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 COEVRIGHT DEPOSm 
 

 
 
 
 The Heavenly 
 Voice 
 
 A Life of Christ in Blank Verse: 
 His Work and Word in Sonnets 
 
 By 
 MARGARETTA AYRES KARR 
 
 PRINTED Br 
 
 EATON & MAINS 
 
 150 Fifth Avenue, New York 
 
 
 
 
 
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 LIBRARY of O0«Q--<ESS 
 
 Two Copies <t8C«»lveU 
 
 MAR i'o !Wi> 
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 COPY S. 
 
 Copyright, 1905, by 
 Margaretta Ayres Karr. 
 
 Entered at Stationers' Hall, 
 London, England. 
 
TO MOTHER 
 
 To thee, companion, counselor, jfirst friend, 
 Who early sought my sinful ways to mend. 
 By teachings from the book of books divine, 
 To so instill a love of truth like thine. 
 
 Who brooded o'er thy child with ceaseless care, 
 With selfless love, as priceless pure as rare ; 
 From spring of day to sunset hue of eve. 
 Thine only thought how others' woes relieve. 
 
 Thy suffering years a ministry of pain. 
 Thou countedst loss for higher, holier gain ; 
 Till God's white-winged messenger of peace. 
 Brought thee at last a sweet, swift, sure release. 
 
 When bursting bud oped into first, fresh leaf, 
 Thine angel came to gamer up his sheaf'; 
 Transplanted to the virgin soil of God, 
 To bloom with vernal freshness fair, untrod. 
 
 To thee, whose rare insight encouraged mine, 
 To voice the thought by Spirit's gift divine, 
 I dedicate these lowly lays truth-taught. 
 To thee, O mother mine, life's love inwrought. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In the sere and yellow leaf of 1899, when 
 clouds as a thick darkness spread over the sky 
 of the author, it pleased the Lord to bestow upon 
 His lowly handmaiden a gift of light, to irradiate 
 the inner and outer life with increasing glow. 
 
 Falling noiselessly, as the first droppings of a 
 plenteous shower, it increased to the continual 
 flow, which has uplifted a life from its littleness 
 of human aims and selfish endeavofs, to the 
 greater and higher one of a work for God. 
 
 Obeying the gentle intimations of the Holy 
 Spirit, it manifested itself in the lines of my first 
 verse — ^"The Royal Road" — which was published 
 within the year in a local paper. So it came with 
 great and greater frequency and richness, sancti- 
 fying and blessing its possessor with wondrous 
 unfolding. 
 
 The return of the lines — Thoughts On Our 
 Lord's Prayer — when offered for publication in 
 the following year, January 5th, 1901, wrought 
 such discouragement and despondency in the 
 mind of the writer, as to lead the Lord to manifest 
 His gracious approval and encoviragement that 
 very night, in a wondrous vision of ineffable 
 light, as from His glory, filling a window square 
 in outline, let in as it were on the blank wall of 
 my room, through which the rays shone on my 
 
vi Preface 
 
 face, to amaze my waking sight and strengthen 
 me with this radiant manifestation of His ap- 
 proval to use my spiritual gift solely for His 
 honor and glory. 
 
 As year succeeded year with the rich fruitage 
 of the heavenly gift, more and more were pub- 
 lished in the church periodicals for the uplifting 
 of other lives. 
 
 The Portraitures, Sonnets, and The Dual Life, 
 were direct leadings and inspirations of the Holy 
 Spirit. Upon the completion of The Dual Life 
 it again pleased the Lord to vouchsafe His ap- 
 proval of its writing and publication, by a second 
 vision, on the night of October first, 1903, which 
 was like a window or dome of light, in the ceiling 
 over my bed, partly covered with a large open- 
 work grating, through which the beams of light 
 from the uncovered portion were streaming in 
 my face. I awoke to see this wondrous sight and 
 to behold the grating slide, to wholly cover the 
 window, and so to disappear. 
 
 So what was so divinely given and sanctioned 
 for the uplifting of a soul to God, I offer with- 
 out apology to a public, that will likewise be 
 quickened to new spiritual life, and closer com- 
 munion with Him from whom all blessings flow, 
 by its study and perusal. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The Heavenly Voice comprises, — The Dual 
 Life, The Portraitures, and The Sonnets. 
 
 The Dual Life, is a narration of the divine and 
 human nature of Christ, in blank verse diversified 
 somewhat by rhymed verse. It is divided into 
 seven great divisions, and seven subdivisions. 
 The great divisions are — The Time, The Con- 
 troversy, The Mystery, The Incarnation, The 
 Presentation, The Question, and The Mission. 
 
 The Mission, is subdivided into seven other 
 divisions, viz: The Birth of John the Baptist, 
 The Baptism, The Temptation, The Work, The 
 Crucifixion, The Resurrection, and The Ascen- 
 sion of Christ. 
 
 The Time, opens with an anthem of praise in 
 rhymed verse, by the choir of the heavenly host, 
 on the rest day of creation. It treats of the re- 
 bellion and fall of Satan from power, and closes 
 in rhymed verse, with the angels' lament over his 
 downfall. 
 
 The Controversy, opens with a description of 
 heaven, and treats of the converse of the angels 
 over the fall of man, and the controversy between 
 the Father and the Son over his redemption; 
 closing with an ascription of praise in rhymed 
 verse, for the redeeming love. 
 
viii Introduction 
 
 The Mystery, opens with a description of 
 Nazareth, and of the Virgin Mary, It treats of 
 her annunciation by the angel, and of her visit 
 to EHsabeth; — to close with her magnificat in 
 rhymed verse. 
 
 The Incarnation, opens with a description of 
 spring and Joseph's lament over Mary's condi- 
 tion. It treats of the angel's visit to him, of their 
 marriage, and visit to Bethlehem, the birth of the 
 royal child, and the visit of the wise men to His 
 manger; closing with the angel-song, "Glory to 
 God in the Highest," in rhymed verse. 
 
 The Presentation, opens with a description of 
 Jerusalem, and the edict of Herod to destroy the 
 children of Bethlehem. It treats of the return 
 of the holy family from Egypt, a description of 
 the home in Nazareth, the presentation in the 
 Temple, the testimony of Simeon, and ends in 
 rhymed verse, with a song of praise, by the 
 widow who lived in the Temple. 
 
 The Question, opens with an account of Christ's 
 babyhood, and treats of the family visit to Jeru- 
 salem to keep the passover; the tarrying of 
 Jesus in the Temple to ask and answer the doc- 
 tors of the law ; the question which He asked 
 of His mother, and closes with His return to 
 Nazareth. 
 
 The Mission being subdivided into seven divi- 
 sions ; the first division is, — The Birth of John 
 the Baptist. This opens with the visit of the 
 
Introduction ix 
 
 angel to Zacharias in the Temple, and his return 
 to his own abode. It treats of the birth of John, 
 the joy of the neighbors, the naming of the child, 
 the magnificat of Zacharias, the flight of the 
 mother and child upon his death to the wilder- 
 ness, her death and his subsequent life before his 
 coming forth to proclaim his mission, the gath- 
 ering of the people to hear his word, and ends 
 with an apostrophe to his character. 
 
 The second, — The Baptism of Christ, opens 
 with the description of a Sabbath morning, and 
 treats of the coming of the Christ, and John's 
 proclamation of His mission; Christ's baptism 
 and heavenly attestation ; and closes with an ex- 
 hortation to Israel to hear and see their Lord. 
 
 The third division, — The Temptation of Christ, 
 opens with the description of a storm in Juda's 
 wilderness, and treats of His coming hither. His 
 prayer and communion with the Father; His 
 hunger and assault by Satan, and closes in 
 rhymed verse, with an ascription of praise by the 
 angels. 
 
 The fourth, — The Work, is the longest of any 
 one of the divisions, and is therefore broken up 
 into sections by some prominent incident, 
 miracle, or saying of our Lord. This division 
 treats of His miracles, parables and sayings 
 during His public ministry. It opens with His 
 reappearance after the temptation, and the com- 
 mencement of His work by the calling of dis- 
 
X Introduction 
 
 ciples and the miracle at Cana. It closes with 
 His intercessory prayer, and a hymn sung by the 
 disciples before leaving Olivet. 
 
 The fifth division, — The Crucifixion, — opens 
 with a description of the night in Gethsemane. 
 It treats of His prayer, the betrayal, the desertion 
 of His disciples, the trial, and closes with the 
 crucifixion. 
 
 The sixth division, — The Resurrection, — opens 
 with an exhortation to earth to rejoice ; and treats 
 of His resurrection, in the open tomb, in His ap- 
 pearance to Mary, to the two at Emmaus, to the 
 eleven, and to the many on the mount, and closes 
 with His ascension into heaven. 
 
 The seventh and last of the subdivisions, — 
 the Ascension, — opens with an ascription of 
 praise to Christ, in rhymed verse, by all the host 
 of heaven, as He precedes their convoy to the 
 great white throne. It treats of the acclaiming 
 praise of the angels, and the Father's ascription 
 of commendation and praise to His well-loved 
 Son ; and closes with an exhortation to praise by 
 all the archangelic host. 
 
 The Portraitures, in blank verse, are sixteen 
 in number, and primarily portray the Christ as 
 He appeared in angelic form, from the beginning 
 to the close of the sacred canon. Secondarily, 
 they portray those to whom He appeared. 
 
 The first, is a portraiture of Christ in creation, 
 in His power as the Word, 
 
Introduction xi 
 
 The second, as He appeared to Hagar, in the 
 Angel of the fount. 
 
 The third, of His appearance to Jacob, at the 
 brook of Jabbok. 
 
 The fourth, as He appeared to Abraham, on 
 His visit to Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 
 The fifth, as He appeared to Moses, in the 
 burnless bush. 
 
 The sixth, as He appeared to Balaam, to bar 
 the progress of his ass. 
 
 The seventh, as He appeared to Joshua, with a 
 drawn sword to bar his way. 
 
 The eighth, as He appeared to Israel, to de- 
 nounce them for idol-worship. 
 
 The ninth, as He appeared to Gideon, in His 
 character of deliverer. 
 
 The tenth, as He appeared to Manoah's wife 
 to announce the birth of Samson. 
 
 The eleventh, as He appeared to David, in the 
 Angel of the plague. 
 
 The twelfth, as He appeared to Elijah, in His 
 character of the Comforter. 
 
 The thirteenth, as He appeared to the three in 
 the furnace, as their sympathizer and deliverer. 
 
 The fourteenth, as He appeared to Daniel, in 
 His office of Consoler and prophet. 
 
 The fifteenth, as He appeared to Saul, on his 
 way to Damascus. 
 
 The sixteenth, as He appeared to John, on the 
 Isle of Patmos. 
 
xii Introduction 
 
 The Sonnets, are two hundred in number. 
 One hundred comprise the miracles, parables, 
 and some of the words of Christ. The other 
 hundred treat of the love of a soul for Christ. 
 
 Following the thought of Petrarch, the father 
 of the sonnet, that a sonnet should be a picture 
 and a reflection, the opening of the sonnets is a 
 word picture, the middle a miracle or parable, 
 and the closing a reflection or deduction of the 
 teaching. 
 
 The miracle-sonnets, are after the Italian form, 
 and are thirty-three in number. 
 
 The parable-sonnets, forty in number, are 
 after the English form. 
 
 The word-sonnets are twenty-seven in number, 
 and are a combination of the Italian and English 
 form. 
 
 The sonnets to Christ are one hundred in 
 number, and are after the Italian form. They 
 voice the impassioned love of a soul for Christ, 
 using the varied and fancied characteristics of 
 the floral world as similes and metaphors. 
 
 The writing and completion of this work has 
 been attended by such manifestations of heavenly 
 light, as to convince the author of the unfolding 
 of a divine purpose in its publication. 
 
 Margaretta Ayres Karr. 
 
THE HEAVENLY VOICE 
 
 THE DUAL LIFE 
 
 The Time 
 
 Softly through the silence stealing, 
 
 Floating as a silvery cloud, 
 Borne up by the weight of feeling, 
 
 Ere it wax exceeding loud. 
 Swells that wondrous song: 
 Volume after volume pealing, 
 
 Onward flowing as the tide. 
 Sweet and sweeter more revealing, 
 
 If it doth but ebb, subside, 
 Echoing o'erlong. 
 
 Ringing through the vault of heaven, 
 
 Glorious in recessional. 
 Rounding to the sphere of seven, 
 
 Sacred in her sole tribunal. 
 Wondrous symphony: 
 Space o'er space by praise upriven. 
 
 Greatly with the grand acclaim, 
 Choral unto choral given. 
 
 In the hallelujah name: 
 All in harmony.. 
 
2 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 So sang the host of heaven upon His day, 
 The resting day from all His mighty works, 
 Which in the fullness of His love He wrought : 
 Wrought out for all of breath to praise His 
 
 name. 
 The day to see was fair, surpassing fair, 
 Peace reigned supreme, as calm upon the deep, 
 The harmony of silence infinite ; 
 In which no jarring discord marred the strain, 
 Nor aught disturbed the symphony of love. 
 The night was as the morn, the morn as day. 
 Throughout the cycle of unnumbered years. 
 The archangelic host with rank and file, 
 Were with the Master mind in full accord. 
 No jar of will yet broke the perfect peace. 
 No proud ambition's flight took soaring wing. 
 To wrest supremacy from out His hand. 
 As unperceiving breath of tranquil air. 
 Too quiet far to float a feather's weight. 
 Before the breaking of the violent storm, 
 So calm, infinite calm was over all. 
 Earth too was blessed with plenitude of peace, 
 O'erbrooding all with love's infinitude ; 
 The twilight calm of nature's harmony, 
 That knows nor ever knows discordant note. 
 Her all of breath was vocal in His praise ; 
 With grand acclaim, the mountains, hills, and 
 
 vales, 
 Proclaimed in all their strength His august name; 
 In tune the ocean's swell, the tinkling rill. 
 
The Dual Life 3 
 
 The giant of the wood, the bladed grass : 
 From Hfe the most minute to highest Hfe, 
 Each put endowment great to fullest use. 
 The day so beauteous in the scroll of heaven, 
 Closed not without the mutterings of the storm, 
 So soon to break in violence and wrath ; 
 A storm that shook her ramparts end to end. 
 That like the quake of earth cleft wide her ranks. 
 Destroyed, depleted half the heavenly host. 
 Who may provoke His wrath and still abide ? 
 Not surely he who brought it on his head. 
 By rank rebellion 'gainst his Maker's will. 
 By such ingratitude as never shown. 
 O thou, chief ministrant of all the host ! 
 So high exalted by thy sovereign Lord, 
 So greatly privileged to do His will, 
 So well endowed to execute His law. 
 Whose slightest nod to angels was their law. 
 Whose least behest need only to be named. 
 Wherefore didst strike the first discordant note. 
 To mar the harmony of earth and heaven? 
 Why let ambition's rise so work thy woe ? 
 Was not thy mighty power e'en great enough ? 
 Would not thy will allow another's reign. 
 When One, who gave thee breath, yea all thou 
 
 hast. 
 The power to will surpassing all belief. 
 The power of wondrous love inbreathed in thee? 
 Alas ! alas ! that it should ever wane ! 
 That its last breath should issue in revolt, 
 
4 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Revolt from His most righteous, loving will, 
 
 So ushering in the cursed reign of sin, 
 
 That hurled thee with thy kind from high estate, 
 
 Down, down to sin's all bottomless abyss ! 
 
 How fallen thou, O mighty potentate ! 
 
 From thy first love, thy blissful, best estate ! 
 
 As all who henceforth own thy sovereign 
 
 sway: 
 From such a dizzy height to such a depth, 
 From perfect rest of love to hate's unrest, 
 From happiness complete to misery's hell ! 
 How couldst thou so rebel against His will? 
 If thou hadst not embroiled thy followers all, 
 If thou hadst sinned and suffered but alone, 
 So heinous not thy sin, nor great thy guilt : 
 But thou! to whom such reach of power wast 
 
 given. 
 In whom such potent influence prevails 
 For good or ill, as in His creatures all, 
 How couldst thou so provoke His righteous 
 
 wrath ? 
 Wast still too lonely in thy dread abode ? 
 Were thine angelic followers all too small, 
 That thou from earth shouldst seek to swell thy 
 
 ranks, 
 Shouldst steal disguised within that garden fair. 
 Devote to innocence, to love, to heaven ? 
 Shouldst sin beguile the first, the holy pair, 
 That in each other's smile a heaven found. 
 That breathed devotion in each loving act, 
 
The Dual Life 5 
 
 That momently rejoiced to do His will ? 
 Shouldst lure them from the right to thy wrong 
 
 path, 
 Shouldst seek to bring thy woe upon their heads, 
 Shouldst cause their banishment from such a 
 
 place ? 
 Was not this sin the one that banished thee, 
 That nevermore to thee forgiveness gave? 
 That changed thy raiment to the darkest hue. 
 That for a name the prince of darkness gave ? 
 Was not thy good to all of ill transformed. 
 When thou didst traffic first in human souls, 
 When thou didst seek to compass others' woe ? 
 Ah me! lost souls! lost souls! who may com- 
 pute ? 
 Throughout eternal ages thee condemn! 
 Will not their wail full punish thee enough? 
 Nor more of mercy may for thee be found. 
 The day that closed in such a darkling night, 
 Of one exceeding bright still promise gave, 
 Wherein the Day Star would eclipse the night, 
 Would rehabihtate the heavenly host; 
 With living light would re-engirdle earth: 
 The cloudless day that knows no cloudy night. 
 
 Lost! lost! lost! they're slowly singing, 
 Lost to us, to heaven, to glory ; 
 Such the angels' woeful story. 
 Thro' the naves and arches ringing: 
 Lost to heaven ! lost to heaven ! 
 
6 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 His was such a happy calling, 
 First to strike the note of glory, 
 In the lyre of heaven's story ; 
 Now to strike the note appalling : 
 Lost to heaven ! lost to heaven ! 
 
 Ours to follow such a leading. 
 Ours to praise the Lord of glory, 
 In the new, the olden story : 
 No more he the anthem heeding. 
 Lost to heaven ! lost to heaven ! 
 
 Lost with all his numerous following, 
 Lost to heights of love in glory ; 
 This by far the saddest story, 
 This to give the tears for swallowing. 
 Lost to heaven ! lost to heaven ! 
 
 The Controversy 
 
 The radiant city of our roseate dreams, 
 Lieth full square beyond all mortal ken ; 
 Whose great foundations are of precious stones, 
 Whose several gates are all of purest pearl, 
 Whose streets are paved all with golden stones, 
 Mirroring the passing o'er of many feet : 
 Whose numerous houses are of mansion size, 
 Adorned with all that art may e'er devise, 
 Replete with all that culture can bestow, 
 Prepared by love for all that heart may wish. 
 Such cleanliness and purity prevail, 
 
The Dual Life 7 
 
 To breathe its air is life and health fore'er. 
 No alleys foul, no houses dank and dark, 
 Invite the curse of sin, disease and death, 
 Love lifts the latch to every closed door : 
 Love rules with regnant power in every home. 
 Its chief attraction now, the white-robed throng. 
 Who softly flit about its shining streets, 
 Who gather here, there, everywhere. 
 In groups, in knots of twos, and threes, and fours. 
 To talk of some great happening hereabout. 
 What is the news ? Why do they speak so low ? 
 Some seem so sad, with such dejected looks, 
 Some wax indignant speak in louder tones. 
 List! Hst! O Hst! what is it all about? 
 One says: "Have you not heard what he hath 
 
 done? 
 The one who lately was our chief of host. 
 Who taught rebellion great to some of us. 
 Who now the banishment has solely caused, 
 Of that once happy pair from Eden's plot ?" 
 Another says: "How could it happen so? 
 How entrance gain to that sweet garden fair?" 
 "He took a lowly guise, the serpent's dress. 
 Bided his time and stole in unperceived, 
 Then his suggestions, counsels did the rest. 
 Alas ! he taught them as he taught us here. 
 To set at naught our Lord's most wise com- 
 mands." 
 Still others ask : "Could he not bear to see 
 Such happiness, devotion, love on earth, 
 
8; The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Such praise continual to the Lord of all. 
 Such resting in His oversight and care?" 
 "That, that was it! his misery would not brook 
 A paradise on earth ; she long his trail 
 Should bear, his cup of woe should sip, yea 
 
 drink." 
 Anon they separate, disperse their ways, 
 Their several ways to do their Lord's behest: 
 The faithful of the host, who love His will. 
 Who sorely grieve if aught of earth do not. 
 Some hie with flaming sword to shut the gates ; 
 The gates of paradise upon the pair, 
 That lately dwelt in harmony of love. 
 Some haste to proffer gentle ministry 
 Of cheer, such as the angels best bestow, 
 To these, the sinning, sorrowing hearts of earth ; 
 To bid them full repent, their first works now 
 Repeat, so haply mercy may they find : 
 Thus in their strange new life God would appear 
 To bless as hitherto, with manifest 
 Of highest love in still protecting care ; 
 Would if they lived in harmony with Him, 
 Bring them at last to Paradise above. 
 So cheered, exhorted, they pursued the path, 
 To live the godly life throughout their day. 
 O ye ! sweet ministrants of your dear Lord, 
 Who serve with perfect heart and willing mind, 
 Who run upon His errands night and day, 
 Who raise the fallen, cheer the drooping heart, 
 Who lead the lost to penitence and prayer, 
 
The Dual Life 9 
 
 How blest your sphere ! how happy is your lot ! 
 
 While ye, who 'fore the throne do daily wait, 
 
 Conduct us hither pray, we wish to hear 
 
 Without delay, what shall befall the race. 
 
 So straightway we were borne before the throne, 
 
 The great white throne with jewels rare inlaid, 
 
 Uplifted high above the kneeling throng, 
 
 Who with veiled faces, adoration pay ; 
 
 While One with face too bright for mortal ken. 
 
 Is holding converse with His well-loved son. 
 
 Thus sadly saith the shining One to Him : 
 
 "It doth repent me sore for making man, 
 
 For giving him the freedom of his will. 
 
 Since it hath worked such woe to him and his. 
 
 Since it subjected him to all the wiles, 
 
 The subtle arts of our apostate foe ; 
 
 Since it will curse with sin the human race." 
 
 Then He replied : "May not a way be found 
 
 To overcome such ills with choice of will? 
 
 A free-will service is the better far ; 
 
 A wilHng love is finer incense given." 
 
 The Lord high over all, thus slowly spake : 
 
 "One way, one only way may it be done ; 
 
 One offering but atones or will for sin ; 
 
 One sacrifice but only love doth make. 
 
 The only one the highest love can give, 
 
 The one to sole redeem a sinning race." 
 
 "Name, name it not ! I will such offering be ; 
 
 My life shall forfeit be for inborn sin : 
 
 On me, on me be all its weight of wrath, 
 
10 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 On me its depth of suffering shall entail. 
 
 Since Thou so lov'st the race to give me up. 
 
 My willing love shall no less measure yield, 
 
 I give as fully as Thou givest me." 
 
 "Since Thou so willing to be offered up. 
 
 Since we alike so love the human race, 
 
 How best may such a purpose be wrought out, 
 
 To bring man in our influence evermore? 
 
 To make him pure and sweet and whole again?" 
 
 The thoughtful Son slow answer then doth make : 
 
 "For man to feel, to realize our love, 
 
 I must his sorrows, trials undergo ; 
 
 Must fully know his limitations too : 
 
 His sickness, poverty, yea lack of strength ; 
 
 His temptings all, his fight with powers of ill ; 
 
 His life must wholly live from birth to death ; 
 
 Must therefore clothe me with his robe of flesh. 
 
 I e'en must go where he need never go ; 
 
 I e'en must suffer what he ne'er may know : 
 
 For only so will he be drawn to us. 
 
 So only will he e'er accept for his. 
 
 Our great, great sacrifice for sin." 
 
 " 'Tis well, my Son, no other way would do." 
 
 Full joyously the listening angels sang: 
 
 "Redeemed ! he shall redeemed be ! 
 O wondrous love for fallen man. 
 To lengthen out his little span, 
 That he may Paradise re-see ! 
 Redeemed ! he shall redeemed be !" 
 
The Dual Life ii 
 
 The Mystery 
 
 Enfolded in the lap of hills she lay, 
 A puny scraggling thing of no repute, 
 A byword for the smallest wits of earth, 
 A handful of the multitudes about. 
 No temples rear their lofty domes in air. 
 No lordly halls bespeak the mansion great. 
 No coliseum's sphere for varied sports, 
 No stately shrine of art in her remains : 
 But here and there a cottage for her own. 
 While nature lavish more in kindly gifts, 
 Enmantles all her hills and vales in gay attire. 
 Most beauteous is the work of her fair hands. 
 Fit nesting-place to rear her choicest ones. 
 The fair, fair soul that woke to fullest life. 
 The finest output of her works of art. 
 The maid of maidens in the country round. 
 That graced the highways of her native town. 
 That luster lent to every place she left, 
 O bonny she to see, sweet as the rose ! 
 O dear was she to know, a love's fond dream ! 
 O pure was she, as purest pearl of sea ! 
 Each heart her royal throne whoe'er it be. 
 Love folded her as the enwreathing hills. 
 Her kindly ministrations lent such cheer. 
 All knew an angel in the maiden fair. 
 While he who shrined her in his heart of hearts, 
 Was no less choice of nature's noblemen. 
 Revered, respected by his townsmen all, 
 
12 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 So upright, just in all his dealings, ways. 
 
 As right was right, and wrong was wrong, with 
 
 sin 
 No compromise would he consent to make : 
 Nor would he e'en a hair's breadth swerve there- 
 from. 
 He feared his God without a fear of man : 
 A peerless mate for no less peerless maid. 
 
 No morn awoke a more auspicious day. 
 
 Nor one more filled with promise for the race ; 
 
 A day all glowing in its roseal tints. 
 
 That softly closed in such a cloudless light. 
 
 As this blest day, when heaven was knit to earth. 
 
 She sweetly woke with morn's awakening blush, 
 
 In praiseful prayer for God's protecting care ; 
 
 For all the pleasures of her happy lot : 
 
 For love's one gift, the treasure of a heart, 
 
 A heart devote to God and her alone. 
 
 As she her casement oped to breathe the air, 
 
 The perfumed air from myriad roses rare, 
 
 And listed to the early matin song 
 
 Of ecstasy and praise from downy throats, 
 
 She felt how good God was ; how kind to man. 
 
 In such bestowings from His bounteous hand. 
 
 As now she looked upon the circling hills. 
 
 Anew enrobed in such a roseate glow, 
 
 "The strength of the eternal hills is His," 
 
 She thought. "All nature praises Him, 
 
 And why not I who have more cause for praise : 
 
The Dual Life 13 
 
 Vouchsafe Thine handmaid new the meed of 
 
 praise. 
 Grant her fresh grace to do Thy will this day^ 
 So Thou, O Lord, mayst glorify Thyself 
 In her : that in her life Thy life may see." 
 So oped the day devote to housely cares. 
 To ministrations for the sick and poor. 
 Which was to shut in such supernal light. 
 Soprayerfulwas her thought throughout this day, 
 Some prescience hath we wot of what should hap, 
 Ere it so softly closed in hush of light : 
 Ere choral vespers of the feathered host, 
 Lent melody divine to listening air. 
 Whilst kneeling as at morn in praiseful prayer, 
 Irradiate the room with heavenly light ; 
 Of all celestial lights in high excess : 
 For lo ! before her stood a figure robed 
 In glistening white, as brightly sparkling snow, 
 With wings adroop as if from distant flight ; 
 With face o'erlit with soft effulgent light : 
 Who sweetly saith, — "Hail, Mary, hail ! all hail ! 
 So blessed thou, so blessed shalt thou be !" 
 In trembling fear at the unwonted sight. 
 And knowing not the import of his words, 
 She inly wondered what they should portend. 
 Then spake the angel more : "Be not afraid, 
 Mary, thou hast great favor found with God. 
 Behold ! thou shalt conceive and bear a son. 
 Whom, Jesus, shalt thou call ; who shall be great, 
 And called the Son of most high God ; to Him 
 
14 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Shall given be, His father, David's throne : 
 He e'er shall reign o'er Jacob's house : no end 
 Shall ever be to all His kingdom great." 
 But Mary saith, — "How shall this be, as I 
 Know not a man ?" The angel thus replied : 
 "The Holy Ghost shall come on thee ; the power 
 Of the Most High shall overshadow thee : 
 Therefore, that holy thing, which shall be born 
 Of thee, shall so be called the Son of God. 
 Behold also, thy cousin 'Lisabeth, 
 Is to have son in her declining days. 
 For nothing, nothing is too hard for God." 
 Then Mary saith,— "Behold the Lord's hand- 
 maid ! 
 Be unto me according to thy word." 
 O spirit sweet ! so pure, so lovesome thou ! 
 So pleasing to thy God thine act of faith, 
 Tho' it should blow on thee foul scandal's breath, 
 Tho' it should alienate thy love's sweetheart, 
 Tho' it should hurt thee with thy neighbors all, 
 Thou know'st nor wouldst know any will but 
 
 God's. 
 The morrow morn no sooner dawned than forth 
 She hied to see the one blest too of God. 
 To sweet converse of all her hopes and fears. 
 To counsel take for all the coming needs. 
 To all unfold the feelings of her heart. 
 To one in sympathy so full entire ; 
 To one who gave her loving, joyous greet: 
 "Blessed art thou above the women all ! 
 
The Dual Life 15 
 
 Wherefore should come the mother of my Lord 
 To me ? So blessed art thou for thy behef ." 
 Then Mary with the Spirit filled thus sang : 
 
 "My soul doth magnify the Lord, 
 With whom my spirit doth accord : 
 My life shall e'er obey the word 
 Of God my Saviour. 
 
 "My spirit hath rejoiced in Him, 
 Since He o'erlooked estate so slim : 
 Lo ! I'll be blest to ages dim 
 
 Through God my Saviour. 
 
 "Holy, most holy is His name : 
 A mighty God ! I now proclaim 
 The great things done in this poor frame 
 By God my Saviour. 
 
 "His mercy only is on those. 
 Who fear Him to the ages close : 
 By strength is scattered all the foes 
 Of God my Saviour, 
 
 "The mighty have been brought but low ; 
 The lowly exaltation know : 
 The hungry fear no need below 
 Thro' God my Saviour. 
 
 "He empty sent the rich away : 
 For mercy, Israel helped alway, 
 To keep the word none may gainsay 
 Of God my Saviour." 
 
1 6 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 The Incarnation 
 
 Dame Nature sleeps so heavily this year, 
 So close enfolded in old Winter's lap, 
 She surely hath some soothing herb imbibed: 
 Gay Spring hath such ado to wake her up. 
 She opes her eyes, to shut them tighter still ; 
 Till Spring well in despair gives o'er awhile, 
 To try anew with all her wanton wiles. 
 But vainly all the smiles, coquettish airs. 
 Tears, copious tears but wakes and lifts her up. 
 So running brooks and rills hum sweetly by ; 
 The fragrant flowers awake to conscious life : 
 The birds sweet warble in the sweeter air. 
 Soft balmy air that wafts the gentle breeze. 
 Who would not love the merry, laughing sprite ? 
 Thought Mary, as she new inhales the air, 
 The freshening air that breathes the life of cheer. 
 Returning from her stay among the hills, 
 Encouraged, cheered by one so near of kin. 
 She joyous meets the friend dear, dear of heart; 
 Who hastes his chosen one to fondly greet : 
 To haply say, — "We nevermore must part." 
 But when he slow reluctant leaves her side 
 To thoughtfully pursue his homeward way. 
 He thinks but of the change in his beloved : 
 The sylph-like form so strangely altered now. 
 What hath befallen whilst from him away ? 
 "Ah me ! would I had bid her bide alway ! 
 Would I had seen her ne'er to see like this. 
 
The Dual Life i*; 
 
 Aiy heart is breaking — ^but I give her up. 
 
 We two henceforth must fare our separate ways. 
 
 We've known and loved since childhood's early 
 
 day, 
 Nor thought to part this side of Jordan's wave. 
 I deemed her pure as only angels are, 
 I thought her far too good to share my lot. 
 But now — ah me ! my heart is cleft apart ! 
 Life holds nor will an aftermath for me." 
 But God so mindful of His suffering child. 
 An angel sends to minister good cheer ; 
 Haply the one that to his Mary came : 
 Who, when the shades of night had fallen all, 
 When sleep he thought would visit him no more, 
 So gently shut his sense to outer sight, 
 That he might hear and know what God would 
 
 say ; 
 Who thus : "Thou, Joseph, David's son, fear not 
 To take for wife, thy Mary, chosen one. 
 What is conceived is of the Holy Ghost. 
 She shall bring forth a son, whom Jesus shalt 
 Thou call. He shall from sin His people save." 
 When left alone upon his tumbled couch. 
 He lowly knelt in self-abasing prayer : 
 "Forgive, O Lord, my great and grievous sin. 
 If Thou, my hasty judgment canst condone. 
 I judged not as I would be judged of Thee. 
 I put away in thought my very life, 
 I thought impure what Thou dost deem most 
 
 pure. 
 
iS The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Unworthy I of Thy forgiveness more. 
 
 I praise Thee for the new increase of sight, 
 
 I'll sweetly fold her in my heart of hearts, 
 
 To cherish, hold as long as life shall last. 
 
 I'll keep her safely as the angels keep. 
 
 I new receive from Thee this precious charge. 
 
 As solely Thine and mine for evermore." 
 
 No soft toned bells awoke in softer breasts, 
 
 The note of joy on this auspicious morn, 
 
 Save in the manly breast of one alone : 
 
 No gay assembling of the maidens fair, 
 
 Save nearest kinsfolk to expectant bride. 
 
 No royal spread for all the neighbors round, 
 
 Save ample fare for the invited ones ; 
 
 As seemly most for such devout affair, 
 
 As it was more of sacrament than feast ; 
 
 A ratifying sole of covenant sweet : 
 
 A public seal to sacred private vows. 
 
 The morrow morn safe saw them on their way, 
 
 The winding way o'er hills and flowery vales, 
 
 To Bethlehem the little town so dear. 
 
 How sweet, how sweet the converse of the two ! 
 
 How tenderly he watched and guarded her, 
 
 Lest somewhat might befall his lovely bride ! 
 
 How blest this journey only love doth know. 
 
 The first when two are one in name and life ! 
 
 How glorified was she in his rapt sight, 
 
 With heaven's approving smile as her sole crown ! 
 
 As near and nearer still they drew to town. 
 
The Dual Life 19 
 
 Fresh companies met o£ weary travelers all ; 
 
 Who likewise came to pay Caesarean tax, 
 
 By him exacted of his subjects all. 
 
 As Joseph looked upon the gathering throngs, 
 
 That now were pouring through the wide-oped 
 
 gates. 
 His thought grew troubled more and sore per- 
 plexed : 
 "How should he care for his most precious 
 
 charge ? 
 The shades of night were falling, O so fast !" 
 But ne'ertheless he scoured the little town, 
 Entrusting his beloved to friends meanwhile. 
 All, all was full to flowing o'er ; no room, 
 No little room might he obtain for love, 
 Or gold ; he joined his charge with leaden heart. 
 "Wherefore so downcast is thy look, dear heart ? 
 Canst thou not find a place ?" "No, Mary, none : 
 No shelter will there be for scores to-night." 
 "What of the stable in the inn, will not 
 That do? 'twill shelter us :" dear Mary saith. 
 " 'Twill have to do, tho' sorry 'tis for thee." 
 " 'Tis better than the street — let's hither haste. 
 Love makes the softest couch:" sweet Mary 
 
 thought. 
 No room for princess of a royal line, 
 No shelter but a stable for her head. 
 No couch but one of straw for her tired frame, 
 No pillow for the weary aching brow, 
 No room, O earth, for these your choicest ones, 
 
20 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 But room, yea room for all your little souls ! 
 
 When night kissed morn awake with rising blush, 
 
 He cherub left to greet the opening day ; 
 
 A rosy round-limbed boy of royal mien : 
 
 A soft delight for mother sight to find. 
 
 So sweet a babe ne'er mother thought to see. 
 
 Nor one with more of promise for the race. 
 
 Child of a king, forsooth a kingly child ! 
 
 The only scion of the King of kings. 
 
 Hast thou no room, O earth, for such a child, 
 
 Who called thee into conscious being life ? 
 
 No room for One, who gave thee reach of room. 
 
 Who swung thine orbit into stellar space ! 
 
 No room for thee will be in His great room. 
 
 But who are these that now admittance seek, 
 
 As if to audience chamber of the great, 
 
 With marks of weary travel on their robes ? 
 
 As Joseph gives them peace and ushering in. 
 
 Aye welcome to his small and mean abode, 
 
 We note their bearing grave and thoughtful mien, 
 
 An air of reverence somewhat strange to see. 
 
 Enfolds them as a mantle o'er and o'er. 
 
 While one the tale of wonder o'er recounts : 
 
 "In our far distant home beyond the hills. 
 
 In no small town beyond the river great. 
 
 We studied from our youth the ancient lore : 
 
 In which were prophecies of grave import, 
 
 To be fulfilled in this our age and time. 
 
 We found foretold the coming of a king. 
 
 Who should redeem His people from their sin ; 
 
The Dual Life 21 
 
 Whose righteous rule and kingdom ne'er should 
 
 end: 
 And as we nightly scanned the heavens o'er, 
 To read their meaning for the day and hour, 
 Lo ! we beheld a star ne'er seen before ! 
 More brilliant than our eyes e'er looked upon : 
 It moved, then stopped as if to lead us on. 
 From night to night we gazed and thought 
 
 thereon. 
 Until our mind was clear, our purpose one : 
 We e'en would follow wheresoe'er 'twould lead. 
 Night after night o'er mountain wild and vale. 
 O'er crag and torrent, rippling rill and plain. 
 It led nor failed to pilot us aright. 
 Our inspiration, our untiring lamp. 
 Our beckoning star throughout the darkest night. 
 Whose soft effulgent light the brighter glowed. 
 When o'er the fair Judean hills it shone. 
 Uncertain of the place wherein He lay. 
 We straight inquired of Herod for the child. 
 Whose kingdom's power and reign should know 
 
 no end ; 
 But he knew naught of Him nor of His birth : 
 So straight he called to him his counselors all, 
 And question made about the birth of Christ : 
 The time and place as to His coming forth. 
 They answer gave, — 'In Juda's Bethlehem;' 
 For thus the prophet saith : 'Thou, Bethlehem, 
 In Juda's land, art not her princes' least : 
 For out of thee shall He come forth 
 
22 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 To rule, as Governor o'er my Israel/ 
 He gave us strict command his way return 
 To tell him of the child, to homage pay. 
 We tarried only for the fall of night, 
 When lo ! our pilot-star led ever on. 
 Till o'er this spot it shone as ne'er before. 
 Filling our hearts with joy, surpassing joy." 
 The tale full told, they all their treasures oped, 
 Symbolic gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh : 
 Then lowly kneeling presentation made 
 Of reverent love and faith, the heart's full pay, 
 Before the manger-throne of royal babe. 
 List ! list ! the listening air how vibrant now. 
 With soft melodious strain divinely sweet ! 
 'Tis wafted to the ear by every breeze. 
 Lo! heaven to earth is giving joyous greet! 
 Angelic voices swell the choral hymn. 
 Angelic hearts are filled with the acclaim : 
 
 "All glory be to God most high ! 
 Who maketh heaven and earth so nigh ; 
 Bringing to men good-will and peace, 
 Giving from sin the sole release : 
 All glory be to God most high ! 
 
 "For unto you is born this day, 
 In David's city by the way, 
 A Saviour who is Christ the Lord ; 
 A King of kings, the living Word : 
 All glory be to God most high !" 
 
The Dual Life 23 
 
 The Presentation 
 
 Enthroned in regnant power upon the hills, 
 
 A stately queen in all the pomp of pride, 
 
 She brooks no rival in all Palestine. 
 
 The tides of feeling, thought about her pulse. 
 
 The thronging crowds pace o'er her narrow 
 
 streets : 
 The marts of trade vociferous with noise. 
 Proclaim the metropole of commerce wealth. 
 A roseal flush of light re-lit by morn, 
 Regilds with glory all the Temple-dome : 
 The boastful pride of her imperious king. 
 Who in his glittering palace by the way. 
 Is steeped in anxious thought for what might hap, 
 Should aught prove true of all the wise men 
 
 thought. 
 Full weary days have come and gone but no 
 Returning one hath quelled his restless fear. 
 "They've even made a mock of my request : 
 Of me whose slightest nod men must obey. 
 But I'll soon show who is the only king, 
 ril brook the rule of none but Caesar's reign : 
 I'll compass e'en His death before His time." 
 So gave command unto his soldiers all. 
 To scour the town of Bethlehem with coasts 
 Thereof : to seize and slay the two years child, 
 With all of under age, nor miss a one. 
 O cruel, cruel king ! what hast thou done ? 
 Was not thy cup of infamy e'en full, 
 
24 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 That it should now overrun with such a deed, 
 
 A deed whose horror will outlast all time ? 
 
 Ah me ! the mothers' hearts thy fear hath rent, 
 
 The bitter anguish of the burst of love ! 
 
 Their wail and woe will sound thine own death 
 
 knell. 
 Their moan will ever haunt thy sleepless couch. 
 But naught thy cruelty avails for thee : 
 He hath ere this escaped thy bloody hand. 
 His Father's care hath frustrate thy desire: 
 His angel hath unveiled thy treacherous plot, 
 "For out of Egypt hath He called His son." 
 
 The exiles now returning, find a home 
 
 In Nazareth their native town most dear. 
 
