day give o'er. [26] Hold high the cup of gladness ; Let every heart o'erflow ; Sing out the holy madness Of angels long ago, Till all the world of sadness Thrills to its core of woe. For Christ is born from Heaven, The Gift beyond degree: A Son to us is given And King of Love is He; His kingdom is as leaven That works in you and me. [27] THORNS Once the young thorns grew tender Upon the Hebrew hills, As soft and green and slender As grass beside the rills. But when the days were ended That they were fully grown, Like barbs of steel they blended To form the Savior's crown. O selfish thoughts deceiving. That look so little now. Another crown are weaving To pierce his holy brow. Then crush the thorn-plant springing, O Child, within thy heart. And palms of joy and singing Shall in his praises start. [28] A TOAST Here's a health (And no stealth!) To the full dinner pail And the empty jail, To a song and a stride, To a warm fireside. To children and wife, To the pure joys of life, To peace and content, To a manhood unspent. To the head's clear command. To the skill of the hand. To the heart's open span — To the wealth of a man ! Come, clink it and drink it, in nature's own spirit — Pure water, health's fountain — all cheer it! [29] WHAT COURAGE? There is a courage that is born of pride, Emblazoned forth in purple and in gold, That tramples down the weak with lofty stride And cries to all the nations to behold. There is a courage that is born of love, Once on the painful cross of Calvary won. That strains in blood to lift the world above And cries aloud in faith, "It shall be done!" What courage bears us o'er the western sea? What shout of ours awakes the watery miles? What faith upbears them, O our God, to Thee— Those lands of Promise — those Pacific Isles? [30] THANKSGIVING, 1898 In the Spring the sturdy farmer Strewed in earth his seeds of gold, Now the plenteous hand of nature Yields him back a hundred fold; The fields are all unburdened, As the weary beast, for rest ; The farmer sits by his fireside: The name of the Lord be blest ! In the Spring the patriot soldier Scattered lead beyond the sea And the harvest of his sowing Is a people's liberty; Now is the bloodstained island Where Spanish cannon blazed Alight with freedom's banner: The name of the Lord be praised! In the Spring the loving mother Kissed the son she bore in pain And in second mortal travail She delivered him again ; Her solemn, silent harvest. The harvest of the slain: God's pity on the mothers Who weep to-day like rain! [31] DEAD ! * He whom we love is dead! Our Chief — our chosen Guide^ — Another martyr patriot soul has sped Out on the unseen tide! Dead in a time of peace ! Dead in an hour of joy! Dead as they thronged him in their love's in- crease, Past murder to destroy! Bowed down with grief and shame, Bereaved, the nation waits; Her 'wildered children but repeat his name About the city gates. Saying, "O flag he loved, Droop from your lofty mast ; Droop, till the last vain babbler is reproved And pride to woe has past !" Saying, "O face of him, Look from the darkness yet, Calm as of old ; our throbbing eyes are dim ; Our cheeks are passion wet !" * 1901. [32] O God, and must it be — We bid the stranger come, And find, instead of angel ministry, A serpent's in our home? O how earth faints to-day! How pours our anguished breath To Him the dear dead, living to obey, Could seek his face in death! Lo, He is by our side; We fall before his feet ; "Hadst Thou been here, our brother had not died," Our broken tones repeat. "We heard thy Voice say 'Come !' We echoed forth the word — 'Come, make the land of liberty thy home! Let him come who hath heard !' " O hearing, had we heard That Voice, "Come unto Me," This were our cry, "O come unto the Lord! Let the Son make you free!" If this be not our cry. By her three martyred chiefs. The fair Republic sinks in anarchy. Foul crimes and unbeliefs ! [33] THE YELLOW CURSE NOT the yellow plague Wherewith the south winds scourge Our coasts to east, nor west What yellow perils surge — But what from our own gates We have not strength to purge: The yellow scandal sheet; The yellow spectacle, Speech, picture, song, that make The yellow play-house spell; The yellow drink saloon, Dance maelstrom, white-slave Hell. And I say our young men's strength Is wasted at its spring; And I say our maidens' lips Do touch the unclean thing; And our dotards lick it up. As a dog its vomiting. And my soul is sick in me And I may not hold my peace. For the wounds of this great scourge Do everywhere increase, And its putrefying sores Are a stench that does not cease. [34] And I say the root of all Is the yellow lust of gold, And while we reach our hands Are our sons and daughters sold, Soul and body, in our sight, And we will not loose our hold. And I say it is an age That has no saving sight, Wherein the price of blood Is thirty pieces bright. And the God of it is less Than a cup that turns aright. For I know, Lord Christ, if Thou Were once within our thought, We could not see the souls For which thy passion wrought, Nor thy broken body's flesh. So lightly sold and bought. [35] OUR PEACE America, unto thee flow All nations now, with one accord, Trusting in thee at last to know That mountain of the Lord. In thy new world the old world meets, Seeking the final truth of men. Desiring, in thy city streets Even, to be born again. Yea, thou dost travail to beget A living body and one soul Of ends of all the earth, and set Christ's peace upon the whole. And if thou labor not in vain, But loose in love the races furled In the new birth of thy domain. Thou dost it for the world. But Thou, O Prince of Peace, must give Us godlike strength, to agonize In faith of the unseen, and live Through deathly sacrifice. [36] MY COUNTRY'S KING Once lying lips of state declared, *'Wc have no king but Caesar," when They braved their Heaven-sent King and dared Deny Him before men. But for my land it hath sufficed — And O, may this her glory be — To own Thee through the world, great Christ, And have no King but Thee ! [37] OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM 'Tis well our little ones should know The laws of numbers and of words, And pull in pieces flowers to show Their parts, and mark the birds. 'Tis needful they should glibly say What cities through the earth abound. And name each distant peak and bay. And tell why earth is round; Explain about her inner heat And outer oceans, storms and shocks ; Describe her rivers, and repeat The Latin names of rocks ; And answer why the sky is blue. And how the planets are not stars, And how they move and shine, and who Discovered lines on Mars. 'Twould not be just were they not taught How states of old arose and fell. What bloody heroes raged and fought And filled the earth with Hell ; Or how, more wise, in modern times, A nobler race of heroes stood To war against those ancient crimes And for the common good. [38] But He who is the Life of all, Upon whose cross turns history, Without whose inward help we fall, Whose truth alone makes free — To whom all might of earth is weak, To whom all light of earth is dim, — • They may not of His glories speak Nor learn to come to Him. Even the mothers now no more Gather their little ones from play To come to the great Master, nor His blessing on them pray. No more He takes them in his arms. No more his hands that heal and bless Forestall the sicknesses and harms With their divine caress. Nay, blinder, wickeder than they Who would not children should annoy The Lord, we suffer not to-day Himself to touch our boy. Our fathers, who upon this sod Planted a nation free and true. In knowledge and in fear of God — What would they say, think you, [39] To see the generation we Are rearing, like the godless fool. With heathen lust for liberty. Bred in a Christless school? No politician I, nor one That evil gladly prophesies, Yet know, for this that we have done, Our land shall pay the price! A price that even now begins To take her life, and none can stay- Of unbelief and nameless sins. Foul crimes, and swift decay ! [40] TEACH US TO PRAY The world absorbs us wholly ; we are as Children, whose minds are bounded all with play, Heedless of the great care the father has : Teach us to pray, O Christ, teach us to pray ! Our lives are in the things that we possess ; Our cheapened bodies less than their display ; Our meat is more than that it nourishes: Teach us to pray, O Christ, teach us to pray ! Yea, we consume our neighbor in his need. Unmindful how God sends the blessed day On all — mocking his mercy with our greed: Teach us to pray, O Christ, teach us to pray ! No more Heaven's light is on us, who no more Desire to walk by its life-giving ray; Lost is the sight of that immortal shore: Teach us to pray, Christ, teach us to pray! [41] MORNING COLLECT Father, we thank Thee for the morning light; We thank Thee for the truth that we may know; We thank Thee for our might, found in thy might ; We thank Thee for our labor in Thy sight ; We trust Thee for the increase as we sow; Grant us Thy blessing now, and with us go. [42] MORNING PRAYER Father, I would that I might see Thy will toward me; That from mine eyes the scales might fall And I behold Thy truth in all Its ancient strength of purity, With power untold To make me free. Father, I would that I might be Forgot in Thee; That all my soul were open so To thy love's glow That everything I say And do, this day. Might flow from Thee, through me. [43] ASSURANCE Thou, Father, canst not lose thy child, For though he pass, unmarked of men, Through surging street or wilding glen, His steps to Thee are still defiled. Or if he toss the rolling sea. Or lost in deepest mine explore. Or languish on a foreign shore. He still is near and dear to Thee. Or whelmed by tempests if he shout Unheard in sounding wind and flood. Or thirsty deserts drink his blood. Thy saving care will find him out. The elements, at thy command. Shall render back whom Thou begot. And death and Hell shall hold him not. And none shall pluck him from thy Hand. [44] SATISFACTION A RED day broke: the fanner crawled Mole-eyed through his furrows ; densely palled In stupors lay the town ; but wide Fluttered one attic window high Where a lone heart drank the brimming sky ; — And God was satisfied. Dark aeons lapsed : the ceaseless moil Of nature's forces wrought a toil Unknown, unknowing, blindly pent; At length arose the mind to con Rock, field and flood, and think thereon; And God was well content. A priceless life was lost in ways Of pain and want and little praise. Nor ever bartered hope for pelf. But battled on ; nor ever came Into its own; God smiled, for fame. And took it to Himself. [45] THE HEART OF STONE O THAT my heart were softened, that its crust Of gathered artifice were shook to dust ! That its cold central stone Once more might groan, Smitten beneath the hand that wieldeth pain, Till it should throb again, Till it should break afresh, A heart of flesh! O that my guilt were opened, that its core Were blazed through earth and sky And on the farthest shore ; That whosoever looked me in the eye Might there explore The secret of my inmost shame, and cry, "Unclean! Unclean!" and flee My livid leprosy! O that repentance like an avalanche Would shatter me; would tear me, root and branch. From out this bedded past; would sweep me hence To that great Valley where experience Is sifted, and the sacred seed of soul Plucked forth, alone and whole! Behold I, who betrayed My soul's deep trust, have prayed ! [46] Is there no arm that wieldeth pain? Is there no eye to know my stain? Is there no power to strike repentance down Where strong desire has grown? Great God, I cry, I cry ! By my own guilt I try Thy Being, and I know that Thou art nigh! I utter all to Thee— Know Thou my infamy — Yea, every thought of me ! Search all my hidden part — Beat down my barren heart — Lash from its lethargy The latent smart! Let thy face shine on me, God, as Thou art. Fearful in holiness. Till I confess! So may repentance come to me at last ; So may I break these bands of death, and cast Them from me in the furnace of Thy wrath ; So may that seething bath, Dissolving all that time hath wrought, and shame. Go through me, like a flame; Leave me renewed ; Leave my heart dewed With the lost faith and truth. Reverence, love, humility, of youth ! [47] NEW LIFE Light from out of night. Whence unfurled, Issuing with might On the world — Lifting drench and gloom Into bloom — Thrilling air with voice To rejoice! Lily from the mud, How camest thou, Pure expanding bud, Bursting now — Spreading all thy white To the light- Baring all thy heart To its dart? Lily maiden, sprung From hard loins, Toil and travail wrung — Say, how coins Nature from such mints Such fair tints — Virgin ecstasy. Cheek and eye? [48] God, who dost create All things new, Dost regenerate. Wash with dew, Sullied light and life, After strife. Giving a new birth To all earth- See me where I stand — Where I bow — Burning with the brand On my brow — Darkened all within By my sin — Sinking 'neath the weight Of its fate ; — Enter into me With thy might- Wash me — set me free In thy sight ; — Let me yield and die Where I lie — Breathe in me thy true Life anew. [49] CRY OF THE SPIRIT O MY Maker, make me strong! Wildering this press and throng, And its way unfathomed long! Make me strong to seek thy Face In the secret, inner place — In the cloud lines of a race ; Strong to own a darkened span, Yielding not my spark of man, Doubting not thy larger plan; Strong to trust when tumults sway; Strong to weep, and still to pray ; Strong to wait the fuller day ; Strong for all unselfish heed ; Strong to give, from out my need ; Strong to smile while pulses bleed ; Strong to wreck not of the strain. Finding Thou art more than pain, Death is higher birth again. O my Maker, make me strong! Men and years to Thee belong! Tune me to their endless song! [50] A PSALM OF THE SPIRIT What am I, that I should fail? Not of mine own self I came And my wisdom cannot frame All I may be; I but know Paths by which I came do glow: Royal lineage is mine, Reaching back to the divine! What shall bid my bosom quail? For a strength I cannot plumb Unto mine own strength doth come Underneath an Arm I feel ; At a touch of Love I kneel, And my heart, from strong desire, Leaps to sudden flames of fire ! Naught can over me prevail ! Thou, O God, dost succor me By thy Spirit; I am free; What I find to do I can ; None can hinder — fiend nor man ; They who set themselves my foes Thine omnipotence oppose! [51] THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT No cold blade thou of deadly steel, But living brand of breath of God, That wounds and scarifies to heal And buds, like Aaron's rod. Yea, though in wrath thou smitest sore, In mercy, more than surgeon's knife, For as thou rendest to the core. Thou givest life. [52] REVELATION Out of the heart of being, Out of the deep unknown, Into the world of seeing, He came, unto his own. All starlight dim and hoary In Him did gathered shine ; He was the longed-for glory And Son of the Divine. And yet they took and slew Him- They crushed Him on a tree — Because they never knew Him, Nor having eyes, did see. But when his heart was broken And Heaven went out in night, Then they confest the token He was the God of Light. [53] UNCHANGED When we behold the scatheless youth That clothed Him as He trod, Our hearts still cry aloud the truth — "Behold the Lamb of God!" Still, still, with impulse true and warm, Our souls transcend the clod And own his resurrection form — "My Master, and my God!" [54] THE PRESENT NEED Speak not of ism nor seism, nor Of changeless creed Nor flawless screed; I know the need — I know what this age fainteth for: The Christ of God, Who lowly trod, Who lived and died and rose again And ever lives and prays for men. Break down the centuries, ye hands That guard the things of life — where stands The Saviour, point ye out the way: Naught hath sufficed Till we, today. Have touched again the living Christ. [55] SON OF MAN O THOU who wert the Son Of Man, Thou knowest this Our life, nor needst that anyone Tell Thee what in us is! Our fell ambition's fire; The world that would enmesh Our souls ; the weakness, strong desire, And shrinking of our flesh, — All these Thou feltest, too ; Yet freely, without sin, Walkedst our earth ways, even to The grave, and entering in Didst break its bands and rise Conqueror o'er all our foes, And perfect glory of the skies Before us didst disclose. Therefore we cry to Thee In all our human need And hope in thy great life to be Alive and free indeed! [56] PEACE, BE STILL! Once the sea of tumbling waves, Stung and startled by the wind. Lashing from its hidden caves, Found One standing, unconfined. In the fury — through the roar Heard his "Peace, be still !" and