 A home embowered in fragrancy of flowers, 
 
 A home enshrined in purity of love, 
 
 A home enriched by infant loveliness, 
 
 Uplit with baby prattle soft and sweet, 
 
 Endeared by hallowed memories old and fond : 
 
 A home where only regnant love was law, 
 
 A home of homes to rear the child divine. 
 
 As day by day she watches o'er her babe, 
 
 To revel in the fondest mother-love, 
 
 She thinks of all the wondrous days have 
 
 wrought, 
 The joy transcending all belief and thought, 
 The mystery of divine conception birth. 
 The adoration of the wise men all. 
 The visit of the shepherds to His stall, 
 
The Dual Life 25 
 
 The angel-chorus chanting forth His praise, 
 
 Their care in guarding Him from hidden ill, 
 
 All, all she pondered in her inmost thought, 
 
 Praising anew her God for such a gift. 
 
 So ever mindful of His high estate. 
 
 And of the rite required by Jewish law, 
 
 She now prepares the spotless christening robe. 
 
 And e'er the full set time be come and gone. 
 
 Repairs with Him to near Jerusalem ; 
 
 The mecca, shrine of every heart devout, 
 
 The hallowed temple of the pious soul. 
 
 To presentation make of this blest child. 
 
 With sacrifice unto the Lord. 
 
 But who is this awaiting their approach ? 
 
 With mien so stately, venerable, serene. 
 
 So spiritual in look, benign in thought ; 
 
 O'erlit with joy to now behold the One 
 
 Long promised to his weary, waiting sight : 
 
 For by the Spirit was revealed to him. 
 
 He should not e'er depart this mortal life. 
 
 Till he had seen the Lord's own Christ. Behold, 
 
 How tenderly he holds Him in his arms ! 
 
 The look of awe upon his reverent face, 
 
 Of speechless love to see his wish at last ; 
 
 That he should so enfold his Lord to heart, 
 
 Should feel the pressure of His precious form ! 
 
 He blesses God with joyous praiseful voice : 
 
 "O Lord, now let Thy servant go in peace 
 
 According to Thy word ; mine eyes have seen 
 
 Thy salvation which Thou hast thus prepared 
 
26 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Before Thy people's face : a light to light 
 
 The Gentiles and the glory of Israel." 
 
 The parents blessed he too. To Mary saith : 
 
 "Behold this child is set for rise and fall 
 
 Of many in Israel ; and for a sign 
 
 Which shall be spoken against : yea, a sword 
 
 Shall pierce through thine own soul also that 
 
 thoughts 
 Of many hearts may be revealed." While both 
 Joseph and Mary marveled at these things, 
 Behold, a woman saintly, long devout ; 
 So sweet of face full good to look upon, 
 A widowed heart for many weary years. 
 Who in the temple prays from morn till eve, 
 Serving her God with singleness of heart : 
 A prophet too, as Deborah of old. 
 She Cometh now to greet the royal child, 
 To likewise praise her God for this blest sight ; 
 To speak of Him to all who come her way, 
 Who look for Israel's redemption great. 
 Her joyous spirit thus devoutly sings : 
 
 "Mine eyes behold this happy day. 
 What I have looked to see alway. 
 What takes my sorrow right away, 
 A Saviour, Christ the Lord. 
 
 "Lo ! now my soul shall rest in peace. 
 From sorrow, sin a sure release, 
 A joy that knows no change, surcease, 
 A Saviour, Christ the Lord." 
 
The Dual Life 27 
 
 The Qtiestion 
 
 Sweet was the morn so odorous with bloom, 
 
 So vocal with the melody of praise, 
 
 The breathing air, the incense of the strain : 
 
 So fresh the new creation of a day. 
 
 Ere frayed and worn by progress of the hours. 
 
 That greeting gave to her returning ones ; 
 
 Who having all fulfilled the Jewish law. 
 
 In Nazareth their wonted life resumed. 
 
 Here day by day unfolded the sweet life. 
 
 Whose coming forth the prodigy of birth. 
 
 The orchestration of angelic choir, 
 
 That opened out in such supernal light : 
 
 The halo of the home throughout its life. 
 
 The primal year of this momentous life. 
 
 Unmarked by manifest of aught divine. 
 
 Was as the growth of babe in any home, 
 
 Who learns to take the first hard steps in life : 
 
 To glad the mother-heart with first essay. 
 
 To give the heart-delight to mother-ear, 
 
 The- — "mamma" — in the sweetest treble known, 
 
 The years successive marked His steady growth 
 
 In knowledge, wisdom, the appointed plan. 
 
 A natural boy, withal a thoughtful one. 
 
 Of serious mind, reflective too in cast : 
 
 Of disposition sweet, yet wisely firm. 
 
 His mother's boundless pride, unending joy. 
 
 Instructed in the letter of the law, 
 
 He apprehended well its sense divine. 
 
28 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 To fully grasp the spiritual of thought. 
 Brought up as other boys to know a trade, 
 He learned the use of tools at Joseph's bench. 
 In leisure hours He roamed His native hills, 
 To 'quaint Himself with nature's handiwork. 
 None knew so well the flora of the vale. 
 The lilies' sweetest smile, the roses' thought. 
 The fauna of the wold He knew their haunts, 
 The running hare, the graceful-foot gazelle. 
 If in some quiet meditative hour, 
 His turn of mind might thus such queries shape : 
 "Shall life be circumscribed by these small hills? 
 Shall all its purpose, scope within them lie? 
 Shall all its days be spent in use of tools, 
 Or shall it take a broader, higher range ? 
 Such strange new thoughts impelling wake 
 
 within. 
 Such questionings of my destiny arise ; 
 This human with its needs is not the sum, 
 The life divine hath far the greater call : 
 I e'en must follow its behest its lead, 
 Tho' it should sacrifice ambition's all." 
 Such musings haply His, tho' knowing not 
 As yet His mission's full extent on earth ; 
 Tho' seeing through a veil the future scene : 
 Tho' not acquaint with aught beyond the hills, 
 That circled in their fold His native town. 
 O town most wholly blest of all on earth ! 
 Tho' few and sparse thy scattered houses be, 
 Tho' narrow, crooked, e'en thy widest streets, 
 
The Dual Life 29 
 
 Tho' thou canst boast no temple great and grand, 
 Thou hast the sole Shekinah in thy midst ; 
 Who breathed the air of thy refreshing hills, 
 Who frequented thy squares for many years. 
 Who thought and wrought His life's beginning 
 
 here : 
 How sacred now the grains of all thy dust ! 
 How cherished in affections of the saints ! 
 
 Th' awakening year was putting forth the bloom 
 Of cereal, seed, and luscious ripening fruit. 
 Of bud and blossom of the lily rose. 
 When all His household as their custom wont, 
 Went to Jerusalem to keep the feast : 
 The feast of memory, sacred to the love 
 Divine, that led His people like a flock. 
 Beside the waters of His tenderest care. 
 And lest they should forget, for such is man. 
 He bade them strictly keep it year by year, 
 As on the night when first they killed the lamb, 
 The sacrificial lamb for all their sins, 
 With bread unleavened and the bitter herb. 
 The symbol of their sore affliction pain. 
 The fourteenth day had come and passed away, 
 When Joseph, Mary, with the boy of twelve. 
 Were now returning from unleavened feast : 
 Traveling in companies all for safety's sake. 
 A journey's day had measured off the way. 
 When Mary missed the treasure of her heart. 
 She thought Him first but little way removed ; 
 
30 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Then heart foreboding turned upon itself : 
 "Woe, woe is me, that I should see this day ! 
 Should let Him for a moment out my sight. 
 Where hath He strayed? What hath befallen 
 
 Him?" 
 She sorrowing sought of kinsfolk, friends ; going 
 From group to group among the companies all : 
 Inquiring anxiously of all she met, 
 "If they had seen or heard concerning Him." 
 But not a trace of Him could she obtain, 
 "I thought Him in our company to the rear. 
 Ah me ! some evil hath o'ertaken Him ! 
 He ne'er hath strayed away like this before. 
 He ne'er was wont to cause me anxious fear ; 
 So lovingly obedient to my will, 
 So thoughtful for my comfort everywhere : 
 My very light of life, my life of joy ! 
 But now — somewhat hath happened Him I fear !" 
 Retracing to Jerusalem her way, 
 Three harrowing days in fruitless search she 
 
 spent, 
 In great suspense of mind, in torturing doubt, 
 In sleepless vigil on a tearless couch ; 
 To lastly find Him in the outer court 
 Of Temple great among the doctors all ; 
 Answering and asking questions grave devout, 
 With wisdom's clear insight amazing all ; 
 For none e'er spake as He. She wondering saith : 
 "Why, Son, hast Thou thus dealt with us? 
 
 Behold, 
 
The Dual Life 31 
 
 Thy father, I, have sought Thee sorrowing !" 
 
 He saith : "How is it that ye sought me so ? 
 
 Wist ye not that I must be about my 
 
 Father's business ?" But understood they not 
 
 As yet the question which He asked of them. 
 
 O child, exemplar for the human race ! 
 
 In all Thy walks and ways the pattern boy, 
 
 The' Thou precedence giv'st to will divine, 
 
 Thou subject art to all Thy parents' wish ; 
 
 Thou honorest them in keeping all the law, 
 
 By straight returning to Thy native town. 
 
 To grow in wisdom, favor, love of God ; 
 
 To ply Thy trade for daily human needs, 
 
 To learn more perfectly Thy Father's will. 
 
 In sweet communion, solitary prayer : 
 
 To 'quaint Thyself with Thy life's work and plan. 
 
 To gather strength for all the coming years 
 
 In waiting on Thy Father's will and way. 
 
 The Mission 
 I 
 
 The hour of even sacrifice drew near ; 
 The hallowed hour of holy thought and prayer, 
 In which the soul ascends on swifter wing. 
 To hold communion with the God of air : 
 As smoking altar burns with purer flame. 
 If with it mount the prayers of all the saints. 
 But who is he that 'fore the altar stands. 
 With burning censer new the incense lights ; 
 
32 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 So saintly in his look, devout in mien, 
 
 So prayerful in his thought, his act a prayer ? 
 
 'Tis one, who in his turn the office holds. 
 
 Who long desired a scion of his race. 
 
 Who hath grown old in service of his God, 
 
 Who by his wife beloved is Mary's kin. 
 
 O saint ! thy prayer oft heard shall answered be. 
 
 Thy long reproach shall be fore'er removed, 
 
 Thou shalt not childless go down to the grave : 
 
 For lo ! one stands anear of dazzling mien, 
 
 Majestic in his look, who 'fore the throne 
 
 Of Holy One doth daily wait ; who hath 
 
 Somewhat to say to thee : "Thy prayer is heard ; 
 
 Fear not, O Zacharias, for thy wife 
 
 Elisabeth shall bear to thee a son : 
 
 And thou shalt call him John ; thou shalt have joy, 
 
 And gladness : many shall rejoice at his birth. 
 
 He shall be great in sight of God, shall drink 
 
 No wine nor strong drink : and he shall be filled 
 
 From his mother's womb with the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Many of Israel's children shall he turn 
 
 To God the Lord : he shall before Him go 
 
 In all Elijah's spirit, power, to turn 
 
 The fathers' hearts unto the children all ; 
 
 The disobedient to the wisdom of 
 
 The just: to ready make a people for 
 
 The Lord prepared." But Zacharias saith : 
 
 "Whereby shall I know this ? I am a man 
 
 Not young ; my wife is stricken well in years." 
 
 The angel answering saith : 'T am Gabriel, 
 
The Dual Life 33 
 
 Who in God's presence stands ; to speak to thee, 
 To show thee such good news, I am here sent. 
 Behold thou shalt be dumb until these things 
 Shall be performed, because my word believ'st 
 Thou not, which shall in season be fulfilled." 
 Full long the praying people wait without, 
 To wonder why their priest doth not appear : 
 But marvel more to see him speechless dumb, 
 As he could naught but beckon unto them. 
 "What's happened him? he hath a vision seen." 
 Some say, while others doubting shake the head. 
 But he returns to serve his temple's course, 
 Then straight repairs unto his own abode. 
 
 The monthly course of seasons three were run. 
 
 The promise, sprouting seed, unfolding flower, 
 
 When 'Lisabeth the favored child of God, 
 
 A rare delight doth give to neighbors friends, 
 
 To kinsfolk all, in showing them her son : 
 
 The promised child of her declining days. 
 
 How they rejoice in all her new-found joy, 
 
 In seeing her reproach now done away ! 
 
 They greatly felt her deprivation sore : 
 
 No childish voices echoing through the house, 
 
 No cheer of little feet to run in, out. 
 
 No joys and sorrows of their hearts to meet. 
 
 "What loneliness ! ah me ! we pity her." 
 
 But now — "How sweet your babe ! he looks like 
 
 you." 
 "No, no ! he's but his father's image true." 
 
34 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 "Ah, now thou'lt know our joys and troubles too. 
 
 God grant he ne'er may give thee aught but joy." 
 
 When it came time, according to the law. 
 
 To do for him they gave him father's name. 
 
 "No, no," his mother saith, "his name is John." 
 
 But all the kinsfolk saith, — "He hath no kin 
 
 Of such a name : what doth his father say?" 
 
 By signs they asked him, what he thought to name 
 
 His son, for he had not recovered yet 
 
 His speech. He saying wrote, — "His name is 
 
 John." 
 Then marveled all for straight his tongue 
 
 unloosed, 
 Which first he wholly used in praise of God ; 
 As with the Spirit filled he prophesies : 
 "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel ; 
 He hath His people visited redeemed : 
 And hath raised up in David's house an horn 
 Of salvation for us. Thou, child, shalt be 
 Called the prophet of the Highest ; for thou 
 Shalt go before the Lord's face to prepare 
 His ways : to give knowledge of salvation 
 Unto His people by the remission 
 Of their sins, through the tender mercy of 
 Our God ; whereby the Dayspring from on high 
 Hath visited us ; to give light to them 
 That sit in darkness and in death's shadow : 
 To guide our feet into the way of peace." 
 
 The child of heavenly promise grew apace. 
 
The Dual Life 35 
 
 Full strong and sturdy with the growth of years ; 
 
 But while a babe in need of tenderest care. 
 
 For fear of losing him by instant death 
 
 From crying edict of the cruel king, 
 
 His mother fled to Juda's desert wild. 
 
 To bring him up in safe seclusion there. 
 
 To make a home in some deserted lodge : 
 
 For Zacharias met his death at hands 
 
 Of king whose deeds of horror filled the land. 
 
 Brought up to trust his heavenly Father's care, 
 
 To honor Him in keeping His commands, 
 
 She full instilled in John her love of God : 
 
 For she was long devout, in Israel 
 
 A mother saintly, most revered, beloved. 
 
 She cared for him till he could care for her ; 
 
 Providing garments rough of hairy cloth. 
 
 And for their food wild honey from the rock, 
 
 With meat of locusts dressed with skillful care : 
 
 While sparkling water from the mountain spring, 
 
 Gave cooling drink refreshing to the taste. 
 
 But she was passed her prime when blessed of 
 
 God, 
 While with the waxing years came waning 
 
 strength. 
 So feeling she must part from her dear boy, 
 She bade him trust in God ; be always true 
 To what he thought was right, nor swerve there- 
 from. 
 Then God would bless him all the journey 
 through. 
 
36 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 "I leave you in His care, my son, with heart 
 And mind at rest. 'Tis hard for you, I know. 
 But God will comfort you with all my love. 
 With partings o'er we'll meet before His throne. 
 Till then farewell, for a brief while, farewell." 
 With face aglow she passed from him to God. 
 His grief intense was stern repressed for such 
 His nature was, as quiet runs the stream 
 That deepest lies : but it was slow to wane. 
 It left its impress on the growing lad. 
 He ne'er was quite the same as 'fore her death. 
 The first few years were ones of duress strain. 
 In which he wrestled oft with God and oft 
 Prevailed ; communed with Him as friend with 
 
 friend, 
 Oft studied Him in nature's varied moods. 
 To know His wrath in storms tempestuous wild. 
 To see His smile in calm of tranquil skies. 
 His mother's God was his thro' all the years. 
 The lonely years before his coming forth 
 To execute the mission of his life. 
 
 The slowly gathering throngs move on apace. 
 To seize some vantage point of ground or place 
 Anear the Jordan's slow and sluggish flow : 
 The stalwart man, swart-hued of brawny arm. 
 The slender stripling of incipient beard, 
 The scholar, the religionist of schools. 
 The woman plump, the mater familias. 
 Children of ages all, condition, size. 
 
The Dual Life 37 
 
 What new excitement calls the people all ? 
 
 We query make of one supposed to know. 
 
 "What ! know ye not of John the Baptist then, 
 
 Who now baptizeth all who follow him ? 
 
 A man of fiery tongue, who molds men's hearts 
 
 As putty in his hands : who styles himself* 
 
 'The voice:' a wholly self-effacing man, 
 
 A veil of mystery hides his life from view. 
 
 Some say, — 'He is Elias ;' while others, — 
 
 'He is the Christ :' but all, 'The prophet true.' 
 
 But stay to hear and judge him for yourself. 
 
 He's yonder there apart from all the rest." 
 
 We forward press to have a nearer view : 
 
 A slender man, ascetic in his mien. 
 
 Enrobed in hairy garment girt with skin; 
 
 Of iron will inflexible as steel, 
 
 A piercing eye that looks you through and 
 
 through, 
 Reading your very thought before expressed : 
 And yet withal a sweet, a saintly look, 
 As if with all the Holy Spirit filled. 
 Lo ! now he speaks in deep stentorian tones : 
 "Repent ye, for the kingdom's nigh at hand ! 
 Prepare the Lord's highway; make straight His 
 
 path. 
 Bring fruits for your repentance meet : trust not 
 To Abram's stock, as God can children raise 
 From e'en these stones. I, you baptize indeed. 
 With water to repentance ; but He that 
 Comes after me is mightier than I, 
 
38 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose : 
 He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost 
 And fire ; whose fan is in His hand. He will 
 Thoroughly purge His floor and gather His 
 Wheat into His garner, but the chaff will 
 He wholly burn with fire unquenchable." 
 O grand heroic soul, how great art thou ! 
 How far thou soarest 'bove thy fellows all, 
 So lost thine every thought and act to self ! 
 Thou livest but to glorify thy Lord, 
 To turn the eyes and hearts of all to Him. 
 Thou liv'st to thine ideal of what is right. 
 Nor couldst thou sin condone in any life, 
 The' it should save thee from a violent death. 
 
 The Mission 
 H 
 
 As dies the beauteous blush upon the face. 
 
 Leaving the tinted surface more than fair, 
 
 Morn's coral hue hath paled to opaline, 
 
 To creamy whiteness of the purest light. 
 
 The freshening air from off the vernal hills. 
 
 That breathes the sweeter life of health and cheer, 
 
 Is tremulous with tremolo of tone 
 
 From downy throats attuned all to praise. 
 
 So stilly steal the quiet waters by, 
 
 The mirroring surface scarce a ripple stirs, 
 
 Save undulation of indented wave. 
 
 The fragrance of the morn is in this day. 
 
The Dual Life 39 
 
 The day of days, the sweetest of the week, 
 
 If it of care and trial be divest ; 
 
 If all of heart be lifted up in prayer : 
 
 Wherein from far and near the curious crowds 
 
 Of village, hamlet, and the city great, 
 
 Are met to hear the trenchant word of John, 
 
 That 'lectrifies the apathy of sin. 
 
 To be baptized of him in Jordan's wave : 
 
 The outward symbol of the cleansed soul. 
 
 Lo ! One draws near to rivet every eye. 
 
 From somewhat in His port of majesty ! 
 
 Of slender build as one full young in years. 
 
 Of quiet mien commanding in His air. 
 
 Expressing all of sweetness in His face. 
 
 Withal so marked by more than earthly look, 
 
 John's answering spirit answers, — "It is He ! 
 
 'Tis He ! the Christ, the Saviour of the world !" 
 
 So loudly John proclaims, — "Behold the Lamb 
 
 Of God, who taketh 'way the sin of all 
 
 The world ! 'Tis He of whom I often said, 
 
 After me comes a man who is preferred 
 
 Before, for He before me was. I knew 
 
 Him not, but that He should be manifest 
 
 To Israel, I am come baptizing 
 
 With water." While Jesus standing by. 
 
 Here saith, — "I heard of thee in Nazareth, 
 
 Of how thou hast prepared my way before. 
 
 In turning many to repentant life ; 
 
 And knowing that the hour was come for my 
 
 Life's work, I hither come to be baptized 
 
40 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Of thee." But John astonished saith ; "I need 
 To be baptized of Thee ; why comest Thou 
 To me?" Then Jesus saith, — "Now suffer it 
 To be, for to fulfill all righteousness, 
 It thus becometh us." The people list 
 Awe-struck ; to see Him from the water come 
 Straightway ; to hear Him thus familiar pray : 
 "My Father, now attest Thy son, so these 
 Thy people may believe on me ; that Thou 
 Hast sent me to their Saviour be." Straight from 
 The parting clouds a light supernal breaks ; 
 Encircling Him as with a halo round : 
 And lo ! the Spirit as a dove descends 
 Upon His head, while heard the vibrant air 
 In tones sonorous, full : "This is my Son 
 Beloved ; hear Him." They quietly disperse 
 Their several ways in wondering amaze 
 At all their eyes had seen, their ears had heard ; 
 In family groups, in twos and threes they talk 
 It o'er : "That we should live to see this day. 
 The happiest day in all of Israel's years. 
 Now shall we see the lifting of the yoke. 
 That's galled and sorely chafed full many a year." 
 While some, — "From Nazareth can any good 
 Come out? This man's but one of us. Our 
 
 Christ 
 Shall come in power to snap the Roman chain ; 
 To reign o'er all of Palestine : to give 
 Us right of rank." Will ye now hear His call, 
 O Israel ! His loving, patient call ? 
 
The Dual Life 41 
 
 Or will ye disregard His kindly word, 
 
 Till He shall speak with Sinai's awful voice ? 
 
 He hath borne long with you in all your sin, 
 
 Tho' ye have fashioned new an idol god : 
 
 The god of selfish greed, that blasts the soul. 
 
 That closes it to every human need. 
 
 Ye keep full well the letter of the law, 
 
 But what of spirit which is all its life ? 
 
 What worth the husk without the kernel sweet? 
 
 What worth the nut without the fruity meat? 
 
 O Israel ! will ye not see your Christ, 
 
 The Son begotten of the love of God, 
 
 The sacrificial Lamb for all your sins. 
 
 Your scapegoat in the wilderness of sin ? 
 
 Or will ye shut your eyes and stop your ears, 
 
 To perish in your multitudinous sins ? 
 
 The Mission 
 
 HI 
 
 Long lowers the sullen tempest, ere it breaks 
 
 In devastating fury o'er the wild ; 
 
 The shifting clouds too long restrained in leash. 
 
 Impelled by unseen force, belch forth in fire 
 
 And flood to desolate the former scene ; 
 
 The cleaving rock, the uptorn tree depict 
 
 The Hghtning stroke of Nature's wrathful hand. 
 
 While shortly seen in halcyon blue serene 
 
 As mirroring deep beneath, her smiling touch, 
 
 The marks and scars attest the conflict long : 
 
42 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 So when the troublous storms, long gathering 
 
 rise, 
 O'erwhelm the stricken soul in sorrow's flood, 
 Tho' followed by the blessed balm of peace. 
 The deep-cut scars are wholly ne'er effaced. 
 The day succeeding such a night of storm 
 In Juda's desert wild, was drear indeed ; 
 The desolation more intensifying: 
 Showing to Nature's Lord a welcome scant, 
 As He comes hither for seclusion peace ; 
 To seek by fasting, prayer, repose of soul : 
 As holy men of old, from all apart, 
 Thro' wrestling sore, found strength of faith. 
 As day succeeded night, the night the day. 
 In this most barren, desolated wild, 
 Where more was rocky surface than of plain. 
 His mind so freed from all terrestrial sights, 
 Turned inly to the spiritual of thought ; 
 To contemplation of His Father's will, 
 Ensheathed in scabbard of a perfect love, 
 "Shall my life's work make manifest such will ? 
 Shall all who may believe on Thee thro' me. 
 Our unity of will completely know ? 
 Or will the love inclosure fail to see ? 
 My Father, of Thy perfect will and love. 
 Such attestation make, our sacrifice 
 Shall not have been in vain." So passed the days 
 And nights in rapt communion interchange 
 Of thought, till dominance the spirit gave 
 To need of crying flesh, as hours in length 
 
The Dual Life 43 
 
 Of forty days knew no sustaining food. 
 
 The gnawings of insistent hunger-pangs, 
 
 The body's craving for its sustenance, 
 
 The lassitude of muscles spent and lax, 
 
 The spirit too depressed in close accord. 
 
 To fierce assault left Him susceptible. 
 
 While thus alive to nature's clamorous call, 
 
 Lo ! one ethereal as a dream, to touch 
 
 Evanishing, in light celestial rayed. 
 
 Draws nigh to tempting ask, — "Why hungerest 
 
 Thou? 
 Why faintest for the stay of life ? Command 
 Thy sovereign power ; but use it for Thy need : 
 So these rough stones shall be delicious fare." 
 He deaf to all entreaties saith, — "Man doth 
 Not live by bread alone, but by the word 
 Of God." Dissolving from His present view. 
 To reappear more luminous than before. 
 "Now come with me to Temple-dome ; the view 
 Surpasses aught below ; the roseal light 
 Of dawn is lingering still ; come, come away. 
 Ere it be gone." They hither haste to see 
 Afar, the hills enwrapped in sapphire glow ; 
 Anear, the smiling vale in emerald dressed. 
 The purling stream meandering through the 
 
 mead; 
 With grace of word in sweetness more of tone : 
 "Come, show me now Thy power; cast down 
 
 Thyself 
 From this high dome ; for is it not thus writ : 
 
44 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 'He shall His angels give concerning Thee 
 
 A charge to bear Thee up, lest Thou shouldst dash 
 
 At any time Thy foot against a stone.' " 
 
 He word for word replies ; ''Nor shalt thou tempt 
 
 The Lord thy God." Then vanished it again. 
 
 The trying day now waneth to a close, 
 
 The amethyst is paling to the gray. 
 
 When as before it comes in glow of white 
 
 Resplendent light: "Come, come with me to yon 
 
 High mount the view transcendeth all before." 
 
 They higher mount to find it truly so. 
 
 "Dost see the eagle's ensign over all 
 
 The subject nations near and far? Dost see 
 
 Her glory in the pride of arms the spoils 
 
 Of war, the monuments of art? All these 
 
 I'll give to Thee, if Thou wilt worship me," 
 
 He straight repelling saith, — "Get, get thee hence, 
 
 Satan, for it is writ, — 'Thou shalt worship 
 
 The Lord thy God, Him only shalt thou 
 
 serve.' " 
 List ! list ! the whirr of countless wings astir ! 
 Lo! white-robed angels set the spreading board, 
 With luscious fruits of every nation clime ; 
 With fresh legumes to vary all the feast, 
 With nectareous drinks to full allay the thirst. 
 Each vie with each in ministry of cheer ; 
 While all in swelling strain the anthem sing : 
 
 "Praise, praise the Lord anointed, 
 The Father's only Son ; 
 
The Dual Life 45 
 
 The spotless Lamb appointed, 
 For sinners every one. 
 
 "He suffering encountered, 
 The wiles of our great foe, 
 Who in the fight reencountered 
 His match in every blow." 
 
 The Mission 
 
 IV 
 
 The flagging hours have slowly measured time. 
 In lengthening minutes of oppressive heat. 
 Ere simmering off to coolness of the eve, 
 That wafts the breeze from Jordan's rippling 
 
 wave; 
 Refreshing to the little group anear, 
 As John with followers two were talking o'er 
 The happenings of momentous days before ; 
 The great event, the first on each man's tongue. 
 The coming of the Christ to be baptized ; 
 The attestation to His sonship in 
 The spoken word and outward manifest : 
 His disappearance strange for many days. 
 "Hath aught been seen or heard of Him since 
 
 then?" 
 They question John ; while he far-seeing saith : 
 "Behold the Lamb of God !" They turning see 
 The Christ, and follow Him, to gently hear : 
 "What seek ye ?" "Rabbi, where dwellest Thou ?" 
 
46 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Saith Jesus, — "Come and see." So spent with 
 
 Him 
 That happy day, the first such happiness 
 To see ; an auspice of Hke days to come, 
 In which Hke love time took no notice heed : 
 As winged steeds flew past the fleeing hours. 
 As joy if shared but multipHes the more, 
 Andrew his brother finds ; then PhiHp, who 
 Hath heard the — "Follow me" — Nathanael calls ; 
 Who with all doubts removed, slow saith to 
 
 Christ, 
 "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, the king 
 Of Israel." "Ah," Jesus saith, "because 
 I saw thee 'neath the tree, believest thou ? 
 Thou shalt see greater things ; hereafter shall 
 Ye see the heavens ope, the angels too 
 Descend, ascend upon the Son of man." 
 
 The little town safe sheltered by the hills, 
 Soft nestling in the quiet of their strength, 
 Is all astir with pleasure o'er the fete, 
 That full ingratiates the day for good ; 
 That blazons her upon the scroll of fame. 
 That lends undying luster to her lanes : 
 To which the high and low are equal guests. 
 The shades of early eve were falling all, 
 When maidens fair with gallants gay and all 
 The older folk, assemble in the hall 
 Ancestral, of the sweet expectant bride ; 
 To see the old, old rite e'er freshly new, 
 
The Dual Life 47 
 
 When complement of heart is complement 
 
 In name. Tho' interest centers in the bride 
 
 Elect, of more attraction are the guests, 
 
 Who with distinction grace the festal board. 
 
 Lo ! one of sweet endearing presence charms 
 
 The eye with gracious dignity of mien ! 
 
 All wait upon her word for the behest, 
 
 All look for her direction of the feast ; 
 
 Friend of the bride, assumes the mother-place. 
 
 While in the seat of honor, is the guest 
 
 Who lends it most distinctive grace ; who, with 
 
 Disciples few immortalizes this 
 
 Affair ; who, by His mother now is thus 
 
 Addressed: "My son, the feast is wanting 
 
 wine." 
 He saith, — "Woman, what matters it to me ? 
 Mine hour is not yet come." She ne'ertheless 
 To servants saith : "Whate'er He bids you, do !" 
 Behold, to servants waiting word. He saith : 
 "Fill all the water-pots to brim and bear 
 To governor of the feast." Lo ! as they draw, 
 A look of awe replaces former look. 
 They slowly to the ruler bear in great 
 Amaze. He all unconscious of the deed 
 Just wrought, the bridegroom calls to praise the 
 
 wine. 
 Its quality, its taste : to say, — "Ye kept 
 The best till last." "A prophet truly in 
 Our midst, although we knew it not :" some say. 
 But His disciples few, — "He is the Christ." 
 
48 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 How blithe the morn with cheer of bird and 
 
 flower 
 Returning to their vernal hymn of praise ! 
 Thought they, the few devout of companies all, 
 Who too return to raise the jubilate 
 Of praise in God's appointed place : to keep 
 The feast memorial of His love and care, 
 In hallowed Temple reared for praise and prayer. 
 What sight for eye and thought of heart 
 
 devout ! 
 What profanation of His outer court ! 
 What noise unhallowed for offended ear ! 
 How pained, indignant, wrathful is the look 
 Of One, who deems it all His Father's house ! 
 How keenly feels the sacrilegious scene ! 
 The lowing of the cattle in the court, 
 The bleating of the several flocks of sheep ; 
 Behold, He fashions whip of many cords ! 
 Forth flee the frighted cattle from their Lord ; 
 O'erturned the tables of the changers' till : 
 The scattering coin seek all the chinks and holes. 
 To some a-selling doves for gain He saith : 
 "Take these things hence; put not my Father's 
 
 house 
 To such a use." So purged the Temple He 
 Of all its profane herd. Lo! stilly peace 
 Broods o'er the hallowed place. Straight comes 
 
 to mind 
 Of His disciples few, the prophet's word, 
 "The zeal of all Thine house hath eat me up." 
 
The Dual Life 49 
 
 The Jews quick gathering round straight ques- 
 tion Him : 
 "What Thine insignia, power for such a work ?" 
 "Destroy this temple all, in three days' time 
 I'll raise it up." "Full forty years and six, 
 This Temple took to build, wilt Thou in three 
 Rear up?" Nor wot He spake of body His ; 
 Nor could forget, forgive this word of Christ, 
 But lastly used it in condemning Him : 
 While to His followers final faith was proof. 
 Lo, as they enter in to keep the feast. 
 The people of the village, hamlet, town, 
 Not all can boast or wear the bloom of health ; 
 The poor unfortunates from wasting ills, 
 Disease : the lame, the halt, the blind from birth. 
 He seeth all with deep compassion love. 
 To use His healing power for misery's help, 
 To see them loosed from cords and stings of sin ; 
 So to the many was their day of feast, 
 A day of perfect health unknown before : 
 Wherein they firstly saw the sent of God, 
 The spotless Lamb for sacrificial sin. 
 While one full high in council of the Jews, 
 Impressed with all the happenings of the day, 
 But waits the cover of the friendly night. 
 To secret seek Christ out in his own way ; 
 To satisfy the queries of his thought : 
 To straight address Him thus, — "Rabbi, we know 
 Thou art a teacher come from God for none 
 Such miracles can do, except God be 
 
50 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 With him." Then Jesus saith : "I truly say 
 
 To thee except a man be born again, 
 
 He can God's kingdom never see." "But how," 
 
 Saith Nicodemus sore perplexed, "can one 
 
 Be thus reborn?" "I truly say, except 
 
 A man be of the water. Spirit born. 
 
 He can God's kingdom enter not. That which 
 
 Is fleshly born is flesh ; so too, that which 
 
 Is Spirit born is Spirit. Marvel not 
 
 I said to thee, ye must be born again. 
 
 The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou 
 
 Hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell 
 
 Whence it cometh and whither it goeth : 
 
 So everyone that is of Spirit born." 
 
 But Nicodemus slow to see the truth. 
 
 Thus straightway saith, — "How can all these 
 
 things be ?" 
 "Art thou a master of Israel," saith 
 Jesus, "and knoweth not these things ? I say 
 Most truly unto thee, we speak that we 
 Do know and testify that we have seen. 
 And ye receive our witness not. If ye 
 Believe not thus my word of earthly things. 
 How shall of heavenly things ye e'er believe 
 My word ? As Moses truly lifted up 
 The serpent in the wilderness even 
 So must the Son of man be lifted up ; 
 That whosoe'er believes in Him should not 
 Perish, but have eternal life. For God 
 So loved the world, He gave His only son, 
 
The Dual Life 5t 
 
 That whosoe'er beHeves in Him should not 
 Perish, but have e'erlasting life." So closed 
 The day of feast made memorable for man. 
 
 Footsore, aweary with days of toilsome pace, 
 
 Hungered, afaint from hours of abstinence, 
 
 Athirst from waxing heat of morn's fierce ray, 
 
 He findeth shelter, rest 'neath cooling shade. 
 
 Within the shadow of the sacred mount, 
 
 On Jacob's well without the little town. 
 
 Between the blessing and the cursing mounts. 
 
 While His disciples few in Sychar near. 
 
 Refreshment seek for need of their dear Lord. 
 
 Nor wot they of the meat He hath to eat, 
 
 For more than meat or drink His Father's will. 
 
 He haply thinks of those repentant ones, 
 
 Who in Judea's parts were just baptized ; 
 
 The turning of the life to all the good. 
 
 His thought therefore a praiseful prayer to God, 
 
 For all, from darkness turning unto light, 
 
 For all believing ones embracing love : 
 
 Such rest, refreshing doth He fully know. 
 
 Behold, a woman of the town draws near. 
 
 To now refill her pitcher to the brim I 
 
 She looks surprised to see Him sitting there. 
 
 To hear Him straightway say, — "Give me to 
 
 drink." 
 For by His speech perceives He is a Jew, 
 As Jews, Samaritans of each ask naught. 
 "The well is deep full many many yards; 
 
52 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Thou nothing hast to draw, how giv'st me drink ?" 
 
 She saith, when Hving water He would give, 
 
 That solely satisfies the soul athirst. 
 
 "Could He be greater than the one who gave 
 
 The well and drank thereof with cattle herd?" 
 
 But Jesus saith : "Whoso this water drinks 
 
 Shall thirst again ; but whosoe'er shall drink 
 
 The water I shall give, shall never thirst : 
 
 A springing well to endless life shall be." 
 
 She thought, — "If I this water but obtain. 
 
 No more shall I this daily burden know. 
 
 No more the sultry heat each day endure, 
 
 The weary weary weight upbear no more. 
 
 Sir, give me now this water pray so thirst 
 
 I not, nor hither come to draw." He then 
 
 To her great wonderment, amaze, recounts 
 
 The social history of her life. She saith : 
 
 "Sir, I perceive that Thou a prophet art. 
 
 Our fathers in this mount have worshiped oft ; 
 
 And yet ye say the only place for men 
 
 To worship pray is in Jerusalem." 
 
 But Jesus saith : "The hour fast hastes. 
 
 When in this mount, nor in Jerusalem, 
 
 Shall ye the Father pray, for ye know not 
 
 The worship true : as God a spirit is, 
 
 And seeketh such to truly worship Him." 
 
 "I know Messiah is to come ; when He 
 
 Shall come, we'll all things know:" the woman 
 
 saith. 
 "I, that speak unto thee am He :" saith Christ. 
 
The Dual Life 53 
 
 O favored one of all the human race ! 
 To firstly hear such blessed blessed truth ; 
 Withheld a time from e'en His followers all, 
 Until the suffering hour be fully come : 
 To hear the gracious word from lips divine, 
 Thou only hast to ask, to full receive 
 The living water in the Spirit given ; 
 Which so refreshes all the soul with health. 
 Which reinvigorates with quickening life. 
 Well may'st thou publish it to all thy friends, 
 Well may'st thou say : "I saw this happy day, 
 A man who told me all about my life : 
 Is not this He, our great Messiah Christ?" 
 
 The days returning now restore to thee, 
 
 The jewel in the setting of thy crown ; 
 
 The star in all the galaxy of stars, 
 
 That Ht with immortality thy fete. 
 
 Well comes thy great and small to homage pay, 
 
 As He, with His disciples few anew 
 
 Revisits thee, O Cana, truly blest ! 
 
 No stranger now for questioning smile or greet. 
 
 His mighty works all Palestine hath famed. 
 
 A prophet of Elijah's fame well known, 
 
 Tho' haply not Messiah of thy thought. 
 
 Lo ! one in near Capernaum hath heard 
 
 The workings of His healing power ; a man 
 
 Of noble birth with son the portal nigh. 
 
 He cometh now to importune His power : 
 
 'T pray Thee, Rabbi, help us in our sore 
 
54 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Distress ; my only son is nigh death's door. 
 Come, I beseech Thee, come." Rebuking him 
 For feeble faith, Christ saith : "Go on thy way ; 
 Thy son now lives." Tho' he and his believed, 
 'Twas disappointing to the Lord of faith, 
 Who from past working of the power divine. 
 Looked for its stronger manifest. Why, why. 
 Hath fallen man such modicum of faith, 
 Such plenitude of doubt, tho' wonders signs, 
 Be wanting not ? What but the heart of sin. 
 
 No morn of Paradise with halcyon blue 
 Unruffled by the ripple of a cloud. 
 Unmoved by semblance of the passing sigh, 
 Is more serene, or fair, surpassing fair, 
 Than this the morn of morns of all the week, 
 When He who smiles all nature into calm. 
 Or frowns her into fury of the storm. 
 Returns to city of His childish days : 
 Returns to lend perfectness to the day. 
 To sanction its observance in the house 
 Apart for prayer, and reading of the Word. 
 He comes not as of yore with mother loved. 
 As listener, learner of the sacred lore. 
 Unnoticed by the rabbis learned wise, 
 But as well known for works beneficent. 
 For miracles of healing numerous great : 
 Who now is given the sacred scroll to read. 
 Writ by the prophet, who foretold His life 
 From its inception to the dolorous close ; 
 
The Dual Life 55 
 
 Who pictured m such clearly graphic phase, 
 
 His passion in its details sorrowful. 
 
 Behold all eyes intently fix on Him, 
 
 As He the portion reads assigned for day! 
 
 Although they wot it not His life it told 
 
 In this : "The Lord hath me anoint to preach 
 
 The gospel to the poor ; the broken heart 
 
 To heal ; the blind restore to sight ; to set 
 
 The bruised free. His year accept to preach." 
 
 With scroll returned, to all He gracious saith : 
 
 "This day the Scripture is fulfilled to you." 
 
 Whilst inly wondering how this might be true, 
 
 H He were Joseph's son, Christ further saith, — 
 
 "No prophet in his country is accept, 
 
 Else I might work such works as in Capernaum. 
 
 Tho' in Elias' time were widows many, 
 
 He was to none save to Sarepta sent ; 
 
 Tho' lepers many were in Israel, 
 
 Naaman the Syrian was solely cleansed." 
 
 Then all within the hearing of His voice, 
 
 Uprose en masse, in indignation wrath, 
 
 And thrust Him out from synagogue from town, 
 
 And would have hurled Him from the steep 
 
 hill's brow, 
 If He had not passed by upon His way. 
 O Nazareth ! what hath thy fury wrought ! 
 How sorely hast thou hurt the tender heart, 
 That yearned o'er thee with such a mighty love ; 
 That would thy sickness bear diseases heal, 
 That would make manifest His works in thee ; 
 
56 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 But thou wouldst not : a marvel is thy doubt ! 
 Tho' thou shouldst want Him sore He cometh not 
 To thee e'ermore : thy day of grace is past. 
 