from Tumult ceasing, to the core, Sunk and settled into calm. So humanity's vast sea. Torn by passion, blindly wrought, At its heart, unquenchably. Finds the working of his thought; Through all agitations hears His unfettered "Peace, be still !" Shame its raging, calm its fears, Master all its restless will. [57] STANZAS FOR A HOSPITAL O HAPPIEST of men, whose fate Upon some bed of pain to lie, Or wander, leprous, desolate. Where Jesus Christ passed by ! Ye weak and worn and weary ones, Here doth his pathway reappear; And with the passing of the suns, O may ye find Him here! [68] THE RIDDLE OF THE NAZARENE I AM lost in saving, Found in giving; Hid to pride of knowing, Known in living; Who my blessed power would win Must have felt the curse of sin. [59] MY WITNESS Out of the unseen mystery Into the mystery seen, The world and life and history, I come — what doth it mean? I question the deep waters — They cannot answer me ; Not all heaven's starry daughters Can give me light to see. I ask the long procession That come from the world's dawn Into this vast possession A moment, and are gone: Their words are a confusion Of many gods and none Till all seems a delusion And snare, beneath the sun. I mark each world upheaval Subsiding in the pit ; Muse on all good and evil. And cannot fathom it. My desolate soul breaketh To know a God above; Some voice within me waketh And crieth for his love. [60] Then down the clouds of glory And over the wild sea, Out from all ancient story And all that is to be, One Form divine, resistless, Emerges on my soul, That erst distraught or listless. Leaps up to be made whole. Thou Son of God, my being Declares Thee, who Thou art ! In thy light I have seeing. All secrets of my heart Come from their graves with trembling. All devilish sins confess ; All doubt and all dissembling Fade in thy perfectness ! Thy love as lightning reaches My spirit through the clod And claims it thine, and teaches Me love and Thou art God ! The world is filled with Heaven; All earth and sky and sea Perceive the quickening leaven And live and move in Thee! [61] What questioning remaineth? What longing unfulfilled? What hope but He attaineth? What doubt but He hath stilled? O ye that have not known Him Are deaf and blind and dumb; Awake, O dead, and own Him And Heaven shall fully come! [63] JESUS, I COME TO THEE Jesus, I come to Thee, Leave all the world for Thee, Yield all myself to Thee — Grant but Thyself to me ! Grant but Thyself to me ! Be the new heart of me, Shed thy great life in me. Till I live new in Thee ! Till I live new in Thee, Quickened, impelled, by Thee ; Till Thou be formed in me, And I do show forth Thee! [63] FRIEND OF SINNERS Friend of Sinners, faithful Friend, Leave me not, unto the end! Others flatter to my shame ; Thou dost show me what I am: How my good is not the best — How my ill goes unconfest; Or, if I am mocked of them, Thou alone dost not condemn. Deep among the toil, the strife, The anguish at my core of life. Thou searchest still, and findst in me The germ of whom I yet may be. Thou lovest such an one, and I Feel him leap in me for reply. Friend of Sinners, faithful Friend, Love, rebuke me, to the end; Till this flesh-veil fade and fall And I find Thee all in all ! [64] CONFESSION Jesus, I have fallen In sin : Now I think on Thee, chagrin Of hurt pride is not the worst Pang I feel, but that I durst Take upon myself thy name And put Thee to an open shame ! Jesus, in my secret heart, I have thought ill : Thou who art All my life, too late I see I have 'reft my soul of Thee, Sent thy Spirit from my flesh And wounded thy great heart afresh ! Jesus, in the clamorous crowd, I have shrunk, confused and cowed, Doubting thy divine control: Now Thou lookest on my soul, I confess my deep disgrace, Who denied Thee to thy Face! Yet what can I do but come Back to Thee, my only home? Thou dost call me by thy word And I know Thou art the Lord ! Yea, I love Thee, Thou dost know. Spite of all my bitter woe ! [65] Save me from the miry clay! Save me from the secret way! Save me from the storms that rave! Pluck my feet from out the grave ! Make me strong, at last, and free, Like a rock to stand for Thee ! [66] STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS Lord, not for my sake, Who am so little worth. Who am but formed to wake And perish in the earth — Who shake in every wind, Who am as water poured, As vapor unconfined. That cannot be restored — Not for my sake I pray Or strive, from sore defeat, To rise and tread the way Of thy remembered feet, But for thy sake alone. Who loved me and who died, If Thou at last be shown In me, and glorified. 1 love thee. Lord, nor doubt That virtue can appeal, Nor frailty — I fade out; Thou growest all in all. [67] OUT OF THE DEPTHS When my helpless boat has toiled Darkened hours where waters boiled, And my straining oars but sleep, Held and baffled in the deep — When the wind is at its height — In the darkest hour of night — Then it is Thou comest to me, Jesus, walking on the sea! When my soul by doubt is torn And I shudder back forlorn. Dreading, in mine agony, By some spectral foe to die — Then it thy Voice I hear, "Fear not: it is I: have cheer!" Then I fall and cry to Thee, "Lord, come into the boat with me!" Then Thou comest, and thy will Makes the winds and waters still. While thy Being I adore. Straightway are we at the shore ! Ruler, Thou, of wind and wave — They shall never be my grave — Lord, I put my trust in Thee I Evermore my Pilot be! [68] MORNING WATCH Jesus, ere the night depart, Shed thy light within my heart; Ere the world of men touch me, Let me feel the touch of Thee. Seal in me that inner light. So to scan the day aright ; Charge me, in the world of men, To put forth that touch again. [69] NOONDAY PRAYER Master, my ear grows jaded; From my mind The clear, true tone has faded- Let me find Thy silence settle round me As I pray, The discords that confound me Die away. Hush me, till new dilating, All my soul Moves to thy love's vibrating. Sure control. [70] EVENING PRAYER Night over one more day ! Christ, who oft didst pray Out on some mountain height, Star-lamps hung round about, Man and his sin and doubt For a brief hour shut out — Teach me to pray aright! In the wide earth no rest — No rest within my breast ! I climb to solitude Where the far star-lamps shine, Hungry for the divine Communion that was thine — Alone with the All-Good. 1 feel Thee come and stand And take me by the hand And breathe my voiceless prayer, Until the calm returns, While the whole heaven burns, And all my spirit yearns To meet thine, bare. My soul bows down to Thee, Divine Epiphany, That bendest low to such [71] As come by weary stealth To Thee ; all life and health, Peace, joy, all Heaven's wealth, Flow from thy touch 1 Forgive the vision lost This day, the spirit tost. The fear and wrong; Lo, I come back to Thee, Loving Thee utterly; Send me to-morrow free Forth to the throng! [ ^S 1 TO A YOUNG CONVERT Jesus is thy light And thy way ; Jesus is thy might And thy stay. Though all nature paint Darkness, now ; Tliough thy heart be faint, Fear not thou. Holding to his hand, Thou art pure; Doing his command, Free and sure. In his love thou hast All things thine; Loving Him, at last, Thou'rt divine. [73] I WOULD YOU KNEW MY MASTER I WOULD you knew my Master — His worth is more than all Men may conceive, and vaster As they upon Him call. His smile is Heaven's breaking; His touch is Heaven's might; He thrills the world to waking; He gives the blind eyes sight. His words are Heaven's manna; His love is Heaven's gold; The nations sing Hosanna Whom He has fed of old. He buys the slaves and makes them Forever God's free-men; The dead, when He awakes them. They shall not die again. He knows the heart of mortal And He alone has power To enter through its portal With Heaven's immortal dower. I would you knew my Master — His heart for you doth bleed Till you from all disaster And death in Him be freed. [74] A THORNY WAY A THORNY way, O Christ, thy feet do go, And he who follows after Must press the thorns, ev'n till the red drops flow, While mockery and laughter Ring in his ears from the loud thoroughfare Where the world travels lightly, without care. But 0, 'tis Thou dost glimmer on ahead, And looking backward beck'nest — A look with potency to raise the dead — Nor thine own blood-track reck'nest: The thorns grow lilies and his wounds divine To feel