 Slow Hfts the darkHng shadow from the hills, 
 To lend the mirroring surface of the deep, 
 Morn's lucent beam ablush with roseal light. 
 Fair, no fairer thou, O Galilee ! 
 Than this blest morn when thine illuming Light 
 Appears to breathe thy freshening air anew ; 
 To note the signs of life upon thy breast. 
 The fishers of the deep, the sail, the net ; 
 Who hath been calling into His clear light, 
 The shadowed souls within the darksome night ; 
 To thine now calleth He : "Come, follow me ; 
 Of men I'll make you fishers all." So John 
 And James, with Peter, Andrew heard the call. 
 To His disciples be to Hfe's last close. 
 As erst His wont He frequents now the house 
 Of prayer to use anew His cleansing power. 
 Lo ! one He finds tormented sore at times 
 With unclean thoughts, the devil's potent seed, 
 That harvest greatest crop of evil deeds ; 
 Whose presence brooks no holy power: whose 
 
 voice 
 Proclaims, — "Thou, Jesus of Nazareth, let us 
 Alone ; we nothing have with Thee the One, 
 The holy One of God." Straightway rebuked 
 By Jesus' power he leaves his former throne. 
 The people in amaze straight question each: 
 
The Dual Life 57 
 
 "What man is this, with power of word to cast 
 Such devils out? Is He a prophet not?" 
 Forthwith His fame spread through the country 
 
 round. 
 His feeling heart afreshly stirred o'er news 
 Of Peter's tale, He straight to his abode 
 Repairs, to lay His healing hand upon 
 The throbbing brow, the fever to rebuke. 
 Lo ! now to minister she rises up. 
 So when this day beneficent drew nigh 
 The close, all brought their feeble sick diseased, 
 E'en those with devils dire to Peter's door : 
 To be repaid with health of body soul. 
 O healing Hand of power, how great Thy sway ! 
 O sympathetic Heart, how blest to man ! 
 Thou art. Thou art the Saviour of his soul ! 
 
 The heavenly lights diffuse a halo o'er 
 
 The hallowed spot whereon He prays apart 
 
 From all the world, the thronging press of day 
 
 And night, to hold communion with His 
 
 Other self, the Fatherhood of God : 
 
 "I pray Thee, grant them Thy clear light to see 
 
 Their need of Thee, to sense Thy patient love, 
 
 Longsuffering, mercy, constant care: to know 
 
 Thee as my life and works shall clear reveal." 
 
 So prayed He, till the mists of dawn arose 
 
 To usher in the ministry of cheer ; 
 
 The cheer of truth for every hearing ear ; 
 
 The cheer of health for countless suffering ones. 
 
58 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 In synagogues and towns of Galilee ; 
 
 Till all the restless, longing souls from near, 
 
 And far unconscious of their deepest need, 
 
 Await the coming of the helpful feet. 
 
 The heart compassionate for every woe : 
 
 To hear from mount the life-enfolding law. 
 
 In thought sublime, in simple tongue adapt 
 
 To them, the love-interpret of the law. 
 
 The spirit, import of its higher sense. 
 
 In all relation to their social lives : 
 
 The keeping, teaching of its mandates all, 
 
 The nine conditions of the happy life. 
 
 The shining life which glorifies the Lord. 
 
 The word of truth, the simple yea and nay. 
 
 The good for ill, the prayer of love for curse. 
 
 That so the life as God's might perfect be. 
 
 Enjoined the secret alms, the closet prayer. 
 
 For honesty of heart, for grace of gift. 
 
 And lest they weary God with multiplex 
 
 Of word, a short incomparable prayer He gives, 
 
 In praise, ascription to the Father God : 
 
 Inclusive all in scope of human needs. 
 
 He bids them treasure lay where it would last : 
 
 To serve their God with single heart and eye ; 
 
 To seek His kingdom first of all so all 
 
 Things needed for this life might added be. 
 
 Without unrest or wearing anxious thought : 
 
 To judge no man lest they too be adjudged. 
 
 He them exhorts to all things ask of God, 
 
 As He no good from suppliant withholds : 
 
The Dual Life 59 
 
 Then gives the rule imparadising earth. 
 
 He further bids them strive to enter in 
 
 The gate that leads alone to endless life. 
 
 To full beware of prophets false with lives 
 
 And words not in accord, as only those 
 
 Who do God's will shall e'er be known of Him. 
 
 A poor unfortunate from wasting ill, 
 
 From dire disease the dread and scourge of man, 
 
 Alone, from all the multitude apart, 
 
 Yet in the hearing range of this wise voice, 
 
 In sight of heart the most commiserate, 
 
 Takes heart of hope from His descent of mount. 
 
 To cry, — "Lord, if Thou wilt canst make me 
 
 clean." 
 Lo ! straight Christ honors faith with healing 
 
 touch, 
 And voice : "I will ; be clean ; but tell it not. 
 Go on thy way to priest as saith the law." 
 But he too full of joy to heed command, 
 Proclaims the cleansing Power to all he sees. 
 Till Christ henceforth no rest, retirement knows, 
 Save from the haunts of men, remote ; to pray 
 With all the Spirit's intercessory power : 
 "My Father, let the word of truth prevail 
 In hearts and lives of people so benight ; 
 Its teachings in the purer nobler life ; 
 Its spirit in the higher sense of right ; 
 Its power in the ability to keep : 
 So all this flock without a shepherd long, 
 May guided be to shores of Thy great peace." 
 
6o The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Softly the light ethereal trails o'er thee, 
 Transforming to a fairy scene thy waves, 
 Thy murmurous waves to stilly tranquil calm ; 
 Beguiling fishers all to ply thy deep : 
 But vainly all their toil, the nets are limp 
 At dawn as early eve ; the flapping sails 
 Sway idly in the breeze ; till One draws near, 
 Whose voice perforce the fish obey and lo. 
 The nets o'erdraw with multitudinous load. 
 Impulsive Peter penitent exclaims : 
 "Depart from me, O Lord, I humbly pray ; 
 As I but sinful am in Thy pure sight." 
 "Fear not," He gracious saith, "thou shalt hence- 
 forth 
 Catch men." And seeing such in multitudes 
 About, breaks new to them the bread of life, 
 In exhortation to repentant faith. 
 With stiffening breeze the sails full set to waft 
 Them to the farther shore, to city His ; 
 For respite brief from all the thronging press. 
 As morn sees greater 'bout His household door. 
 The Pharisees, the doctors of the law, 
 Who wait to cavil, question word of truth ; 
 While one in misery's clutch, in gift of faith. 
 Upborne by four, of access to the Christ 
 In search, but finds it through the parted roof 
 At His blest feet ; to hear sweet cheer of sins 
 Forgiven ; to feel the vigor of full life : 
 To glorify anew the godly power. 
 Forth faring thence Christ, Matthew calls to find 
 
The Dual Life 6i 
 
 Enmassed along the shore the folk that haunt 
 His footsteps e'er in hope of better store ; 
 To gain full health of body, soul and mind, 
 In words man's wisdom never spake. So day 
 To night was linked in helpful ministry 
 Of act and thought, in joy uplift of soul. 
 The morrow's turn beholds Him at the feast 
 Of love in honor His, at Matthew's board ; 
 With Pharisees, publicans, scribes; ill met 
 For some exalting self to hold aloof : 
 Who by themselves the Holy One adjudged. 
 But He, — "I came to call the sinners all. 
 Not righteous to repent. The sick alone 
 Physician need." O Thou, great heart of hearts ! 
 Exemplar of the heart ! Thou bend'st to us ; 
 Thou shrinkest not from our uncleanliness : 
 Thou look'st in pity to redeem to save, 
 Tho' high exalted by Thy sinlessness ! 
 
 Faint, still fainter wanes the paling hue. 
 That lingering leaves the pulse of Mercy's breast ; 
 So softly quiet in her slumberous fold, 
 Till tremulous with whirr of snowy wings, 
 Distilling healing balm in rippling wave, 
 For impotent folk in touch of heavenly wake. 
 But one aweary waits the helping hand. 
 Year after year full thirty long and eight ; 
 Till this blest hour sees heart to pity hand 
 To save in word, — "Wilt thou be whole? Thy 
 bed 
 
62 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Take up and walk." Lo ! life is felt in full : 
 Nor Saviour knows till Temple so reveals. 
 But this, the day too sacred to the Jew 
 For aught of work beneficent to man, 
 Or beast ; e'en for its Maker's healing hand : 
 So seek to slay the author of the deed. 
 "While He but works the Father's work in all 
 He sees to do; so by the Father loved 
 Is shown still greater works to work : the dead 
 To quicken into life ; to Him commits 
 The judging men that honor to the Son 
 Accrue as Father too ; that whoso hears 
 Christ's word to Him believe is passed to life ; 
 For hastes the hour when dead with ears to hear 
 Christ's voice shall live, as He the gift of life 
 From Father hath ; For He the Son of man, 
 Whose voice the dead but hear ; the good alone 
 To resurrected life. The Father's will 
 But seeketh sole in all He hears to judge. 
 Tho' John a lucent light, great witness bore, 
 Christ's works still greater witness bear as sent 
 Of God, tho' word be wanting not : 'This my 
 Beloved Son who pleaseth me.' The word 
 Of Holy Writ too testifies tho' not 
 Believed. Tho' He from man no honor knows, 
 From Father such in full receives." O ye. 
 Who fail to keep the spirit of the law, 
 How cavil ye ? How question Him who keeps 
 The whole, tho' His disciples pluck the ear 
 To break their fast ? Did not your David eat 
 
The Dual Life 63 
 
 When hungered, faint, of showbread blessed 
 
 yet ye 
 Condemn him not ? The Sabbath morn removed 
 From this by seven suns, by journey's day 
 Remote to city His, is spent in house 
 Of prayer to work His Father's heahng work, 
 For one of withered hand to find full joy 
 Of life; who questions not the deed'tho' some 
 Its lawfulness e'en ask, and straight commune 
 With each : "What's best with Christ to do as He 
 Subverts our teachings all to His belief ?" 
 But He unmindful of their wicked snares. 
 Retires at evenfall to rest, to pray 
 In quiet of the mount throughout the night. 
 Behold ! behold ! He prays for sinful man. 
 For those with hatred, murder in the heart ! 
 A spectacle for all the heavenly host : 
 "Forgive, O Father mine, these children Thine ! 
 Tho' erring, sinful they may be. Let light. 
 Thy light illume their darkened souls to see 
 The truth, so they may walk with Thee and me." 
 
 Slow lifts the mellow haze o'er vale and mount ; 
 Revealing morn's fair flushing face in full 
 Relief, ere Christ descends from mount to greet 
 His followers new with, — "Peace be unto you :" 
 To ordinate the twelve for work of life. 
 To full inbreathe His healing helpful power, 
 To give direction to their daily course. 
 To bid them seek but lost of Israel, 
 
64 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 And solely preach, — "The kingdom's nigh at 
 
 hand:" 
 To naught provide of scrip and bread save staflf, 
 As workman is full worthy of his hire. 
 Then to disciples all with multitudes 
 Awaiting His approach, reiterates 
 His former teaching from the mount's discourse : 
 "Blessed be ye poor for yours the kingdom is. 
 Blessed ye that hunger now ye shall be filled. 
 Blessed ye that weep for ye shall laugh. 
 Blessed ye if men shall hate you for my sake ; 
 Reproach to evil cast upon your name. 
 As great your joy in largess of reward. 
 But woe to rich, who consolation have. 
 Woe to you full, who yet shall hunger know. 
 Woe to the mirthful, that shall mourn and weep. 
 Woe unto you if all men speak you well. 
 Give measure full to all as you'd receive. 
 Nor yet thy brother's mote behold with beam 
 In eye ; but good proceedeth from the good. 
 Why call me, 'Lord,' to disobey my word? 
 But he that hears to do builds on the rock." 
 Thence faring 'way to city His within 
 The gates, encounters Jewish elders sent 
 By centurion forth, His presence' power 
 For servant's health to beg; whom they bespeak 
 For worthy deeds their nation ever loves. 
 Within few paces of the house come friends 
 To bid Christ trouble not to enter in, 
 To speak but all-sufficient word. 
 
The Dual Life 65 
 
 Commending such great faith in Israel 
 UnHke, straight honors with the fullest health. 
 
 A morn, an eve, a morn have blushed and paled. 
 
 Ere Christ with His disciples and a few 
 
 Devoted folk stroll o'er the flowery mead 
 
 To distant Nain ; to Allah, Allah hear 
 
 Slow wailing o'er and o'er ; the mourner chief 
 
 To see in childless widow grief o'erbowed. 
 
 So sore bereft the day of her sole stay. 
 
 The only scion of a headless house : 
 
 Thus night of sorrow veils the light of day. 
 
 Look up ! look up ! tried heart, the dawn is here : 
 
 The sun is bidding night, good cheer, good cheer ! 
 
 "Weep not :" He saith, and touches bier to bid 
 
 Thy son arise, and lo ! he's thine to love. 
 
 The mighty deed soon noised about brought two 
 
 Disciples straight of John to question Him, 
 
 "If He were Christ?" For answer Jesus heals 
 
 The lepers, maimed and blind and bids them tell 
 
 What they have seen and heard. Saith Christ 
 
 to His 
 Disciples own, to multitudes around, 
 "Tho' prophet never rose so great as John, 
 The least in kingdom mine is greater still. 
 Ye might if would see 'Lias come in him, 
 But ye as children heed not what ye hear. 
 Ye say he devil hath when Nazarite 
 From womb; the Son of man who eats and 
 
 drinks. 
 
66 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 A devotee of life : of sinners friend. 
 Woe, woe to thee Chorazin, woe ! woe, woe 
 To thee, Bethsaida, woe ! if mighty works 
 Wrought now in thee, in Sidon, Tyre were 
 
 wrought, 
 Would long ago in sackcloth ashes sore 
 Repent ; so shall of mercy more receive 
 At judgment day. Thou, thou Capernaum, 
 So heaven-exalt shall down to hell be brought ; 
 For Sodom would remain this day if works 
 Like thine in her were wrought: she shall 
 
 receive 
 At judgment day of mercy more than thou." 
 Then lifting up His thought in silent prayer : 
 "I thank Thee, Father, Lord, that Thou to babes 
 Revealest what from prudent wise is hid : 
 As so it seemeth good to Thee." To people more : 
 "All things my Father delegates to me ; 
 Whom no man save the Father knows: nor 
 
 knows 
 The Father any man save Son and he 
 Whom Son reveals. Come, come to me, ye souls, 
 Ye weary laden souls, and I will give 
 You rest. Upon you take my yoke and learn 
 Of me, for I am lowly meek of heart ; 
 So shall your souls find rest. For easy is 
 My yoke, my burden light." O heart to feel 
 Another's woe, to sympathize with mind 
 O'erweight with trial, care, Thou only hast 
 The perfect rest the weary long to know ! 
 
The Dual Life 67 
 
 The Pharisee o'ergrateful for the gift 
 
 Of health, to him returning joy of Hfe, 
 
 The social life of kith and kin prepares 
 
 In honor of his Lord, a feast ; invites 
 
 His dearest friends to gracious homage pay ; 
 
 The learned rabbis, doctors of the law : 
 
 But illy brooks the uninvited one, 
 
 Who too would shower His person dear with 
 
 wealth 
 Of grateful love in costly perfume on 
 His head ; the' she incur indignant speech 
 From all ; e'en the disciples question deed, 
 Who wot not for His burial was anoint. 
 But Christ with love to see such love proclaims 
 For act her immortality of name : 
 Who with recipients more of healing's help, 
 Accompany Christ thro' towns of Galilee, 
 To list the tidings glad of word to all : 
 "The kingdom nigh is come." Till people far 
 And near Him follow to Capernaum : 
 To view anew His work of power for one 
 Possessed of devil blind and dumb ; to say 
 To each : "Is He not David's son?" Not so 
 The Pharisee straight judging by himself. 
 But Jesus reading thought, affirms the truth, 
 "That strength in union is ; that evil casts 
 Not evil out ; that whoso to all Good 
 All ill ascribes commits the unpardonable sin." 
 While teachings grave as these inculcating. 
 Behold His kinsfolk send with Him to speak ! 
 
68 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 But more alive to interests spiritual 
 
 Than secular straight saith, — "Behold my kin 
 
 In all that do my Father's will !" Ere dusk 
 
 Of eve drew nigh to pall day's brighter hue, 
 
 For weary strain and stress, from freshening sea, 
 
 Christ new refreshment seeks, to see a crowd 
 
 Too great to speak from shore save from a ship, 
 
 Where He discourses truth in parables 
 
 Alone, for want of seeing eyes and ears 
 
 To hear and hearts to understand the word. 
 
 But to the open mind and heart such as 
 
 Disciples have, the meaning clear unfolds. 
 
 So spake He till the fold of night to all 
 
 Unfolded meed of rest for stress of day ; 
 
 Which He in aft of ship as fully finds 
 
 Upon the bosom of the placid deep 
 
 Afar from shore. But list ! the cordage creaks, 
 
 The sails full set ; the waves swift lashed to foam. 
 
 Break o'er the bow in power tumultuous, 
 
 Till ship is nigh to sink. "O Master hear ! 
 
 Will ye we perish so?" cried out in fright 
 
 Disciples all. But He rebuking wind 
 
 And wave with, — "Peace be still !" reproves their 
 
 lack 
 Of faith : so safely reach Gadara's shore : 
 To exercise fresh reach of power for one 
 Tormented long with devils many fierce; 
 A dweller of the tombs hard by all cut 
 And slashed with wounds a score or more ; to be 
 Addressed : "Thou, Jesus, Son of God, torment 
 
The Dual Life 69 
 
 Us not to send away : these numerous herds 
 
 Let us inhabit them." But all the swine 
 
 By thousands ran directly to the sea. 
 
 And Lo ! to reason's realm restored now begs 
 
 To follow Christ : in impartation of 
 
 The good but finds the way till all 
 
 The townsfolk fearful and affright at work 
 
 Of such great power, straight Christ beseech to 
 
 leave 
 Their parts. O foolish folk, how dim thy light ! 
 How sore benight art thou to not behold 
 In Him thy Saviour true ! or dost thou choose 
 In hold, in Satan's hold to dwell alway ? 
 
 Grieved to the heart with people too obtuse 
 
 To see the love that would imparadise 
 
 The life, He with disciples true straight ships 
 
 To farther shore to meet in city His 
 
 New claimants for His healing power ; to hear 
 
 From ruler's heart the grief o'ermastering doubt. 
 
 But while Christ lists, behold of thronging press 
 
 One touch alone is felt, the touch to free 
 
 His power ! Lo ! one with faith is newly whole, 
 
 To straight depart to life of peace and joy. 
 
 Forth comes the sorrowing word, — "The child 
 
 is dead ; 
 The Master trouble not." But Jesus saith : 
 "Give place to faith if thou wouldst see her 
 
 whole." 
 So straight repairs to her abode to wipe 
 
70 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 The tear with word of cheer, — "She sleeps but 
 
 now :" 
 To waken with, — "O maid, arise !" His word 
 To justify. As forth He fares away two men 
 Shut in to inner sight close follow Him 
 To door ; oft crying o'er, — "Thou David's son, 
 Have mercy on us now !" to hear for faith, 
 "So be it unto you." As they forth leave 
 To spread His healing fame abroad one more 
 Unfortunate possessed with devil dumb. 
 Is brought to Christ to live his life anew. 
 The people marvel o'er such manifest 
 Of power, tho' sightless to the greater love. 
 Commiserate to such. He newly sends 
 By twos disciples forth with healing touch 
 To unclean cleanse, to sick to health restore. 
 Till Herod hears, bethinks the dead arisen, 
 As he had kept in durance long and vile. 
 His life's accuser ; and for unworthy oath 
 Beheaded him, a martyr for his God. 
 As Christ from His disciples learns the news 
 Of this untoward event. He bids them come 
 Awhile to desert place apart to rest 
 In prayerful meditation of his life. 
 But brief the rest, as from the cities all. 
 The people come as to physician great, 
 For sick diseased to feel the joy of life. 
 With pity more for soul foregoes His rest. 
 To full disclose its ulcerous state the need, 
 The remedy of cure ; till dusk o'erveils 
 
The Dual Life J7l 
 
 The day. The weary people thirsty faint, 
 Bespeak the need of food. But what are five 
 Small loaves and fishes two for such a host ? 
 As this their store. Ah ! 'tis far more than need 
 With Christly blessing added to as e'en 
 The fragments of the feast a multiple 
 Of store. So He returning sends them cheered, 
 Refreshed with all the body's health while He 
 For rest, repose of spirit, seeks the mount, 
 To newly pray for people in the vale 
 And shade of sin : "Illume their darksome souls 
 With all the Holy Spirit's light to see 
 Their state as Thou, my Father, seest it ; 
 So they may turn to Thee for health of soul." 
 Thus in His love He rests in prayer until 
 The watch of four, when He perceives far out 
 At sea a ship sore buffeted by wind 
 And wave, with His disciples in affright. 
 He walks the wave for their relief to be 
 For spirit straight mistook; but reassures 
 With word, — "Be of good cheer ; 'tis I ; be not 
 Afraid." "If it be Thou, Lord," saith Peter, 
 "Bid me come on the water unto Thee." 
 But overcome by roughness of the way. 
 Begins to sink and cry, — "O save me, Lord !" 
 "Thou hast too little faith to doubt remove," 
 Saith Christ, in stretching out the helping hand. 
 So safe with Him the ship is straight in port. 
 Awaiting His approach, the sick diseased. 
 The poor deformed, to feel in touch of faith 
 
"il^ The Heavenly Voice 
 
 The thrill of health. With sorrowing look per- 
 ceives 
 The greater part unconscious of the ill, 
 Albeit He in probing to the quick 
 Discloses hurt. "Ye do but follow me 
 For worldly betterment, not for the bread 
 Of hfe, the manna sent of God to you. 
 Ye will not see the bread that giveth life. 
 The water that e'er quencheth thirst in me. 
 But he hath endless life that sole believes 
 In me. Except ye eat my flesh and drink 
 My blood ye have no life, for flesh of mine 
 Is meat, for blood is drink : so shall ye live. 
 Know ye the flesh shall nothing profit you : 
 But spirit quickeneth into life." E'en some 
 Disciples stumbled o'er the word to grieve 
 The tender heart by base desertion too. 
 "Will ye too go away, my chosen ones?" 
 But Peter with the warmth of love straight saith : 
 "O Lord, to whom shall we then go ? Thou hast 
 The words of endless life : we sure believe 
 Thou art the Christ, Son of the living God." 
 
 Removed with His disciples from the crowd, 
 Christ breaks the fast of day to be accost 
 By Pharisee and scribe : "Why eat with hands 
 Unwashed disciples Thine, to nullify 
 Traditions old?" "O ye, blind leaders of 
 The blind, how ye pervert the law to make 
 Of none effect ! Ye 'fore the spirit put 
 
The Dual Life 73 
 
 The letter of the law." To people all, — 
 
 "O hearken unto me, ye with the ear 
 
 To hear; but naught defiles a man save that 
 
 Which Cometh out, as from within the heart 
 
 Proceeds the thought of evil deeds." Forth 
 
 thence 
 Arising fares to distant parts remote, 
 To Sidon, Tyre, to seek seclusion there. 
 But vainly as His fame He ne'er outruns. 
 Behold, one even here hath hope of help! 
 Her home long darkened by the shadows grim. 
 Is in the blackness of despair bereft 
 The light of cheer. With all a mother's love, 
 And importuning prayer she seeks it at 
 His hand ; nor will she be denied the boon, 
 As Christ e'er honors faith, such great faith now, 
 In giving to her love her daughter new. 
 Thou weariest not, O Saviour of the soul ! 
 Of mercy's kindly work : 'tis Thy delight 
 To re-create in health, the body soul. 
 Believing ones Thou turnest ne'er away. 
 Albeit not of Israel's chosen race. 
 Anew Thou mak'st the deaf to hear, the dumb 
 To sing, till all the people marvel oft: 
 To wondering say, — "How He hath wrought 
 
 for us ! 
 It is Elias come again." But faint 
 From three days' fast a greater work should see. 
 The heart respondent to the slightest need, 
 Returning sends them nourished new by loaf 
 
74 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 And fish o'ermultiplied, lest they fall out 
 By way. As to Bethsaida Christ was come, 
 One long in darksome night awaits His touch, 
 To see thro' test of faith the light of day. 
 Thence faring forth to several towns Christ by 
 The way straight questions His disciples' faith: 
 "Whom do men say I am ?" When told Elias, 
 John the Baptist, Jeremias, He saith: 
 "Whom say ye that I am ?" From Peter thus 
 To straightway hear, — "Thou art the Christ of 
 God." 
 
 Unveils the softening mist of yon high mount : 
 
 Revealing all the grandeur of the dome 
 
 In light supernal from the heavenly heights, 
 
 In beatific ray from out the blest. 
 
 In glory strangely new to fallen earth. 
 
 Lo! retransfigured is the Christ in all 
 
 The glory of the disembodied soul ! 
 
 The startled air revibrates with the tones 
 
 Of years undimmed by all the storied past. 
 
 The prophets mighty in forecasting things, 
 
 Anew foretell His dolorous decease, 
 
 In trial, suffering, and the shameful form : 
 
 To so repurchase all the souls of men. 
 
 List ! list ! from pensile cloud is clearly heard : 
 
 "This my beloved Son, who pleaseth me." 
 
 The three disciples list in rapturous awe : 
 
 "Would we might here abide alway !" But nay, 
 
 From mount of blessing to the work below, 
 
The Dual Life 75 
 
 The greater privilege and the higher life. 
 
 With multitudes awaiting on the plain, 
 
 A father, with an only son deprived 
 
 Of reason's light, implores on bended knee 
 
 The power of Christ : "Have mercy on my son, 
 
 O Lord, for he is crazy sore ; in fire 
 
 And water falleth oft. I, him to Thy 
 
 Disciples brought but they were powerless 
 
 To cure." Rebuking His disciples' lack 
 
 Of faith, rebuked the devil in the child 
 
 To full restore : the mighty power of God 
 
 To show to people's great amaze. He thence 
 
 Departing fares thro' Galilee to speak 
 
 Of His decease and near accomplishment ; 
 
 Its manner and the resurrection from: 
 
 But His disciples comprehended not. 
 
 As they to city His were come behold, 
 
 He manifests anew His power to pay 
 
 The temple-tax in bidding Peter take 
 
 It from the fish's mouth, lest they offend 
 
 In keeping not the law. As they could not 
 
 Decide tho' oft disputing by the way, 
 
 Disciples straightly come to question Him: 
 
 "Who in Thy kingdom greatest is?" Christ calls 
 
 A child and setting him in midst straight saith, — 
 
 "Except ye be convert and trusting as 
 
 This child, ye shall not enter in but he 
 
 That is as low, shall greatest be ; whoso 
 
 For me receives this child receiveth-me: 
 
 But whosoe'er offends WQVild better lose 
 
']^ The Heavenly Voice 
 
 His life. Offenses needs must come but woe 
 To him by whom they come. If thou must part 
 With aught to enter Hfe, 'tis better far 
 Than whole to enter death. Nor yet despise 
 My little ones whose angels see alway 
 My Father's face : for I but save the lost. 
 Think ye not man would seek the straying sheep, 
 Rejoicing more if found than o'er the safe 
 In fold ? e'en so your Father wills not one 
 Be lost. If two of you agree to ask 
 My Father aught it shall be done for you : 
 For where ye gather in my name tho' but 
 In twos and threes, there shall I be with you." 
 Then Peter saith, — "How oft shall I forgive 
 My brother's sin to me, till seven times ?" 
 Saith Jesus, — "Nay, till seventy times seven : 
 Else you would like the heartless servant be, 
 Who failed to show the mercy shown to him, 
 So met his just desert. Thus shall to you 
 My Father do if ye from depth of heart, 
 Forgive not all your brother oweth you." 
 
 The time celestial waning little past 
 
 The full, so straitly kept by all the Jews 
 
 In celebration of the feast of booths, 
 
 Now calleth them to old Jerusalem ; 
 
 The Pharisee, the scribe, the doctors all : 
 
 Who thinking to ensnare the Nazarene 
 
 In letter of the law, straight question, — "Where 
 
 Is He ?" to find Him in the Temple-court, 
 
The Dual Life T] 
 
 Teaching as no man ever taught unlearned ; 
 For marveling thus to hear : "My doctrine is 
 Not mine but His that sent me unto you. 
 Whoso will do His will shall doctrine know, 
 Whether it be of God or emanates 
 From me : for he his glory only seeks 
 Who speaketh of himself ; but he that seeks 
 God's glory sole, is wholly righteous true. 
 Was not your law by Moses given and yet 
 Ye keep it not ? Why seek ye me to kill ? 
 At mercy's work in me ye marvel much. 
 To cavil more if done on Sabbath day : 
 Tho' still to keep the law ye circumcise, 
 That day. Why angered so at me who makes 
 A man e'en whole ? Judge not by what ye see, 
 But righteous judgment judge." To doubting 
 
 ones 
 That question,— "Who is He?" that know Him 
 
 not 
 As Christ, — "Ye both know me and whence I am. 
 Nor come I had I not been sent of Him 
 Who's true, whom ye know not, but I. Awhile 
 I'm but with you to then return to Him 
 Who sent me forth. Ye shall me seek but shall 
 Not find for where I am ye cannot come." 
 So to confusion of the Jews He spake. 
 Upon the last great day, the day of feast, 
 He stood in midst of people all and cried : 
 "If any of you thirst come unto me 
 And drink, for whosoe'er beHeves in me, 
 
78 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Shall fountain be of living waters pure." 
 Tho' many so think Him a prophet true, 
 E'en some the Christ, still others question doubt, 
 To ask, — "Shall Christ come out of Galilee?" 
 While some would take to give Him up but could 
 Not lay their hands for hurt before His hour. 
 O mount of hallowed peace and calm, how blest 
 Art thou ! How happy all thine olive groves 
 To shelter, rest thy Maker's wearied heart. 
 And frame ; to fresh exhale of balm thine own 
 Infinitude : to breathe returning strength, 
 As He thy quiet seeks from stress of day ! 
 Ere dawn soft bids another day good morn. 
 He leaves the restful mount for Temple-court ; 
 To teach, enlighten all assembling there. 
 Behold, the doors wide open to the mob ! 
 Dragging a sinning woman to the light 
 Of day, to see if Christ would judge her by 
 Their lore. To their accusings writes but on 
 The floor : "None doeth good on earth not one." 
 Then saith, — "He without sin can cast first stone." 
 Then stooping writes, — "Judge not lest ye be 
 
 judged." 
 Lo ! all were fled. To woman saith, — "As these 
 Condemn thee not, so neither I ; but go 
 And sin no more." Returns the Pharisee 
 To question, doubt the record of His life ; 
 His office of divine ambassador : 
 When He, — "I am this dark world's light : but he 
 That followeth me shall have the light of life. 
 
The Dual Life 79 
 
 Tho' I bear record of myself 'tis true. 
 
 The Father witness bears of me whom ye 
 
 Know not, else Him in me would know : but ye 
 
 Shall know when ye shall lift me up. Of world 
 
 Ye are but I am not ; if ye on me 
 
 Will not believe ye in your sins shall die. 
 
 I tell you but the truth yet ye believe 
 
 It not because you're of the evil one, 
 
 And not of God or you would not thus say 
 
 I devil have. I, Father, honor sole. 
 
 And He e'er honors me. Your God ye say 
 
 He is yet Him know not for you His word 
 
 Ne'er keep. Tho' he rejoiced to see my day. 
 
 Before your father Abraham I was." 
 
 Incensed and angered by His word would cast 
 
 At Him the stone but He passed by on way, 
 
 To use the essence of the Holy One, 
 
 For soul in darkness of the day from dawn : 
 
 To ope the inner with the outer sight. 
 
 But works beneficent may not be wrought 
 
 On Sabbath day by Pharisee or scribe. 
 
 Who spirit lose in letter of the law : 
 
 So question the recipient of the deed 
 
 To say, — "God works not on the Sabbath day ; 
 
 He's not of God but of the devil sure." 
 
 As though the evil one could work good works 
 
 E'en on that day or any other day. 
 
 Saith Christ to Pharisees the more : "As by 
 
 The door the shepherd enters in to call 
 
 His sheep by name, to safely lead them out 
 
8o The Heavenly Voice 
 
 To pastures green, to life abundant more, 
 
 And not as robber, thief for any hurt. 
 
 So when he putteth forth the sheep he goes 
 
 Before to first prepare the way unknown. 
 
 I am the shepherd good to give his Hfe 
 
 For sheep. To know to be as known of them. 
 
 All others but the thieves to steal destroy, 
 
 And kill. As Father knoweth me e'en so 
 
 I, Father know. E'en down I lay my life 
 
 For all the sheep as I some have of not 
 
 This fold, who too shall hear my voice : therefore 
 
 My Father loveth me as I lay down 
 
 My life to take it new." Thus spake He to 
 
 Their doubt, — "Is He the Christ?" To newly 
 
 hear: 
 "I told you so but ye believed it not. 
 The works I work in Father's name of me 
 A witness bear ; but ye do not believe 
 As you're not of my sheep who hear my voice 
 To follow me. To them I give but life. 
 Eternal life, and they shall perish ne'er: 
 Nor shall one pluck them out my hand. As He 
 Who gave them me is greater than you all. 
 So none hath power from out my Father's hand 
 To pluck : but He and I are one." When they 
 Would stone Him for this word He further 
 
 saith : 
 "Say ye I thus blaspheme, whom Father hath 
 Anoint, to call myself the Son of God? n 
 
 If I work not my Father's work believe 
 
The Dual Life 8i 
 
 Me not ; but if I do tho' ye believe 
 
 Not me believe the works, to know believe, 
 
 Our being's unity." But they, alas ! 
 
 To follow Him would not the shepherd know. 
 
 In sympathetic hue with day the morn 
 
 Was chill and drear; no rift of light foretold 
 
 The reign of its illuminant ; no lute 
 
 Of hope for grieving hearts in home bereft 
 
 Of cheer ; the Bethany home, the loved abode 
 
 Of three: the one by its distinguished guest 
 
 Oft blessed. But sickness, death hath entered 
 
 there 
 And shorn it of its strength. The sisters two, 
 Bethink them of the healing touch and voice. 
 "Had He been here our brother had not died. 
 Alas! alas! He cometh not to us. 
 But list ! His step, His voice I surely hear ! 
 He's come at last ! ah me ! He's come too late !" 
 And Martha hastes to sadly say, — "O Lord, 
 Hadst Thou been here our brother had not died ! 
 But know I now what Thou wilt ask of God, 
 Will granted be, for Thou art Christ the Son 
 Of God." He saith : "Thy brother shall arise. 
 I am the resurrection and the life. 
 He that believes in me tho' dead shall live. 
 And whoso lives, believes in me shall not 
 See death." To full confession of her faith. 
 Tho' He shall soon dispel the darkling cloud, 
 His feeling heart expresses but in grief, 
 
§2 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 In perfect sympathy. Behold, He weeps ! 
 
 Their faith must know the trial's test, 
 
 As e'en corruption's work four days hath 
 
 wrought. 
 Lo! to their great amaze commands the stone 
 To be removed and lifts His voice in prayer: 
 'T thank Thee, Father, that Thou hearest 
 
 me; 
 I know Thou always hearest me but this 
 I say that these Thy people may believe." 
 Then loudly cries, — "Lazarus, come forth!" 
 
 behold, 
 He rises in the flush of life to love, 
 To glory of his Lord anew restored ! 
 While Christ retires to desert parts to rest 
 From persecution of the foes that seek 
 His life: to send by twos the seventy forth, 
 With power to heal the sick; with cheering 
 
 word, — 
 "The kingdom nigh is come:" till they return 
 With joy to say, — "Lord, e'en to us and through 
 Thy name the devils subject are." He saith : 
 "I, Satan see as lightning fall from heaven. 
 Behold, I give you power to scorpions tread. 
 And over all the enemy's power and naught 
 Shall do thee hurt: but withal this rejoice 
 Not o'er the spirits subject unto you. 
 But rather more rejoice, to have your names 
 In heaven writ." To lawyer's tempting word, — 
 "Master, what shall I do eternal life 
 
The Dual Life 83 
 
 To gain?" He saith, — "What's written in the 
 
 law? 
 How readest thou ? Do this and thou shalt Hve : 
 As the Samaritan who neighbor found 
 By way, tho' priest and Levite passed him by 
 When wounded, beaten, left for dead." As 
 
 Christ 
 To holy city fares. He rests by way 
 In house of His reviving cheer that holds 
 The three so loved by His affectionate heart. 
 Martha for His refreshment would prepare 
 The meal in haste, so Mary seeks to find 
 Her listing to His gracious word. "Lord, bid 
 Her help, she lets me serve alone." But 
 
 He,— 
 "Martha, these little things vex you too much. 
 But needful is the one that cannot be 
 Taken away, which Mary hath chosen." 
 To His disciples by the way He taught 
 In parables the truth. The rest of faith, 
 By patient importuning prayer. By prayer 
 Of faith, the Father's gift. By the rich fool, 
 The folly of amassing wealth. By His 
 Provision for the raven's food the dress 
 Of lily, lesson of the Father's care. 
 By fate of fruitless fig, the urgent need 
 Of all to full repent. In house of prayer, 
 The passing of the days new finds the Christ, 
 Breaking the bread of life to people all. 
 Behold ! a woman bent, o'erbowed to half 
 
§4 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Her height for nigh a score, hath slowly 
 
 crawled 
 To outer door for crumb of prayer and praise; 
 To joyous hear from His commiserate heart, — 
 "Woman, thou'rt loosed from thine infirmity !" 
 Lo ! new erect she glorifies her Lord. 
 Tho' ruler doth accuse Him for this work. 
 The people more rejoice o'er such great power. 
 "What will ye like God's kingdom to? To 
 
 what 
 Shall I compare but to the mustard seed 
 In garden sown that grew to lodge the birds: 
 To leaven hid in measures three of meal 
 That leavened all." From Temple Christ repairs 
 To dine with chief of Pharisees to come 
 In social contact with the high and low. 
 Behold, He finds e'en here His work in one 
 With dropsy sore afflict, to life new give : 
 Tho' they would Him condemn for mercy's 
 
 act. 
 To guests who sought preeminence of seat, 
 In parable of wedding- feast He doth 
 Humility's sweet lesson newly give. 
 The consequence of heeding not His call. 
 In supper great. The joy of heaven o'er lost 
 Returned, in joy o'er silver piece regained. 
 In father's bliss o'er son's repentant turn. 
 The heavenly Father's joy o'er wanderer 
 Reclaimed. In unjust steward's tale, 
 Impossibility of serving two. 
 
The Dual Life 85 
 
 In tale of Dives, Lazarus, but here 
 Repentance' place. So taught He them His 
 truth. 
 
 Make way ! make way ! ye one and all make way ! 
 Hear, hear ye not, the haunting, broken cry. 
 The saddest ever heard from mortal's lips, — 
 "Unclean! unclean!" and widely parts the 
 
 crowd. 
 To see the shrunken frame, disfigured face, 
 Enveloped in the tallith o'er and o'er. 
 Lo ! One perceives without the fear of touch. 
 Too pure to be contaminate by aught. 
 He sees to pity, to redeem to save : 
 And bids them go to priest to keep the law. 
 Lo! one returns to glorify the Lord. 
 "Were ten not wholly cleansed? Where are 
 
 the nine?" 
 Alas! but voiceless echo answers where? 
 The morrow finds Him teaching as of yore 
 Within the holy city's gates to all 
 Of hearing ears the blessing but obtained 
 In persevering prayer. In high exalt. 
 The beauty of humility. Behold, 
 One running hastes ere He be gone to ask, — 
 "Master, what shall I do eternal life 
 To win? From youth I've kept all Thy 
 
 commands." 
 With look of love Christ saith : "Yet lackest thou 
 One thing ; give all thou hast to poor ; take up 
 
86 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Thy cross and follow me so thou in heaven 
 Shalt treasure have." Alas ! he Master . grieved 
 In going 'way. Which Peter seeing saith : 
 "Lo! we to follow Thee have left our all." 
 Then by the laborers in the field He taught 
 That all engaging in His work for short 
 Or longer time should equal wage receive. 
 The gift's increase the measure of reward, 
 By parable of pounds. So shut the day 
 In lucent words man's wisdom never spake. 
 
 treasury of the most enlightened thought! 
 That threads the maze of dark and devious ways, 
 To open vistas to the wildering sight, 
 
 A star of hope in sin's all starless night 
 Art Thou, tO' one with ears to hear Thy voice : 
 With faith insistent oft to cry aloud, — 
 "Thou Jesus, son of David, mercy have 
 On me !" and Bartimeus to his Lord 
 Forth led receives for faith the boon of sight : 
 To follow Him throughout a grateful life. 
 "Zaccheus, make haste Zaccheus, to descend, 
 
 1 must to-day abide with thee:" saith Christ 
 To longing look expectant gaze. And hastes 
 Zaccheus joyously to say, — "Lord, half 
 
 My goods I give to poor ; if aught I take 
 Restore fourfold." "Salvation to thy house 
 Is come:" saith Christ, — "to bless thee all the 
 
 way." 
 To those now giving greet and reverent love 
 Within the Bethany home, tho' they prepare 
 
The Dual Life 87 
 
 A feast in honor His, He greater by 
 
 His presence gives in blessing prayer and wise 
 
 Discourse. As they from dining rise in love 
 
 O'erflowing from a grateful heart Mary 
 
 A pound of precious ointment breaks to full 
 
 Anoint His feet, and wipe with flowing tress. 
 
 Lo ! all the house is with the perfume filled, 
 
 And all the years with redolence of love ! 
 