his life-blood flowing down with thine! [75] CALVARY'S HILL In the midst of the ages, All shadowy, still, Like a tower that engages The dark powers of ill. Stands Calvary's Hill. Away through the dust and Fierce heat of the years, In their hatred and lust and Their blindness of tears. Surge the man-swarms earth rears. On the hilltop the fashion Of a cross doth arise. And hung there, with passion Divine in his eyes, A Son of Man dies. From his shattered flesh going, The hard trampled clod With his life-blood is flowing — The stern path He trod Grows a river of God. Its pulses, descending, Increase hour by hour, Through centuries spending Their tide, till its power All earth's arteries dower. [76] There is virtue and healing And infinite love In the flood that goes stealing From the God-Man above To the world's farthest cove. Who drinks of this river, He finds it within, A fountain, forever Outpouring, again, His own life to men. Till the will of the Father In each heart be done And the warring tribes gather Together in one. Through the love of the Son, Who loved us and gave us His life on the tree, To quicken and save us, And so set us free — God's sons, even as He. [77] CHRIST AND THE PROUD SOUL Lordly mortal, At thy gate I stand knocking — Soon or late Thou must hear, through All thy state. High thy palace, Thy degree, And I am not Known to thee. And thy porter — Hurried he. All within is Beautiful : For thy joyance Thou didst cull The full flower of Many a soul. All things hast thou For delight: Woman's love is Thine this night And thy children Dance in sight. [78] Thronging, thronging, Through thy door. Press thy neighbors, Me before — And not one is Sad or poor. Yet I know that, On a day, Shall unbidden Pass this way One dread form no Hand can stay. He shall enter And demand What thou lovest Dearest, and Thou must yield it To his hand. Even the beam of A clear eye. Even the touch of Sympathy, Even the voice thou Livest by. [79] And the dear fonii That moved free To some inner Mystery, Shall lie cold and Dead to thee. Though thou weep, it Cannot hear; Though thy neighbors Gather near. All their words are Distant, drear. Thou shalt put them Forth, and cry, Out of thy love's Agony, Almost yielding Thee to die. And the silence Of the tomb Shall ensue, and. Through the gloom, My lone knocking Fill the room. [80] Then thy soul shalt Hear in thee ; Thou shalt rise up Breathlessly, Haste and open Unto Me, Crying, "Master, Didst thou bleed? And art living At our need? Art Thou gate of Life, indeed?" After that, from Out thy door, Thou shalt mark the Sad and poor, And shalt ope to Them thy store. [81] TO AN EARLY SPRING BLOSSOM Dear flower that liftest up, Here in this rocky dell, The glory of thy living cup — Thou art a miracle ! Earth holds thee not, nor storm Doth quell; frail as thou art. Thou risest up and findst thy fonn And openest thy heart. Yet the gay butterfly Or dusty gilded bee That seeks thee out and sucks thee dry Is miracle to thee. Life climbs a steep, whose height And depth in mystery dwell, And 'twixt each stage and next is flight Of the impossible. There is a life a man Feels stir at roots of him, Nor all that range below him can Once touch that fountain's brim. It is not of the earth ; It rises on some shore Remote, immortal, and its birth Is life forevermore. [82] It bids submit this host, This man of flesh, until The incoming of the Holy Ghost Regenerate his will ; To fight, since fight must be, And overcome the world, With only faith, and look to see The peace of God unfurled. O had we faith ! — as thou, Frail flower, dost spring and blow, Bursting our wintry earth-clod now, What image might we grow? What glory shed abroad At life's high pinnacle Where spirit reaches up to God, And all is possible? Of these things not our head Nor heart doth yet conceive. But One hath lived and wrought and bled That so we might believe ; Hath yielded up his breath And fallen, as a seed, Within the rocky tomb of death. To bring us life, indeed. [83] THE UNSEEN KING Dim descried among the ages Moveth Christ, the King of Men, Center of the storm that rages Through them; can our darkened ken Pierce the turmoil that still wages Round Him — find Him out again? Yet we all have felt his power And the virtue that doth go Forth from Him ; have flocked with our Evils after Him ; we know If we find Him, in that hour He will save us: be it so! Yea, we all have heard Him speaking. For his accents evermore With desire are seeking, seeking, Men above the loud uproar; With authority are breaking Where their frenzy broke before. In our age He is a presence. Yet we long to see his Face; Long to know the vital pleasance Of his heavenly truth and grace; To unfold his omnipresence In all features of our race ! [84] THE KING OF GLORY Time was when Christian knights turned back On the dark world, to quest afar A heavenly shore, whose light was more Than mortals dream in sun or star. Heroic souls ! Their valor won The long crusade, and led the way Whereby we stand in that blest land And hear the King of Glory say, "Return, ye sons of men, return ! Take up the swords your sires let fall! Each bathe his own before the throne In heavenly light, then gather all "Without the gate; for this ye came — For this my heavenly kingdom see — To turn once more to that dark shore And conquer earth and men for Me!" [85] OUR CAPTAIN KING We are the armies of King Christ ; The King Himself doth lead us on; The deserts flow with streams and blow With flowers, where we have gone. Full many a sink of foul disease, That rots and festers in our path, When we do smite with swords of light. Gives up the dead it hath. We cleanse the pools, we slay the beasts That prey on human life, but when Our weapons touch our brothers, such Leap up to life again. Yet though Heaven's light streams after us, Our Captain looks not back, but sees The fight ahead, where turneth red The city, to its lees. He draws us on into the glare, Into the heat and traffic's roar; He shineth there surpassing fair — He storms the midnight's core. Crying back to us, "Follow Me ! Ye are my own, my chosen band! Strike for your Lord! The heavenly sword Shall triumph in your hand!" [86] Christ God, let us not flinch from Thee! Quicken us now with inner might To stand and press, mid storm and stress, Thy battle through the night; Seeing the day that is to dawn, When through the street, the mart, the slum. The truth is known, thy triumph shown. Thy heavenly kingdom come ! [87] KING OF MEN I Ajvi the King of Men ; the world Is mine by right of love ; And farthest kings bring offerings My power supreme to prove. My kingdom is not of this world, Yet in the world it sows Its seeds of might and heavenly light, And through the world it grows. He most is king who most hath learned Of Me to love his own; The sovereign state alone is great Where my decrees are known. I judge between the lands; I sway The nations with release Of love, till range in interchange Of service, all in peace. For men to me are men ; I know Nor race nor clime ; the Son Of Man am I, and draw thereby The race of men in one. And yet, though King of Kings and Lord Of Lords, I walk the ways My subjects go, that I may know Each toiler, face to face. [88] ACROSS THE PRAIRIE Leagues and leagues of grass That stretch to the sky, Where the gray dream-ships pass- Yet bound am I. Fathoms and fathoms of air To the silent rest Of the spaces, everywhere — Yet I am oppressed. Steeds of wind and fire That mount and flee With all my heart's desire — Yet I am not free. [89] II IN THE TOWN A WINDOW and a hearth And one I love, And four red walls of earth Give room to move. A workshop and a tool And practiced skill, And on a narrow stool I work my will. A fane, a human hush, A voice of prayer — And worlds asunder rush. For Heaven is there. [90] ONE IN CHRIST O IF the soul could ever reach the height To yield its life's full truth in look and tone Always and ever — never with a screen Of pride or doubt or conscious void between — If men were kin, as now are flesh and bone, And mingled as the common rays of light ! If faith might never waver — if we knew With all our strength of thought, that God is true, And that the human soul is true to Him In essence, howsoe'er its light grow dim — If we could hold those moments high and few When we seem his — and all the wide world, too! If we could trust our kind as He alone Trusted, who