 List! list! attentive air all tremulous 
 
 In tone is vibrant with the melody 
 
 Of lilt; the ministering breeze swift wafts the 
 
 wave, 
 To break in tidal power o'er heart and ear ; 
 To echo through the grave of all the years : 
 "Hosanna! hosanna! all praise to Christ 
 The king!" Lo! cometh He in royal state 
 On love's highway with victory newly strewn ! 
 At last, at last He cometh to His own ! 
 "Hosanna! hosanna!" the children how 
 They sing! "Hosanna! hosanna!" the naves 
 And arches ring. Alas ! with prescience clear 
 He weeps! He weeps with grief's o'ermastering 
 
 cry: 
 "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! how oft 
 Would I have gathered thee, e'en as the hen 
 Doth gather under wing her brood but ye 
 Would not." As they for gain, the house of 
 
 prayer, 
 The Father's house do make the den of thieves, 
 
88 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 They new incur His anger in reproach; 
 In casting all the buyers sellers forth. 
 With His disciples at the close of day, 
 Retires to Bethany, the home beloved 
 Of the immortal three, the restful night 
 To spend. In freshness of the morn to teach 
 By withered fig the need of faith in prayer: 
 Of love forgiving too. So softly drops 
 He word and precept by the way to sow 
 The fallow heart of unbelief for life. 
 Reentering through the city's gate forthwith 
 To Temple fares to answer cavilers there, 
 Who question His authority for work 
 That pleases not, that sets ill practice by: 
 To answer by the question's turn. By tale 
 Of father and two sons to illustrate 
 Those doing but God's will shall kingdom see 
 The first. By wicked husbandmen the truth 
 That all rejection of the Son with death 
 Eternal shall be visited. By feast 
 Of king, that all who enter unprepared, 
 Shall be eject with endless punishment. 
 By Caesar's coin for all authority 
 Respect. By answer to the lawyer's quiz, 
 He taught the law's epitome in two 
 Commandments. As He by treasury sat 
 Beholding each one's grace of gift beheld 
 For all the years the widow's gift of all : 
 The measure in excess of sacrifice. 
 Then to attention called of people all. 
 
The Dual Life 89 
 
 The well known works of scribes and Pharisees 
 
 To reprobate: to woe pronounce upon 
 
 Their heads. As Christ anew for Olivet 
 
 The Temple leaves, they speak disciples His, 
 
 Of its magnificence and size of stones ; 
 
 To hear but sad prediction of its fall; 
 
 Conditions to precede the city's close: 
 
 The tribulation, woe of people all. 
 
 And when they would foreknow the day and 
 
 hour, 
 But answer makes, — "My Father only knows. 
 Be ready ye for in the hour ye think 
 Not of the Son of man cometh. Who then 
 Is faithful found to me shall blessed be : 
 Thus shall my kingdom like ten virgins be. 
 Who took their lamps to bridegroom meet; 
 
 while five 
 Took oil to waste replace, the foolish five 
 Took none so could not enter in too late. 
 Watch therefore ye as knowing not the day 
 Nor hour wherein the Son of man shall come. 
 My kingdom too is like the man traveling 
 To country far, who to his servants gave 
 His goods; to one the talents five; the two 
 To another ; to other one ; to straight 
 His journey take: with lapse of years returns 
 To call them to account. He finds the one 
 With talent least the unimproved ; so gives 
 To one with capability of use. 
 For unto you that hath shall given be, 
 
90 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 But he that hath not, shall be taken away 
 
 E'en that he hath. When comes the Son of man 
 
 In His glory with angels holy then 
 
 Shall He sit on the throne of His glory, 
 
 To separate the nations gathered there. 
 
 As shepherd doth divide the sheep from goats. 
 
 Putting the sheep to right, the goats to left, 
 
 So shall the King then say to those on right,— 
 
 'Come ye, come ye my Father's blessed possess 
 
 The kingdom long prepared for you; for I 
 
 Was hungered and ye gave me meat ; thirsty, 
 
 And ye gave me drink ; stranger I ye took 
 
 Me in : naked ye clothed me. I was 
 
 In prison and ye came to me. Although 
 
 Ye saw me not, in doing to the least 
 
 Of these ye did it unto me.' To those 
 
 On left shall say, — 'Depart from me ye cursed, 
 
 To endless fire for devil and his host 
 
 Prepared, for ye in doing not the good 
 
 Ye should have done^ have done it not to me.' " 
 
 The clouds long gathering, spread in darkness 
 
 o'er 
 His head as nearer loomed the suffering hour. 
 The fury of His foes would be no more 
 Restrained. The time full waited for drew nigh. 
 Alas ! alas ! it cometli through His own. 
 Thro' one acquaint with all His ways of life, 
 His acts beneficent to suffering man. 
 His love forgiving toward His bitterest foes. 
 
The Dual Life 91 
 
 But haply Christ hath crushed the traitor's hope. 
 In not estabhshing His kingdom here; 
 And fain the declaration of His power 
 Would force by such an overt act : be as 
 It may, to detestation of a world 
 'Twas done. The scribes and Pharisees 
 Accept the wage of blood and bide their time. 
 To His disciples Christ now saith: "Prepare 
 The passover for me in upper room, 
 Which ye will ready find by following one 
 With pitcher in his hand." At evenfall 
 They gather in the room e'er sacred more, 
 To keep with Christ the hallowed feast of 
 
 love. 
 The most beloved sits nearest to His heart. 
 And Peter nearest side with others ranged 
 Around. "With great desire have I desired 
 To eat before my suffering hour this feast 
 With you, as I no more will eat it here:" 
 Saith Christ. Then taking cup gave thanks and 
 
 passed 
 It with, — "This cup is the new testament 
 Of my blood which is shed for you." Likewise 
 He took the bread saying, — "This is my body 
 
 which 
 Is given for you: this do in remembrance 
 Of me. Behold the traitor's hand is here !" 
 "Lord, is it I?" "Is it I, Lord?" each asks. 
 " 'Tis he to whom I give the sop." In grief, 
 Amaze they turn to Judas see to hear 
 
92 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Him thus addressed: "Do quickly what thou 
 
 hast 
 To do." To Peter, — "Satan hath desired 
 Thee too, but I have prayed thy faith fail not : 
 And when convert thy brethren strengthen too." 
 "Dear Lord, I'm ready now for prison death 
 With Thee." But Christ replies,— "Before the 
 
 cock 
 Shall crow this day thou shalt deny me thrice." 
 Then rising up begirts Himself with towel. 
 And washes wipes the feet of each. "For us, 
 Dear Lord, dost stoop so low, such menial act 
 Perform for us the creatures of Thy hand ! 
 Not, not our feet, dear Lord, but head and 
 
 hands. 
 If so Thou seest best, tho' we know not 
 Such reach of love:" so Peter's bursting heart. 
 "Know ye what I have done? If I your Lord, 
 So do ye should the same to each one do, 
 As servant is no greater than his Lord, 
 Happy are ye to do these things. If ye 
 Shall each one love as I love you then shall 
 Men know ye my disciples are. Grieve not 
 Nor troubled be; believe in God, believe 
 Also in me. I go to first prepare 
 A place for you : to come to you anew. 
 I go the Comforter to send that He 
 May guide you into truth, may teach and bring 
 All things to mind what I have said to you. 
 My peace I leave with you, my peace I give 
 
The Dual Life 93 
 
 To you. Let not your heart be troubled so. 
 
 Nor let it be afraid. Tho' ye should have 
 
 In world but tribulation woe be of 
 
 Good cheer; I have the world o'ercome." With 
 
 mien 
 Of sorrow, downcast look, they slowly leave 
 The hallowed room for Olivet. The night 
 In sympathetic hue o'erveils with cloud, 
 To screen them as they pass the city's gates. 
 The sad recurrent thought returns to press 
 With untold weight : "His word is come to pass. 
 He told us oft but we would hear it not. 
 Alas ! alas ! He goeth out from us !" 
 What place more hallowed than the quiet mount, 
 For this the service first of prayer and praise! 
 How near to heaven they as kneeling there. 
 They list in awe to Christ's prevailing prayer: 
 "Father, the hour is come to glorify 
 Thy son, that he may also glorify 
 Thee. I have glorified Thee on the earth. 
 I have finished the work Thou gavest me 
 To do. O Father, glorify Thou me 
 With Thine own self with all our first glory. 
 I've shown Thy name to all Thou gavest me. 
 I've given them Thy word which they have kept. 
 I pray for them as they are Thine and Thine 
 Are mine and I am glorified in them. 
 O holy Father, keep as I have kept, 
 That they may be as we are one : that they 
 May know our joy. I pray not to take them 
 
94 - The Heavenly Voice 
 
 From the world but only from the evil 
 
 Keep. Sanctify them through Thy word of 
 
 truth : 
 For I send them into the world as Thou 
 Hast sent me. Nor pray I for these alone, 
 But for all who shall believe me thro' their 
 Word: that in our glory one may be. 
 Father, I will they should my glory see, 
 Which Thou hast given me for Thy great love. 
 Righteous Father, the world hath not known 
 
 Thee: 
 But I have known and these that Thou hast sent 
 Me forth. I have declared Thy name and will 
 Declare that all Thy love to me may be 
 In them and I in them." They rising sing : 
 
 "Eternal God, we Thee adore: 
 
 The glory of Thine august name, 
 Thro' endless ages e'er the same. 
 Shall be proclaimed from shore to shore. 
 
 "Our Father, God, we Thee extol: 
 The measure of the mighty love. 
 That brought Thee to us from above, 
 Shall to Thy feet draw sinners all." 
 
 The Mission 
 V 
 How drear the night with not a star in sight! 
 How felt the darkness with its palling weight! 
 
The Dual Life 95 
 
 How heavily the answering spirit weighs! 
 
 The shadows lengthen to sepulchral shades. 
 
 Eerie the air with blackness so profound. 
 
 Pregnant with sympathy the dolorous night: 
 
 Veiled in sorrow all his luminosity. 
 
 Mater dolorosa thou, O holy mount! 
 
 Sacred fore'er to every human plaint. 
 
 Thy drooping shade expresses all thou wouldst 
 
 If couldst conceal as thou beholdest Him, 
 
 O'erweight with sorrow's penalty for sin ; 
 
 With grief too great for but the three to see ; 
 
 The three most near to the all-loving heart, 
 
 That so exud'st with woe for all the sin : 
 
 The sin that crushes in its fold the life. 
 
 O list! He prays the prayer acceptable 
 
 To God : "Father, if it be possible. 
 
 Let this cup pass from me: nevertheless 
 
 Not as I will but as Thou wilt." He thrice 
 
 Returns for sympathy to find it not. 
 
 The three, alas ! know not the depth of grief 
 
 That issues but in blood : that angels but 
 
 May minister to. Rouse ye, ye sorrow-slept! 
 
 Watch ye henceforth as knowing not your hour. 
 
 Behold, he is at hand that doth betray! 
 
 List ! list ! the murmurous voices nearer move ! 
 
 Lo! now surrounding the vociferous mob! 
 
 "Hail, Master !" cries the traitor with a kiss. 
 
 "What ! come ye out as for a thief with swords 
 
 And staves ! I was daily in the Temple 
 
 Yet ye took me not: but this your hour, 
 
96 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 The powers of darkness' hour." Lo ! all as dead 
 Fall back, o'erawed by majesty of mien. 
 But as they seize to lead Him forth one draws 
 The sword and lops a servant's ear. With touch 
 To heal Christ saith: "Put sword in sheath; 
 
 shall I 
 Not drink the cup my Father gives? No power 
 Have they o'er me unless my Father wills." 
 So by His will is brought to priestly house. 
 
 The three nor keeping watch nor ward nor kept 
 
 His pace in trial hour, but frighted fled 
 
 To follow Him afar. What! Peter, he 
 
 Of loudly loyal word, deserter too! 
 
 Yea, verily, as list his speech: "I swear 
 
 I know Him not." So thrice denied with oath, 
 
 To sad recall by Jesus' look His word. 
 
 Deserted by His own is roughly dealt 
 
 With by the mob, who deem no insult as 
 
 Too mean, no foul reproach too vile. 
 
 No gross indignity too great for Him, 
 
 The sovereign of the worlds : but this the time 
 
 And hour for play of all the evil powers. 
 
 As they. in person of the priests and scribes. 
 
 In council all so question to condemn. 
 
 Tho' Christ the truth affirms, to but His ill 
 
 They wrest to straight accuse to Pilate's face : 
 
 "We found this fellow perverting our race; 
 
 Forbidding to give tribute to Csesar, 
 
 Saying sole, — 'He was Christ the king.' " 
 
The Dual Life 97 
 
 Tho' Pilate questions 'long this line can find 
 
 No fault in faultless of prisoners all. 
 
 But to conciliate the Jews athirst 
 
 For blood, to Herod sends desirous long 
 
 To see the One with supernatural powers. 
 
 As Christ would not to Herod please misuse 
 
 His power, is mocked of him and set at naught 
 
 Of soldiers all and sent in gorgeous robe 
 
 To Pilate back, who calls the rulers all 
 
 To thus address : "Ye brought this man to me 
 
 As one perverting the people but I 
 
 Having examined Him have found no fault 
 
 Touching those things whereof ye Him accuse; 
 
 Nor Herod e'en ; lo, naught of death is done 
 
 By Him: I will chastise and Him release." 
 
 But scribes and Pharisees have nursed their 
 
 hate 
 Too long; in fury unrestrained it now 
 Breaks forth in loud vociferous cries: "Away 
 With Him! away with Him! crucify Him! 
 Release Barabbas not this man to us." 
 Tho' Pilate would of choice as having found 
 Him free of fault, yea more his wife to please. 
 Prevail for His release, yet durst not thwart 
 The wish of mob to work his own o'erthrow : 
 So 'gainst his will delivered Christ to their 
 111 will. Know ye, ye purblind folk, all ye 
 Have done in calling down His blood on you ? 
 The vengeance of almighty God. What ! shrink 
 Ye not from such a curse! Ye shall repay 
 
98 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 With fearful cost to you and yours in blood 
 As free as water poured ; in city left 
 A heap: to nigh extinction of your race. 
 
 Behold Him ye who now pass by ! Behold 
 With sorrow in your hearts the saddest sight 
 Earth yet hath seen: her Maker in the dust! 
 The frail and tortured frame afaint beneath 
 The cross ! So rudely handled by the mob, 
 So jeered, so spit upon, bemocked with crown 
 Of thorns. "Weep not for me, — " He saith: 
 
 "but weep 
 Ye daughters all for you and yours in days 
 To come." A spectacle for ages all : 
 The soldiers with the malefactors two. 
 The suffering Christ supported on each side, 
 The scribes and Pharisees, disciples all, 
 The people, women children not a few, 
 Simon with cross slow moving to the place 
 Beyond the city's wall, to Calvary. 
 
 Veil, veil your faces from the fearsome sight ! 
 Look not upon the bruised and suffering form 
 Outstretched upon the cross, unless ye see 
 The manifest of love for all mankind : 
 The crown of love uplifted in your midst. 
 Alas ! the sorrowing ones about the cross, 
 Behold but utter downfall of their hopes : 
 The light of day gone down in darkest night. 
 Was Christ the Son of God to perish so? 
 
The Dual Life 99 
 
 Ah me ! the mother-heart beholds in grief 
 
 Too bitter to control : in agony 
 
 She sobs. Which Jesus seeing saith to John, — 
 
 "Behold thy mother now !" to her, — "Behold 
 
 Thy son !" Nor may the heavens behold, 
 
 As they enshroud in sable pall the three 
 
 Long hours of more than mortal woe. The mob 
 
 Behold to jeer, to mock, to rail at what 
 
 They wot not of ; the rulers to deride 
 
 His helplessness: the soldiers too to gibe. 
 
 "Father, forgive they know not what they do :" 
 
 The loving sufferer breathes. The penitent thief 
 
 Beholds to cry, — "O Lord, remember me, 
 
 When Thou dost to Thy kingdom come:" to 
 
 hear, — 
 "To-day, with me in Paradise shalt be." 
 Veiled too the Father's face from His loved 
 
 son, 
 As He may not behold on Him the weight 
 Of sin now crushing in its fold the heart: 
 The heart so breaking for a sinning world. 
 "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken 
 
 me?" 
 This, this the blow to break the loving heart ! 
 " 'Tis finished : Father, into Thy hands I 
 Commend my spirit." Lo! rends the veil 
 Apart! The fissures wide, the rending rocks, 
 The open graves behold to thus protest: 
 While the centurion so beholding cries, — 
 "So truly was this man the Son of God." 
 
 iLofC. 
 
100 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 The Mission 
 
 VI 
 
 Awake, O earth, to jubilate of joy! 
 
 To all thy morning lilt of melody. 
 
 Attune all hearts to symphony of song, 
 
 For sorrow fleeth on the wings of night. 
 
 Lo! risen is He to day's effulgent light! 
 
 In all the glory of the triune God, 
 
 That mortals ne'er behold to live as all 
 
 The keepers but as dead men are. The seal 
 
 Is burst : the open tomb hath angel guard. 
 
 Risen to paralyze the enemy's power ; 
 
 Risen to raise the dead to life e'ermore; 
 
 Risen to shatter every shackle off; 
 
 Risen to resurrect the heart to joy; 
 
 Risen to confirm the faith of countless hosts : 
 
 Yea, risen as the angel truly saith, — 
 
 "Fear not, ye women true. He's risen as He 
 
 Told you. Before you into Galilee 
 
 He fares: go quickly His disciples tell." 
 
 Risen to Mary listing to His speech : 
 
 "Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest 
 
 thou? 
 Go to my brethren, say I will ascend 
 Unto my Father and your Father to 
 My God and yours." Risen to the two as they 
 Converse of all the happenings of the days ; 
 The sorrowed days that shut in darkest night: 
 Risen a-breaking bread with them anew. 
 
The Dual Life ioi 
 
 Risen to th' eleven in, — "Peace be unto you;" 
 In manifest of real flesh and blood; 
 In new partaking of the eve's repast : 
 In opening up the Scriptures new to see 
 His life therein foretold, its sufferings death, 
 And resurrection from. In bidding them 
 Go forth as witnesses to risen power: 
 To tarry for its full enduement first. 
 Then breathing on them saith : "Receive ye all 
 The Holy Ghost; whose sins ye do remit, 
 Remitted are : whose sins ye do retain 
 Retained are." Risen too to Thomas' doubt. 
 Who to believe would feel the nails' imprint : 
 But solely seeing, — "My Lord and my God." 
 Risen newly to His own upon the shore 
 Immortalized by all His acts and words. 
 In sweet familiar converse as of yore: 
 To minister to their temporal needs anew. 
 Reiterant confession of his love 
 To win from Peter new. To many risen 
 On mount of Galilee, to bid them go 
 All nations to disciple, teach what He 
 Had taught baptizing in the triune name: 
 As He with them would be alway to end. 
 Risen to impress His mission more upon 
 The hearts of His disciples all. Risen to 
 Ascend to interceding power with God: 
 As with the passing days in sweet converse, 
 Is come the passing hour, when faring as 
 Of yore to Bethany, He new commands 
 
102 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Them tarry in Jerusalem for power: 
 
 To go as witnesses of His to all 
 
 The world. Lo ! as they list to catch each word, 
 
 Each tone, inflection of His voice with love 
 
 His personnel to see, they in amaze 
 
 Behold His feet uplift. His hands upraise 
 
 In blessing as He wings His aerial way 
 
 Beyond their straining ken to His abode. 
 
 The Mission 
 VH 
 
 "Hallelujah to our God! 
 His all the glory, praise, 
 That we hallelujahs raise. 
 To the Christ we love to laud. 
 
 "Worthy adoration all. 
 
 Whoso saves a sinning race 
 By the purchase of His grace : 
 Lowly at His feet we fall :" 
 
 So rang high heaven with loud acclaim as He 
 
 In convoy of the archangelic host. 
 
 Preceded to the great white throne. Crown 
 
 Him, 
 Crown Him with all the diadem of love ! 
 Crown Him the conquerer over sin and death! 
 Crown Him the victor o'er man's mightiest foe ! 
 Crown Him the only sufferer for a world! 
 
The Dual Life 103 
 
 Crown him, yea crown Him all with love ! 
 
 So crowned He now returneth to His own ; 
 
 To all the glory of the triune God ; 
 
 To fellowship man's sin did interrupt: 
 
 "My well loved Son, who always pleaseth me, 
 
 Most worthy Thou of exaltation praise. 
 
 Yea, exalted Thou o'er principalities 
 
 And powers, o'er all that's named or can be 
 
 named : 
 For the sufferings which hath crowned Thee 
 
 with 
 Our love. Complete Thy finished work for man. 
 Thy blood the full atonement for his guilt. 
 Thy purchase hath but intercessory power. 
 Thy love exalts Thee high, high over all." 
 Anew the heavenly arches ring with praise 
 From cherub, seraph, archangelic host: 
 "Crown Him the Saviour of the souls of men ! 
 Crown Him ye saved, with your devotion all ! 
 Crown Him with trophies of your victories all ! 
 Crown Him with all your capability 
 Of love ! Crown Him, ye ages all, with your 
 Accumulating praise for He alone 
 Is worthy! Crown Him, crown Him Lord of 
 
 all!" 
 
104 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 PORTRAITURES 
 
 I 
 
 In heart, in mind of Being infinite, 
 
 A purpose vast in reach of Hmitless power, 
 
 To bear to endless cycles fruit was first 
 
 Conceived. From out the darkness shadowy 
 
 Of cloud enfolding cloud shone forth the light. 
 
 Giving life from the Presence refulgent : 
 
 Dividing the daylight from darkness dense. 
 
 In midst of wild wastes of water was stretched 
 
 The heavenly firmament, parting them wide 
 
 Asunder. Myriads of stellar worlds 
 
 In ellipses concentric coursing round 
 
 Effulgent orbs of splendor were marshaled 
 
 Into exquisite order of being. 
 
 Earth with her twin illuminants as night 
 
 And day attendants, marking days and years. 
 
 With ever recurring seasons formed part 
 
 Of system wondrous. Earth with fauna 
 
 And flora in multiform variant 
 
 Phases, in hue and coloring matchless. 
 
 Life minute invisible to life visible, 
 
 A symphonic scale of being: attuned 
 
 To melodious praise by harmonic 
 
 Touch of the Master. From winged fowl 
 
 Of air to finny denizen of deep. 
 
 Each fitting and filling the place designed 
 
Portraitures 105 
 
 By their Maker. Stamped with God-like image, 
 Endowed with life immortal creation's 
 Crowning act was man ; a living sentient 
 -Exponent of the Power divine who breathed 
 Commanding thought in word, and lo! 'Twas 
 
 done: 
 The marvels of creation wrought that all 
 Might glorify the Word unveiled to man. 
 
 II 
 
 The trackless desert wild, divest of all 
 The hues so pleasing to the jaded sight. 
 Unbuilt, undwelt by aught of human kind. 
 But home of savage beast, of reptile huge. 
 Hath still the cooling fount to lave the thirst 
 Of bird, beast, bug, or little' hopping toad : 
 So life hath lease and hope a fresher wing, 
 From this e'er living, never failing spring. 
 In the wild wilderness desert of Shur. 
 The heat of day is rising to the full ; 
 Anon it waxes, wanes apace ere ebbs 
 To cool of day : slowly, wearily o'er 
 Long stretches from remote Palestina, 
 Lonely sole forlorn, in collapse mental, 
 Spiritual, corporeal, cometh one 
 Thrust out from heart from home from all that 
 
 life 
 Holds dear ; stranger in name, in heart in life 
 To love: a pitiable outcast she. 
 
io6 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 While sitting near the fountain's flow in thought 
 Depressed, behold ! a heavenly visitant 
 Draws nigh to lift the spirit's pall to raise 
 The drooping heart with words of courage 
 
 cheer : 
 "Why so far from thy mistress Sarah? 
 Return and all shall still go well with thee: 
 Thy seed a fruitful bearing vine shall be. 
 Thou shalt have son and name him Ishmael, 
 God hears. He will be wild, at point of sword 
 With kith and kin tho' dwelling with them all." 
 Refreshed, revived, encouraged for the right, 
 She straight returns to keep in memory's hold, 
 This well of life, of joy, of cheer, to shine 
 As sparkling stones in setting of the heart. 
 
 Time held in joyous leash fled fleet and fast. 
 Life's cup love-brimmed o'erflowed with heaven's 
 
 gift. 
 But finest gold is strengthened by alloy. 
 Earth-ties unloose with only trouble's touch, 
 To free the soul for upward heavenward flight : 
 So new cast out from heart, from home from 
 
 hearth. 
 She fares not forth alone as heretofore. 
 But 'companied with the promised child departs. 
 Equipped with only water-flask and bread. 
 Each day returning finds their store but less. 
 Each night new weariness, increases adds. 
 Till they alas ! miss way to wander far 
 
Portraitures 107 
 
 Afield; nor water may they find to quench 
 The burning thirst : with all of hope removed, 
 Afaint from hunger, with a sinking heart, 
 They lay them down to slowly wait release. 
 But One with heart of pity sees and calls : 
 "What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not, God hath 
 Heard the lad's voice. Arise, and Hft him up. 
 I'll make of him a nation great." Her eyes 
 God-oped, behold the well so vainly sought: 
 New life is quaffed with each reviving draught. 
 She sees the Christ in Angel of the fount: 
 The living well of everlasting life. 
 
 HI 
 
 In snowy Galaad's mount ariseth, 
 
 A little rivulet, bright sparkling as 
 
 The sun : e'er deepening as it broadens out, 
 
 A swelling tuneful brook. O how it skips, 
 
 And trips along to dash its silver spray ! 
 
 Trilhng musically, as merry trilling. 
 
 Along its sinuous, tortuous way, 
 
 Until it breathless rests on Jordan's breast. 
 
 The oleander gay profusely blooms, 
 
 To flower its sedgy margins all with pearl 
 
 And roseate tints, while the reed forms emerald 
 
 Setting to water's rythmic flow. Anear 
 
 This brook of fragrant memory came at close 
 
 Of weary day a penitent who felt 
 
 Sore need to pray. In peril great of soul 
 
io8 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 And body for the deeds of former day. 
 All life's sins rose up before him as 'fore 
 The drowning's gaze : o'erreaching and deceit, 
 Grim specters of the soul. See! he wrestles 
 Fierce and long till the breaking of the dawn, 
 With man of angel face and form arrayed 
 In dazzling raiment white. List ! the angel's 
 Saying, — "Let me go for day is breaking." 
 In his felt need of pardoned peace Jacob 
 Cries out, — 'T must have Thy blessing ere I 
 Let Thee go." The blessing tarried for 
 His sense of need as straight he hears, — "Thou 
 
 shalt 
 No more be called Jacob, but Israel, 
 For as prince hast thou power with God and 
 
 man. 
 And hast prevailed." And lest he joy in strength 
 His own, the hollow of his thigh is touched, 
 And halting gait is thorn in flesh. He came 
 To Jabbok's brook repentant sorrowful; 
 He went his way rejoicing: having seen 
 The Christ of blessing face to face. 
 
 IV 
 
 Encircled with the spreading oak which long 
 Defies the chilling blast, the hoar and rime 
 Of winter's frost, with fresh virginity 
 To bloom ; tho' hoary with antiquity. 
 And time's benignity, a derelict 
 
Portraitures 109 
 
 Of history, is temple for God's praise; 
 Whose quiet strength invites repose of soul, 
 And true communion sweet: thus Mamre's vale 
 Hath leafy setting for an emerald crown. 
 In shadow's shade of nature's noblest tree. 
 At door of tent 'twixt dewy morn and cool 
 Of eve, sits one in pensive mood in thought 
 Disturbed o'er man's ill deeds to man: which 
 
 turn 
 His paradise of peace to hell's unrest. 
 While rapt in troublous thought, a stranger- 
 guest 
 To sight appears to claim his kindly care : 
 He lowly bows and hastes to show the grace 
 Of hospitality tho' unaware 
 He entertains thereby angelic guest. 
 He fetches water for his feet and kills 
 For his regalement fatted calf: he bids 
 His wife prepare the accompanying cake. 
 While breaking bread together his vision 
 Clarifies to see the Christ in stranger-guest: 
 Who visits those with welcome in the heart. 
 Who keeps not from His faithful one but kind 
 Reveals the place and purport of His call. 
 The grievous cry of cities twin was heard 
 By Him on high : He came to see if ills 
 So great were working total wreck. Awhile 
 He looked, then marveled much such outside 
 
 fair 
 Should cover inside foul. Abram drew near 
 
no The Heavenly Voice 
 
 In supplicating prayer to pardon plead; 
 Using the God-lent privilege blessing 
 Recipient and suppliant both : "Dear Lord, 
 If fifty righteous souls be found wilt Thou 
 Not save the town ? It ill becomes but dust 
 And ashes vile to importune Thee more: 
 But Lord, if forty, thirty, ten be found, 
 I will not strain Thy mercy more." The Christ 
 Of mercy suffering long gave glad assent, 
 And went His way communion o'er. 
 
 V 
 
 The waves relentless beat a slow retreat, 
 
 In solemn diapason unearthly sweet, 
 
 From emerald plain harmonious in shape: 
 
 Whereon uprising to majestic height. 
 
 An altar-dome for nature's vale of rest. 
 
 O cloud-wreathed mount with glory all illumed, 
 
 So highly favored by thy sovereign Lord, 
 
 As height historic for the law divine, 
 
 Twin tablets writ with finger-pen of God, 
 
 A benison to ages still unborn: 
 
 Resonant with the voice of many waters, 
 
 Quaking with thunder and flashing with fire, 
 
 All hail, thou mount of God, most holy Sinai ! 
 
 As day's heat wanes and lengthening shadows 
 
 fall, 
 Ere ebon night unfolds his sable pall, 
 A shepherd seeking out his straying sheep. 
 
Portraitures hi 
 
 Moves nigh the mount, to straight behold a 
 
 strange 
 A starthng sight : a burning burnless bush. 
 He nearer draws to view the striking show, 
 When lo! a voice melodious sweet-keyed 
 To heavenly harmony, arrests his steps ; 
 Without similitude or shape "formless 
 Fire" divinity's symbol, breathes forth his name: 
 "Moses, Moses, draw not nigher the bush; 
 Put off thy shoes from off thy feet : holy 
 The ground thou standest on. I am the God 
 Of thy fathers Abram, Isaac, Jacob; 
 The holy sinless spotless One : who can 
 Not look upon iniquity or sin 
 In any form or shape, tho' sin-bearer 
 For a sinning world. I Am that I Am Alpha, 
 And Omega, the beginning and end." 
 
 VI 
 
 From icy heart of Ararat's high mount, 
 Where ancient ark refreshing rest first found, 
 A clear cold stream meanders merrily, 
 O'er pearly pebbly bed, to loudly leap 
 With wild delight down sheer descent of rock ; 
 To seethe, to swirl, to surge with onward rush, 
 Thro' canyon wild and deep defile ; to merge 
 A gayly glittering swiftly silent stream, 
 Bearing on bosom broad, brave stately prows, 
 And gallant galleys gay. Coquetting long 
 With neighbor stream unites in union blest: 
 
112 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 O'erbrimmed with joyous buoyant life to bear 
 To hillside vale a richly fertile soil. 
 Majestic, noble, swiftly silent stream. 
 Which erst through Eden's fragrant bowers 
 
 flowed, 
 Forever green thy chaplet crown of fame. 
 Thou river of desire, Euphrates you ! 
 
 A prophet, priest some say soothsayer too. 
 The bard of Bosor town, here practiced art 
 Divine; futurity foretold by signs 
 Occult, by portents grave by augurs wise: 
 To wrest from nature hidden lore. His fame 
 Went out to all about and spread to far 
 Off climes. 
 
 The son of Zippor Moab's king, 
 Was vexed with trouble sore ; so ill content 
 With that he hath, he seeks to borrow more. 
 The Israel host so numerous grown, 
 Might overrun his land. If curses could 
 Be called on them he need not fear them more. 
 "O happy thought ! I'll send this day to bard 
 Of Bosor town to curse them up and down. 
 Rich gifts must send to bribe him to my wish. 
 All Israel shall be cursed the day or I'm 
 Not Moab's king :" so mused, so spake Zippor. 
 
 By land by sea they hied those couriers swift, 
 To do their king's behest. 'Twas dusk of eve, 
 
Portraitures 113 
 
 When Bosor town was reached and bard was 
 
 sought : 
 "Peace be to thee and thine, O man so sage ! 
 Our king gives thee good cheer and wishes thee 
 Long life. He seeks to honor thee. His foes 
 Cover the face of earth for multitude. 
 Too near abide for trust security. 
 Curse him this people, that he may smite them, 
 And drive them off his land: for wot we well, 
 Whom thou blessest is blessed, whom thou 
 
 cursest 
 Is cursed." "Lodge here this night, O noble 
 
 men! 
 I'll answer you by morning light:" so spake 
 The sage. By nightly vision came command, — 
 "Go' not with them, curse not whom I have 
 
 blessed." 
 He sent them back with wish denied tho' sore 
 Against his will so loved he wage of ill. 
 They soon return those princely men to tempt 
 Him further still: "Come thou with us we'll 
 
 meet 
 Thy utmost wish." Tho' bid again to curse 
 Them not, he saddles ass with Balak's men : 
 As lure of gain o'erbalanced love of right. 
 He went short way when ass turned into field ; 
 He smites, she crushes foot against the wall : 
 He smites again she falls down under him. 
 When smitten thrice the dumb ass spoke : "What 
 
 have 
 
114 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 I done, that thou shouldst smite me sore? 
 
 Did I 
 Ever so unto thee?" His God-oped eyes 
 Behold what ass beheld ; a man whose sword 
 Barred way; who gave dumb ass indignant 
 
 speech, 
 To combat unjust wrong; who brooks no ill 
 To man or beast so just and right is He: 
 Whose throne the justice-seat of judgment just, 
 Of law. Lo ! He speaks sternly to Balaam : 
 "Why hast thou smit thine ass three times? 
 
 Withstandst 
 Thou more than she? Thy sinful ways perverse 
 To me. Thou hadst been dead if thou wast she. 
 Go on thy way, speak but the words I say. 
 The Christ of justice curses not His blessed." 
 
 vn 
 
 The cloud-lit mount the glory of thy praise, 
 
 The chalky cliff of whiteness as the snow, 
 
 The feathery palm a shadow for the heat. 
 
 Encircle thee as all the hills around ; 
 
 While silvery fountains and the sweeter stream, 
 
 With fragrance of the flower and spicy balm. 
 
 Make thee alluvial for a city's site : 
 
 Thus locate on a pass of pluvial plain, 
 
 A key strategic to the Jordan's vale. 
 
 To Israel's sovereign right domain first fall. 
 
 Tho' cursed with death for many eons long, 
 
Portraitures 115 
 
 With castle-moat and palace-wall rebuilt, 
 To found a school for holy prophets wise. 
 Thou wert the scene immortalizing thee, 
 Of thy great one's translation by his God: 
 Whose mantle fell with spirit's double share, 
 To witness of his flaming fiery flight. 
 Hallowed by holy feet of King of kings, 
 Most beauteous thou, blest city of the palm! 
 
 It was yestereve in the long ago. 
 
 All Israel's host passed o'er the Jordan's bed. 
 
 To camp while solemnizing churchly rite : 
 
 While keeping all the sacrificial feast. 
 
 The heavenly bread the angel fare their meat 
 
 And meal -full forty years and long now fell 
 
 No more. Anew they feel the toiling curse 
 
 Of soil to yield them sustenance and food. 
 
 The Canaanitish horde meanwhile were shut 
 
 In city's wall besieged, and none went out, 
 
 And none came in. While pacing back and 
 
 forth. 
 At set of sun in thought perplexed and grave. 
 Before him Israel's leader saw straightway, 
 A man with vesture dyed in blood whose head 
 Was crowned with crowns, whose eyes were 
 
 flaming fires. 
 Whose name was writ on thigh, — "The King of 
 
 kings. 
 And Lord of lords:" whose sword was drawn 
 
 to bar 
 
Ii6 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 His way. Approaching Him, he asked, — "art 
 
 thou 
 For us or our adversaries ?" "Nay, but 
 As Captain of the Lord's host am I come, 
 To give thee victory o'er thy foes : but loose 
 Thy shoes from off thy feet, for holy is 
 This place. I have given to thee Jericho, 
 The king with mighty men of valor all. 
 Six days thy men of war shall compass once 
 The city. Seven priests bearing the seven 
 Trumpets shall go before the Ark and blow 
 Them seventh day when compassed seven times. 
 At trumpet's blast and people's shout the wall 
 Will straightway fall and lo ! the city's yours." 
 
 VHI 
 
 Thy wreath of hills bedecked with purpling 
 vines. 
 
 Thy sparkling fount with silvery sheen be- 
 gemmed. 
 
 Thy stately palms so beauteous of shade, 
 
 Thy balsam bowers so fragrant for repose. 
 
 Make thee, O city, a delightsome place ! 
 
 So found a people truly blest of God, 
 
 Who came to pitch the Temple-tent ; the blest 
 
 Abode of cherubim and seraphim: 
 
 Who o'er thee hovered w>th their shadowing 
 wings, 
 
 Thy guardian angels through the day and night. 
 
Portraitures 117 
 
 Beneath thy vine and fig tree's shadowed shade, 
 Ahijah loved to dwell. So favored thou, 
 So highly with the name high over all, 
 O city celebrant of Shiloh fame ! 
 
 O happy folk, God-guided, guarded so ! 
 The fear and dread of all thy neighboring foes. 
 The sheltering wings of peace about thee close. 
 Nor plumed e'er for any further flight, 
 Hadst thou been true to Him, who led thee forth 
 From darkest night to day's resplendent light. 
 But nay, thy heart lift up by prosperous gales. 
 Did think to steer thy bark to port alone : 
 Nor pilot need with compass of thine own. 
 Knowest not thy ship would founder when o'er 
 The breakers roll without the guiding hand 
 Of Him who knows each treacherous rock and 
 
 shoal ? 
 Unhappy Israel! to so forsake 
 Him who would have brought thee to port of 
 
 peace : 
 To change to weeping Bochim thy Shiloh ! 
 
 Call now, O Israel, on mountains' rocks. 
 
 To hide thee from His righteous anger wrath ! 
 
 He hath no longer ear to hear thy cry. 
 
 Who brooks no profanation of His court. 
 
 Nor mayst thou hope to stay His wrath when 
 
 sins, 
 Most grievous sins have brought it on thy head. 
 
ii8 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Behold ! He comes to call thee to account. 
 Arrayed in snowy garb, gold-girt; with hair 
 Wool-white, with shining face and fiery eyes 
 Aflame; whose word doth pierce and cut like 
 
 sword 
 Two-edged sharp : "Out of Egypt I brought 
 You up, to land of milk and honey blest : 
 And swore never to break my covenant 
 With you. You were to make no league with its 
 Inhabitants, but to throw their altars 
 Down. My voice you've not obeyed, why have 
 Ye done this? I'll drive them out no more. 
 They e'er shall be your thorns: their gods your 
 
 snare." 
 
 IX 
 
 No cedar house with gold and gems inwrought, 
 
 With pillared porch of lily-work design, 
 
 Nor even rustic booth rough-hewn of palms, 
 
 Nor simple tent of coarse spun cloth is raised. 
 
 As shelter for the feeble sick infirm. 
 
 But in some mountain burrow deep and dark, 
 
 The lair of lion and his progeny. 
 
 Or in dank den the haunt of robber-band. 
 
 Of hissing snake of coiling cockatrice. 
 
 Is hearth and home for Israel God-forsook ; 
 
 Forsooth, forsaken He for godless gods: 
 
 Who breaks no idol-union unbesought. 
 
 Behold the children of the east come up. 
 
 As grasshoppers for multitude to spread 
 
Portraitures 119 
 
 Locust-like o'er the fertile plain and vale! 
 To reap the harvest rich by Israel sown, 
 To gather grapes from vineyards not their own, 
 To claim the olive's oil, the vintage' wine, 
 To leave no food for either man or beast, 
 To decimate destroy their neighbor's feast. 
 Call now, O Israel, on thy godless gods ! 
 Perchance they sleeping may awake to hear 
 Thy cry o'er homeless homes, o'er wasteful 
 
 wastes. 
 But speechless silence mocks thy deep despair. 
 Hast thou so soon forgot the mighty Power, 
 Who cut thy chains to give thee freedom's 
 
 dower, 
 Who drowned thy foes and let thee go dry-shod. 
 Who nourished thee for years with angel- food ? 
 Nay! nay! thy miseries mend thy memory's 
 
 pace. 
 Thou well rememberest thy Deliverer strong. 
 He who slumbers not nor sleeps one moment. 
 Hath heard thy cry and hath His prophet sent, 
 To thee remind of broken vows and laws. 
 To win thee 'way to thine leal loyalty. 
 
 The halo-hue of day is dying down. 
 Imprinting his remains on roseal cloud, 
 O'ertinting it with beauty ineffable; 
 Reflecting faintly the supernal light, 
 Inspiring hope in toiler faint of heart. 
 Out-threshing corn by stealth, wine press anear. 
 
120 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 In Ophrah the hill-town of Manasseh: 
 Hope of deliverance from the galling yoke, 
 Now Israel hath returned to the true God. 
 While feehng so a Being bright as light, 
 Shining as sun appeared to startle sight. 
 In soft, sweet voice melodious He spake: 
 "God is with thee thou man of valorous might. 
 Go in His might ; fear not, nor be dismayed : 
 I have sent thee to rescue my people. 
 Thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man." 
 "Grant me, O Lord, Thy favoring grace I pray. 
 Show smallest sign to strengthen feeble faith. 
 I pray Thee, tarry till I present bring:" 
 So saying Gideon hasted to dress kid: 
 To bring for humble offering broth and cakes. 
 His heavenly guest bidding him put the flesh 
 And cakes on rock touched them with staff 
 
 when lo, 
 Consuming fire burnt up the offering all. 
 Awhile the angel vanished from his view. 
 Tho' sore afraid his heart exultant sings: 
 "The Lord on me hath lifted up the light 
 Of His countenance. He hath visited 
 His people with peace. I have seen Him whom 
 My soul loveth : He who is to come out 
 Of Zion, Christ the deliverer." 
 
 X 
 
 On a spur of the mountain's hoary height. 
 With vine and olive enmantling the rock, 
 
Portraitures 121 
 
 Whose echoes awake in the gorges lone, 
 The stony heart in its cavernous breast: 
 Overlooking the fair Ajalon vale, 
 Where night's soft light erst tarried once to 
 
 smile. 
 When Ark of God came home to rest awhile. 
 Nestles the Danite town of Zorah small. 
 Two loving hearts in mystic union blent, 
 O happy hearts, to throb as only one! 
 Unhappy though o'er God's good gift withheld. 
 He wise and good the peer of fellow men, 
 She fair the purest pearl of womanhood. 
 Came oft to Temple-tent in flowery vale. 
 To offer up their pious prayer to Him, 
 Who answers every cry of heartfelt need. 
 While praying for the hope of Jewish hearts. 
 Her eyes beheld a form so finely fair, 
 So dazzling bright with majesty of mien, 
 As put to fright her timid suppliant soul ; 
 To whom in sweetest voice, He softly spake: 
 "Fear not, thy prayer is heard, will answered be. 
 Thou barren soon shalt bear, embrace a son. 
 But, O beware, I pray thee, drink no wine. 
 Nor strong drink take and eat no unclean thing. 
 Let come no razor near his head ; for he 
 Shall holy be separate unto God: 
 A Nazarite set from the womb apart." 
 
 As couched the radiant orb of day to rest, 
 Emitting fiery rays of hope from cloud 
 
122 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Aflame, to all discouraged fainting souls, 
 Her flying feet with winged hope inspired, 
 Hasted to bring the news of cheer to kin 
 Of heart. To whom she spake : "While praying 
 
 for 
 Our dearest wish and hope, mine eyes beheld 
 A man of God unto His angel like; 
 With countenance too terrible to see: 
 He saith to me, — 'Behold ! thou shalt have son ; 
 But drink no wine nor strong drink and eat no 
 Unclean thing: he shall be a Nazarite 
 To God, from womb to day of death.' " Manoah 
 Discerning clear the heavenly vision's sense, 
 Entreated God to answer hear his prayer : 
 "O Lord, my God, let angel Thine I pray, 
 Revisit us again, to teach instruct 
 Us what to do with this Thy child and ours." 
 
 Bright morn awoke with beams of light on hill 
 And dale and fertile vale: to early stroll 
 Inviting over fresh and flowery fields. 
 The fair, the purest pearl of womanhood. 
 She met on way the Angel bright of God, 
 And prayed Him wait till she could husband 
 
 bring. 
 Manoah quickly came and thus addressed 
 The holy man of God : "O wisdom's source 
 And fount, who spake as never man yet spake, 
 Instruct us how to bring him up for Thee, 
 Lest leaders blind of blind we fall in ditch. 
 
Portraitures 123 
 
 Our wisdom is but foolishness to Thee : 
 
 Enlighten us with Thy clear light so we 
 
 May see aright. I pray Thee tarry till 
 
 I some refreshment bring. We would honor 
 
 Pay could we know Thy name." The angel thus 
 
 Replied: "Why askest thou after my name, 
 
 Seeing it is called Secret Wonderful, 
 
 Counselor, Prince of Peace. I will not eat 
 
 Thy bread, but as burnt offering I will 
 
 Accept it. Let thy woman beware 
 
 Of all I said instructed her to do." 
 
 Manoah offered up a kid with meat 
 
 Offering upon a rock to the Lord, 
 
 When fire consuming burnt up the offering: 
 
 And lo! the Angel vanished in the flames. 
 
 XI 
 
 So highly lifted up thine emerald plain, 
 So sweetly framed in fragrant flowery vales. 
 So festooned o'er with vine and tree-crowned 
 
 heights, 
 A beauteous portrait thou, O city loved! 
 Of thy celestial twin a miniature true. 
 In glittering dome and shining minaret 
 Of Temple bright all glorious within, 
 With glory which no man may e'er approach. 
 Thou chosen wast from out thy sisters fair. 
 For dwelling place of name high over all ; 
 The blest abode of first in line of priests, 
 
124 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Of holy prophets, teachers great and wise ; 
 
 The yearly place of festivals and feasts ; 
 
 The mecca of the Israelitish host: 
 
 The heart and eye of Palestina all. 
 
 As Salem, Jebus though I knew thee first, 
 
 I know thee best by thy new name of peace. 
 
 O city best beloved ! wert thou but true 
 
 To thine inspirer, author, Prince of Peace, 
 
 Thy streets would not shed blood ; nor dwellings 
 
 thine 
 In ashes lay; nor sacred Temple thine 
 Be razed to ground despoiled by spoilers rude; 
 Nor wouldst thou hear the saddest of all sounds. 
 The weeping and lament of thy true King: 
 "O Jerusalem ! Jerusalem which 
 Killest and stonest thy prophets how oft 
 Would I have gathered thy children again, 
 As a hen doth gather her brood under 
 Her wings and ye would not." 
 
 I see on yon 
 High mount, fresh clothed with olive's dress of 
 
 green. 
 Thy David, poet, priest, and long-loved king: 
 No sweeter singer ever sung thy praise. 
 He sees fair fertile fields, and vine-dressed hills, 
 Cool crystal lakes and silvery silent streams, 
 Uplands ateem with bleating flocks and herds, 
 The lowlands fecund in the fruit of vine. / 
 
 Lo ! one beside him stands like Prince of light. 
 
Portraitures 125 
 
 But really Prince of darkest night. See! he's 
 Whispering in his ear : straightway by might 
 Doth David seek to seize his neighbor's land. 
 He calls for chief of staff; bids Joab send 
 His trusty men thro' length and breadth of land 
 To number Israel's host. E'en Joab tries 
 To shake the purpose ill of self-willed king, 
 But all in vain: he straight must know the 
 
 strength, 
 The fighting strength of men of valor all. 
 
 O David! what hast thou done, what ill 
 
 Hast wrought by numbering Israel's host? 
 
 Thou hast 
 Incurred the anger just of most high God, 
 By covetous desires. Behold he comes, 
 His prophet seer to give thee choice of ills ! 
 Lo ! he speaks : "Thus saith the Lord, — 'Choose ye 
 'Twixt evils three; three famine years three 
 
 moons 
 By foes destroyed, or else three suns of plague, 
 By hand of Angel of the Lord.' " To whom. 
 The king now penitent replies: "I've sinned 
 Against God and done foolishly. I am 
 Sore distressed that my people should suffer 
 For my sin : let me fall into God's hand 
 Rather than man's for His mercies are great." 
 
 The life of day is dying dying down: 
 Diffusing golden beams of mellow light 
 
126 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 On circling hill and vale and Temple-dome. 
 
 Unnoticed by the mournful group in garb 
 
 Of sackcloth ashes clad, kneeling prostrate 
 
 In form on Oman's threshing floor ; with hearts 
 
 All rent and torn by Israel's anguish. 
 
 I look — and see the author of their woe; 
 
 His face with suffering drawn, his form bent 
 
 o'er 
 By suffering's weight he suffers most of all: 
 Each plague-struck home hath struck his heart a 
 
 blow. 
 See ! see ! yon startling sight ; poised there 'twixt 
 
 earth 
 And light; the angel Christ with sword in 
 
 hand, 
 Outstretched o'er all the land and city bright: 
 And lo ! the thousands lie in death's embrace. 
 
 XII 
 
 With wide and watery wastes well-nigh in- 
 walled, 
 With deserts parched and drear from shadeless 
 
 sun, 
 With spicy vales in mountain arms enwrapped, 
 The pastoral plain for roaming flocks and herds. 
 The mounts divine thy churchly spires of praise, 
 The hallowed meet of God with sinful man, 
 The burnless bush, the nonconsuming fire, 
 Enhance thine interest, O thou plain of plains! 
 
Portraitures 127 
 
 While one whose sufferings wrought perfec- 
 tion's praise 
 To reap reward on earth, found thee a home : 
 So hallowed by thy scenes divine make thee 
 Historic, O thou "Araby the blest !" 
 
 Ere ebon night unrolls his somber shade, 
 Or all the starry globes diffuse their light, 
 A weary wayworn man in flight for life, 
 A breathing space now finds in wilderness 
 Beneath the juniper tree disheartened 
 To death : his sole desire, his only prayer. 
 "My work hath been for naught, my life is 
 
 vain :" 
 He sadly pleads. O man of God so great ! 
 True prototype of prophet's greater son. 
 Why so cast down by impious woman's threat? 
 Thou whose inwrought prayers wrought miracles' 
 
 might, 
 Who slew four hundred prophets Baal-led, 
 Whose cloudless sky dropped neither shower nor 
 
 rain 
 Distilled for seven half years. When exiled 
 
 lone 
 To Cherith's brook was nourished fed at God's 
 Command as birdling by the parent bird. 
 Who kept one famine year in oil and meal, 
 The widowed one and raised her dead to life. 
 Who thrice brought heaven's consuming fire to 
 
 earth. 
 
128 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Who parentless knowing no beginning 
 Nor end, came will leave in chariot 
 Cloud-enwrapped, why call this a losing fight? 
 Is not thy God mightier than sin's cohorts? 
 
 Awake, prophet, rouse ye from slumbers sad! 
 Behold a heavenly visitant draws near, 
 With water-cruse and baken cake to cheer, 
 Console and freshen thee for further work! 
 Lo ! twice He speaks and touches thee : "Arise 
 And eat: else journey be too great for thee. 
 Thou yet must go in strength of this day's food, 
 Full forty days to Horeb's holy mount." 
 
 In darksome cave the haunt of hunted men, 
 The erstwhile fearless prophet finds brief place 
 To lodge. Where Moses viewed the glory- 
 flash, 
 God comes again to hearten up His child: 
 "What dost thou here, Elijah? Have not 
 I watched over protected thee for years? 
 Thou dost now fear for naught." To whom 
 
 replies 
 The prophet sore : "I've zealous been for God, 
 The Lord of hosts. Thy people to worship 
 Baalim have Thee forsaken. They have 
 O'erthrown Thine altars and slain Thy prophets 
 With the sword. I true remain alone: 
 And now they also seek to take my life." 
 "Go forth, my child, stand on this mountain top. 
 
Portraitures 129 
 
 And view my show of power. Behold the strong 
 Wind's might on clefted rock and mount: the 
 
 quake 
 Of earth ; the all-devouring fire. Dost hear 
 The still small voice?" O sorrowing heart! 
 
 it is 
 Thy Lord who speaks, the man of sorrows great, 
 Acquainted most with grief: who comfort hath 
 For sorely stricken hearts. As one whom his 
 Mother comforteth, so will He comfort, 
 Sustain and raise you up on high. "What dost 
 Thou here, Elijah? I yet have work 
 For thee to do. Return to Damascus, 
 Anoint Hazael to be king o'er Syria ; 
 Jehu to be king o'er Israel ; Elisha 
 To be prophet in thy room; he shall slay 
 All that Hazael and Jehu leave unslain : 
 Yet have I left seven thousand loyal souls, 
 Who ne'er have kissed nor bowed the knee to 
 
 Baal." 
 
 XHI 
 
 Ere fiery orb of day arose from couch 
 Inclined to flood with beams of lucent light. 
 The vale and crested mount; or tuneful note 
 Of thrilling threnody awoke to full 
 Fresh life the folded flower, a motley mass 
 Of mobile mixed humanity of high 
 And low degree of station rich and poor. 
 From age decrepit to sweet babe in arms. 
 
130 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Were wending wearisome way o'er hill and vale, 
 On king's highway to city strange — remote 
 From city loved : sad captives all to swell 
 The train triumphant of Chaldee's king 
 Of might. I see the mother pale bent o'er 
 Her helpless one in strivings vain to still 
 Its wail. The stalwart father strong bearing 
 On shoulders broad his weary child. A man 
 And maid of grave and gracious mien astride 
 White asses ride. He finds a royal robe, 
 And high estate await the leal in heart 
 To God and man. She wondrous fair the queen 
 Of Jewish hearts is crowned proud Persia's 
 
 queen. 
 Away in van four princes prime outride 
 An eyeless prize their helpless hapless king; 
 The noble four who face a martyr's fate, 
 For fear of doing wrong: so crowned with 
 
 earth's 
 High honors great in lieu of martyr's crown. 
 
 On rich, alluvial flowery plain, 
 Uprears a lofty height for foe defense : 
 Full broad enough for four-in-hand to fly. 
 It lieth square full many numbered miles, 
 Transpierced with brazen gates of quaint design, 
 Through which the people hie o'er drawbridge 
 
 broad. 
 Cross moat-encircled wall. Within the wall 
 In fortress square upsoars a portly pile: 
 
. Portraitures 131 
 
 In stages seven of spheral hues gold-crowned 
 
 With temple tall. Within a table gold, 
 
 Anear an inlaid couch, where temple-god 
 
 Of Belus' fame oft finds a sweet repose. 
 
 Below this temple Bel another shines, 
 
 All glittering with the gold within without. 
 
 Two sacrificial altars here appease 
 
 The wrath of Jupiter the great. The great. 
 
 The beauteous river parts the best of friends: 
 
 To reunite by span a palace at 
 
 Each end. Across the stream from temple Bel, 
 
 Uprise proud palace piles, ablush with hues. 
 
 Abloom with flowery nooks. Tier after tier 
 
 Of mossy stone to height of city wall, 
 
 Supports sweet shrubs, fine flowers, and portly 
 
 palms : 
 The far famed wonder-wold of olden world. 
 O city vast and strong, wall-proof from foe ! 
 With spoil-decked temples bright with shining 
 
 gold, 
 With palace-piles the treasure-trove of art, 
 With great canal thy vaunted water way, 
 With pensile wonder-wold thy sight delight, 
 The pride, the boast, the glory great of king, 
 Thy mightiest of great, how changed art thou ! 
 No vestige left of former grandeur great; 
 Thy walls in ashes lie ; thy palaces 
 A heap; thy temples turned to driest dust. 
 No more the jocund joy, the wassail bowl ; 
 The champ of steeds the roll of chariot wheels ; 
 
132 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 The owl and bittern now thy vigils keep; 
 
 The king of beasts roams o'er thy wasteful 
 
 wastes. 
 O Babylon, so great, so grand ! thy sins. 
 Thy sole, thy mighty foe to lay thee low. 
 
 In fortress square a royal palace grand, 
 A portly pile of varying heights and hues. 
 Uplifts a haughty height ; inscribed o'er 
 With titles, name of mighty king ; adorned 
 Without with bas-reliefs of victories won 
 In war: within with gold and silver spoils, 
 The treasure-gems of art. For shade from glare 
 Of orient sun, soft silken tapestry 
 The pillared spaces drape. Colossal bulls 
 With human heads and wings outspread enrich 
 Its portals grand: while couchant lions fierce. 
 Guard-keep its stair approach. In throne room 
 
 great 
 And grand, in bronzed chair of state embossed 
 With mythic figures quaint, sits one the king 
 Of Chaldee's realm; the mighty monarch mad; 
 God's minister of judgment just on land 
 And cities great: the great Napoleon of 
 His age whose pride of heart and praise of self. 
 Low-leveled him in dust. Th' assembled court 
 Of courtiers gay and wise men grave await 
 In trembling fear his least behest. Behold 
 Those men who now crave audience of their 
 
 king! 
 
Portraitures 133 
 
 List to their speech: "O great and gracious 
 
 king! 
 Mayest thou live forever in the hearts 
 Of loyal subjects thine! but know, O king! 
 That the three Jews whom thou hast rulers made 
 O'er thy province, have disobeyed thy law, 
 In not so worshiping thine image gold. 
 Which thou hast raised on Dura's plain." The 
 
 king 
 Full wroth, forthwith commanded their pres- 
 ence; 
 To whom he spake : "Is the report of these 
 Men true, "that ye refuse to serve my gods, 
 And worship mine image of gold ? It shall 
 Be well with you if at the music's call. 
 Ye fall straight down and worship my image 
 Gold : if not ye shall be cast into 
 A fiery furnace burning hot and who 
 Is your God to deliver you?" "Know well, 
 O king, our God is mightier than thou; He 
 Who made heaven and earth by breath of mouth, 
 Can and will save us from thy hand ; but if 
 Not we will worship ne'er thy gods : for our 
 God is a jealous God and claims our hearts' 
 Best love." The king full fiery wroth with Jews 
 Who dared disobey his decree turned now 
 To captain of his guard, and commanded 
 Him to heat seven times the furnace hot: 
 To have his men these rebels bind and cast 
 Them into the furnace of fire. When bound 
 
134 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 In hosen, coats, and caps, and cast into 
 The midst of fiery flames, behold the sight! 
 The flames licked up their captors all while they 
 Fell down unhurt, untouched, unsinged, un- 
 
 smoked. 
 What seest thou, O king ! that blanches cheek, 
 And chills thy life-blood cold? That frights 
 
 thee so. 
 Didst thou not cast but three in furnace-fire? 
 Lo ! four thou se'st in midst of fiery flames. 
 Walking and holding converse sweet with each 
 Other. Thou dost, thou dost behold, O king, 
 The Son of God! whom they faced fearful 
 
 death 
 To serve; who saves them now most mightily; 
 Who knows how sore temptation tries the soul ; 
 Who in their affliction was afflicted: 
 Who saves them by His presence' power. 
 
 XIV 
 
 The droning day is set to still soft close: 
 The gay of wing hath sipped her fill of sweet, 
 From lily rose and lilac's scented lip. 
 The red-throat's thrilling note hath hymned his 
 
 praise. 
 The owl's tu-whit tu-who alone is heard, 
 Save sound of lapping wave on low-beached 
 
 shore. 
 No rustling breeze roughs up unruffled calm. 
 
Portraitures 135 
 
 Of swiftly silent, silvery flowing stream: 
 Or wafts the feathery palm to faster pace. 
 The mellow roseal hues melt in the blue, 
 Aglow with glittering, scintillating lights : 
 With crescent orb waxed luminous to full. 
 The quiet footfall scarce is heard along 
 The pearly pebbly beach, of one anear 
 To rounding out to full his orb of years, 
 With work well done and victories won: 
 Gem-crowned with ring of gold and robe of 
 
 state. 
 Acquaint with sorrow, grief, and slow-dried 
 
 tears. 
 From youth a captive exile brave from land. 
 From city best-beloved by all his race. 
 Too true to God to compromise with ill, 
 He twice faced martyr's fate to mar the wrong. 
 No idol's feast nor den of fiery beast, 
 Swerved him from service due to maker God. 
 Brought up in Oriental school was trained 
 To culture's highest cult of brawn and brain ; 
 Yet never more nor less than whole-souled Jew: 
 Tho' leal in lore of heart to kingly friends. 
 Magician, prophet, dream-interpreter. 
 Endowed with wit divine to ravel out 
 The tangled warp and woof of high-born lives. 
 Still clothed with sweet Humility's rare robe, 
 He intercessor stood for all his race. 
 O soul so brave and true in trial's hour, 
 So leal in loyalty to God and man, 
 
136 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 So great in qualities of heart and hand, 
 
 So sorrowed o'er with weight of nation's sin, 
 
 While breathing heart's warm love to kith and 
 
 kin, 
 Thou wert, thou art beloved, O kingly soul! 
 By God, by fellow soul of every age. 
 
 To grove of portly palms that skirts the marge 
 Of river great with beauty's charming face. 
 Lending to rythmic ebb and flow rare grace, 
 To wearied soul reposeful rest from care. 
 Comes one cast down in spirit body mind; 
 All garbed in mournful garb of mourning hue; 
 Spiritualized by prayer, and fastings dole. 
 He moves bent o'er with grave and measured 
 
 pace: 
 When lo! uplifted vision views One robed 
 In form of heavenly grace, aglow with light, 
 Like flash of dazzling dart from storm-rift 
 
 cloud : 
 Like burning blinding glare from sun's high 
 
 ray. 
 Trembling with terror wild he falls to earth: 
 A reassuring voice in sweetest tone, 
 By tenderest touch, bids him arise, saying, — 
 "O Daniel, so greatly beloved by God ! 
 Lend heart, mind, ear, to all the words of mine. 
 Fear not ; from first the day thy heart was right 
 With God, thy prayer was heard, shall answered 
 
 be. 
 
Portraitures 137 
 
 I come thy people's future to unveil 
 
 In latter days tho' many yet to come." 
 
 Then Daniel spake when lips were tou,ched 
 
 unsealed 
 By shining One, who stood before his face: 
 "O my Lord ! Thy vision troubleth me. 
 No strength, no breath have I to answer Thee." 
 When touched and strengthened new by shining 
 
 One, 
 Who bade him not to fear but to be strong, 
 He once more answered thus: "Speak now, my 
 
 Lord, 
 For Thou hast strengthened me." To whom the 
 
 bright 
 One spake : "I'll show thee future's veil removed. 
 A troublous time shall come to nation land, 
 Which none have ever seen. Wars and rumors, 
 Shall ye hear. Nation and kingdom shall rise 
 Against nation and kingdom; with famines, 
 Pestilences and earthquakes: the entrance 
 Of sorrows. Ye shall suffer afflictions 
 And death ; but he that to the end endures, 
 Shall saved be : awake to endless life. 
 They that be wise shall shine as the brightness 
 Of firmament: and they that many turn 
 To righteousness as the stars forever." 
 
 XV 
 The orient glare of high noon's glowing orb. 
 Bent o'er each stalk and stem of budding flower, 
 
138 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Dried up each slender, fragile rootlet frail, 
 Lapped up refreshing dew of early morn, 
 Parched up the lips of mother-earth with heat. 
 Like crackling lips of dying one athirst. 
 O the pitiless glare of sun's fierce ray ! 
 Sparing naught growing thing in fiery wake, 
 Of either fish, flesh, fowl, bird, man or beast. 
 O for the cool shelter of some great rock 
 In weary land with no refreshing shade ! 
 Thought one in unison with sufferers-kin ; 
 Traveling en train to city of bazaars : 
 One schooled in scholar's lore of wisdom's 
 
 light, 
 In Jewish jurisprudence versed well 
 To logic's thought to reason's ruling realm. 
 Imbibing lore from mother-font of birth. 
 Aglow with roseate tints of sunrise years. 
 In stature small, in sight defective too; 
 In speech contemptible, lacking ready flow 
 Of orator's silvery speech and fiery glow : 
 But skilled in thoughted pen of writer great. 
 Intellectual giant, tho' physical dwarf. 
 Afire with glowing zeal for cause of God, 
 Loyal to faith intolerant to unfaith : 
 A typic strait-laced Jew from tip to toe. 
 The lowly Nazarene despised by Jew 
 Of high-born caste he likewise hated too; 
 He could not brook Messiahship in one 
 As poor in birth as life, of shameful death : 
 'Twas due to God to kill His followers too. 
 
Portraitures 139 
 
 We wonder not to see him standing near 
 
 The funeral pile of martyr first to God; 
 
 To see him hurl with hurtling force huge stone 
 
 From off highway if haply it might kill ; 
 
 To keep the cloak as souvenir of skill: 
 
 To go from house to house, from church to 
 
 church. 
 To search the Christians out, to cast in jail. 
 As wide sown scattered seed, would yield rich 
 
 fruit, 
 If living germ be not destroyed straightway. 
 Equipped with high authority of state, 
 We find him on his way to kill or cure. 
 
 The brightest beams of midday's lucent orb, 
 Pale into pearly tint of misty morn. 
 Before brightness of glory refulgent. 
 Blinded, enwrapped by heavenly radiance. 
 He prostrate falls to earth ; when lo ! a voice 
 Vibrant with sweetest of melodious tones, 
 As plaintive strain of ^olian harp on ear 
 Enrapt, soft speaks: "Saul, Saul, why 
 
 persecutest 
 Thou me? When ye hurt one of my little 
 Ones ye hurt me." Then spake astonished 
 
 Saul: 
 "Who art Thou, Lord?" "I am Jesus, whom 
 
 thou 
 Persecutest. Ye are crucifying 
 The Son of God afresh." Once more spake sore, 
 
140 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Repentant Saul: "Lord, what wilt Thou have 
 
 me 
 To do?" "Arise, go into the city; 
 It shall be told thee there what thou must do. 
 Ye shall suffer for my sake many things. 
 Ye are a chosen vessel unto me, 
 To bear my name before Gentiles and kings." 
 O great heart of illimitable love! 
 So strong to suffer, patient to endure 
 Buffetings, stripes, imprisonments, stonings, 
 The contumely scorn of friends and foes. 
 With inner sight illumed to see the Christ 
 Of promises and prophecies fulfilled. 
 Thy three days' loss of outer sight but veiled 
 The shining of the Spirit's greater light : 
 To gleam with glowing love thro' sunset years. 
 Thou seest Satan bruised, in death destroyed 
 By resurrected power of Christ thy I^rd; 
 The nations blessed by fruitage of the seed; 
 The antitype of prophets great and small ; 
 The holy birth foretold by prophets old. 
 In virgin's child by Holy Spirit's power; 
 The tender plant, the root from out dry ground. 
 In thoughtful youth brought up to humble 
 
 trade ; 
 The man of sorrows acquainted with grief, 
 In loving patient Galilean sufferer; 
 The slaughtered lamb for sins of sinning world. 
 In trial farce, and far more shameful death 
 Of lowly poor despised Nazarene : 
 
Portraitures 141 
 
 Thou clearly seest now to death's dark hour, 
 The crucified was truly Christ of God. 
 
 XVI 
 
 Roll on, roll on thou rolling restless sea ! 
 But keep, O keep thy heaven-appointed path : 
 Nor e'er engulf the seagirt lonely isle. 
 That gems with emerald rare thy mighty main! 
 
 come caressingly, wdth kisses kind, 
 
 With love's long-loved and fond embraces sweet, 
 
 To touch this holy, highly favored isle : 
 
 Let not thy waves a sobbing requiem sing, 
 
 But let them play their maddest merriest lay, 
 
 To whisper cheery cheer to exile lone. 
 
 The birds have sung their vesper hymn of praise, 
 
 The bees with nectar drunk, drowned sweet in 
 
 sleep. 
 The flowers have folded up their perfumed cups. 
 The lingering breeze hath breathed her last long 
 
 sigh, 
 And real repose rich nature's natural gift. 
 Hath shed a solemn stillness soft o'er isle; 
 While walking weary up yon mountain path, 
 
 1 see a soul who's climbed the sunset years, 
 
 In faith, in love and oft with slow-dropped tears. 
 Wrung red from anguished heart for Master 
 
 bled: 
 Now waxing warmer with the waning years. 
 As he ascends the mountain top to muse 
 
142 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 And pray, the rolling tide of years rolls back : 
 He lives the scenes of memory's pantomime. 
 He stands once more by Jordan's silvery stream, 
 To hear the sweet sonorous tone of John 
 The prophet great: "Behold ye sinners all, 
 The Lamb of God who takes your sins away." 
 He hastes to join the long-expected One, 
 Where sitting daily at His feet cons o'er, 
 And o'er the lesson sweet of love to God, 
 And fellow man. He walks with weary feet, 
 But oft with blest communion sweet the hills 
 And vales of Palestina o'er; to see 
 His Lord bring life and light to wayworn 
 
 hearts ; 
 To hear the Father's voice from glory-mount. 
 Confirm the ministry of His dear Son : 
 "Behold my well-loved Son ! give ear to Him." 
 To view His glory great in miracles' might: 
 The water turned to wine at marriage feast. 
 The noble's son upraised from point of death, 
 The impotent cured by commanding word, 
 The thousands fed by multiple of bread. 
 The blind from birth restored to sight by 
 
 touch. 
 The four-days' dead recalled to life and love. 
 The night-long empty nets with fishes filled. 
 He views with clearer vision the erstwhile 
 Viewless night; the length, breadth, depth, 
 
 height and might 
 Of love, as measured out by suffering life 
 
Portraitures 143 
 
 And death of Christ his Lord. The length of 
 
 love, 
 Portrayed by washing each disciple's feet; 
 The breadth displayed by putting on the robe 
 Of flesh ; the depth explored in suffering's night 
 On Olivet; the height attained on cross; 
 The might in incessant intercession. 
 The birth in flesh — the humble lowly life 
 Of sacrifice of self-denial sole, 
 The death by broken heart from weight of this 
 World's sin — the risen life of hope and cheer, 
 Th' ascension life of interceding love. 
 All, all portrays in picture's potent phase. 
 His all-Hmitless life of living love. 
 The tide has turned — is flowing in — he stands 
 By memory's moorings still — the exile lone, 
 On rocky mountain top of Patmos' isle. 
 
 The shadowy shade glides into glint and glow 
 
 Of glory ineffable; diffusing 
 
 A brightness halo-hued, shining as sun. 
 
 As blinding flash from clouds astorm ; and lo ! 
 
 One stands in light resplendent before him. 
 
 The dazed disciple prostrate falls to earth; 
 
 But a fond familiar voice, calms and soothes 
 
 His fear, as erst it stilled the storm-tossed 
 
 waves 
 Of Galilee, saying, — "Arise! fear not; 
 I am the first and the last. Yesterday, 
 To-day, and forever the same. I am 
 
144 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 He that liveth and was dead : and behold, 
 
 I am alive for evermore." A bright. 
 
 White cloud appears to wing to heaven's sphere, 
 
 His loving Lord, and lo! He vanisheth 
 
 From view. While as the gates of pearl turn 
 
 wide 
 On hinges gold the bright angelic host 
 With welcome warm convoy to great white 
 
 throne 
 Their Lord. List! list! his ravished ear soft 
 
 hears 
 The dulcet strains of ^olian harps. 
 Of sweet-stringed lyres, of melodious viols. 
 Accompanying the sublime symphony 
 Of myriads of voices in choral praise : 
 "Hallelujah, hallelujah to Christ! 
 All glory honor blessing power be given 
 To Him, who hath to God redeemed us by 
 His blood from every people kindred tribe, 
 Nation. Hallelujah to Lamb of God!" 
 As the melody divine died away 
 On tranced air the archangel Michael 
 Proclaimed in trumpet tones, — "The marriage 
 
 feast 
 Of Lamb is come : the Bride is ready now !" 
 Lo! he sees table spread with all manner 
 Of delicacies and delicious fruits. 
 An innumerable company with room 
 For many myriads more are seated round 
 This finely festal board enrobed in white. 
 
Portraitures 145 
 
 The Christly robe of righteousness : while fair, 
 Pure angels hover near to serve good cheer. 
 Abram, Isaac, Jacob, with martyred throng 
 Are there, while in their midst is One arrayed 
 In robe of red blood-dyed for sinners' sin: 
 The Bridegroom of the feast, the Christ of love. 
 Once more the angel blows with trumpet-blare, 
 Crying mightily with strong sweet voice, — 
 
 "Ho, all 
 That thirst, come ye to waters here: yea, come, 
 Buy wine and milk without money or price. 
 The Spirit and the Bride say come. Let him 
 That heareth say come: and let him that is 
 Athirst come. Whosoever will let him 
 Take the water of life freely." 
 
146 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 THE TRIAL OF FAITH 
 
 Where, the rills the sweetest music trill, 
 Where, the brooks the truest converse hold. 
 Where, the plain in richest emerald's dressed, 
 Where varying flowers outrival each in hue, 
 Where soft-plumed birds outsing the cheerless 
 
 night, 
 Anear the flow of Hauran's silvery stream. 
 Doth Arab pitch his tent to tend the flocks 
 And herds, that roam the pastoral plain enriched 
 With Esau's blessing full ; with long abode 
 Of one as blessed of God, for living by 
 His Word, which he esteemed more than food: 
 For offering up the daily sacrifice 
 For sin. To bless and help the poor his hand 
 But oped. He wiped the widow's tear with cheer 
 Of heart : to lame was feet, to blind was eye. 
 The law of love in lip and act allayed 
 The anger of his foe ; till all arose. 
 The princes nobles men and maidens fair, 
 To do him honor in the gates : so passed 
 The days in full content with naught of woe. 
 
 One day, a fateful day of ill for some 
 Poor hapless mortals here was full of woe: 
 As heaven's host in serried ranks in might 
 O'erpanoplied in God's great audience hall 
 Convened. Alas ! man's subtlest foe the old 
 
The Trial of Faith 147 
 
 Deceiver of mankind was also there ; 
 
 To straight accuse the upright man assail 
 
 His faith and seek to ahenate his God : 
 
 Who pleasure hath in him we little know, 
 
 Or even think as theme of angel's praise. 
 
 "Whence comest thou, Satan? Who perfect 
 
 walks 
 Before me so to thus incur thine ire ? 
 Thou hast observed my servant Job his pure. 
 And upright life, canst pick a flaw in him?" 
 The Lord inquires. From Satan thus to hear : 
 "I've been about the earth to servants find. 
 As for your Job he serves you for reward. 
 His wealth in flocks and herds Thou hast 
 
 increased. 
 His great high wall protection Thine. With- 
 draw 
 Thy sheltering hand he'll curse Thee to Thy 
 
 face." 
 "Behold! he's thine, spare but his hfe, — " saith 
 God. 
 
 The time, th' appointed time now draweth near: 
 
 The crucial test to try the faith of Job. 
 
 What strain will it full stand? Will he curse 
 
 God 
 And die? Behold them nigh at hand at door 
 Straightway, the fleet-foot messengers of ill ! 
 To Job recount their tales of woe in quick 
 Succession: "The Sabeans have slain thy 
 
148 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Servants and seized thine oxen and asses ; 
 By heaven's fire thy sheep with shepherds killed ; 
 Thy servants camels slain by Chaldean bands ; 
 A whirlwind fierce hath left thee childless now." 
 Sore ills, how swift they come, how multiplied 
 To Job ! Each trod upon the other's heel, 
 Grim messengers of woe. His heirs his wealth 
 Swept 'way by four fell strokes. The crowning 
 
 woe, 
 The fiercest blow must surely snap the cord, 
 That binds his soul to God. Behold ! behold. 
 My soul, the wondrous sight! he worships 
 
 prays, 
 He curses not, faith wings his prayer to God : 
 "The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away; 
 Blessed be His holy name for evermore." 
 
 List ! list ! he newly knocks at heaven's gate ; 
 Th' accusing one for power to work more woe, 
 To lower Job in estimation sight 
 Of God: who straight inquires, — "Whence 
 
 comest thou? 
 Hast found thou couldst not shake the faith of 
 
 Job, 
 Tho' thou hast tried it sore?" "Oh! man will 
 
 part 
 With all he hath to save his life: his flesh 
 Or bone but touch he'll surely curse Thy name :" 
 Saith Satan more. "Behold, he's in thy hand 
 For all but life :" saith God in His reply. 
 
The Trial of Faith 149 
 
 A day of testing more severe now dawns 
 For Job. Behold him stricken head to heel, 
 With grievous sores that leave no rest for day 
 Nor night, that burden make of life. O now, 
 His faith must stagger 'neath this added blow! 
 Not so, my soul, he higher level knows. 
 He mounts on eagle's wing above thy ken. 
 His faith full tried is love's revealer sole; 
 For lo ! the veil uplifts to mortal view ! 
 Revealed, his soul's Redeemer stands revealed! 
 His prescient knowledge views the morn of 
 
 morns. 
 List! list! my soul, to faith's sublimest strain: 
 "Shall we receive but good and none of ill? 
 Although He slay me sore I'll trust in Him." 
 
 Thy faith, my soul, to reach perfection's goal, 
 Must likewise try affliction's fire; the dross 
 To full consume; the gold refined to show 
 In patience' perfect work. Perfection's height 
 Is only scaled by suffering's round. The' great 
 Thine ills to bear most grievous to the flesh, 
 As tonics are to little weakling faith. 
 For seasoning, for growth. Rejoice, my soul. 
 O'er trials past! rejoice in those to come! 
 Till retort fires reflect the face of thy 
 Refiner God. The full, the crowning joy 
 Of faith, is fellowship with thy suffering Lord. 
 
150 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 THE COVENANT-PROMISE 
 
 It was the solemn hush of early morn : 
 
 Ere mounting ray of day's swift mobile orb, 
 
 O'erflushed the mountain top with lucent light, 
 
 Or haunting trill of the wild bird's note, 
 
 Caroling to his mate from leafy bough. 
 
 Attuned all to sweetest harmony. 
 
 But yestereve the heavenly windows oped. 
 
 To water and refresh the thirsty earth 
 
 With showers abundant copious soft; 
 
 Till seen in darkling cloud an arch, 
 
 A span of many varied hues the hope. 
 
 The promise bright of God's good will to man : 
 
 A token of His covenant of grace. 
 
 No more should earth a waste of waters know. 
 
 No more her teeming life engulfed be : 
 
 On man, on man alone the primal curse. 
 
 The freshening dew of leaf and flower was still 
 All tremulous to touch, when Abram with 
 His boy, the promised one, the journey's end 
 Drew nigh: to offer on Moriah's mount. 
 The sacrifice enjoined of God. So wan, 
 So haggard spent with suffering hours o'er- 
 
 passed 
 With vexing queries as, — "Have I served God 
 So many years for naught to now require 
 This at my hand ? put love to such a test ? 
 
The Covenant-Promise 151 
 
 Is He a covenant-keeping God to thus 
 
 Destroy the promise in unfolding bud?" 
 
 But faith triumf>hant quells such tempting 
 
 doubts ; 
 God e'en from dead would raise to keep His 
 
 word: 
 So Abram far beholds the mount of sight. 
 He sees a greater sacrifice foretold. 
 The flash-light of obedient faith reveals 
 Th' atoning offering for a world's sin : 
 Perceives afar faith's justification. 
 But Isaac now his musing interrupts : 
 "My father, for the burnt offering here's fire, 
 And wood, but where's the lamb?" "God will, 
 
 my son. 
 Provide Himself with one." With no more 
 
 word. 
 Submitting meekly to his father's will, 
 He yields his life to be straight bound and laid 
 A willing offering on love's altar reared. 
 Lo! forth the light supernal breaks from out 
 The rifted cloud ; a voice angelic stays 
 Midway the falling blade : "Lay not thine hand 
 Upon the lad nor do him any harm. 
 As thou hast not withheld thine only son, 
 I'll multiply thy blessings many fold. 
 As stars unnumbered so thy seed shall be ; 
 And countless as the sands upon the shore : 
 In seed of thine shall families all of earth 
 Be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice." 
 
152 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Lo ! a ram caught in the bush by his horns, 
 Was God's provision for the burnt offering. 
 
 To manhood's sturdy prime now fully come, 
 Isaac unblest with God's good gift to man, 
 Is heart and fancy free; no daughter fair 
 Of Eve's long line is aught but such to him : 
 As custom was his father's choice is his. 
 But Abram rich in years is nearing port 
 At last; and to fulfill within his line, 
 The keeping of the promise sweet straight 
 
 calls 
 To him his trusty aide, the old-time friend, 
 And whilom heir, Eliezer: "Put now 
 Thine hand beneath my thigh and swear by all 
 Most dear, thou'lt never take my son a wife 
 From Canaan's daughters fair, but from my 
 
 near 
 Of kin, of country, and of God. He, who 
 Hath blessed my promised seed will clear thy 
 
 way 
 Before." So taking oath, with camels ten 
 And jewels rich and rare, he set out on 
 His journey by the Jordan's wilding bank, 
 Thro' Hamath's land to river great : forth thence 
 To Nahor in Mesopotamia. 
 
 The grayish hue of even's gloaming hour. 
 Is veiling all when forth the maidens hie. 
 From hamlet town to pitchers fill from fount 
 
The Covenant- Promise 153 
 
 Without the gates. O'erwearied faint of 
 
 strength 
 From journey long, Eliezer now draws near, 
 With failing heart as well : "How shall I know 
 The fair one whom I seek? Will she incline 
 To me, be gracious to my suit?" Then thought 
 Ascends to prayer: "Vouchsafe Thy favor, 
 
 Lord, 
 To give Thy child this sign, — pray let the one 
 I seek, say, — 'Drink, I'll give thy camels drink.' " 
 But e'en the answer came before the call ; 
 For lo! a damsel as the lily fair. 
 Beautiful as the Sharon rose drew nigh, 
 To fill her pitcher from the well's deep flow. 
 On her ascent Eliezer greets her thus : 
 "From pitcher thine, I pray thee, give me drink." 
 "Yea, drink my lord, I'll draw for camels too :" 
 The gracious maiden saith. With jeweled gifts 
 Presenting he inquires, — "O thou fair one ! 
 Of all the maidens fair, pray tell me true, 
 Whose daughter art thou?" "I'm Rebekah, 
 Bethuel's child:" she softly saith. To so 
 Direct an answer to his prayer past all 
 Belief, his heart o'erfills with praise : "Blessed be 
 The God of Abraham, who's with him still 
 To mercy show and truth : so will He lead, 
 Direct my way to give my suit success." 
 
 The cool of eve is sweet refreshing day 
 With mellow hue to tone the lustrous tint, 
 
154 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 With twilight's hour of meditative calm, 
 Enticing Isaac from the stuffy tent, 
 To pace, repace in silent musing thought: 
 "How is Eliezer prospering in my suit? 
 Is it not time for him to straight appear ? 
 What's that?" A speck on yon horizon looms. 
 "Can it the camels be ?" He hastes to see, 
 And meets them on the way. 
 