walked of old in Palestine; Who gave Himself in city, field, or lake. To whomsoever had the will to take — The Water and the Bread of Life, the Vine, The Way, the Truth, the Life, to everyone! Who knew the depth of darkness, needed not That any should tell Him what was in man ; O infinitely pure — infinite pain Must wring from Him the drops of bloody rain ; [91] He knew it all, yet freely He began To do and teach — his Father taught Him what ! Centered and fixed in truth, storms could but prove The strength of his free spirit: mocked, de- spised. Betrayed, denied, deserted of his own, He trod the bitter wine-press all alone. And rising, claimed of all, and agonized Peter, the worship and the works of love! O Christ, we feel thy love inflame our own! In Thee we rise, and break the bands of fear ; Thy light of truth we see, O Christ, we see, In power divine to set our spirits free ! We walk and leap and own thy Godhead, clear Of the impotence which all our life has known ! O strong at last in thy love's conquering might, May we not stand confest upon the earth The sons of God? May we not clear away With hands of love and faith, the blinding clay That binds our brother, till a new, free birth The sons of men with Thee in God unite? [92] BLIND OF SPIRIT O THAT mine eyes might see the Lord divine ! O that mine ears might hear his accents sweet ! O that some costly spikenard were mine, That I might pour it on his weary feet! How would I wipe them with my cov'ring hair — Judas and the disciples all forgot — How would I break my soul to Him in prayer, Enraptured at his word, "Rebuke her not!" O blind of spirit I Shall we never see The living present with its certain task, But still demand, with sons of Zebedee, The impossible? We know not what we ask! Great Christ, teach Thou our hearts a humbler prayer. Worked out through hands and lips and bended knee Before thy mortal suffering, everywhere, And through thy human garment touching Thee! [98] LOAVES AND FISHES Dear Christ, the hungry multitude Bids all within us rise, For our feet stand where Thou hast stood And Thou dost light our eyes. We see them fainting, scattered far, Their own need half unknown, As sheep without a shepherd are — Thy burden in us grown. Our hearts leap up at Thy command, "Give ye to them to eat," But see how paltry in our hand Our basketful of meat ! Our loaves and fishes, what are they Among so many. Lord? How can we send them filled away Who can so scant afford.? Yet in thy face sufficiency Of every good we find. And bring our little store to Thee With free and trusting mind. Thou canst not fail — we know not how, Nor question overmuch — But all Thou touchest, this we know, Increases at thy touch. [94] Bless Thou, O Christ, our humble food, Our fishes and our bread ; So shall the hungry multitude Abundantly be fed. Bless Thou, O Christ, our human good With thy divinity; So shall the hungry multitude Feed in their hearts on Thee ! [95] INSCRIPTION FOR A CHURCH DOOR Dost know our Master? O stand not without! Soul of our soul — thou canst but be at home; Rest here, unfold thy heart and speak of Him! Dost know Him not? O enter, in his name! We bid thee welcome as thou wert Himself And pray thou find Him in this house of his! [96] A SONG OF GOD'S HOUSE God in our hearts doth call And bids us gather here; He is tlie Father of us all And we are brothers dear. Christ Jesus, his dear Son, Has opened wide the door — Makes us joint heirs with Him, each one- He would not have one poor. Here must we freely give All men an unfeigned love, Seeing the very life we live Comes down from God above. Yea, each must fully know His life as ours is priced. Seeing that all we have we owe Unto our Brother, Christ. For so are we God's sons, Bound up by Christ's new birth In brotherhood, that through us runs Transforming all the earth; Bringing the sons of strife To gather without fear Into one family, whose life Rises and centers here. [97] A PRAYER OF THIS AGE Thy Messenger of grace, Thy promised Spirit, Lord, Grant, to sustain, recall thy Face, And quicken all thy word ! Grant Him in this our age. To these our hearts, that we, Who look upon an ancient page. Its inward light may see. Grant Him to these our minds, That wrestle with the world. Until thy purpose in us finds A way to be unfurled. Grant to our wills, at last. That resurrection dawn When Thou Thyself, from the dead past, Shalt rise and lead us on! [98] EVENSONG Jesus, Good Shepherd, take us to thy fold! We are weary and the night is falling cold ; No rest we know but thine all-watchful care — Take us from the changing world to shelter there. Jesus, Good Shepherd, take us to thy fold! If we have strayed from thy blest paths to-day. If we have not hearkened to thy voice, we pray, Chasten us duly, give repentance meet, Only bring us back to rest around thy feet. Jesus, Good Shepherd, take us to thy fold! Thou who dost lay thy life down for the sheep, We would on thy bosom all confessing weep ; For when night closes round our way at last. Then we know that Thou alone canst fold us fast. Jesus, Good Shepherd, take us to thy fold! [99] "THAT THEY MAY BE ONE" Who names the name of Christ? Who prays, "Thy will be done"? Have neither hopes nor toils sufficed To weld their hearts in one? The passion of the Lord, How worketh it in us? How doth his quick and powerful word Rend his own body thus? The world of men, that drew Him on to Calvary, Why draws it us not thither, who Partake his ministry? All forms by which we came — Were they not crucified, If we his spirit caught, whose flame Consumed Him, that He died? — Believed that Spirit's power To work, in deathless youth, A new creation, in the hour That it is sought in truth? What form of words outworn. Of uses, in that day. Could stand between the world forlorn, And Christ, where He doth pray? [100] Spirit of God, awake In us ! Let this vain show Be done away, for Jesus' sake. And that the world may know The power of his love, His resurrection's power. To bring in one all men ; and prove His life each life's deep dower. Convict, constrain us, search, Till all be sacrificed. And in thy Spirit thy whole church Be born in one, O Christ! [101] IS GOD THE GOD OF THE WORLD? Is God the God of the world, Or only the God of a land? Have other lands other Gods? 'Tis time we should understand Whether we made Him ourselves, Or He is the work of our hand ! Are we then children yet, Like the Children of Israel, To think the God of the world Is our God, and loves us well, But hates the rest of his sons And daughters, and makes them for Hell? Even when Christ has borne Our sorrows in guiltless shame? Even when we must plead The grace of his love-strong name? Even when love like his Has set our own hearts aflame? [102] PRAY YE THEREFORE O WHITE to the harvest is standing The field of the world in our day : The Lord of the grain is commanding His servants to pray. He would send us, but we are not ready ; Our hands are too weak for the task, Our purpose too faint, too unsteady, For all He would ask. He would lift up our eyes till they meet Him, Till his own eyes do light us, and show All He sees — till we fall and entreat Him To fit us to go ; Till we go in his strength, even weeping. For stress of the labor that grieves ; Till we come in the joy of the reaping Bearing with us our sheaves. [103] THE PRESENT CRISIS MY brothers, we have seen them, From the rising of the sun. Where the ages ran between them As eternal rivers run, Where they slept a sleep no clamor Of the nations yet could break — We have seen them shake the glamour From their eyelids, rouse and wake! We have seen them at the portal Flinging wide the crusted door, Bursting in an hour the mortal Roof-tree of the straitened yore, Looking for a living rootage Of the future, reaching hands Westward, crying, "Share the fruitage Of your years, O Christian Lands !" O my brothers, dare we palter, Grasp for gain, in such an hour? Mumble at our prayers, and falter. Holding back our utmost power? Speak of trade, and speak of science, Till our God by them is priced Worthy scorn and all defiance? Dare we give them less than Christ? [104] WHOSE SON IS HE? Lo, wc have heard his name, have seen his works, Have marveled at the gracious words that came Out of his mouth, have followed Him about Pondering all the things men say of Him — And now He asks, "Who say ye that I am?" Some say He is the carpenter: they know The