 Yea, yea in truth, 
 Eliezer is returned with full success, 
 To praise his God anew : "He honors faith 
 As weak as mine to help the trusting heart." 
 Perceiving now a man approaching them, 
 Rebekah straight inquires, — "What man is 
 
 that?" 
 "My master:" saith Eliezer. From camel 
 She alights draws her veil to meet him half 
 The way. 'Twas love at first the sight and 
 
 sound : 
 So took her to his heart, his tent his home. 
 
 The prophetic promise to Abram's seed. 
 Enwrapped for ages long in meaning dim, 
 Unfolds to living faith. We have broken 
 The covenant-tables in sinning 'gainst 
 God's law: without the covenant-promise. 
 The seed to bruise the serpent first promised 
 At the Fall we suffer Satan's fate. 
 Have we a part in the whole burnt offering, 
 
The Covenant-Promise 155 
 
 By living obedient faith? Is the Lamb 
 Our atoning offering? Has our peace 
 With God been made? Let us put our sole 
 
 trust 
 In Calvary's Lamb, the life the living way, 
 So come into covenant relation 
 With a merciful and longsuffering God. 
 
156 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 MIRACLES 
 
 Yon orient orb sinks silently to rest: 
 Lighting anew with trailing roseal hue, 
 The torch of Hope in rayless night's dun view. 
 So lighted up by most distinguished guest, 
 Was Cana's marriage feast, in Christ the blest; 
 Who graced repast, with His disciples few : 
 As clothed with power to manifest anew 
 His glory forth, in water's change to best 
 Of wine. The star of Faith then lit in sky 
 Of His disciples' night, hath never set. 
 It rose with lucent light to lead them nigh 
 To Him who keeps them free from all life's fret. 
 O may Faith's star, Hope's lighted torch, flame 
 
 high! 
 To light the starless night of sin's regret. 
 
 II 
 
 The worn-out day hath dragged His weary pace, 
 With tolled-off hours of time's slow-tolling bell: 
 To watcher lone o'er stricken one, the knell 
 Of hope. When lo! at seven's stroke no trace 
 Of fever's left. Dread death has lost the race. 
 The joyous news, the servants haste to tell 
 Their master homeward fared: "Thy child is 
 well." 
 
Miracles 157 
 
 And straightway he and his believed by grace. 
 The sought-for boon of health, by Master's 
 
 power, 
 Tho' urged with feeble faith by nobly born, 
 Brought healing to his son at seventh hour. 
 So may we find on resurrection morn. 
 When overpast life's threatening clouds that 
 
 lower. 
 E'en little faith doth save the soul sin-worn. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The hush of nature's calm o'er brooded all : 
 E'en whispering breeze gave o'er her wheezy 
 
 play, 
 Of ruffling up grave Galilee that day. 
 Noiseless her bosom's rhythmic rise and fall : 
 Too tranquil e'en for any sail or yawl. 
 At evensong the people met to pray, 
 And praise in Jewish fane their wonted way. 
 Lo! breaks the Sabbath's peace by unclean's 
 
 call: 
 "Let us alone, Thou holy One ! Art come 
 To us destroy ?" From Jesus came the word 
 Of power, — "Hold thy peace ; come straightway 
 
 out from 
 Him." Speak, Lord, so unclean thoughts be 
 
 stirred, 
 Cast out. Thus may Thy handiwork become 
 The holy shrine, where Satan speaks unheard. 
 
158 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 IV 
 
 Majestic orb of infinite brightness ! 
 
 Life-giving source of all creation's work ! 
 
 Thy radiant beams dispel the clouds that lurk 
 
 And lower o'er spirit's ethereal lightness. 
 
 Thy glory ineffable reflects no less 
 
 A being than Him who hath no murk 
 
 Nor shade to veil His light. Whose heart doth 
 
 irk 
 For leprous state of one in sore distress : 
 Now crying out in faith, — "Lord, if Thou wilt, 
 Canst make me clean." He, whose will is power, 
 Saith, — "I will, be thou clean." So cleansed his 
 
 guilt. 
 Arise, O Sun, arise ! Thy beams to shower 
 O'er soul unclean as ours : so grateful lilt 
 Shall paean praise of cleansed soul for dower. 
 
 V 
 
 The roseal morn unveiled by filmy cloud. 
 So balmy with the breath of lilied bloom. 
 So joyous with the lark of pearly plume, 
 Is now o'ercast and draped in darkling shroud. 
 To soul in room of dark despair, o'erbowed 
 With palsy's weight. When lo ! his prison tomb 
 Is turned by master's prayer to healthful room ; 
 Who great in faith to Jesus cried aloud : 
 And praise and prayer were straight accorded 
 him. 
 
Miracles 159 
 
 Our darksome room of soul-despair doth change 
 By faith to one of cheer : where shadows grim 
 Dissolve, to give the spirit greater range. 
 Increase our faith, dear Lord, nor let it dim: 
 No guerdon sought of Thee will then seem 
 strange. 
 
 VI 
 
 Slowly the day waneth to weary close. 
 
 The footfall soft of ministrant angel. 
 
 Is only heard by one in fever's hell : 
 
 With temperature too high for sleep or doze. 
 
 "Let me refresh thy sight with dewy rose, 
 
 Dearest, and lave thy lips with draught from 
 
 well: 
 It will alleve the fever's fiery spell." 
 'Thou art, sweet child, the fairest flower that 
 
 grows." 
 With Peter came Physician great, with power 
 Of touch to heal the patient, suffering saint: 
 Who ministration gave in selfsame hour. 
 Impart, O Lord, Thy grace, with no restraint 
 Of self in love's sweet ministry. No dower 
 Than this can better serve each human plaint. 
 
 VII 
 
 Shrouded and veiled from view by somber shade, 
 No cheering beams give hail to dewy morn. 
 Bereft anew of glow and glory shorn. 
 Shine forth, thou Coy, unveil, be not afraid! 
 
i6o The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Let thy Creator's word be e'er obeyed. 
 
 So freshly sorrowed is the heart forlorn, 
 
 That sadly fares to bury only born 
 
 Outside the gates of Nain. Lo! from yon glade, 
 
 And glen, and flowery mead, forth comes the 
 
 Sun, 
 To newly robe this heart with roseate joy, 
 By bidding her love rise : who straight doth run 
 To her embrace. Such joy knows no alloy. 
 Speak, Lord, the word, so life from death be 
 
 won: 
 To free the soul from all of sin's annoy. 
 
 VIII 
 
 The winging ebon clouds a-fleeing go: 
 To flight impelled by infuriate fury. 
 Stirring the breast of yon slumberous sea, 
 To give the wave-swept ship no saving show. 
 "Master ! is naught to Thee we perish so ?" 
 Cried out they all, waking Him from dreamy 
 Sleep. Rebuking wind and wave with, — "Peace 
 
 be 
 Still !" unruffled calm succeeds to blow. 
 When restless seas of trouble round us surge, 
 Engulfing powers of body, mind, and will, 
 Storm centers for the ceaseless waves converge. 
 Helpless, without a modicum of skill, 
 If useless fear in faith's outcry we merge, 
 He'll turn the storm to calm with, — "Peace be 
 
 still." 
 
Miracles i6i 
 
 IX 
 
 The queen of night all luminous with light, 
 Soft rose in raying robe of silvery sheen, 
 To weave o'er mirrored lake and sylvan scene, 
 A fairy spell ethereal in delight: 
 Beguiling men from rest to toil all night 
 With hope of filling empty nets too lean. 
 Illusive hope ! the fish escape unseen. 
 "Launch out in deep, Simon; cast net on right 
 Of ship :" spake One whose voice the fish obey. 
 Lo! straight the net near brake for draught of 
 
 fish. 
 "I sinful am, O Lord, depart, I pray !" 
 "Fear not, thou shalt catch men if will be wish." 
 'Tis vain to toil thro' night to break of day, 
 Unhelped by Him who knows the soul's fore- 
 wish. 
 
 X 
 
 Joyous the morn without a veiling cloud; 
 
 Awake with smiling charm for weak and strong : 
 
 Inspiring souls to ecstasy of song. 
 
 No Sabbath morn by nature more endowed; 
 
 With myriad voices praising her aloud : 
 
 So thought the grave and gay of Jewish throng, 
 
 Now met in sacred fane to praise prolong. 
 
 Yon man with withered hand is none too 
 
 proud, 
 To keep from offering praise this holy day : 
 And thereby find the blessing of his life. 
 
i62 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 "Stretch forth thine hand!" saith He, whose 
 
 power to say, 
 And heal are one : and straightway there was 
 
 strife 
 With Jews, who sinned in doing aught but pray. 
 Not so taught Christ, whose day with good was 
 
 rife. 
 
 XI 
 
 The day of days that woke to nature's praise, 
 Is closing in with feathered minstrel's hymn 
 Of more than liquid melody. Yon limb 
 Sways to and fro to rhythm of his lays. 
 No answering chord is touched in one whose 
 
 ways 
 Take hold on death; whose sight for good is 
 
 dim: 
 Whose heart and lips preserve a silence grim. 
 When brought to Him, whom Satan sole obeys. 
 His soul is tuned to symphony of song. 
 When eyes are shut to seeing aught of good. 
 When lips are dumb to right and not to wrong. 
 When sinful heart incites to evil mood, 
 Cast out from us, O Lord, the unclean throng, 
 Then heart, lips, eyes, shall hymn our gratitude. 
 
 XII 
 
 Yon elms, fantastic sport of sportive breeze, 
 Are stripped and shorn of nature's emerald 
 crown : 
 
Miracles 163 
 
 Revealing leafless limbs both bare and brown. 
 Avaunt, thou Elf ! break not the noble trees ! 
 From out the tomb, as naked, gaunt as these, 
 Cometh a wreck with demoniac frown ; 
 So stout, so strong, no man could throw him 
 
 down : 
 Crying, — "Put us in swine:" and straight agrees 
 The One, whom devils fear, obey. The soul 
 Possessed by passions dire, is under sway 
 Of Satan's evil host : in full control. 
 To strip it bare of blossom, bud and spray. 
 But Christ, can clothe, revitalize the whole, 
 By bidding them begone some chosen way. 
 
 XIII 
 
 Cheerless the morn o'erhung with murky pall. 
 Athwart the leaden blue, no beams of light 
 From lucent orb, dispel the clouds of night. 
 Lo ! straight the norland breeze disperses all. 
 So dissipates the gloom of one in thrall 
 Of palsy's weight, by being lowered in sight 
 Of Him, who honors faith however slight. 
 With words of cheer: "Thy sins shall not en- 
 thrall 
 Thy body more ; they are forgiven thee. 
 Take up thy bed and walk." We need not look 
 Without for cause of ills, that we may see 
 Within, by searching light of Him who took 
 Their weight from us, so we might go soul free : 
 Their primal cause we may not overlook. 
 
164 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 XIV 
 
 Yon silvery birch so stately in its prime, 
 With soft umbrageous shade of leafy bough, 
 Upturned by storms and Winter's sturdy plow, 
 Is lying low, a tattered wreck of time. 
 So droops the fading flower in frosty clime, 
 With coronal of pain and care on brow ; 
 Revived by Spring of faith, she ventures now 
 In throng, with throbbing heart as if 'twere 
 
 crime. 
 To touch Christ's healing hem : and straight was 
 
 whole. 
 Not all who touched His seamless robe by 
 
 stealth. 
 Found health, save she, with touch in faith's 
 
 control. 
 Alone gained prize of greater worth than 
 
 wealth. 
 Without the act of faith to touch His stole. 
 We miss the cheer of soul and body's health. 
 
 XV 
 
 Se'st thou yon frail, exquisite tinted flower. 
 Unfolding fast to beauty's balm and bloom? 
 May no rough zephyr haste to early tomb, 
 Ere fine fruition crowns its blossom hour. 
 The fairer human flower, by unseen Power, 
 Is stricken low: and joy is turned to gloom. 
 In house where she lent light to every room. 
 
Miracles 165 
 
 Stay Death, thine hand! do not this home 
 
 deflower. 
 To ruler's sorrowing house came Christ with 
 
 cheer : 
 "She is not dead; she sleeps. Damsel, arise!" 
 When pleading prayer of faith falls on Christ's 
 
 ear. 
 He comes to light the gloom of lowering skies. 
 Come, Sorrow, come, so thou bring Him more 
 
 near: 
 His joy atones for all His will denies. 
 
 XVI 
 
 For weeping morn enwrapped in veiling mist, 
 From luminous orb awaits no sunny cheer : 
 She fareth forth in darkness chill and drear. 
 See how she smiles at finding sun in tryst ! 
 Two shadowed souls so find their light. O list 
 Their cry! — "Thou David's son, have mercy, 
 
 hear !" 
 "Your faith shall measure sight:" falls on the 
 
 ear. 
 From lips of One, who heals by faith's assist. 
 Open our eyes, dear Lord, so we may find 
 Faith's way to Thee : lest we thro' gross unfaith, 
 Should miss the good we seek. Keep us in mind, 
 That spiritual sight is found by prayer of faith : 
 Our souls will no more grope nor lag behind, 
 But forward fare, as light as any wraith. 
 
i66 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 XVII 
 
 List to sweet roundelay of yon wee wren! 
 Pouring a psean divine from praiseful heart: 
 So striking the keynote of highest art, 
 Tuning to cheer the hearts and lives of men. 
 A soul long dumb to praise, shut up in den 
 Of evil thoughts, to gloom is set apart. 
 When brought to Him who heals each hidden 
 
 smart, 
 "The tongue of dumb is made to sing again." 
 The laughing rills, the murmuring brooks have 
 
 voice, 
 Our feathered friends delight to hymn their 
 
 praise. 
 Shall we alone of all creation's choice, 
 Be dumb, refuse to pour forth grateful lays? 
 Let not our soul's worst enemy rejoice, 
 O Lord, o'er silent tongues, o'er thankless days. 
 
 XVIII 
 
 The lengthening shades of night creep on apace : 
 Bidding the bygone day a fond adieu. 
 Lending to emerald plain a glory new, 
 Toning the glow and glare of sun's high pace. 
 A motley throng of grave and gay, met face 
 To face, in seeking out their Lord anew: 
 Hungry for spirit-bread more than they knew. 
 Seeking the first both came by His free grace. 
 "Ye need not bid depart; give them to eat:" 
 
Miracles 167 
 
 Spake He, who multiplies the loaf and fish. 
 Why need we feed on husks, a-hungered for 
 
 meat? 
 Christ bids us find in Him all we could wish. 
 Help us to come, believe, Lord, we entreat : 
 So we hunger, thirst not, is Thy forewish. 
 
 XIX 
 
 The swash and swirl of foamy waves mount 
 
 high; 
 Threatening to overflow the floundering ship, 
 ImperiUng her life at every dip : 
 She crests the wave, in trough to straightway 
 
 lie. 
 Behold ! One walks the wave — He draweth nigh, 
 With courage new His children to equip; 
 To quiet fear with reassuring lip : 
 "Be not afraid ; be of good cheer ; 'tis I." 
 With Christ aboard the ship is straight in port. 
 In anxious hour when heart and courage fail, 
 When slips the human prop, the stay, support, 
 The only resource left of none avail. 
 We'll hear above the roar the clear report, — 
 " 'Tis I ; be of good cheer ; let faith prevail." 
 
 XX 
 
 The nipping blast blew chill and cold off coast; 
 Lashing to feathery foam the mounting waves: 
 Consigning helpless craft to briny graves. 
 
1 68 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Thou rejoicest, O breeze! loud is thy boast. 
 Tempest-tossed, with no untaken outpost, 
 Driven in to gloom, despair is she, who saves 
 Naught good from wreck: soul, body, mind, the 
 
 slaves 
 Of sin ; the prey of Satan's impious host. 
 "Have mercy. Lord, cast out my daughter's 
 
 deil!" 
 "I give not children's meat to dogs like you." 
 "Yea, Lord, they leavings take. Thou know'st 
 
 full weel." 
 "O woman great in faith, thy child's made new." 
 The sorest wounds of sin He'll surely heal, 
 H we in steadfast faith for pardon sue. 
 
 XXI 
 
 No ripple stirs the breast of yon smooth lake, 
 Mirroring in mild, ethereal blue. 
 The hoary crown of Hermon fresh, anew: 
 The pearly beach, the pensile feathery brake. 
 The lame, the halt, the blind, their way betake 
 To Him, who heals the many brought to view. 
 One deaf and dumb by groans, by gestures true. 
 Bespeaks Christ's word, — "Be opened new." 
 
 Forsake 
 The sin that closes ear to hear His word, 
 That keeps the tongue from ever praising Him, 
 Then springs of joy will bubble up, be stirred 
 To pour unceasing praise when sight grows dim. 
 
Miracles 169 
 
 When living chord relaxes hold, when heard 
 But vibrant tones of hovering seraphim. 
 
 XXII 
 
 Long lower the ebon shades of glooming 
 
 night. 
 No greet of joy awaits the drowsy morn, 
 Waking in mist, as all the newly born. 
 When fall the first faint beams of glimmering 
 
 light. 
 A darkened soul long dim to natural sight. 
 Is brought to Christ, who heals the one forlorn, 
 By touch of twice-laid hand on sight out- 
 worn. 
 Lo! misty view dissolves in vision bright. 
 To questioning word of Christ, — "Dost thou see 
 
 aught?" 
 Is heard, — "I see all men as walking trees." 
 By second touch came sight so keenly sought. 
 When spiritual sight is lost in slothful ease. 
 When soul with gloom and glower of sins in- 
 wrought. 
 The veiHng mist uplifts by Spirit's breeze. 
 
 XXIII 
 
 Yon fulgent orb, night's ethereal fairy, 
 Transmuting darksome shade to silvery hue. 
 Is waxing full, illuming starry blue. 
 With beauty's graces, fresh, full-blown, airy. 
 
170 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 From out the waiting throng that long tarry 
 For the Master, a child is brought to view ; 
 Who with the varying moon convulses new: 
 Battered and bruised, as with thorns briery. 
 To Christ's question, — "Hast faith to cure thy 
 
 child?" 
 The father quick replies, — "Lord, I believe; 
 Help Thou mine unbelief." The devil wild 
 Departs forthwith, compelled by Christ to 
 
 leave. 
 E'en faith, as mustard seed, will render mild, 
 Serene, the tempers hot that sorely grieve. 
 
 XXIV 
 Joyously winging his ethereal flight. 
 To heights beyond my ken, free as the air 
 He breathes, without a thought of carking care, 
 My feathered friend recalls God's care, fore- 
 sight : 
 For not a sparrow falls beyond His sight. 
 Hast ready money, Peter, for thy share 
 Of Temple-tax? Thy Master hath to spare 
 For Him and thee, dost thou but seek aright. 
 When he commands, e'en fish's mouth thy 
 
 need 
 Supplies. My Father's care in penciled blade 
 Of grass, in fluted flower, in golden weed, 
 I clearly see. Why need I be afraid? 
 If He so clothe the flora of the mead, 
 Will He not cherish child that He has made? 
 
Miracles 171 
 
 XXV 
 
 O'erbowed with weight of many a wintry storm, 
 With gnarled and knotted boughs, the mark of 
 
 time, 
 The crown of giant elms in softer clime, 
 Might haply hold its stately upright form. 
 Bent o'er with weight of sin and sin's deform, 
 She creeps to Jewish fane at bells' slow chime; 
 To solace find in praise and prayer sublime : 
 So meets the One who doth her shape transform 
 With, — "Woman, thou'rt loosed from thine in- 
 firmity." 
 Probe to the quick, O Lord, our sins lay bare : 
 So halting gait stay not heavenward journey. 
 Our soul's continual health Thy constant care, 
 Will weather storms tempestuous, wild, wintry: 
 When loosed from cords of sin that cut and tear. 
 
 XXVI 
 
 The smihng morn, so soft, so balmy, mild, 
 Bore little trace of night's fierce howling blast. 
 Save wreckage wrought of noble vessel's mast, 
 Driven on the rocks by storms tumultuous, wild. 
 Stranded on life's lee shore, by sin beguiled. 
 Ten human wrecks from kith and kin outcast. 
 Unite in mercy's plea to Christ at last : 
 Find cheer of health obeying as a child. 
 But grateful one returns for health of soul. 
 Help us to see, O Lord, faith's way to Thee, 
 
173 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Lies in obedience' path. Attune the whole 
 Of being's power to praiseful symphony. 
 With all we have and are in Thy control. 
 Both soul and body's health we'll surely see. 
 
 XXVII 
 
 Day's beauteous orb behind a veiling mist, 
 Laments in sympathy's sweet robe for morn, 
 Weeping, distrait, of shimmering glory shorn. 
 Sorrow has come to Bethany home, I wist: 
 So loud the weep and wail of mourners, list ! 
 Sickness, death, and the grave four days have 
 
 worn, 
 Before Christ comes to weep with friends 
 
 forlorn : 
 To show His glory forth in love's new tryst. 
 "Lazarus, come forth!" Obeying voiceful 
 
 power, 
 He rose, recalled to life and love. Tho' He 
 Delayeth long to test our faith, in hour 
 Of need He'll greater bless humanity. 
 His voice uplifts the veiling mists that lower, 
 So we His glory's brightness newly see. 
 
 XXVIII 
 
 The measureless wastes of briny waves, 
 That lave the lonely shore with rhythmic beat, 
 Depict loved nature's solitary retreat: 
 Whispering of God, the way to whom she paves. 
 
Miracles 173 
 
 A lonely soul of sight bereaved, who craves 
 
 The kinship of his kind, hearing the greet 
 
 To passer-by, doffs cloak, falls at Christ's 
 
 feet, 
 UpHfting mercy's plea to Him who saves: 
 "O Jesus, son of David, hear my cry !" 
 So in and outer sight receives by touch. 
 We will with Bartimgeus straight lay by 
 Our cloak of pride, to plead for Christ's re- 
 touch ; 
 That gives to soul and body, sight of eye 
 For brother's need : so hear His, — "Inasmuch." 
 
 XXIX 
 
 No tinted cloud aglow with roseal gleam, 
 
 Nor wave-washed shore, nor land-loved mount 
 
 or vale. 
 Nor fragile flower of rose, or lily pale. 
 Unfolds a grace beshorn of sunny beam. 
 Birth-blind to nature's broad inspiring theme. 
 Living a lapse of years without her grail. 
 By touch he sees the light that all men hail, 
 Lifting his life above an empty dream. 
 Conceived in sin, blinding soul-sight in birth. 
 We walk in darkness drear without the Light, 
 That 'lumes the lurid pathway of this earth : 
 Whose healing touch alone turns dark to 
 
 bright. 
 We'll count as dross the ills of little worth. 
 When glorified to view the wrong aright. 
 
174 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 XXX 
 
 Departing day a passing halo shed; 
 Ineffable glow of hue and coloring, 
 O'er mount and emerald mead and growing 
 
 thing : 
 Lifting the thought to God, our living head. 
 Hasting from Jewish fane with winged feet sped, 
 An angry mob, a prisoner pale now bring 
 To brow of hill to thrust with headlong fling. 
 Lo! straight He passes through their midst 
 
 instead. 
 The blinding mist of passions fell, their sight 
 Obscures : tho' seeing see Him not. The veil 
 Of sin and unbelief beclouds our Light. 
 Tho' in our midst to-day, within our hail. 
 We see Him not ; He passes to our right : 
 To grasp the blessing of our soul so fail. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 Methinks I hear flutterings of ethereal wings, 
 Moving the motionless pool styled, Mercy: 
 Inviting withered, halt and blind, to be 
 Healed in its fount of healthful eddyings. 
 The mobile tide of years no surcease brings 
 To soul with none to help his infirmity. 
 Hearing, — "Wilt thou be whole? Hast faith 
 
 to see? 
 Arise and walk !" to Christ his p^an sings. 
 In flowing fount for sin, uncleanliness, 
 
Miracles i75 
 
 Tremulous with the Spirit's vibration, 
 We only have to bathe no more, no less, 
 To straight become a whole new creation. 
 To hear to heed His call in soul's distress, 
 Is to receive from sin, full salvation. 
 
 XXXII 
 
 The mellow haze of golden day, dissolves 
 In mezzo-hue of gloaming night agleam 
 With amethystine glow of paling beam: 
 Veiling the light that haply it evolves. 
 The greater Light round which the soul revolves. 
 Seeing a tree full-grown with leaves beteem, 
 Seeking the fruit of age alone the cream, 
 Findeth naught but leaves. "No more devolves 
 On thee the joy of bearing fruit ; accursed 
 Art thou :" spake He, who with primordial right 
 Looks for the fruitful life from last to first. 
 In creatures of His care. Refuse the fight, 
 Live selfish lives in self-full gain immersed. 
 We nothing bear but leaves in God's clear sight. 
 
 XXXIII 
 
 Gray dawn in pallid robe awoke the morn, 
 In sympathetic hue with garden pale 
 On Olivet, o'erlooking Kedron's vale. 
 Nature adroop with suffering God, grief-worn. 
 Behold tumultuous mob with frenzy torn, 
 O'er lopped off ear of fellow servant hale ! 
 
1/6 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 "Put sword in sheath ; for me 'twill not avail ! 
 Shall I not drink my Father's cup unshorn?" 
 Spake Christ, replacing ear by healing touch. 
 Impart, O Lord, Thy love of Father's will. 
 That crowned Thee in the suffering hour with 
 
 such 
 Transcendent joy and peace to conquer ill. 
 The unity of will we need as much : 
 His glory in our lives to so fulfill. 
 
Parables 177 
 
 PARABLES 
 
 The hoar and hail of winter's rime dissolve 
 In melting dews, in mellow showers of spring; 
 Awaking earth from rest, to fresh resolve 
 To re-create ; from old new beauty bring : 
 Calling the sower forth to waiting field, 
 To scatter grain where'er he finds a way. 
 Tho' haply it might fall where thorns full yield. 
 Where fluttering fowls of air have fuller play, 
 Where sportive breeze lays bare the stony 
 
 ground, 
 In deep rich soil alone might only root. 
 The quickening words of truth in fruit abound. 
 When prayer of faith prepares the heart for 
 
 shoot : 
 Green as the olive's fresh fertility, 
 In ripe old age will e'en more fruitful be. 
 
 II 
 
 The clarion call of feathered minstrel's lay. 
 Resounds in rich full tones thro' norland wold. 
 Apprising all of spring's approaching day. 
 When tiller breaks the fallow ground of old: 
 Preparing soil for sowing of the seed. 
 Lo! tares akin to wheat are found full nigh. 
 Who had the heart to do so ill a deed ? 
 
17^ The Heavenly Voice 
 
 "Thy foe found thee asleep:" came quick reply. 
 "Both now must grow anear till harvest comes : 
 Lest wheat with tares ye thereby thus destroy." 
 Full oft the ill, the seeming good becomes, 
 So none but Christ detects the base alloy. 
 They side by side the years of cycle run, 
 When only pure in heart shall shine as sun. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Behold the wayside tree so stately grown ! 
 O'ershot with branching boughs of leafy shade. 
 Sweet minstrels of the air orchestral throne, 
 Their canopy of state, their restful glade. 
 You wonder how it sprung from seed so small, 
 How it attained to such proportions high. 
 Only a little mustard seed, that's all, 
 That grew and grew to live nor stopped to die. 
 The grace of God first planted in the soul, 
 Tho' like in size to smallest of all seeds, 
 If nurtured under Spirit's wise control. 
 Will flourish, grow, unchecked by noxious 
 
 weeds. 
 Symmetrical in growth as portly palm, 
 Exhaling hallowed fragrance sweet as balm. 
 
 IV 
 
 The ebbing wave reluctant leaves the shore. 
 In cove, in cave with memory moist to cling. 
 Returns in high-tide glee to sanded floor, 
 
Parables 179 
 
 To flood with yeasty foam the fresh pure 
 
 spring. 
 Hid deep in measures three of golden meal, 
 A little leaven left to work its way, 
 Set all the atoms, molecules areel 
 With joy at being brought to light of day. 
 The leaven of God's word if hid in heart, 
 Is like a stream issuing from its source; 
 Unseen at first, soon gains in every part, 
 Apprising all of rushing mighty force. 
 To overturn, to break all barriers down: 
 In so removing sin is won the crown. 
 
 V 
 
 Deep down in earth's entrails lie hidden gems. 
 Awaiting light for scintillating glow. 
 Requiring touch to shine in diadems. 
 Rewarding search beyond man's power to 
 
 know. 
 Behold him finding treasure-trove in field. 
 Gloating with secret joy full hard to hide. 
 Parting with all to paid possession wield. 
 Removed from fear of loss to safe confide! 
 Thou art, O Lord, a mine of richest vein ! 
 A field of joy to all who find Thee out. 
 Thy goodness, grace and power, a mighty main 
 To hedge around, to compass us about. 
 Golconda's mines ne'er proved so rich, I wis : 
 To give up all for Thee, this, this is bliss. 
 
iSo The Heavenly Voice 
 
 VI 
 
 Close clinging to the deep sea's resting hold, 
 A little suffering one safe refuge finds, 
 To cover wound with beauty manifold: 
 With iridescent glow the opening binds. 
 So formed for beauty's use is nature's pearl, 
 That merchant seeks to gain at any cost : 
 Tho' haply it involves his all in whirl, 
 He wins in value more than he has lost. 
 As hies the hunted hare to covert nigh, 
 When sorely wounded in the heated chase. 
 So flees the stricken soul to God most high. 
 Who closes gaping wound with healing grace : 
 So cicatrice o'er grievous suffering formed. 
 Is into pearl of Christly life transformed. 
 
 VII 
 
 Above, below, around, thick walls of wave, 
 Form habitat for countless finny folk. 
 The wave-fret vaulted dome, the aisled nave, 
 Of creatures winged, forms rayed in starry 
 
 spoke. 
 Brought up in dragnet from the briny deep, 
 Want sorting o'er and o'er; the good obtains: 
 Discarded bad is cast on refuse heap. 
 Where famished fire devours the last remains. 
 The militant host oft tread His sacred court, 
 From motives intermixed 'twixt wrong and 
 
 right. 
 
Parables i8i 
 
 Some bow in suppliance sweet for faith's 
 
 support, 
 Some thank the Lord for outer semblance 
 
 white : 
 While only He who reads intent of heart, 
 Sees Satan masked in angel's saintly part. 
 
 VIII 
 
 The worn-out trunk is tottering to its fall : 
 Creation's beauty once, her ruin now. 
 When clothed with verdurous vine and branch- 
 ing pall. 
 Its primal use and grace fulfilled enow. 
 New wine in bottles old will but o'erflow : 
 When new ferments the olden skin is rent. 
 Likewise new cloth in old we cannot sew. 
 Lest unshrunk new tear out the old bespent. 
 Give o'er the furbishing old forms with new : 
 Mourn not the passing rites of days gone by, 
 Tho' vested once with beauty's graces true. 
 The old would better serve the new to die. 
 As phoenix-like the bloom of budding flower 
 Can only spring from seed in dying hour. 
 
 IX 
 
 Behold yon prostrate form abjectly bowed! 
 Crouching in servile fear before his lord. 
 The orbs dilate, the whole demeanor cowed. 
 Implead for mercy more than words accord. 
 
i82 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 What hath he done? why should he show such 
 
 fear ? 
 He owes much more than he can ever pay : 
 Yet lenient lord forgives with right good cheer. 
 Tho' brought to mercy's school forgot her way, 
 In throttling one she taught him to forgive : 
 So forfeits all he sought, or failed to show. 
 As face for face the answering streamlets give. 
 As flowers from flower first germinate and 
 
 grow, 
 So surely he who closes mercy's eyes, 
 Will equal measure meet beyond the skies. 
 
 X 
 
 Soft scintillating glows in stellar space. 
 
 Gleam through the darkness of the vaulted 
 
 dome: 
 Lending to lucent orb of night, the place 
 She holds of lighting up terrestrial home. 
 As God hath set His astral lamps in sky. 
 To shimmer, shine with white, effulgent glow, 
 So man will place his lighted candle high. 
 Where it may luminate with freer show. 
 All, all is light ! there is no night with Thee : 
 Thy presence pierces gloom of dark despair. 
 Refulgent Orb ! shine in our hearts, so we 
 May more and more Thy radiant image bear. 
 Reflecting thus in godly life and work. 
 Thy glory bright undimmed by shade or murk. 
 
Parables 183 
 
 XI 
 
 The shifting, shunting sands unstable lie; 
 The passing play of breeze off sea and shore : 
 Lending the fisher's hut to flood-wave high, 
 An easy prey, a memory, nothing more. 
 The firm unyielding rocks eternal rest, 
 From age to age thro' countless eons long: 
 Where only wise securely builds his nest. 
 Finding an anchor-hold, foundation strong. 
 The curious soul in quest of some new truth, 
 Eager to hear but never to obey. 
 Is like an hourglass in life's gripe and ruth. 
 While he who hears and understands Christ's 
 
 way, 
 Living the truth in lowly service, prayer. 
 Hath hold secure when storm clouds burst in air. 
 
 XII 
 
 See you yon man, prone, prostrate in the dust ? 
 He moves nor hand nor foot; he seems nigh 
 
 gone. 
 "What's happened him? He'll soon revive. I 
 
 trust." 
 Alas ! he met with thieves at early dawn. 
 Here comes a priest ordained of God to save. 
 He'll surely aid. No? he passes by. 
 Behold a Levite nears ! the wounds he'll lave. 
 He only turns to look and leaves him lie. 
 He'll die, poor soul, for want of succor, cheer. 
 
184 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Rejoice ! he neighbor finds in love's great heart. 
 So Thou dost teach us, Lord, our neighbor near, 
 Is one in need of all we might impart. 
 How can we love Thee tr-uly as we ought, 
 When we no neighbor see in heart grief- 
 wrought ! 
 
 xni 
 
 "What's that! Is some one rapping at my 
 
 door? 
 I'm dreaming sure ; 'tis striking midnight's 
 
 hour. 
 
 list ! my name is echoing o'er and o'er. 
 Nay, 'tis the sighing wind in leafy bower." 
 Now full awake, he hears insistent voice : 
 
 "A friend from far hath found my larder bare. 
 Three loaves our need will meet, our heart re- 
 joice. 
 
 1 pray thee help me out, if thou can spare." 
 At last he rises not for need but rest. 
 
 The thought's inception first, the dawning wish, 
 Thou knowest. Lord, nor needest our request. 
 So we know rest of faith is Thy forewish, 
 When Thou delayest long to answer prayer: 
 For waiting answer is beyond compare. 
 
 XIV 
 
 The favoring gales a fairy spell have wrought, 
 By softening, genial showers on crusty earth ; 
 Which yields as surly child when so besought. 
 
Parables 185 
 
 Producing more in pay for former dearth : 
 So causing reaper really live concern, 
 To find sufficient store for rich increase. 
 In lieu of placing where it could not burn, 
 He built anew to wanton with long lease. 
 Lo ! straight the summons came to close account. 
 All we possess is from Thy plenteous hand. 
 Thy favoring factors we can ne'er discount: 
 Shouldst Thou want all 'twould be Thy just 
 
 demand. 
 Thou only wishest, Lord, what we can spare, 
 So in Thy joy of giving we may share. 
 
 XV 
 "My store of bread and wine is ready now. 
 Go forth ; bid all the guests to my repast !" 
 Lo ! none will come : all make excuse somehow. 
 "Go bid the hungry poor who long do fast ! 
 The highways, hedge will straight supply the 
 
 need :" 
 So spake a lord who sought to share his feast. 
 Too busy, Lord, to give Thy call a heed. 
 No time to feast on Thee; no, not the least. 
 How much we miss we may not ever know. 
 Till we too late shall seek to be Thy guest. 
 Why do we spurn Thy largess, bounty so? 
 Why grieve Thee by the sordid, selfly 
 
 quest ? 
 We need to hunger, thirst for living bread. 
 Ere we partake of feast so costly spread. 
 
l86 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 XVI 
 
 Far away from the fold o'er moor and hill, 
 To velvet vales where tranquil waters lie, 
 The flock are led with never-failing skill : 
 Some follow close to keep the shepherd nigh, 
 Some wander far afield beyond his call. 
 Lo ! straying one is lost upon the wold. 
 Ere ebon shades of night untimely fall. 
 The ninety-nine securely in the fold, 
 He seeks the lost oft calling o'er his name: 
 Rejoicing more o'er stray than all the rest. 
 We bleat like poor lost sheep foot-sore and lame, 
 When lures of sin have lost their former zest : 
 We're lost unless we hear the shepherd's voice, 
 Who seeks to save so all may well rejoice. 
 
 XVH 
 
 "Woe, woe is me ! so ill betides the day. 
 
 My heart is well-nigh broke ! I am undone ! 
 
 I ne'er can raise my head ! What will folks say ! 
 
 My love will cast me off as one to shun. 
 
 Unless I silver find from necklace lost." 
 
 So straight she sweeps the house till piece is 
 
 found. 
 With joyous cry her neighbors doth accost: 
 "Rejoice ! rejoice ! my virtue hath no wound." 
 Take, take, dear Lord, this noisome, unclean 
 
 heart : 
 The corners dark for Thy most thorough work. 
 
Parables 187 
 
 If haply Thou may'st find in hidden part, 
 Thy shining image sheer of mire or murk. 
 So more rejoicing Thee o'er lost in me, 
 Than I can joy in being found of Thee. 
 
 XVIII 
 
 Yon goodly tree so stout, so strong of limb, 
 
 So fair to see, so favored as to site, 
 
 Doth it fulfill the use designed by him, 
 
 Who set it out ? Will fruit his toil requite ? 
 
 "Vain hope! it bore no figs these three years 
 past." 
 
 Then cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground ? 
 
 "Let me enrich some more; 'twill yield re- 
 past,—" 
 
 The dresser pleads : "I'll surely bring it round." 
 
 Thou grantest, Lord, conditions right for 
 growth. 
 
 The genial, melting shower ; the favoring gale. 
 
 Thou sparest naught : Thou wisely givest both. 
 
 Why should we disappoint Thee so? Why 
 fail 
 
 To give the fruit. Thou rightly lookest for ? 
 
 Bear with us. Lord, we'll yield Thee all the more. 
 
 XIX 
 
 "The swineherd's husk is all my earthly store: 
 His hated task my loathing soul detests. 
 How great the contrast to my life before ! 
 
i88 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Why stay where famine, want have built their 
 
 nests ? 
 I will arise to find my father's love ; 
 Implore his pardon on my bended knee : 
 Tho' I have tried him sore, as heaven's above, 
 He'll hear my cry. His face I straight must 
 
 see." 
 So son, who portion spent in living fast. 
 Restored by want to full forgiveness find. 
 Thou waitest, Lord, to so forgive the past, 
 Yearning with father-love our wounds to bind. 
 We lowly bow to plead for pardon sweet, 
 Lo ! straight Thou raisest us with joyous greet. 
 
 XX 
 
 The purpling vines low droop with luscious 
 
 fruit : 
 Ripening in autumn's haze to roseate hue. 
 From tender, trailing branch to green offshoot, 
 Each bears an Eshcol bunch ; the old with new. 
 Behold he goeth forth at early dawn. 
 To call the idlers from the open mart ! 
 Contracting full day's wage for each man's 
 
 brawn ; 
 At several hours engaging more as smart: 
 Giving to last-hour men the same as first. 
 Why stand we idle here from morn till eve? 
 When suffering souls are parched with hunger, 
 
 thirst, 
 Calling us oft to succor, save relieve. 
 
Parables 189 
 
 Thy smile, O Lord, th' afifluent, equal wage. 
 Of all, who last to first Thy work engage. 
 
 XXI 
 
 O see ! right yonder, there by Dives' gate ! 
 
 A sight to soften, melt a heart of stone. 
 
 Tho' man show pity scant, the curs in wait 
 
 Show more, in plying healing art alone. 
 
 For suffering soul in travail, hunger, dirt; 
 
 Sharing the crumbs from rich man's costly fare ; 
 
 Who lolls in luxury's ease: a dear desert, 
 
 To expiate in hell for soul's impair. 
 
 While he so earthly poor, yet heavenly rich, 
 
 Is borne on angel's wing to Paradise. 
 
 We only pray Thee, Lord, our souls enrich 
 
 With faith's increase; with love that satisfies: 
 
 Not with the bauble of mere worldly joys. 
 
 That shatters, ruins soul it so decoys. 
 
 XXII 
 
 Turning it o'er, crumbling the earthy crust, 
 Refining rough, hard soil for nature's use, 
 God's little tillers true, worms of the dust. 
 Deserve from man much more than mere abuse. 
 Dropping the seed in ready soil, 'tis left 
 To germinate, to grow he knows not how. 
 First springs the blade; the stalk with ear is 
 
 cleft 
 When fully ripe, for greater use somehow. 
 
190 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 So know we not how God's good seed is grown, 
 When dropped in heart first fertihzed by grace. 
 The blade of hope, the stalk of faith is shown, 
 By fruitful ear of love in one embrace. 
 Thou'rt ripening us for larger service, Lord : 
 For trinity of faith, hope, love in word. 
 
 XXIII 
 
 Behold the pompous strut ! the prideful look ! 
 The self-conceited smirk! the hateful air! 
 Of one in holy Temple's hallowed nook. 
 Praying in vain his loud, self-righteous prayer : 
 "I thank Thee, Lord, for all I do and give; 
 That I no sinner am, like yonder man :" 
 Who kneeling low is pleading, — "God, forgive; 
 Be merciful, I pray, if so Thou can." 
 Thou seest. Lord, the humble, contrite heart; 
 For such shows need of Thy forgiving love; 
 Which Thou wilt freely, graciously impart. 
 To those who see their sins in light above: 
 So clearly teaching us, not works alone. 
 But faith can for the sinner's guilt atone. 
 