house where He abides ; his brethren all Are with them in their native town; his name Has been a household word, since they re- member. He stood and talked with them, and with their children ; Walked through their streets, sometimes with dusty feet; Sat round their fires ; ate gladly at their board ; Wrought daily in their midst, as one of them. They are offended in Him. Others say He is a prophet: that his spirit caught The vision of seers and sages of all times And nations. Some declare He is as great As any, or as all the ancients. They Are ready with their lips to honor Him, But when they hear that calm command of his, [ 105 ] "Leave all thou hast, and come and follow Me," They heed it not. Lo, we must answer Him, For pausing in the solitary way Where He leads men apart, He turns on us A steadfast look, and asks us, "What say ye?" We know what Peter said, so long ago ; But how shall we, who stand on continents Undreamed by him, inhabiting centuries Miraculous beyond his boldest leap Of fancy when he stood and watched the wind Upturn the blue deep of Gennesaret — How shall we meet those deep eyes? How shall we Stop in this little by-path of the world And lose ourselves forever? Can we curb The mind that has encircled the round globe — Scanned it at large and closely, holding it A unit in the heavens — measuring The lands together with a span of steel. Riding the sea's wet pinions, netting all The nations with a fiery thread of thought. Coursing the crystal currents of the air. And soaring out into the infinite. Finding its resting place in sun and star? — [106] Not only taming nature's monstrous powers To be our ministers, but investing her With what she had not without us — a voice — The voice of truth — waking the silences Through all the universe to speak with us — Ever more plainly hearing, evermore Catching the music of some farther star? The mind, the will, that has encompassed this, And still finds hunger grow with knowledge, till It cries out for the Infinite sweep of space Wherein it may expand, and endless time — Shall it be bounded in a narrow strip Of Jewish sand, where Jordan and the sea And Dan and Beersheba shut out the world. And progress, science, history, and art? Shall it rest back on three mysterious years Once passed within that prison, and live o'er And o'er again their incidents, as though Time moved not, nor the wisdom of men grew? Long since our vision pierced beyond the fog Of superstition, to the light of law ; We see that reason rules the universe And we are not afraid. We learn to grasp The principles of reason for men's lives : How health and wealth and peace are best secured By knowledge, thrift, and virtue ; how the wars And tumults of the nations might be stilled [107] By simple justice; how truth and righteous- ness Alone are strong, or can at last prevail. The consummation of our knowledge, wrought Out into life, lies far ahead, indeed; But 'tis our goal. History heartens us ; The future calls us to it ; why stand we Gazing up into Heaven from Bethany For one two thousand years evanished hence? O vanity of human knowledge, thou That lost us Eden ! Thou dost lose us now The light of truth which million suns and stars But image faintly. So the Lord hath chosen The weak things, as thou seest, to confound The things thou callest mighty. They who found Nothing to boast of, all to wonder at, Wild Peter and the sons of Zebedee, Knowing so little, could believe all things. Because their eyes were pure and free to see. Where science stops to settle boundary lines, They felt the unbounded potency of love, That overflows all places, times, and forms. That overflows all speech, for that itself Is language to the living heart more clear. What is our knowledge but a weariness Of flesh and spirit, only as it yields More sight to something higher.? God is love! [108] And all the life that He creates is love, With thought to know the joy of loving; truth Itself is powerless till it throb to life In love, for love is truth that breathes and moves. And as we gaze into those eyes of his. That fisherman and publican could trust With their whole soul at the word "Follow Me," That spoke his love to the young ruler's heart, That wept above the city and at the tomb — Those eyes wherein the lowly Mary found A better part that could not pass away — Those eyes so often raised to Heaven in prayer And in thanksgiving — that so often held His enemies nonplussed with their pure light — Whose free, divine submission in the hour Of treachery made anned men fall back — Those eyes that looked on Peter, till he fled From sight of them to outer dark and cold And tears and bitter shame — they seem to bear A light too holy and ineffable For science to explain or space to hold. For art to image, or for thought to compass. And when we see Him with the multitude Where the diseased of flesh and mind and soul Crowded upon Him, hungry for the health They felt but in his presence, — see Him move [109] Among them, touching them with tenderness Of sympathy and power invincible, Speaking to each the word he needed most, Of comfort, or of courage, or rebuke; Then see Him, bending, break to them the bread Of life, his body, broken for their sakes — Pour out his soul as water for their thirst. Even unto death — we know Him present yet By our own need of Him, and pressing near We reach our longing hands to hold Him fast And find we can but grasp his garment's fringe. So truth breathed on us once — the truth in- deed; And still in him that hath not lifted up His soul to vanity, nor sworn deceit — Who has not said blasphemously, "Behold, I know the uttermost that can be known," Or "Nothing can be known of certainty," Who sees in knowledge but the handmaiden Of faith and hope and charity — within The living heart beats true to truth, and finds In Him the end of knowledge and the crown Of being. O diviner than our thought. We can but fall before Thee and adore, Owning in Thee the infinite, wherein The hunger of our souls immortally Can find no lack ! O height, O depth of love Past power of ours to fathom, that Thou dost stoop [110] To touch us with a human finger, break The still, cold vault of death for us, with hands Heavy with all the anguish of our sin ! Thou readiest those same scarred hands to our blind And stubborn doubt, and biddest us to be Not faithless, but believing, and behold. We find the power within us to obey ! The truth of Peter and of Thomas, yet, Is truth to each heart, and to all the race. Thought never yd could add a cubit's height To human stature. Life alone can grow. And herein lies the promise of that goal Which reason sees, but shall not reach alone : Love wakens love ; life in thy life expands Into thy likeness, wherein vital joy Flows out spontaneous duty, perfecting With natural freedom, reason's final truth. And so the little coasts of Palestine Could not contain Him, nor the cities old Of Greece and Italy, nor all the states Of rising Europe ; but his light made glad The dawning of the New World, and the Isles Made ready for his tidings, and the lands That sat in darkness and in death arise To greet Him at his coming. Even now We catch the Apocalyptic thrill of faith — [111] "The kingdoms of this world are all become The kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ." Nay, Nazarene, nor Galilean, now, Nor Son of Time art Thou ; the Living Truth ; The Light supreme that lighteth every man That comes into the world, if he will see ; God, and the Word of God, — God's Love de- clared ; Man, and the Way to God, — man's boundless hope; Behold, Thou art alive forevermore! [112] EASTER MEDITATION O GOD, they say, Who most survey The wondrous workings of thy mute creation That every day Ticks toward decay — The centuries run down to desolation. The blasted moon, Defunct so soon — A derelict upon the tides of nature — A mindless loon — Flits o'er our noon And mocks the waxing of our stronger stature. Great Mars, that rent The firmament And scattered living souls through fiery spaces — O mind intent, He soon is spent — His ocean sinks, his ditching interlaces ! Thy mysteries Of sounding seas, And all the music of thy cataract splashes, [113] And mists that rise In sunset skies, O Earth, dissolve in endless ether washes. Thy leafy towers And gay strewn flowerisj The snows that crown thy peaks of solid granite. Thy windy powers, Thy days and hours. Shall pass, and thou, a naked, sun-seared planet, Shalt fall again Into that fen Of dire corruption out of which thou earnest; To sons of men What matter, then. If thou dost honor them, or if thou blamest? The nations all That rise and fall, Extinct, forgotten, pass their puny races; Fair temple tall. Proud judgment hall, Disintegrate and perish from their places. And thou, my land, That now dost stand Midway between the pales of deathly darkness, [114] No project grand Thy genius manned Shall stem the infinite with ghostly starkness. Thy million tools, Thy giant pools Whereby thou pliest trade in such profusion, Thy senates, schools. Thy churches^ rules, Raised up in blood, sink back to dissolution. O Man, at last. Thy toil amassed. Of knowledge, art, renown, and golden treas- ure, — The storied past. The future vast, Fade out, both ways, in darkness without meas- ure. What thou hast done, What thou hast won. With pen or sword or plow or laboring ham- mer. It all shall run, Kissed by the sun. In sudden flame the brief course of its glamour. [115] II Earth, so fair, The lightest hair Thou barest on thy reeling head is numbered: For everywhere Thy locks do flare With waking of the immortal soul that slum- bered ! Thine ocean tons. Thy mountain thrones, Have lifted him to power of appliance ; Thy creeping ones, Thy circling suns. Have wrought in him the sacred truth of science. The little flower That blows this hour Opens to him a glimpse of joy and heaven; Its sunny dower Consumes, the power Works on in him, a purifying leaven. All beauty spread On wood or mead Makes beautiful his spirit that perceives it; All radiance shed. All rapture fled From sky and sea — his inmost soul receives it. [116] The sculptured dome Of Greece and Rome, O Modem World, so sunken now and hoary, Was once thy home And treasured tome Reveals thou yet hast not forgot its glory. All history Exists in thee ; Plato and Homer flourish in thy being; Philosophy And minstrelsy. They blossom yet from out their thought and seeing. O Country mine, These laws of thine, These very stones thou pilest here together — Each righteous line. Shall deathless shine. And weighty is the balance of a feather. Thou shapest here The princely peer. The citizen of the Celestial City To blazon clear The thousandth year. Thy truth, thy strength, thy justice, and thy pity. [117] Labor, that set His crown of sweat Upon the brow that was to have dominion — To do and get, To hold and let, To send and go at will on windy pinion — His treasures fail: Great wheel and sail At every turn reseek the changing ocean; But this avail Survives the gale — He freed himself who set the steel in motion. And thou, O Art, The spirit's mart, Thou boastest not thy passing flame of glory That better part. The human heart Thou wakenest to living song and story. Ill Unceasing whirled, This world on world Is mixed through all the universal ferment In ashes curled. Again unfurled. Reissuing from innermost interment. [118] Through all thy range, Immortal Change, Thou travailest to yield the living spirit ; Dost rearrange In symbols strange A higher birth of being to inherit. IV God, who hast wrought In earth this thought, In senseless suns and stars this deathless pas- sion — The same that sought. The same that taught Us utmost love, revealed in human fashion — Do Thou conduct ; Do Thou instruct Us how thy love doth labor through creation: While earth is sucked, How man is plucked From ruin on to honor and salvation. This inmost rage Of age on age. If Thou and nature with the soul not juggle. Is ours to wage — Our heritage. To learn, to love, to labor, and to struggle; [119] Pursuing still The perfect Will, The Love Divine, slain from the world's foun- dation ; Succumbing, till, With refluent thrill, Mutation rise again to revelation; And everything Bud forth and fling About our path a radiance supernal. And systems spring New born to sing. And man rejoice in life that is eternal; And fellowship Be strong and deep With Him who gives us life and love and beauty ; And men shall slip The hand and grip The Hand divine at every post of duty. Earth's narrow room Wliere we consume This life, is drenched with Heaven, past our perceiving ; [120] Her darkened tomb, The quickened womb Whence issues new the life of our believing. No more with fears We plod the years, Careful our feet shall find a narrow lodgment ; We look through tears. O'er blinding blears Millennial, and behold the day of judgment. O never, then, Fail heart or brain. In thought or prayer or uttermost endeavor: We wake again Diviner men. And tread the stars, with Him who died, for- ever ! [121] SONNETS "IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH" Now, while the flood of youth flows fair and free And the bright blossoms bend above its brink — While yet no broken reeds or dead leaves sink Upon its tide — now, now, dear Lord, of Thee, Whose hidden fountains feed the stream for me — Of Thee and of thy mercies would I think; And trusting fearless to the faithful link, The golden link of prayer, that I can see Forever shining through the sunlit air, With one end fastened to my slender bark And one lost high above my vision's scope, I need not dread the noonday's fiercer glare, Nor the sharp rocks below, nor the chill dark, But thank Thee, Lord, for life and love and hope! [125] II IN THE DELUGE O thou who sendest forth from out thy ark With glowing hand the silver pinioned dove Of thy youth's holy and believing love, To drive all day o'er widening waters dark 'Neath lowering skies — no resting-place — no spark Of kindred life, how far so e'er she rove, Until at weary eve she backward move And fainting gain again her lonely bark! Doubt not ! God giveth sleep ! And after that Send forth thy dove unwavering; she shall bring Her olive leaf at last, and Ararat Shall yield her to the free, broad earth, to sing Through all the budding woods, new garlanded. With God's own rainbow arching o'er her head! [126] Ill THE CLOUD If I could pay a million for that cloud And call it mine, and mount its lap of gold, And wrap its glory 'round me, fold on fold. My soul should soar, and nevermore be cowed ! O vain presumption, fatuous as proud! — There should I breathe but thin and bitter cold. And floods of foggy blackness 'round me rolled Would swathe my senses in a deathly shroud ! But standing on the earth that bears and warms This fragile flesh and blood, and stretching out I\Iy empty hands, my short and feeble arms, j\Iy soul is freed by passionate desire — The cloud becomes my chariot of fire And bears me up to Heaven with a shout ! [127] IV AFTER DOUBT OF IMMORTALITY Yet, O my Mother, it cannot be so ! God does not give us love to mock our dust — Love, that is always great with hope and trust ; God will not let my love and thy love go Out into nothingness, nor count our woe Of long-enduring separation just The chasm which our generation must Leave for some nobler love to overflow. Thy love and mine were not destroyed by death, Nor yet by life and changing scenes of earth : My love remains for thee, so thine must be; My love and thine demand eternity. O why in some diviner, freer place. May not our love grow perfect, with the race.'