 XXIV 
 
 Dun, dismal, drear, night's funereal pall. 
 Envelops all within his somber sphere. 
 Without, gay mirthful morn awaits a call. 
 To dissipate his gloom with joyous cheer. 
 "Prepare the room; make ready for the feast!" 
 
Parables 191 
 
 A king invites to marriage of his son. 
 
 All make excuse from greatest unto least : 
 
 Some even slay his servants one by one. 
 
 Lo! highways, hedge now furnish feast with 
 
 guests. 
 Alas ! one's found without the festal robe. 
 "Come one, come all to feast,—" God still re- 
 quests : 
 "Tho' bred in hovel, palace, hut adobe. 
 If clothed in Christly raiment, white as snow, 
 I will, I cannot cast you out, O no !" 
 
 XXV 
 
 "Occupy, occupy until I come ! 
 
 You represent my cause 'fore worldly bar. 
 
 Be loyal, leal ; I leave you each a sum." 
 
 So lord, who journeyed to the country far; 
 
 Returning found all faithful save the one, 
 
 Who hid his pound in napkin closely bound : 
 
 So justly lost the gift deserving none. 
 
 While he, who gained the most got one more 
 
 pound. 
 What privilege so rare! What rank so 
 
 great ! 
 To represent the Lord high over all. 
 So abject, wretched, poor at best estate. 
 Are all His living creatures great or small. 
 As Thou hast chosen us to show forth Thee, 
 We occupy Thy place in simple fee. 
 
192 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 XXVI 
 
 Night's veiling mist, dense, darksome, void of 
 
 cheer, 
 Dissolves as softening dew on parched earth, 
 When morn's resplendent orb moves nigher, 
 
 near. 
 Lo! glorious, gladsome day evolves from birth. 
 Two sons make like response to father's call : 
 "Go forth, work in my vineyard while 'tis day !" 
 The one by act, the other's word his all. 
 While he who went, made father's will his way. 
 Arise, shine forth. Thou lucent Orb of light 1 
 Dispel the gloom and glower of shady sin : 
 So we no more may walk in darkest night. 
 Not seeing, knowing our way out or in. 
 We hear Thee calling still, — "This way is out; 
 Doing the Father's will is face about." 
 
 XXVII 
 
 "Master ! I hear Thy praise so highly sung, 
 I fain would Thy disciple, follower be. 
 I've kept all God's commands since I was young : 
 What need I more to straight become like Thee ? 
 What good deed do to gain eternal Hfe?" 
 "If thou wouldst follow me, sell all thou hast ; 
 Give to the poor; their days with cheer make 
 
 rife: 
 So lay thy treasure up where it will last." 
 Alas ! he Master grieved in going 'way. 
 
Parables i93 
 
 Will we so grieve Thee, Lord, if put to test? 
 Hold our possessions higher than Thy pay, 
 In letting them outweigh eternal rest? 
 Prepare our selfish souls to give Thee all, 
 So we may hear and heed Thy daily call. 
 
 XXVIII 
 
 In stilly watches of the quiet night, 
 The charms of nature lapt in lulling fold, 
 The astral lamps aglow with twinkling light, 
 A cry is heard,— 'The bridegroom comes, 
 
 behold!" 
 Ten sleeping virgins wake from drowsy sleep ; 
 Five trim, refill their lamps to enter in. 
 While foolish five seek oil they failed to keep, 
 The door is shut with only wise within. 
 "Open to us !" they cry : "we wait without." 
 Alas ! he heeds them not : they've come too late. 
 The Spirit's oil supply need ne'er run out ; 
 'Tis meant to last thro' life's long fitful wait : 
 If sought in prayer, if kept with watchful care, 
 We'll enter in the Bridegroom's joy to share. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 Hedged in, around, about from all without, ^ 
 Cleared free of rubbish, stones and all debris, 
 A central watchtower keeping sharp lookout. 
 Lent vineyard's press complete security. 
 A lord his vineyard let to husbandmen, 
 
194 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 While he in country far prolonged his stay. 
 In fruitage time for fruit he sent his men, 
 To have them wounded, beaten, stoned in fray. 
 He lastly sent his son for better fare. 
 Alas ! they killed him too to keep each part. 
 In slaying Christ we bear an equal share, 
 When we deny His right to rule the heart. 
 Will we not justly reap as we have sown, 
 When He shall come from heaven to claim His 
 own? 
 
 XXX 
 
 "Come one, come all, ye servants of my race, 
 
 Partakers of my benefits, my fare: 
 
 As I once more would see you face to face, 
 
 Ere I to country far my way repair." 
 
 So spake their lord, bestowing gifts on each: 
 
 Talents, five, two and one as best could use. 
 
 Tho' long away returns to hear their speech. 
 
 Two render gifts twofold with thanks profuse: 
 
 While one reproaches lord for gift untried. 
 
 Thou leavest not one out ; Thou giv'st to all, 
 
 O Lord; Thy bounty cannot be denied. 
 
 Our use Thy measure's gift, tho' seeming small. 
 
 If we expend one gift in Thine employ, 
 
 How rich is our reward, O Lord, Thy joy ! 
 
 XXXI 
 
 Grazing anear on hilly slope or plain. 
 Cropping the herbage short with relish keen, 
 
Parables 195 
 
 Gamboling from sheer delight o'er soft cham- 
 paign, 
 The playful flock depict the pastoral scene. 
 Two shepherds having flocks of sheep and goats, 
 Have met nearby for sweet, for close converse ; 
 As intermingling of each charge denotes: 
 But part at last to separate, disperse. 
 So Christ will separate the good from bad, 
 When 'fore His throne we answer for each deed. 
 If we dispense to poor, rejoice the sad, 
 Visit the sick, the hungry stranger feed, 
 We'll hear, — "Come nigh ; ye did it unto me." 
 If not, — "Depart ! I have no need of thee." 
 
 XXXII 
 
 "What's this I hear! It surely is untrue. 
 You would not recreant prove to such a trust. 
 There's some mistake. I put such faith in you. 
 Bring your account, 'twill falsify distrust." 
 "They truly say, my lord ; alas ! alas ! 
 T cannot dig or beg ; what shall I do ? 
 Ere all is lost I must some more amass. 
 I'll make his debtors friends with this in view.' " 
 Increase of life is Thine alone to give. 
 Our money, goods and time are also Thine. 
 Thou lendest. Lord, the needful breath to live ; 
 'Twixt Thine and ours we cannot draw the 
 
 line: 
 So held in trust shall we for self expend? 
 Or shall we render Thee all Thou dost lend? 
 
196 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 XXXIII 
 
 The shadowy darkness of the gloom profound, 
 Is yielding place to light's low paling beam : 
 Impalpable at first to sight or sound, 
 To lastly glow with fully glorious gleam. 
 From outer darkness shut to inner light, 
 With girded loins they wait their lord's return : 
 Tho' in the second watch or third of night. 
 They'll open to his knock with lights aburn. 
 We will not see Thee, Lord, if lights be out; 
 We will not hear Thee knock if lulled in sleep : 
 Thy coming never will be noised about. 
 Thou only bid'st us wait, strict watch to keep. 
 So we may hear Thy call to enter in : 
 Where we like Thee shall nothing know of sin. 
 
 XXXIV 
 
 "That tiresome woman, how she plagues my life ! 
 From dawn to dusky eve her cry resounds : 
 'Give justice, judge, to stay unseemly strife.' 
 I fear not God or man ; why heal her wounds ? 
 This widow's tale of woe is naught to me. 
 For fear she'll prove my death, I'll grant request. 
 I'll suffer so no more ; I must be free." 
 So unjust judge, who only wanted rest. 
 When we so call, O Lord, wilt Thou not hear? 
 We will not weary Thee in coming oft, 
 Tho' our continual cry is in Thine ear, 
 As Ji]olian strain 'tis sweet as soft. 
 
Parables 197 
 
 In mercy's plea, Thou hearest Thy son's voice : 
 So causing Thee to evermore rejoice. 
 
 XXXV 
 
 "Come gird thy loins anew for service due. 
 My urgent need requires thine utmost speed. 
 The worn-out hours awearied waiting you. 
 I fain would sup ; haste, minister to need." 
 So lord to one who plows and sows his field : 
 Whose right to rule his time he must allow ; 
 Tho' he to lord will not his pleasure yield, 
 His prior right he dare not disavow. 
 Our pleasure, service, need is ever first: 
 Tho' Thou art Giver great of all we own. 
 Of all Thy useless servants we're the worst. 
 When we misuse what Thou dost only loan. 
 Our service will not add nor take from Thee, 
 We only lose in failing so to see. 
 
 XXXVI 
 
 "My absent lord remains so long away. 
 He'll ne'er return to claim his rightful own. 
 I'll take my ease ; fill out my little day. 
 With pleasure's round : enjoy my will alone." 
 So acted, thought the evil servant out. 
 Not so the steward wise who loved his lord ; 
 Expecting his return kept close lookout: 
 Found doing master's will reaped rich reward. 
 If we should know Thy will and do it not, 
 
igS The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Thinking Thy absence long enough excuse, 
 For soiHng Hfe's fair page with sinful blot, 
 Thou'lt call us tO' account for time's abuse. 
 May we so love Thy righteous, loving will, 
 We will for joy Thy least behest fulfill. 
 
 XXXVII 
 
 "What think ye of that infamous affair, 
 Which yestereve took place at wedding feast?" 
 "What was it pray ? I could not well be there." 
 "Two came to blows o'er greatest seat not 
 
 least." 
 Each thought himself should be the honored 
 
 guest. 
 As always happens in so plain a case, 
 Neither obtained the highly sought for quest. 
 The one in lowly place found master's grace." 
 Thou givest grace to those of humble heart, 
 Who nothing think of self for thought of Thee : 
 To such Thy gifts most safely can impart. 
 As they a brother's right would clearer see. 
 Free us, dear Lord, from every thought of self, 
 So Thou may'st keep us ever near Thyself. 
 
 XXXVIII 
 
 In oriental pose reclined, around 
 The festal board, a little company wait; 
 While one from love's excess, with tress un- 
 bound, 
 
Parables 199 
 
 Wipes tear-kissed, fragrant feet of guest of 
 
 state ; 
 Who answers thought: "Simon, I have some- 
 what 
 To say to thee right here." "Master, say on." 
 "Two debtors to their lord were in same lot : 
 Tho' one owed ten times more he thereupon 
 Forgave them both. Which, think ye loved him 
 
 most?" 
 We are Thy debtors all ; with naught to pay. 
 Tho' sins loom up as large as armed host, 
 Still Thou forgivest, Lord, in Thine own 
 
 way. 
 If we know not the soundless deep of sin. 
 How can we love Hke those redeemed therein? 
 
 XXXIX 
 
 How wondrous fair this beauteous morn of 
 
 morns. 
 Dawning in roseal light o'er circling hill ! 
 Exhaling balm for all she so adorns. 
 What power with joy the senses new to thrill ! 
 A man of family called to country far. 
 Assigns to member each his special work. 
 He bids his porter watch ; from house debar 
 Intruders all who thereabout may lurk. 
 When that blest morn unveils to raptured 
 
 view. 
 When we behold our best Beloved's return. 
 If He shall find us with the faithful few, 
 
2O0 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 How great our joy! What love our hearts will 
 
 burn ! 
 Come when Thou wilt, Thou canst not come too 
 
 soon, 
 Dear Lord, if Thou shalt find our hearts in tune. 
 
 XL 
 
 Behold a mystery newly fresh, tho' old 
 
 As the eternal hills ; a lifeless branch 
 
 All bare and brown, begins to bud, unfold 
 
 The emerald leaf ; presaging summer's launch ! 
 
 When fig tree putteth forth her tender leaf, 
 
 We know the winter's past ; the summer's nigh : 
 
 So full, set time for garnering in the sheaf, 
 
 Approacheth hour by hour as signs descry. 
 
 We watch, we pray, we wait Thy coming, Lord, 
 
 As storm-tossed sailors look for sight of land. 
 
 Come soon, come late, we trust Thy truthful 
 
 word, 
 Thou'lt safely pilot us to shore by hand. 
 Unchanging as the seasons in their course, 
 Thy word is still our solace, our resource. 
 
Words 201 
 
 WORDS 
 I 
 
 See! see! they come thro' Temple's wide-oped 
 
 door! 
 A motley, swaying mass of surging men : 
 Dragging a sinning woman from her den, 
 To see if Christ would judge her by their lore. 
 He stoops to write with finger on the floor : 
 "None doeth good on earth ; no, no, not one." 
 Then says, — "He without sin can cast first 
 
 stone." 
 Bowing He writes with finger as before : 
 "Judge not lest ye be judged." Lo! all were 
 
 fled. 
 Thou seest not alone the outward act, 
 Thou weighest up the motive whence it sped. 
 If both be joined in godly righteous pact, 
 From Thy just judgment we have naught to 
 
 fear: 
 "Judge not lest ye be judged:" we else shall 
 
 hear. 
 
 n 
 
 "Ye are my friend." O gracious word of 
 
 Thine ! 
 Replete with plenitude of potent thought. 
 Glowing with imagery of love inwrought. 
 Frailty to friendship v/ith the Lord divine! 
 
202 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Thine orb of thought, ideal, purpose mine ! 
 My fancy fails for its illumination. 
 Mine to enjoy, hold without limitation, 
 If word of Thine my actions, will, entwine. 
 Thy friend, dear Lord, weak, sinful me, Thy 
 
 friend ! 
 Finite to company with the Infinite ! 
 All, all is Thine, for Thee to use, expend, 
 As Thou best wilt : in ways Thou seest fit. 
 List ! list ! I hear Thee sweetly saying still : 
 "Ye are my friend if ye shall do my will." 
 
 Ill 
 "Lovest thou me ?" A searching query. Lord. 
 Have I not truly loved Thee all the while. 
 Since first I caught reflection of Thy smile. 
 Which tuned my heart to Thine in sweet 
 
 accord. 
 Without untimely break or jarring chord? 
 Wherefore so grieve Thy child with word thrice 
 
 put: 
 "Lovest thou me ?" Dost find in me no root 
 Of love? No lower depth to be explored? 
 Thy, — "Feed my lambs:" lets in a flood of 
 
 light. 
 My love should show the loving, saintly deed, 
 As well as word, to ring real true and right : 
 Not with the hollowness of hollow reed. 
 As Thou hast daily fed and nourished me. 
 So may I feed the lambs far, far from Thee. 
 
Words 203 
 
 IV 
 
 Behold ! they jostle, press, jog each around. 
 The passer-by but adds one more to throng : 
 To hear a voice sound sweeter than a song. 
 What is it all about? They list spellbound, 
 As if all glued and rooted to the ground, 
 Lo! one admirer says, — "Master, to speak 
 With Thee, Thy mother, brethren long do seek." 
 Pointing to His disciples standing round, — 
 "But those who do God's will are kin to me." 
 A kinsman near of Christ ; with Him coheir ; 
 The right to, — "Abba, Father :" ours to be ; 
 The riches of His glory too to share ! 
 For this most gracious word Thy name we laud : 
 "If Spirit-led, ye are the sons of God." 
 
 Around the festal board they muster all ; 
 The sinner, saint of differing creed and race, 
 With highly honored guest to lend it grace : 
 Greatly beloved alike by great and small. 
 In either humble hut or lordly hall. 
 Hear query put with Pharisaic air, — 
 "Why eats thy Master with the rabble there?" 
 The Master straight replies, — "I came to call 
 The sinners all not righteous to repent." 
 No sweeter word e'er fell on mortal ear. 
 Toward me God's kindling anger doth relent : 
 Thy loving call so frees me from all fear. 
 
204 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 My sins so sore, have hurt, have grieved Thee 
 
 more: 
 Take, take them all, blood-wash them o'er and 
 
 o'er. 
 
 VI 
 
 Fair with thy fairy form of infantile grace, 
 Beauteous with the blush of early morn, 
 Ere time's sly theft hath dewy freshness shorn, 
 Thou heart's delight, hope, promise of thy race. 
 Come in our midst, teach us of older face ! 
 Tho' small in stature, yet in place how great! 
 To such as thee heaven's kingdom stands await. 
 "In kingdom of God's grace there's only place. 
 For those converted by a childlike faith." 
 So spake the Lord to His disciples all. 
 The sere and yellow leaf of gross unfaith, 
 From grace marks sure our slow, continual fall. 
 Return, O Lord, our spring of childlike trust. 
 Lest we should fail to enter through distrust. 
 
 vn 
 
 "I am so weary, Lord; alone I toil, 
 
 And slave from hush of morn till hue of eve, 
 
 Until I sorely fret and greatly grieve. 
 
 While Mary here cares not how hard I moil. 
 
 She will not lift a finger lest it soil. 
 
 Bid her, dear Lord, show me a sister's heart." 
 
 "Mary hath chosen well the better part; 
 
 The one thing needful to undo care's coil." 
 
Words 205 
 
 Forgive, dear Lord, my want of prayerful 
 
 thought ; 
 I do not serve alone in serving Thee. 
 When wearied unto death o'er labors wrought, 
 I'm not with Thee as Thine own child should be. 
 Thy presence lifts each burden, lights each 
 
 care. 
 So winging spirit breathes ethereal air. 
 
 VIII 
 
 "Love thine enemy." What ! love ! dost mean to 
 
 love 
 The one who wronged as only man can wrong. 
 The trusting woman's heart that loved him 
 
 long, 
 That nestled in his bosom, as a dove 
 O'erwearied with her wandering flight above ? 
 My woman's dower of love I freely gave. 
 Nor aught withheld. He used me like a slave. 
 Love's fire long burned to ash leaves naught to 
 
 move. 
 Still, still, dear Lord, Thou lovest even me. 
 Tho' I have spurned Thy greater love the 
 
 more. 
 Thy love is no whit less ; 'tis all of Thee : 
 The measureless reach of sea without a shore. 
 Since Thou so lovest me, pray teach me how. 
 Peace troubled heart, thou lov'st thine enemy 
 
 now. 
 
2o6 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 IX 
 
 "Live not by bread alone." How shall I live, 
 Dear Lord ? How else this fluttering life sustain, 
 With oft-recurring needs ; with constant strain 
 Of brawn and brain ? How sustenance to give 
 The life-blood draining drop by drop heart's 
 
 sieve ? 
 "I said, dear child, live not by bread alone. 
 But by my word, so make my life thine own. 
 But life eternal will the old outlive," 
 Help me to clearly see ere 'tis too late. 
 That hunger of the soul if unappeased, 
 Brings death eternal lying close in wait ; 
 That earthly care and toil are only eased. 
 By feasting on the manna of Thy word : 
 Life fuller, freer than I've known or heard. 
 
 X 
 
 Jesus! Thou name of names most sweet, most 
 
 dear. 
 Wherefore so dear, delightsome is thy sound? 
 Like old forgotten melody new found. 
 That pulses through the soul from ravished ear: 
 Attuning strings to some diviner sphere. 
 'Tis not for euphony of letters soft. 
 With smooth alliteration coming oft, 
 'Tis for the ringing note of joyous cheer: 
 "For He shall save His people from their sin :" 
 Which dries the eye, lends hope a soaring wing. 
 
Words 207 
 
 To mount above this earthy noise and din; 
 So teaching me the glad, new song to sing. 
 Praise, praise be unto thee most glorious name, 
 That saves a soul from sin, a life from shame. 
 
 XI 
 
 "Follow thou me." Where to, dear Lord? I 
 
 fain 
 Would stay awhile within this restful dell. 
 Where murmuring streams sweet madrigals oft 
 
 tell. 
 Yon mount is strewn with many a brier, cane, 
 O'er which my stumbling feet would swell with 
 
 sprain. 
 How can I follow Thee o'er such a road? 
 Is there no other path to Thine abode? 
 "No, no ! who treads my step the goal will gain. 
 I left far more than thou canst ever leave. 
 Trod earth's highway of hardship, pain and 
 
 death. 
 I suffered more than thou canst ever grieve, 
 To give thee endless life for failing breath. 
 As I have gone before, so follow me, 
 If thou of men would skillful fisher be." 
 
 XII 
 
 "What would ye that I do for you ?" For me. 
 Dear Lord, the child who hurts and grieves 
 Thee oft? 
 
2o8 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Who will not listen to Thy wooing soft, 
 
 When Thou wouldst fashion, mold her like to 
 
 Thee. 
 Such love no human lens can clearly see. 
 So know I surely now. Thou hast in mind. 
 Some precious gift I'm loth to seek and find: 
 Some boon of Infinite love. What can it be? 
 "Hast thou not heard, my child, hast thou not 
 
 known. 
 The guerdon in thy heavenly Father's hand. 
 For those who ask? 'Tis by this help alone, 
 Thou canst temptation's mighty power with- 
 stand. 
 The panoply of strength, the Christian's dower. 
 Is God's best gift, the Holy Spirit's power." 
 
 XIII 
 
 "Thy faith hath made thee whole." Thou sayest 
 
 true. 
 Dear Lord, my heart quick throbs with rhythmic 
 
 beat: 
 New life's elixir pulses to glow-heat. 
 My torn and tattered robe replaced by new. 
 No more will hurt, offend Thy purer view, 
 That cannot praise, approve sin's soiled array. 
 Who took my foul and filthy rags away? 
 "Faith, simple faith hath done the work for 
 
 you." 
 Thou great Physician of the sin-sick soul, 
 
Words 209 
 
 Alone coiildst diagnose my serious case; 
 Alone Thou knewest how I was unwhole ; 
 Of health not e'en a finger spot or space : 
 I took Thy sole, Thy sovereign remedy faith, 
 Lo! straight was whole of sin as any wraith. 
 
 XIV 
 
 "The Lord hath need of me." The niche I fill, 
 So small; unknown, unhonored, oft forgot, 
 I sway no other life a single jot. 
 Unlike the ripple of yon sparkling rill. 
 My life is calm, eventless, tranquil, still. 
 Canst Thou make use of one obscure like me? 
 What seest Thou in me that might serve Thee ? 
 "I know, my child, thou'lt do my righteous 
 
 will. 
 The poor, despised of earth I oft seek out, 
 To further purpose of my sovereign mind. 
 With naught of self to boast within, without. 
 In me their honor, glory true will find." 
 Sweet as the heavenly harpist's strain may be, 
 Far sweeter is, — "The Lord hath need of me." 
 
 XV 
 
 "Tarry ye here and watch." The night so drear. 
 So long and lone, we were awearied grown. 
 Thinking you ne'er would come to claim your 
 
 own, 
 We soundly fell asleep a-tarrying here. 
 
210 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 "Could ye not watch for glorious dawn's good 
 
 cheer, 
 Mantling the hill top with a roseal flush, 
 Ere coming day affrights her beauteous blush? 
 You'll fail to give me greet when I appear. 
 The tempter lies in wait for such as you : 
 He's never off his guard a-keeping watch. 
 Could ye not watch and wait while he's in 
 
 view. 
 Lest he should place on you his ugly blotch? 
 Ye will to watch no doubt, but flesh is weak: 
 For strength from prayer ye only have to seek." 
 
 XVI 
 "Not what I will." So sweet my will and way, 
 I loved it long tho' oft it led me wrong. 
 So flower-bestrewn, alive with mirth and song, 
 I joyed to revel in the sunshine gay, 
 Nor deemed that aught could hush its merry lay. 
 Alas ! a cloud too small for naked eye. 
 Soon, soon too soon, o'erspread my azure sky. 
 Lo! gloom of night o'ershot the cheerful day. 
 "My will, dear child, encompasses thy good. 
 Life's passing pleasures cost thee all too dear ; 
 They ne'er rough storms nor sudden blows 
 
 withstood : 
 Only my way illumes when night is near." 
 Help me, dear Lord, to take the way self-spilt : 
 So pray, — "Not what I will, but what Thou 
 
 wilt." 
 
Words 211 
 
 XVII 
 
 "Thy sins are forgiven thee." Canst Thou 
 
 forgive, 
 Forget, condone them all in very truth? 
 They've given Thee many a heartache, many a 
 
 ruth; 
 Nor needest Thou the sum for me to give : 
 Their bitter memory I will ne'er outlive. 
 The secret sins more grievous in Thy sight, 
 Than open ones that stalk in stronger light. 
 Dost Thou forgive, so I Thy life may live ? 
 "I loved thee so, my child, I took on me 
 Their weight; nor counted up the heavy cost 
 Of losing life, so I might set thee free : 
 Lest thou be numbered with unnumbered lost. 
 Thou only hast to take, believe my word. 
 To know thy sins forgiven, gone, unheard." 
 
 XVIII 
 
 "She hath done what she could." No wealth 
 
 had I, 
 No hall, nor dower, nor even small domain: 
 No gifts, nor graces of the heart or brain. 
 So lowly poor I was as one passed by. 
 Thou straightly camest then so sweetly nigh, 
 Companion, friend, yea lover of my soul, 
 I found, I truly found in Thee the whole ; 
 So all my love poured forth in one heart cry : 
 What can I give to Thee, my best Beloved, 
 
212 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 That will most pleasing be to Thy great heart? 
 Love thought, — "The only gift for one so loved, 
 Was whole heart love, true love's sole counter- 
 part." 
 So giving all I could, not all I would, 
 I softly heard, — "She hath done what she could." 
 
 XIX 
 
 "Will ye too go away?" Why should I go? 
 Why hurt the heart so sore, so greatly grieved ? 
 Why sorrow add to one so oft bereaved ? 
 I would not treat a mortal friend thus so. 
 Far less the one to whom I being owe : 
 Not only here, but hope of life above, 
 Where I shall see the fruit of so much love. 
 Where should I go ? No love like Thine I know. 
 
 no! I could not leave so true a friend. 
 
 Ye are my thoughted life, my heart's pole-star. 
 Toward which its strong, its deeper currents 
 tend. 
 
 1 but exist away from where ye are. 
 
 You'll doubt, distrust my love no more, I pray: 
 Nor sadly ask,— "Will ye too go away?" 
 
 XX 
 
 "Be of good cheer." Thy words are as the dew 
 Of morn, refreshing to my drooping heart; 
 Oft bent, bowed o'er by trouble's sting and 
 smart. 
 
Words 213 
 
 Oft seared and scarred with sorrows not a few. 
 
 I rise revived to view faith's vista new. 
 
 I thought mere words could ne'er such comfort 
 
 give, 
 Till Thine infused fresh courage new to live: 
 As Thou ne'er speakest but Thou speakest true. 
 The world ofttimes a radiant face would wear, 
 Aglint, aglow with jolUty's good cheer; 
 But so capricious I was in despair : 
 So fiercely frowned my heart surcharged with 
 
 fear. 
 "Be of good cheer, my child, she'll hurt no more : 
 I've overcome the world for evermore." 
 
 XXI 
 
 "But I have prayed for thee." In throes of 
 
 doubt, 
 Despair, I wrestle with a foe unseen : 
 So fierce the onslaught I am spent and lean. 
 My waning strength will ne'er put him to rout, 
 So badly worsted I must straight give out. 
 I struggle oft and sore to do the right. 
 But nerve and muscle lax refuse the fight. 
 Help, help, he's battering down the last re- 
 doubt ! 
 "But I have prayed for thee, my tempted one. 
 That thy frail faith if sore beset, fail not. 
 Retake thy shield, nor think thyself undone. 
 Faith's thrust he ne'er withstood; he'll fly the 
 spot; 
 
214 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Impress her to thine aid, she'll never fail : 
 My prayer for thee shall evermore prevail." 
 
 XXII 
 
 "I'll come to thee." So Thou, my Lord, wilt 
 
 come, 
 I shall be blest beyond my fondest dream. 
 With joy seraphic will my full heart stream. 
 I'll bid adieu to callers old and glum. 
 As they depart, by Thee o'erawed, o'ercome. 
 Farewell, farewell, a long farewell to care. 
 My spirit mounts to breathe empyreal air: 
 No more to troubles grim shall I succumb. 
 Beyond a feather's weight they weighed me 
 
 down, 
 Crushing the heavy spirit 'neath the load. 
 In lieu of smiles life wore a stable frown, 
 As I encountered her along the road. 
 Her power to wound is o'er, as Thou to me. 
 Dost sweetly, fondly say, — "I'll come to thee." 
 
 XXIII 
 
 "I've chosen you." As flow of rippling rill. 
 Murmuring in rhythmic cadence tuneful, sweet. 
 So are Thy words now rendering love complete : 
 As love to love is ever answering still. 
 Expressing so the purpose of Thy will, 
 They rouse from lethargy the virile power, 
 To do the work awaiting this full hour : 
 
Words 215 
 
 As from Thy life my empty one shall fill. 
 Hadst Thou not chosen me I should be poor, 
 In very truth, but so I'm passing rich : 
 As Thou'lt endue for life's uncertain tour. 
 Rounding it into Thy most beauteous niche. 
 So barren life shall bear, bring forth anew. 
 As Thou shalt truly say, — "I've chosen you." 
 
 XXIV 
 
 "My peace I give to you." Evanescent, 
 Unstable as the sea before a storm, 
 So is the world's false peace, a hollow form ; 
 By zephyr's light 'tis oft as quickly rent : 
 When wanted most its soothing power is lent. 
 Tossed to and fro on waves of doubt, distress, 
 From squalls no peace is met but weariness : 
 Till mind and will's combative strength is spent, 
 "The peace I give to you, my child, is mine. 
 Peace sure, abiding, changeless is my peace. 
 No gust nor gale e'er shook its calm divine ; 
 From inner fret and fume a sweet release. 
 Only this peace will failing strength renew : 
 My perfect peace of mind I give to you." 
 
 XXV 
 
 "Your heart shall still rejoice." As tuneful 
 
 strain. 
 Unearthly sweet in soft melodious roll, 
 Reechoes through the inner deep of soul. 
 
2i6 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 May echo so Thy word in hour of pain, 
 
 When sorrow sweeps the heart with falls of 
 
 rain, 
 Presaging glorious sunshine after storm, 
 As clouds e'er vanish in the sun rays warm : 
 So fleet their flight no joy will need to feign. 
 May I so softly hear it o'er and o'er, 
 My heart shall keep joy-fused in darkest hour, 
 Replete with promise of the day in store, 
 When cheer replaces gloom thro' its great power. 
 So new I'll sing with even joyous voice, 
 When Thou shalt say, — "Your heart shall still 
 
 rejoice." 
 
 XXVI 
 
 "I know my sheep." Thou truly knowest me. 
 As I know not myself ; the inner spring 
 Of action, thought and will, the broken string. 
 That rudely jarred the soul's sweet symphony. 
 Putting its tuneful chords all out of key. 
 Tho' oft I wander long and sometimes far. 
 Thou knowest well. Thou seest from afar : 
 However changed from what I used to be. 
 Thou wilt not keep me off as one unknown, 
 Thou'lt press me to Thy loving heart, as dear, , 
 As Thou dost fondly fold, embrace Thine own. 
 From friend so true no coldness need I fear: 
 So safe from harm and danger Thou wilt 
 
 keep. 
 The straying one Thou knowest as Thy sheep. 
 
Words 217 
 
 XXVII 
 "I yet have things to say to you." I would 
 Be listening to them all, nor miss a word, 
 Nor leave a letter, syllable unheard. 
 Attune my powers to Thine, for fear I should 
 Thro' lack of loving touch, so lose the good 
 Thou wouldst impart: the comfort, counsel, 
 
 cheer. 
 As heart will sole commune with heart anear, 
 I fain would keep within Thy neighborhood. 
 Prepare my heart for all Thou hast to say ; 
 Give readiness of mind to do Thy will ; 
 A disposition firm to prompt obey ; 
 Unquestioning faith Thine orders to fulfill : 
 So clothed I shall the better fitted be, 
 To hear the things Thou yet wouldst say to me. 
 
2i8 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 TO CHRIST 
 
 I 
 
 Pure as the lily bloom upon the stem, 
 Refreshed with kiss of morn on velvet lip; 
 Fair as the new-blown petal at its tip, 
 Ere ruthless time o'ercurls the tender hem; 
 So fair art Thou, my love, a natural gem. 
 Enshrined within my heart of hearts. No chip 
 Plath marred Thy faultless form of workman- 
 ship, 
 Thy wondrous dress or costly diadem. 
 So fair, divinely fair, I Thee adore. 
 I prostrate fall in lowly worship, sweet ; 
 Would I possessed the power to love Thee more : 
 To breathe Thy native air my brightest treat. 
 Inspirer of my love, my heart's full lore. 
 Thou, Thou alone my soul's beloved retreat. 
 
 II 
 
 My best beloved. Thou finest flower of life! 
 To what shall I most liken Thee, my love ? 
 With voice as sweetly soft as cooing dove: 
 As gentle, mild, as free from angry strife. 
 Thou makest all my days with pleasure rife. 
 
 red, red rose ! thou flower of flowers above 
 The rest, tho' thou my love couldst not improve, 
 
 1 would compare, as picturing passion-life 
 
To Christ 219 
 
 In tone synthetic, warm, love's glowing hue. 
 Rose of my heart ! my one unfading rose, 
 The fragrance of Thy redolent life anew 
 Distills its perfume, as Thou dost disclose 
 More of Thyself to my enraptured view : 
 Nor would my heart Thy beauty's charm oppose. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Flower of the dell, thou sweetest of the flowers ! 
 Lowly in life as modest in thy mien, 
 Emitting thy fragrance on air serene ; 
 Loving thy shady nooks and leafy bowers, 
 Thou seekest not to flaunt thy beauty's powers, 
 In open view anear the water's sheen. 
 Thou likest most and best to live unseen. 
 Sweet violet, companion of my quiet hours, 
 Thou art most like my love, my other self ; 
 As in His Hfe all tranquil graces shine. 
 The inner beauties of the soul itself ; 
 Revealed most fully in the heart's one shrine: 
 Exhaling sweet if sought for like thyself. 
 Beloved ahke for charms resembling thine. 
 
 IV 
 
 Thou sprinkler of the sunny plain and slope. 
 Friend of my childhood's care-free, playful days, 
 Inspirer of the poet's tuneful lays. 
 Pure star-rayed flower symbolical of hope, 
 All true love's graces lying in thy scope, 
 
220 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Thou art so like my love in many ways. 
 In His true faithful heart love ever stays : 
 The one fixed star in shifting horoscope. 
 Star of my hope, my one unfailing light, 
 My childish love, love of maturer years, 
 Arrayed in stainless robe of spotless white. 
 Thy purity and truth ne'er in arrears. 
 Shine more and more with sheen surpassing 
 
 bright : 
 The luminous glow-star of the heavenly spheres. 
 
 V 
 Awakener of the beauteous floral world, 
 Coming with cheery tone thro' frore and 
 
 chill. 
 Thy petals closed by calling to all ill, 
 Till thou burst forth in loveliness unfurled. 
 Thou hast no rival in the gem pure pearled, 
 Tho' wrought thro' suffering's mean by nature's 
 
 skill. 
 Fair herald of the vernal-flowering hill, 
 Thou givest promise of a bloom uncurled : 
 So Cometh forth my love from this chill 
 
 heart, 
 Transmuting death to life, and love's warm 
 
 cheer : 
 Bidding it bud and blossom from the start, 
 So flower and fruit may in full time appear. 
 My messenger of spring, life's counterpart, 
 Like thee hath no compeer in any sphere. 
 
To Christ 221 
 
 VI 
 
 Loveliest of the flowers in tint and hue, 
 Enchanting the charm of thy mobile face, 
 Illumed with sunlit eyes of soulful grace: 
 With smile as sweetly fresh as falling dew. 
 A flower-thought to fancy fond and true: 
 A true heartease to all who give thee place. 
 So like my own heart-flower; naught will efface 
 His luminous visage from my inner view : 
 Or thoughtful love for me in this fond heart. 
 Thought-flower of life, my love's true flower- 
 thought, 
 Thine own heartease. Thou wilt, Thou dost 
 
 impart. 
 To one o'erwearied with hard battles fought. 
 Heartease ! I love Thee for Thy soothing art : 
 The art divine to count all troubles naught. 
 
 VII 
 
 For thy petalous hue, yon azure tint. 
 Hast thou taken, O little flower blue ! 
 Finding none other with color so true. 
 For love's imperishable, sole imprint. 
 Thine ethereal delicacy a hint 
 Of beauties wholly kept for favor's view. 
 Could I forget thee I should be untrue: 
 Of love deserving not a single glint. 
 My flower true, no more could I forget 
 Thy truth. Thy constancy to our love-troth. 
 
222 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 No change in me hath cooled Thine ardor yet; 
 Thou changest not tho' oft I'm very loth, 
 To make return for all the love I've met: 
 If I forget with me Thou may'st be wroth. 
 
 VIII 
 
 Robing anew in nature's pleasing dress, 
 Entwining thy tendrils in nooks unseen, 
 A beauteous covering thine emerald screen, 
 For sightless things ; for some a love-caress ; 
 Thyself most sweet revealing more or less : 
 So to be loved thou must be wholly seen, 
 O little leaf climber, thou ivy green ! 
 To fully see my love is happiness. 
 His loving tendrils twine around the heart. 
 Covering unsightliness with verdurous robe; 
 A dream of beauty 'bove the highest art: 
 Without compare on this or any globe. 
 As of Himself it forms the major part. 
 He comes ! my love now comes to so enrobe. 
 
 IX 
 
 sweet, sweet flower ! how delicious thy scent ! 
 How balmy the breath of thy blooming spike ! 
 Imparting its fragrance to all alike. 
 
 1 dearly love thee for thy sole intent. 
 Attuning to sweetness life's sad lament. 
 O mignonette, thou little dear ! how like 
 My love, changing to like the most unlike. 
 
To Christ 223 
 
 By Him the perfume of my life is lent : 
 
 'Tis scentless else without the power to charm. 
 
 Espoused to His, will sweet and sweeter flower; 
 
 Loving, beloved, will all of ill disarm, 
 
 So I no more need fear the pelting shower : 
 
 Safe sheltered by His everlasting arm, 
 
 O'er me the roughest storm can have no power, 
 
 X 
 
 Flower of the spring, how welcome to my heart ! 
 How spotless the hue of thy trailing bloom ! 
 Hast caught thy form too from old Winter's 
 
 loom, 
 As he scatters the feathery flakes apart? 
 Thy starry clusters show his shapely art. 
 As thou comest with cheer devoid of gloom. 
 Lovely arbutus, for thee there is room: 
 Room for the joy thou dost alway impart. 
 When comes my love with His spirit of cheer. 
 My heart hastes to greet Him with joyous cry : 
 Welcome, thrice welcome, I long wait Thee here ! 
 So lonely without Thee, so dreary was I, 
 My winter methought would ne'er disappear: 
 I longed for my spring, lo ! Thou drewest nigh. 
 
 XI 
 
 Sweet blooming flower, a favorite with all ; 
 Admired the most for dress of royal hue, 
 Tho' thou hast others for our wondering view. 
 
224 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 More prodigal of self for being small, 
 Than thy more showy sisters great and tall. 
 Thy charms each year are so refreshing 
 
 new, 
 I would not if I could ere bid adieu 
 To thee, O lilac sweet ! while in thy thrall. 
 My love so strongly holds in thraldom sweet. 
 This captive heart with love's o'erpowering 
 
 thrill : 
 Nor would I wrest Him from His royal seat. 
 But yield submission to His sweeter will. 
 My liege, my love, I fall at Thy dear feet : 
 Thy wholly leal and loyal subject still. 
 
 xn 
 
 Bright flower of morn, how so gayly attired? 
 Hath the sun enrobed thee with roseate 
 
 tint, 
 Or art thou reflecting his glow imprint ? 
 Thy fresh young life as yet unlived, untired. 
 With hopeful aspect may I be inspired. 
 Giving thyself without reserve or stint, 
 How I may too be happy, bright, a hint, 
 
 glow of morn, thou greatly art desired ! 
 Not more than I desire my morning-glow : 
 For such my love hath ever been to me. 
 His life the inspiration sole I know. 
 He's all and more than I may hope to be. 
 
 1 would for His sweet self all else forego: 
 As in my love the glow of morn I see. 
 
To Christ 225 
 
 XIII 
 
 Thou'rt a feast of delight, a fresh heart-thrill 
 To jaded sight, O sunny-hued flower! 
 A ray of sunshine in the cloudy hour: 
 A cup of cheer for every ache and chill. 
 Large-hearted flower, thou dost so fully fill 
 Thy rightful place, I own thy sovereign power. 
 Whilst thou art by the storms no longer lower ; 
 My merry-hearted, laughing daffodil! 
 A burst of sunshine is my sunny love, 
 A cheery cordial for the spirit's gloom: 
 To drooping heart joy's one free carrier-dove. 
 Flower of delight ! my heart is all Thy room ; 
 There's none like Thee in earth or heaven above : 
 Thou most delightsome flower of living bloom ! 
 
 XIV 
 
 Pearl of the flowers, how golden thy crown ! 
 How exquisite thy scent of perfume rare ! 
 Hast thou been inhaling ethereal air? 
 'Tis sweeter than any on heath or down. 
 So spotlessly pure is thy pearly gown, 
 'Tis the same I wis, as the angels wear, 
 When they walk at eve in their garden fair: 
 Too pure, sweet narcissus, for any town. 
 Pure as thou art, my love is still more pure, 
 With robe as stainless white as falling snow. 
 Pearl of my life ! Thou wilt. Thou dost assure 
 Me of Thy love in ways I sweetly know. 
 
226 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Tho' mine may fail, Thy love is steadfast, sure : 
 I would my heart might truly love Thee so. 
 
 XV 
 
 My love hath many varied charms like thee, 
 
 O showy flower of several tint and hue ! 
 
 My heart so fondly holds them in review, 
 
 I'm lost to all but love and ecstasy : 
 
 Still, still there's more and more for me to see. 
 