* [128] ON LOSING FAITH IN GOD O death unspeakable! The universe Is but a funeral pile of gilded stones Where lie interred the Eternal Dead One's bones. Henceforth infinity doth but immerse All being in death; life is a painted hearse, A whited sepulchre, wherein Avho groans A little moment, swift dissolving moans. Whelmed in the doom of that all-blighting Henceforth eternity doth but iterate Cycles of death. Far evolutions mock At earth ; earth mocks at evolutions ; shock Of rising system or of falling state Are one : all birth is death ; all souls dilate In chaos, reaching after death, their fate! [129] VI ON DOUBTING THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST In the still upper chamber of my heart Stand the eleven with bewilderment Of sorrow, shame, despair, love, wonder, blent Upon their faces. Lingering apart From the blood-guilty nation's noisy mart, They brood on all they late believed and meant And question if in reason or intent They were mistaken in the chosen part. The doubt of Thomas and the love of John Strive with the truth and guilt of Jona's son. Faint hope of some, and grief of everyone. But Judas is not there. Saviour, view That secret, bolted chamber, through and through, — Stand in the midst and say, "Peace be to you !" [130] VII THE SERMON I hold no word of what I heard that night, But past the power within me to unroll, My eyes beheld a vision of a soul Who walked with God by faith, and found it sight, Whose steps were free and certain in that light, Whom fear and agony could not control. Who saw through storm and tumult still the goal Of peace his inward peace commanded. Height Nor depth nor length nor breadth could ere divide Him from the truth he trusted, for he saw Through all the world the working of that law Whereby himself had triumphed; over all And in all and through all he heard the call Of love, that must at last be satisfied. [131] VIII THE BLIND MAN I know not how my tongue can speak aright Of Who it was that found me by the way Begging for bread, and pausing stooped to lay His hands upon my lids, that longed for light, And bade me wash — that I received my sight. And the place where He met me, and the clay He used upon me, and the water's spray. Grew conscious with the presence of his might. But this I know, that whereas I was blind. Behold, I see, and I walk without fear. And where I faltered once, the way is clear. And all is broad that was of old confined, And life is loosened in me, and I burn With joy of my new sense, where'er I turn. [132] IX ATONEMENT I seem to see, O Christ, how Thou didst bear My sin tind all the world's upon the tree, How all the blight of our iniquity Came down on thy pure spirit, bowing there, As thou didst utter that divinest prayer Earth ever heard: for life was love to Thee And love takes on itself the power to be. In weal and woe, the creature of its care. Thine infinite sympathy embraced, that hour The race of men, past, present, and to be. And more than thorns or nails or soldier's sword, The anguish of their guilt's undoing power Wrung from thy soul that agonizing word, "My Father, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" [133] X INEVITABLE Thou Christ of God,, how couldst Thou enter in To this world, but to die? The Prince there- of— Hadst Thou but bent the knee to him, that strove For thy submission — his son Thou mightst have been, And reigned, and having seen thine armies win, Died honored; choosing only that bright Dove That called Thee Son of God — being all love — Thou couldst but die, in such a world of sin ! Thou couldst but die — aye, and Thou couldst but rise — As sure as clay is clay, and God is God I Earth could not hold Thee, nor the senseless clod Wherein the hardened hearts of men are cast — Thou risest through our hearts — aye, Thou dost rise Through earth and Heaven, Immortal King, at last! [134] XI THE PIVOT OF THE WORLD I dreamed 'twixt sleep and wake : the world was one Vast tumorous welter of black cloud, that heaved In the deep gloom wherein it was conceived. j\Iy soul was whelmed therein and nigh undone. Then 'gan faint streaks of gray to loom and run And filter through the dark, until they weaved A web of twilight, wherein I perceived The clouds move round me toward some dawn- ing sun. Then broke the gloom in rifts, even to the heart Of the world, and I beheld where the deep night Gathered and fled away from utter light About the uplifted cross ; past the cross lay The undreamed of glory, and all this cloudy part Slow turned upon it into all that day. [ 13."' ] XII BEREAVEMENT We are born deaf and blind: the world is round Us, tabernacling all that is with clay, When first we break into its mimic day; For so God shuts our childhood in, to sound Innumerous changing forms, till we have found Some secret of his Presence — till we say, "The world is shadow, and shall fade away, At the end of time in some more vast pro- found."— Say, but not comprehend, — till pangs of death Strike through our flesh and blood, and at a breath Life of our life slips from our palsied ken To realms unsearchable by our senses, — then Is the world rent asunder as a scroll. And God's eternity bursts on the soul! [136] XIII "WHOSE LOVES IN HIGHER LOVE ENDURE" Nay, kneel not to me, Love, for I and Thou Are not the deities we dream today — Lest time should have us in derision ; nay, I stand no more if thou love-blinded bow, Lest so I blot the worlds, and disallow Unfathomed star-beams, darkening all thy way; Or else, at last, the universal ray Ungild before thee my poor crescent brow. But I will kneel with thee to God above. Of whom are all things ; in whose love is light Illimitable ; who giveth freely sight To lifted eyes ; who causeth us to shine With image of his glory, and our love To mount forever through the deep divine! [137] XIV CUPID AND CHRIST Blind guides there be that do afflict us still And they have taken the blind heathen boy And set him far above all Christian joy, And bowed themselves to him, to have his will In them, and bade our children drink their mi Of his untamed desire, who makes a toy Of hearts and sets up houses to destroy. That he may laugh when comes on them all ill. Love's not our end, else were the generations A treadmill and no more; nor perfected Is man in woman nor woman in man, but Head Of both is Christ, and built in Him shall stand Their home inviolate, the whole creation's Glory — without Him crumble on the sand. [138] XV O BARREN EARTH! O barren Earth, that wilt not yield thyself Unto the brooding Heaven, that with cost Unspeakable hath sought thee from the host Of virgin worlds, desiring in thy delf Of clay to form the image of itself — Thou, who dost dare deny the Holy Ghost ! Shut in thyself thou diest, and art lost. Girdled with all thy glory and thy pelf! O shrink no more the travail and the might, But know the joy thereof! Thou who hast said "I will be free," confess thy being's Lord In whom alone thyself is perfected; Yea, bid the Bridegroom enter to his right. And endless life flow forth from deep accord! [139] XVI SIGNS OF THE TIMES Jesus, ere yet thy star of old had shone In the East, the rabble hither, thither, turned Crying, "Lo here! Lo there!" Pure spirits yearned Continual in the temple, sensient grown To gleams of heavenly glory; longing, lone. Wise hearts afar the thrilling time discerned; God's power on Mary's innocency burned; And Herod trembled: so wert Thou fore- known ! Even so this whole, earth-giddy, later earth, Still turning on itself, hath almost run Another circle of its center sun; Lo here, lo there, they cry, "A heavenly star!" The watchers catch a glimmering afar. And pure hearts travail for thy modern birth I [140] XVII OUR STAR Star of the East, that issuedst toward the West, Rising from age to age with light more grand On new born nations, on each virgin strand — Still drawing forth the wisest and the best From out the failing past, till Thou didst rest In these last days above my native land! Star of the East, whereby we hope to stand Till through us all the race of men is blest ! Unfold thy heart ! And O, with all our heart, May we acknowledge Thee, that we no more Go hence, nor perish from our place, but here Be brought forth new from age to age in fear And love of thy great light, and on this shore Thy heavenly glory work its saving part ! [141] XVIII AMERICA AND THE HAGUE O my dear Country, thou canst never dare Deny the Court of Peace! Thou, who art hope Of the world's weary nations ; 'neath the slope Of whose spread wings they seek a sheltering care Like to the care of God! Thou, who must share Christ's saving travail for their sons who grope Through toil to thee ; must in thy members cope With all their war, in strength of naught but prayer ! Nay, but thou must be first to own that Court And set it as a crown upon the brow Of Christ, the King of nations. First must thou Confess his heavenly rule thy last resort, Even as it is: so shall He judge thy cause And 'stablish it in his unfailing laws. [14^] XIX THE WORLD'S STAR Star of the East, that travelledst towards the west, Bringing a new creation from the night Of heathen darkness to thy marvelous light, That shincst now upon the foremost crest Of this our human tide, that quickenest Remotest shores with currents of thy might, Till they who saw not, with desire of sight Turn all ways through the world in eager quest ! Complete thy course and shine upon the East, Till every race and every tongue be bound In the gold circle of thy perfect round; Till pestilence and war from earth have ceased And every nation find its final good, Its highest self, in thy high brotherhood! [143] DEC 12 1913