 Thy finely tinted cup but veils from view, 
 
 The more essential parts of being true, 
 
 O tulip gay ! E'en so is kept from me. 
 
 My love's whole graces of the spirit, mind : 
 
 To ope, unfold with each succeeding day. 
 
 As only love's insight will surely find. 
 
 My flower of love ! Thou art my heart's sole 
 
 lay; 
 The dumb. Thou mak'st to sing; to see, the 
 
 blind : 
 Thou only art my life, my truth, my way. 
 
 XVI 
 
 High in the color scale of floral rank, 
 
 As shown by robe of amethystine hue : 
 
 For such elusive charm I love thee new. 
 
 Else why shouldst thou thy kind so far outrank? 
 
 If I possessed thy power, I could not thank 
 
 Enough, O flower as fresh as falling dew ! 
 
 As fragrant, sweet, as any ever grew: 
 
To Christ 227 
 
 For thee, rich hyacinth, Hfe holds no blank. 
 Life holds no blank for me with my love nigh : 
 So sweetly charm the conscious hours away. 
 My flower of highest love, for Thee I sigh ; 
 Alone Thou makest night the same as day ; 
 Alone, for Thee alone, I constant cry: 
 Thy love with me may have free will and way. 
 
 XVII 
 
 All truly prize who fully know thee well ; 
 As those who seek thee for thyself alone : 
 The childlike heart is e'er thy royal throne. 
 A spot of sunshine for the emerald dell, 
 A sprig of bloom ? yea, more than I can tell ; 
 A multifloret flower from many sown; 
 A shower of sunshine by the breezes blown: 
 O dandelion ! I'm wholly in thy spell : 
 As in the spell my love casts over me. 
 Nor would I if I could resist His power : 
 'Tis bliss enough with Him alone to be. 
 Life's richest store can hold no happier hour. 
 This longing heart expectant waits to see. 
 The joyous presence of my sunny flower. 
 
 XVIII 
 What is more rosy on mead or on lea? 
 What more delightsome for true lover's sight, 
 Than by happy chance on this flower to light? 
 So welcomed, found, who would not wish to be? 
 So modest, sweet, so pretty too to see : 
 
228 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Most winsome is thy charm, O heart dehght ! 
 Well worth the loving for outlasting night : 
 A pink of flowers thou truly art to me. 
 More perfect is my love than any pink ; 
 Of life more faultless than most flawless flower, 
 His changeless love outlasts life's broken link: 
 Breathes of a joy beyond the final hour. 
 My heart's love-pink will bloom for me I think. 
 When earthly sights and sounds have lost their 
 power. 
 
 XIX 
 
 How the children love thee, O golden flower ! 
 How they treasure thee for thy gown so gay ! 
 As they pause to pluck thee oft by the way, 
 Thou givest them many a happy hour. 
 The bestowal of joy thy richest dower, 
 Tho' thou hast so much gold to give away, 
 Thou gildest the meadows and grasses gray. 
 Who would not love thy use of royal power? 
 I would not if I could ere pass Him by. 
 He showers so many precious gifts on me. 
 My heart is knit to His by sweetest tie: 
 I'm happiness itself if Him I see. 
 'Tis always so, love knows no how nor why: 
 I sip her golden cup to blissful be. 
 
 XX 
 
 Why art thou drooping so, my pretty flower? 
 Why shyly hide so modest, fair a face? 
 
To Christ 229 
 
 In lovely lineaments I would likeness trace. 
 Art thou fearing some angry storms that lower, 
 Or hast thou encountered the heavy shower? 
 Look up ! look up ! they speedily give place ; 
 Or haply thou art praying, giving grace : 
 Whate'er thy posture it befits the hour, 
 Thou'rt worth the loving, O my columbine ! 
 Heart-flower of mine. Thou hast what I have 
 
 not; 
 The winsome graces in Thy sweet entwine : 
 The inner, hidden life without a spot. 
 Thou fully knowest, hast in holy shrine, 
 The alphabet of love and I but jot. 
 
 XXI 
 
 Scattering thy bloom o'er hillock and plain, 
 Thy fragrant breath perfumes the freshening 
 
 air: 
 Thy differing hues lend tone to landscape fair. 
 Of several charms no lack canst thou complain. 
 So many lovers, friends hast thou in train. 
 For all, for everyone a feast to spare, 
 Thy richest store for one who hath no fare. 
 
 clover bloom ! who would not wear thy chain ? 
 
 1 proudly wear the chain love forged for me. 
 Nor would I wish to sever one sweet link. 
 His heart and mine attuned to symphony. 
 Will beat in unison beyond death's brink. 
 My bloom of love ! how sweet to be with Thee 1 
 Where I would rather be, I cannot think. 
 
230 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 XXII 
 
 Sweet flower-bell of the vernal's freshening 
 
 bloom, 
 My love hath tone far richer than thine own: 
 So full, unearthly sweet His semitone. 
 The melody divine o'erfloods my room. 
 Earth, earth recedes ; anear the heavens loom : 
 Till I am lost to all but love alone. 
 Thy pure fresh life is in such sweetness shown 
 As lily of the vale, it doth illume. 
 His sweeter life still more illumes my life, 
 Attuning both to one harmonious strain : 
 As free from discord, break or jarring strife. 
 As thine, blest flower-bell of the emerald plain. 
 His heart with love's rich gifts as fully rife, 
 As mine is barren, empty, blank, inane. 
 
 XXIII 
 
 Thou e'er art found of those who seek thee out, 
 O golden flower of mead and wooded vale ! 
 To such thou wouldst reveal a wondrous tale. 
 Of progress, growth, and how it came about : 
 How sportive breeze bore thee along her route. 
 First of the roses in the fragrant dale. 
 Who could refuse thee loving greet or hail ? 
 Our primrose pale, who, who would do without? 
 Rose of my spring ! my first, my vernal rose, 
 Bloom in my life with Thine awakening bloom. 
 First flower of love ! my flower of all that grows, 
 
To Christ 231 
 
 When shall Thy presence dear my love illume ? 
 Haply when heavenly breezes blow, who knows? 
 Thou'lt come to live and flower in my heart- 
 room. 
 
 XXIV 
 
 My pretty, pretty flower ! thou'rt not as smart, 
 
 Or seeming so as I would wish to see. 
 
 Why droops thy spirit so continually? 
 
 Thou art as one by sorrow set apart : 
 
 In gayety and mirth nor lot nor part. 
 
 Hast thou some trouble preying sore on thee, 
 
 Thou seekest so to hide from all, e'en me ? 
 
 Soft ! soft ! pray tell, hast thou a bleeding heart ? 
 
 Such heart, dear love, dost Thou for me too wear. 
 
 When I forget, o'erlook, or pass Thee by ? 
 
 If so, no longer shalt Thou brook or bear 
 
 Such weak inconstancy. No more I'll try 
 
 Thy love, if Thou wilt now my heart prepare. 
 
 For all its love on Thee to sole rely. 
 
 XXV 
 
 O spotless flower of lonely solitude ! 
 Of dreary waste, of snowy mountain height! 
 Thy pure pale bloom illumed by heavenly light^^ 
 With vigorous health and strength full well 
 
 endued. 
 Befits the habitat where few Intrude. 
 Unsullied, stainless as an armor bright, 
 So edelweiss thou keep'st thine honor white : 
 
232 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Thy life intact with foes all love-subdued. 
 His fleckless life disarms the fiercest foe ; 
 Transmutes dislike to warm, admiring love, 
 As all do truly know who find it so. 
 Flower of the heavenly heights! flower from 
 
 above ! 
 With flawless honor white as speckless snow, 
 Thou art as sweetly pure as any dove. 
 
 XXVI 
 
 Illuming glory to the marshy mead. 
 
 To wondering sight most wondrous to behold. 
 
 A sunny bloom mid grasses gray and old ; 
 
 A flower of flowers ! Wilt thou not keep the 
 
 lead 
 O'er all about thee? Yes, ah yes, indeed! 
 Pray tell me true, for none have ever told, 
 How camest thou by petals of pure gold? 
 My marigold of heavenly race and breed. 
 The purest gold without the least alloy. 
 Bright with surpassing sheen, a glory ray 
 For gladsome day, a lilt of love and joy, 
 A golden flower of love for life's whole way, 
 Such is my love, yea, more without a cloy: 
 The only flower of life without gainsay. 
 
 XXVII 
 I welcome thee, O flower of winsome May ! 
 Thy charming bloom hath found a fluttering 
 heart, 
 
To Christ 233 
 
 To look so sweetly pretty is love's art, 
 
 To make it thine more firmly day by day : 
 
 So it may form no wish to break away. 
 
 So sweet of heart, whoe'er would wish to part 
 
 From thee, O beauty of the spring's fresh 
 
 start ! 
 The heart thou winnest is thine own alway. 
 A spring of beauty is my love to view, 
 A fresh revealing of the fair unseen: 
 A wealth of bloom so roseal, rare of hue, 
 Surpassing far the knowable, the seen. 
 My heart is taken, kept a captive new, 
 By charms of being, lovable, serene. 
 
 XXVIII 
 My fair, fair love ! so like the lily there, 
 That gayly blooms and blows in vernal 
 
 field. 
 To Thy sweet power o'er me I newly yield. 
 I joy to freshly breathe Thy balmy air. 
 So lost am I to every earthly care. 
 O'er me Thy royal scepter e'er shall wield 
 The loving right to guard, defend and shield. 
 My lily of the field without compare, 
 Thy beauteous life is e'er my sole delight ; 
 A benediction for the darkest day : 
 A joyous carol for the longest night. 
 As glow of amber lily by the way. 
 So Thine illuming life is my glow light, 
 A rift of glory by the heavenly ray. 
 
234 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 XXIX 
 
 Thou savorest, I wis of the blue, blue sea, 
 
 So long thou wearest her favorite hue. 
 
 Too fondly thou lovest to be untrue, 
 
 Tho' she cause thee to droop and weep maybe ; 
 
 Else, O flower of the sea ! why on her lee, 
 
 Dost choose to live, yea bloom long eons 
 
 through ? 
 Her breath is thy life as I well know too: 
 So nourished, protected, who would not be? 
 A breath of fresh life is my love to know, 
 A savor as sweet as the salty main, 
 That refreshes the most when rough winds 
 
 blow. 
 To dwell with Him for aye, a sweet refrain, 
 When heart is fainting and spirit droops low. 
 My flower of the sea ! can such love wane ? 
 
 XXX 
 
 Borne by the breezes from the far away. 
 
 Coming to bloom and blow as neighbor nigh. 
 
 Thou donnest well thy dress of Tyrian dye. 
 
 Knowing the need of looking always gay, 
 
 To please, attract admirers by the way. 
 
 In floral world of rank so very high. 
 
 Taken as flower to know a nation by. 
 
 A cure for spirits low some even say : 
 
 Be as it may, O thistle gay ! a cure 
 
 For all the ills which heart and mind are heir. 
 
To Christ 235 
 
 Is found but in my love, be very sure: 
 I vainly look to find no help elsewhere. 
 His life the only nectar to allure: 
 His joyous presence but the spirit's fare. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 Thou hast thy tendrils twined around my heart, 
 
 O royal-hued flower ! I look and look, 
 
 So lost in thee I have all else forsook. 
 
 How can I ever bear from thee to part? 
 
 Thy petalous tint beyond a Raphael's art 
 
 To paint, portray, hath well, I ween, partook 
 
 Of art divine : if I am not mistook. 
 
 Such hue, clematis blue, couldst thou impart? 
 
 Such varied hues of every shade and tint, 
 
 My love imparts, 'tis wondrous fair to see: 
 
 The blended coloring is His own imprint. 
 
 His beauteousness alone can cover me, 
 
 So there is no revealing, not a hint 
 
 Of all I am or used so much to be. 
 
 XXXII 
 
 Flower of the spring! most roseal-hued flower, 
 How welcome a sight is thy showy bloom ! 
 Thou puttest so to flight the spirit's gloom. 
 An hour with thee is day's most cheery hour ; 
 Thou hast me so most wholly in thy power: 
 As all thy sister flowers who give thee room. 
 Saying, — "Wake robin, wake, our way illume!" 
 
22^6 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 This, this thy work in life, thy gift of dower. 
 The way is dark without a ray of Hght, 
 Unless my love illumes with His bright cheer: 
 While He is sweetly nigh, life knows no night. 
 No sullen day with chilly cast most drear. 
 Awake, my love, awake ! no morn so bright, 
 If Thou, if only Thou dost straight appear. 
 
 XXXHI 
 
 For thee, for thee my heart hath loving greet ! 
 On thee I fain would feast my longing eye : 
 This solely my desire, for this I sigh, 
 
 flower of creamy tint ! so sweet, so sweet ! 
 Haste, haste the hour when haply we may meet ! 
 So rare thy charm to love I need not try ; 
 
 Nor can I tell Thee how I love nor why : 
 Meadow-sweet! meadow-sweet! thy name, I 
 
 weet. 
 So know I fully well my love's sweet name : 
 It hath a charm no other name can wear. 
 So of His loving self 'tis one the same, 
 It syllables His love, devotion, care. 
 
 1 love, have loved so long, it well became 
 
 My synonym for home, for heaven, for prayer. 
 
 XXXIV 
 
 To stroll o'er meadows sweet in search of thee, 
 A fresh delight, a longed, a hoped-for joy: 
 A joy without satiety or cloy. 
 
To Christ 237 
 
 Thy royal robe so passing fair to see, 
 
 'Tis pleasure pure, unmixed with thee to 
 
 be: 
 Else thou wert not a nation's lasting toy, 
 A joy perennial with no alloy. 
 How loved, how lovely is our fleur-de-lis ! 
 Tho' not so well beloved as my loved One : 
 Who gives a joy transcending all below. 
 No happier day e'er sees the light of sun, 
 Than one His blissful presence doth bestow. 
 I haste with step unwearied now to run, 
 To see the One my heart delights to know. 
 
 XXXV 
 Sweet favorite of the vernal's blooming 
 
 flowers. 
 Thy varied hues so charm, so witch the eye, 
 I do not wonder thou art loved nor why. 
 A day with thee hath only winging hours, 
 Thou hast for me so many pleasing powers : 
 Nor could I be unhappy with thee nigh. 
 Thou wouldst not give me leave to even try. 
 
 pea so sweet ! no shadows shade thy bowers. 
 In my love's home no shadows ever lurk: 
 
 As fully bright without as bright within. 
 Unhke all other homes it hath no murk : 
 Most happy they, who e'er abide therein. 
 
 1 only wait His word, — "Put by thy work, 
 Sweetheart; come home; 'tis time to enter 
 
 in." 
 
238 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 XXXVI 
 
 My love hath beauty far surpassing thine, 
 
 Tho' thou so beauteous, fair of form to see : 
 
 UnHke thine own 'tis of eternity. 
 
 Thy varied tint is e'en amazing fine ; 
 
 Drawn with exceeding skill each contour, line : 
 
 But oh, so fragile, frail it seems to be, 
 
 I pluck to lose my wood-anemone ! 
 
 My love will ever keep the charm divine. 
 
 The talisman to fix this wavering heart. 
 
 I could not tell it thee if thou wouldst know, 
 
 The secret He for love will but impart. 
 
 Some day, I only know it may be so. 
 
 When rent the veil 'twixt flesh and soul apart, 
 
 I shall into His wondrous beauty grow. 
 
 xxxvn 
 
 Pleasing to see in places waste and old. 
 Such prodigality of showy bloom ; 
 Such happy dispersing of nature's gloom. 
 Reveal thine art, I pray, 'tis better told 
 Than secret kept ; the recipe unfold ; 
 I'll give it fullest credence, space and room: 
 I would all other lives with mine illume. 
 Is it the life in bloom ? O poppy gold ! 
 Unless my love shall bloom in this poor heart, 
 'Tis but a heavy weight, a dreary waste: 
 Without the cheer or power to cheer impart. 
 How bright my bloom of life ! how sweet to taste ! 
 
To Christ 239 
 
 If He shall live in me nor e'er depart : 
 May that blest time with winging speed make 
 haste. 
 
 XXXVIII 
 
 joyous flower of all the marshy mead 1 
 Thy roseal bloom is but thy heart-delight: 
 The outward form of inner living light. 
 If brightening other lives be thy sole creed, 
 'Tis e'en so plain that all who see may read. 
 
 1 bless thee, flower, for making life so bright ; 
 Would I might ever keep thee in my sight : 
 So mallow-marsh, I should be blest indeed. 
 If I might ever keep my love in view. 
 
 My life nor day nor hour of gloom would know : 
 'Twould gleam and glow with morn's translucent 
 
 hue. 
 My flower of light ! e'en now may it be so: 
 May all life's days tho' many or tho' few, 
 Illumined be with Hght from Thy life-glow. 
 
 XXXIX 
 
 What is more sweet than thou, most lovely 
 
 flower ! 
 What of thy kind is more with nectar filled ! 
 What fragrance too, as rose if fresh distilled ! 
 Small wonder having so much winsome power. 
 Thou hast to visit thee oft in the hour, 
 Most beauteous as to wing if longest-billed : 
 So all thv tube be but the better tilled. 
 
240 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 O honeyed flower! I too would haunt thy 
 
 bower. 
 So sweet is He beyond all my compare, 
 Tho' oft away, I oftener with Him stay. 
 To feast on Him is but my daily fare : 
 Nor heart, nor wish have I to keep away. 
 No more delicious nectar perfumes air, 
 Than hath my love for all who come His way. 
 
 XL 
 
 He's all, yea more than thou art to thy kind: 
 
 Sweetest of sweet, the fairest of the fair. 
 
 His fragrant life as ever-freshening air. 
 
 Is but the emanation of His mind : 
 
 As free as thine of any thought unkind. 
 
 Thy creamy flowers of many clusters rare, 
 
 Bloom with a sweetness void of every care. 
 
 O hawthorn fair ! thou art a joy to find : 
 
 As my fair love whom I delight to know. 
 
 Each day unfolds fresh loveliness to view ; 
 
 The clear revealing of the living glow ; 
 
 The life that maketh all things sweet and 
 
 new ; 
 The only one that can such radiance show : 
 Of all fair lives the one of fairest hue. 
 
 XLI 
 
 What is more pretty than a sight of thee? 
 O winsome flower, cerulean of hue! 
 
To Christ 241 
 
 Of form so fine but common to a few. 
 To thine own heath so seeming well to be, 
 What azure sky hath ever been to me. 
 Life knows no lonely hour with thee in view : 
 Thou givest thought to stimulate anew. 
 Wert grown for me ? blest bluebell of the lea ! 
 No hour so lone, unblest, uncheered by Him, 
 Who filleth full the life, the heart, the brain, 
 With thoughts too sunny for the shadows 
 
 grim. 
 With love too deep, too lasting e'er to wane ; 
 To diminution know as life burns dim: 
 Too filled with Him to know the leak, the drain. 
 
 XLH 
 Hast thou been with the wilding rose, sweet 
 
 flower ? 
 I breathe her breath in thy delicate scent: 
 Or is it all thine own nor only lent? 
 Possessing so a most attractive power. 
 Thou art, I ween, the favorite of the hour. 
 Such dignity and grace are in thee blent. 
 All look at thee with heart and eye attent. 
 
 piony ! how charming is thy dower ! 
 
 My love hath gifts far, far surpassing thine ; 
 If I could them recount I ne'er should stop; 
 Nor can I paint, portray a single line : 
 
 1 only know their charm they ne'er will drop. 
 His sweet attractiveness is so benign. 
 
 From none 'tis wanting neither help nor prop. 
 
^4^ The Heavenly Voice 
 
 XLIII 
 
 Tell me, my little flower, nay, keep it not; 
 
 'Tis e'en for very love, I'm asking thee. 
 
 Where thou wast grown, how earnest thou to be ? 
 
 At home so seeming in the sea foam's grot, 
 
 I only look to find thee in this spot. 
 
 A whiff of sea air is thy breath to me. 
 
 So misty all thy flowers, spray of the sea! 
 
 To be, to look so like, how blest thy lot ! 
 
 How blest, supremely blest my lot in life, 
 
 If I might be so like my lovely One! 
 
 The thought, the act, the life with Him as rife ; 
 
 Ne'er more my day would know a setting sun, 
 
 A morn of clouds, a noon of heated strife : 
 
 But sweet refreshing of the life begun. 
 
 XLIV 
 
 Wert bidding me, good morn, my rosy flower, 
 
 Swaying so softly, swaying to and fro? 
 
 My heart, I know will only have it so, 
 
 As it hath greet for none but thee this hour. 
 
 I fain would see thee in thy favorite bower, 
 
 Where thou may'st tell me all I wish to know : 
 
 Why lookest thou so bright when breezes 
 
 blow? 
 If learned, azalea, I would know thy power. 
 When winds most roughly blow, He looketh 
 
 bright ; 
 Reflecting but the spirit's glow within : 
 
To Christ 243 
 
 That hath no somber shade to dim its Hght, 
 No murky chill to gloom the life therein. 
 He only hath the power to banish night, 
 To bid the roseal cheer of day begin. 
 
 XLV 
 
 Thou hast so quaint a form, O flower most blue ! 
 
 I wonder, wonder if it can be so, 
 
 Or is it but a fancy weird ? Ah no ! 
 
 As hooded knight of eld, thou art as true. 
 
 As leal to thine in all thou hast to do ; 
 
 Else thou this way wouldst ne'er have thought 
 
 to grow : 
 A flower-knight as thy blue sepals show. 
 O hooded flower! I fain would be like you. 
 A flower-knight to all most loyal, leal, 
 No dame of old e'er knew more loving knight, 
 Is my sole love, the only true ideal : 
 The one exponent of eternal right. 
 He jousts for me in all life's tourneys real, 
 So I am always victor in the fight. 
 
 XLVI 
 
 Art blooming to cheer ? O flower so gay ! 
 
 Fulfilling thy mission to such as me, 
 
 Who else methinks would surely downcast be. 
 
 So thou infuse fresh courage for the day, 
 
 How happy I to find thee in the way ! 
 
 Thy brilliant hue is thy delight, I see, 
 
244 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Reflecting so the spirit's joyous glee: 
 With thee, lobelia, I would be alway. 
 As roseal day agleam with glowing light, 
 Bespeaks the impress of a joyant hand, 
 So when I meet my love the day is bright : 
 The undershadows topped with glory's strand, 
 By great illuming of the somber night, 
 To one who else would long in shadow stand. 
 
 XLVII 
 
 Queen of the flowers ! a queen in very truth. 
 Thou reignest in all hearts, nor mine alone : 
 Although my heart would claim thee for its 
 
 own. 
 The finest of the flowers in sober sooth, 
 Thy balmy breath is cure for every ruth. 
 So fondly loved wherever thou art known. 
 The heart of hearts is but thy royal throne : 
 What shall I call thee, but a rose forsooth. 
 For me. My love hath e'en a sweeter name: 
 I lisp it o'er and o'er as in a dream, 
 As one awaking calls for love the same. 
 Ne'er will it mean the more nor sweeter seem. 
 Than when for love of Him it mine became: 
 When time is o'er its deathless fame will gleam. 
 
 XLVIH 
 
 Thou hast so sweet a hue, O flower blue ! 
 I fain would know if it is thine alway, 
 
To Christ 245 
 
 Or only lent thee for a single day. 
 
 Couldst thou have lined thy cup with such a 
 
 hue, 
 If it were not thy life, thy love e'en too ? 
 Thou knowest if they tell me true, some say, 
 Thy hue is ever blue for aye and aye : 
 So gentian thou couldst never be untrue. 
 His life expresses but His sweeter self ; 
 From day to day I ope, unfold a part, 
 To read, reread, to wholly lose myself. 
 To know it fully, as from heart to heart : 
 Else I might put it by or on a shelf. 
 Its hue like thine is solely love's impart. 
 
 XLIX 
 
 Thy feathery bloom, O flower of finest art ! 
 
 Was it created for a love-delight, 
 
 A heart's sweet glow in shadow's gloomy 
 
 night ? 
 If so thou hast illumined all my heart, 
 So I shall never lightly from thee part. 
 Thy form as fine as snowflake is to sight, 
 Is delicate to touch as cobweb light. 
 A queen's own lace, thou art as set apart. 
 So set apart is He within my thought. 
 Enfolded in my very fondest love. 
 He's comparable to none in all that's wrought : 
 In all that is most fine He's far above. 
 So in His loving mesh my heart is caught. 
 It hath no wish, desire from Him to move. 
 
246 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Flower of the darksome night, night-blooming 
 
 flower ! 
 How fragrant the breath of thy creamy spire ! 
 How sweet to spend thy life when few admire ! 
 O flower so rare ! if this thy source of power, 
 Pray tell it me, if not within the hour, 
 Within the day, the week, I ne'er shall tire : 
 So sweet 'twill be as strain of angel's lyre. 
 O yucca ! would I too possessed thy dower ! 
 When darkest night steals o'er the shattered 
 
 day. 
 With not a ray of cheer to light the gloom, 
 He opens up in unexpected way, 
 So glorious sunshine floods the living room. 
 His life surrendered for a beacon ray, 
 O'er my dark life will bright and brighter loom. 
 
 LI 
 
 A symphony in bloom for pastures green, 
 A tone so rich it sets my heart atune, 
 Apraise with joy at finding thee so soon. 
 Thou art, O flower, a full delight, I ween! 
 Thy golden corymbs shine with glowing sheen; 
 Thy shapely leaves so softly o'er thee croon, 
 Methinks thy radiant life still in high noon. 
 Too true to living law to live unseen ; 
 So ragwort thou art more, far more than name: 
 As my dear love, my life, my true glow-light, 
 
To Christ 247 
 
 That changes, flickers not, is e'er the same. 
 His life a symphony in spotless white, 
 Attunes my life to clear, to true acclaim : 
 Of all bright flowers I know, the one most 
 bright. 
 
 LII 
 
 O curious flower ! so humanlike in form, 
 Grotesque in shape, in color diverse too. 
 Withal as fragrant, sweet, as freshly new ; 
 Art thou too fragile for the wintry storm. 
 The chill cold blast that breaks the slender 
 
 corm? 
 Canst thou but bloom in fields of emerald hue, 
 Dressed new with morn's refreshing kindly dew ? 
 If not quaint orchis, thou wilt me inform. 
 The human form divine my love doth take: 
 Although so like my own yet how unlike 
 In warp, in woof, in texture, color, make. 
 Tho' we may breast the roughest storms alike. 
 He only bends nor breaks life's fragile stake : 
 While I would shrivel, die should they but strike. 
 
 LIII 
 
 O sweet, bright flower of sunny mountain 
 
 height ! 
 Art reflecting the sunset's roseal glow. 
 In showy corymbs I so love to know ? 
 Or art thou expressing a heart-delight, 
 Too bright to know the shadow's somber night. 
 
248 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 To feel the creeping chill of winter's snow ? 
 If this be fancy do not tell me so, 
 Lest thou bedim the spirit's growing light : 
 So laurel would I twine thee round my heart. 
 As I entwine the One who's all, yea more 
 Than thou to me ; a sunburst from the start ; 
 A brightening of the heart's too mournful lore 
 Illumer of its deeper, darker part, 
 So I can see to read it o'er and o'er. 
 
 LIV 
 
 Floating so airily, floating along, 
 Floating so dreamily all of the way, 
 What thou art thinking of tell me, I pray. 
 Is life idyllic as pictured in song, 
 As heart-free, care-free as thine is of wrong? 
 Or is it too short to dream all the day, 
 Too freight with treasure to fritter away? 
 O pure pond lily ! thy life is not long. 
 Too short my span of life to idly dream, 
 Too filled with love to live for aught but Him, 
 Free too of care as thine doth truly seem. 
 Too long to let the spirit-light wax dim. 
 To flicker, fade, to lose the one bright beam: 
 Ah no ! life is but lived if full to brim. 
 
 LV 
 
 Flower of the lowly, beloved so of all ! 
 Tell me, pray tell me, yea whisper it low, 
 
To Christ 249 
 
 I'll keep it so secret no one will know : 
 How winnest all hearts in cottage and hall ? 
 Thy florets so many are still very small, 
 As varied thy hues with some white as snow, 
 Shapely thy leaves as any ever grow. 
 Dost know, geranio, how I'm in thy thrall? 
 Beloved so of all, the lowly, the high, 
 The heart is His home where'er it may be. 
 Friend of the friendless, a helper so nigh, 
 A look, e'en a thought will bring Him to me. 
 Flower of the lowly, love-flower of my sky, 
 Bloom in my life till Thee only I see. 
 
 LVI 
 
 A glint of glory for the emerald mead, 
 
 A sunny bloom so pleasing to the eye, 
 
 The heart is captive too without a why. 
 
 Or even thought as to the loving deed. 
 
 Thy radiant charm so answers to the need. 
 
 Hast thou some message from yon azure 
 
 sky. 
 Thy glowing wand would have me clear descry ? 
 If so, thou art a golden rod indeed ! 
 Wave over me Thy golden wand of love, 
 So I may clearly see Thee as Thou art : 
 My love, my gleam of glory from above ! 
 So reign supreme within this loyal heart. 
 That greets for Thee if Thou dost far remove. 
 That would not for a moment from Thee 
 
 part 
 
250 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 LVII 
 
 When over thee the south winds softly blow, 
 Forth comes my love to gently, gently woo, 
 With voice caressing as the softest coo, 
 With love-lit eyes agleam with tender glow. 
 If there is fairer flower, I do not know, 
 Nor one more filled with sweeter nectar too. 
 With thee He greets the morn with love anew, 
 Else heart of mine would ne'er return it so. 
 Nor overflow with joy whene'er we meet. 
 His heart is so responsive to my cry, 
 With sympathetic touch, with loving greet, 
 I no more know a sorrow nor a sigh, 
 A fair, fair flower thou art, a flower, I weet, 
 But He, a flower to live for, yea to die. 
 
 Lvni 
 
 Delightsome to the eye, to heart as dear, 
 As well-beloved as any of thy kind. 
 Thy snowy bloom as pleasing too to find. 
 Thou dost so sweetly cheer the drooping year. 
 With promise of a newer fuller sphere. 
 That leaves the old well used far, far behind : 
 So thou with cheery thought wouldst me remind. 
 If fife be drear, life is not always here. 
 Chrysanthemum ! I thank thee for the thought. 
 He doth so greatly glad my drooping heart, 
 With thought of all His wondrous love hath 
 wrought. 
 
To Christ 251 
 
 I long with ardent wish to hence depart, 
 Where face to face I may be fuller taught, 
 To know the things I only know in part. 
 
 LIX 
 
 What is thy charm o'er me? O winsome flower! 
 'Tis not thy leafy setting far from fine, 
 Inciting ardent wish to call thee mine ; 
 Or dost thou so exert a greater power, 
 To live and bloom, in lieu of better dower. 
 Mid coarse surroundings so to brighter shine. 
 To stand apart from all within thy line? 
 Yea, hollyhock, such, such thy charm this hour ! 
 He lived His life mid such conditions too, 
 A life transcending all the lives I know: 
 It budded, bloomed a rare, a radiant hue. 
 To charm my heart to love with fervent glow. 
 Would life uplifted lead to nearer view ? 
 Would He exert such power were it not so? 
 
 LX 
 
 Thou mixest hues with such unrivaled skill. 
 No Raphael's art may e'er with thee compare; 
 So fine the shading to minutest hair, 
 So blended in the harmony of will : 
 A purpose so most surely to fulfill. 
 Wilt thou not tell me, flower, so I may share 
 The secret thought not plainly written there? 
 Nasturtium ! I will keep it very still. 
 
252 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 His purpose, plan He only doth reveal, 
 When I thro' love am come so close in touch, 
 In mind, in will a harmony to feel : 
 So more and more it means to me o'ermuch, 
 The sharing of His thought a rich, full meal, 
 A throwing way the last remaining crutch. 
 
 LXI 
 
 Why! why! where hast thou been, my fragrant 
 
 flower ? 
 So tattered, torn is all thy petalous robe, 
 Methinks thou hast encircled half the globe, 
 To see thee looking so this day and hour. 
 Why strayest thou so far from native bower? 
 Stay, stay awhile I will no further probe ! 
 Thou couldst not look more pretty to disrobe : 
 As ragged robin thou hast sweeter power. 
 Frayed so and worn is all His seamless dress, 
 Although entire without a single cut; 
 Worn with the weary days and nights of stress, 
 Frayed with the journeyings o'er life's jolt and 
 
 rut: 
 So used, I love, admire the more nor less, 
 So hued He opes the door securely shut. 
 
 Lxn 
 
 My little flower blue, whence comest thou ? 
 Methinks thou hast dropped from yon azure sky, 
 To see thee wearing a color so nigh. 
 
To Christ 253 
 
 If I ne'er loved before, I should e'en now, 
 When it seemeth so though I know not how ; 
 So modest too withal so sweetly shy, 
 To dearly love I have no need to try : 
 Thy leaf hath lent thee name, I truly trow. 
 From out the bright, bright blue He comes to 
 
 me, 
 To bloom in this poor life for aye and aye. 
 To show His love in its entirety : 
 To have me in His keeping night and day. 
 May in return my heart so loyal be, 
 His color only will it wear alway. 
 
 LXHI 
 
 O wondrous flower ! so showy in thy bloom. 
 So beauteous in the shading of thy tint, 
 Profuse in giving void of any stint, 
 My heart, my heart is evermore thy room ! 
 To dissipate, disperse the shadowy gloom. 
 To ope, unfold thy petal's glow ; to glint 
 With rarely roseal hue ; if only hint, 
 'Twill give me strength and courage to re- 
 sume 
 Anew, with thee, my Sharon rose in view. 
 A rose is He for life's most dreary hour, 
 That blooms with cheer surpassing far thy hue, 
 That glows with love transcending all thy 
 
 power : 
 No flower can give such heart and life anew, 
 Save only He my rose of Sharon flower. 
 
254 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 LXIV 
 
 A flower for the day ! what more want I ? 
 
 A thought uplift, a weary care the less, 
 
 A sweet'ner of the toil, the wearing stress : 
 
 Such is my flower, the flower for which I sigh ; 
 
 No cause have I for worry if He's nigh : 
 
 The days and nights are hours of happiness. 
 
 The years are fuller still without a cess. 
 
 A lily of the day that will not die, 
 
 A lilt of love and joy for all the days, 
 
 Tho' many or tho' few, tho' short or long; 
 
 Attuning all the discords unto praise, 
 
 That melt into the melody of song: 
 
 A sweet refreshing flower for all the ways, 
 
 A fuller meed of love for all the wrong. 
 
 LXV 
 
 So passing sweet thy breath, my little flower, 
 
 'Tis emanation of the sweeter life, 
 
 Exhaling balm for all the worry, strife; 
 
 Unfolding to my very need this hour, 
 
 I no more wonder at thy wondrous power. 
 
 Thou ne'er couldst use the words that cut like 
 
 knife, 
 But only those with softest love most rife. 
 O heliotrope ! thy life is all thy dower. 
 His fragrant life is all His dower to me, 
 A gift surpassing all I'll ever know: 
 So lost am I in its immensity. 
 
To Christ 255 
 
 The depths I ne'er shall fathom here below. 
 The secret of its power, I clearly see, 
 Is love, yea love for me, is it not so ? 
 
 LXVI 
 
 From coral shading to delicate pink, 
 Ranging to sweetest gradation of tone, 
 Each flower-bell with beauty all its own. 
 Blending the whole in one harmonious link, 
 A thought thou hast ; what is it ? let me think : 
 Uniting thy forces in one well known, 
 What doth thy life express but love alone! 
 O gladiole ! from full fount dost thou drink. 
 A flowing fount of fullest life is He, 
 A running stream that never runneth dry: 
 The more I drink the deeper seems to be. 
 Whence comes its hidden force? Where doth 
 
 it lie 
 But in exhaustless deep of shoreless sea, 
 The sea of love I clearly now descry. 
 
 LXVII 
 
 Thy balmy breath, how it wafts over me. 
 The fragrant memory of the sweet southland, 
 With her redolent pines and seashore strand ! 
 Thy wealth of fair bloom is as dear to see, 
 For she comes to mind with a sight of thee. 
 The great warm heart within the outstretched 
 hand, 
 
256 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Is fully typed in thee, O flower so grand ! 
 Dost thou, magnolia, not with her agree? 
 The sweet breath of heaven is a sight of Him, 
 'Bove portrait to picture or pen to paint ; 
 A joy ecstatic o'erflowing the brim, 
 Knowing no weariness nor least restraint : 
 A heaven of heavens if lights are burning dim, 
 A reservoir of love for every plaint. 
 
 Lxvni 
 
 Thou lovest best, O flower ! the breezy height. 
 The reach of vision for a life's full play. 
 The roseal glow to tone the whole of day, 
 To stay thee thro' the gloom of darksome night, 
 To round the whole to sphere of softest light; 
 So thine unfolding be no feeble ray, 
 But glowing life aligned to sweetest lay: 
 The fragrant lay of love forever bright. 
 Aligned to love is all His action, thought. 
 The force to dominate, control ; the will ; 
 The center seat where passion-play is wrought ; 
 The life expressing all that speaketh still : 
 No mightier power might He have found or 
 
 sought. 
 His purpose in a life to best fulfill. 
 
 LXIX 
 
 Slowly advancing to fullness of flower. 
 Unfolding thy life in exquisite bloom. 
 
To Christ 257 
 
 Thy roseal sphere will only now illume 
 The way for all who weary of the hour, 
 Who sadly think they have no grace of dower. 
 Thy life so sweetly saith, — "There is no room 
 For spirits low ; away, away with gloom !" 
 Hydrangea! thou hast reach of royal power. 
 His luminous sphere illumed by inner light. 
 Increasing with the growth of its full year, 
 Hath only power o'er all the gloom of night : 
 The reach of power to bring the brightness near. 
 The cheer induced by new increase of sight, 
 Rounding this life to His most glorious sphere. 
 
 LXX 
 
 I breathe thy fragrant breath, O sweet, sweet 
 
 flower ! 
 Tho' I may see thee not, thou must be near, 
 Thy redolent life is all about me here. 
 Exhaling sweetness every minute, hour. 
 Thou fain wouldst share with me thy finer 
 
 dower ; 
 The giving up of self each day of year. 
 To find the life in death, the life of cheer. 
 Must I so live, sweetbrier, to know thy power ? 
 Since such the life He lived it must be so : 
 None hath, nor will have greater power o'er me. 
 As none so wholly lost to self, I know. 
 Its sweet attractiveness must ever be. 
 The wondrous flower it never fails to grow: 
 The flower of balm for every bitter sea. 
 
258 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 LXXI 
 
 Flower of the fall, whence comes thy brilliant 
 
 hue? 
 So like the conscious morn's awakening glow, 
 Blushing with sweet delight herself to know. 
 If it be not thy heart unveiled to view, 
 To raise the drooping year with love anew, 
 Why doth it all a-flutter, flutter so? 
 Tell me I'm right but do not tell me no. 
 Why salvia! surely thou art blushing too. 
 He shows me more His heart from day to day, 
 Unfolding to the slightest call of need : 
 Such tenderness and love its depths o'erlay, 
 I ne'er exhaust tho' great the drain indeed. 
 Why this is so I may not ever say, 
 I only know for me it still doth bleed. 
 
 LXXII 
 
 What doth thy life express? O sunny flower! 
 Doth it reflect a higher, clearer light ? 
 I fain would read its thought, intent aright. 
 To learn the needful lesson of the hour. 
 Should all of life suggest a greater power. 
 Conform in shape and hue to inner sight, 
 To round it to a sphere exceeding bright ? 
 Flower of the sun ! this also is my dower. 
 Unless my life reflects the living glow, 
 Suggests the color, form of His imprint, 
 It hath no gleam to light another's woe. 
 
To Christ 259 
 
 No tiny spark to flame to glowing tint : 
 'Tis dark, opaque as clouds long lying low, 
 Of light, unlit by any vestige, glint. 
 
 LXXIII 
 
 Dost love my love ? O flower divinely fair ! 
 Dost know how pure He is, how good, how true ? 
 Methinks thou lovest well to wear His hue, 
 A hue so dazzHng white, 'tis all too rare 
 For one unused to breathe ethereal air. 
 For one who ne'er before such color knew. 
 
 surely, surely thou must love Him too, 
 Else thou His name of pearl wouldst never bear. 
 
 1 would such hue my all of life might show. 
 As wholly pure, as free of blemish, chaste ; 
 'Twould be a clearer revelation so, 
 
 Like honeyed flower its sweetness all would 
 
 taste : 
 Nor would it any lack of color know, 
 Transfigured, changed with all of self effaced. 
 
 LXXIV 
 
 If I but see thee in thy wondrous bloom, 
 Transforming all the mead with such a hue. 
 So wholly pure 'tis never lost to view, 
 I see my love, who only can illume, 
 With His supernal light the somber room : 
 Transfiguring all of life to love anew. 
 To hue translucent, never changing, true. 
 
26o The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Thy hue, O flower ! wilt thou not too resume ? 
 The hue of life hath no diviner tint, 
 No purer shade, no more illuming glow, 
 Than when relit by love to more than glint. 
 To radiant beam His loved ones only know : 
 To light increasing bright, with never hint 
 Of change nor stop in its unceasing flow. 
 
 LXXV 
 
 Breathe upon me, most delicious flower! 
 Breathe, O breathe thy sweetly fragrant breath ! 
 So I may fully wake from sleeping death. 
 To live thy life of so much winsome power. 
 If form and tint be not thy finest dower, 
 What doth the more attract to thee ? What saith 
 My heart? What, what in thee encountereth ? 
 Doth not thy life make fragrant all the hour, 
 The life of trusting love from day to day ? 
 If so, I fain would con it o'er and o'er, 
 So I may ne'er forget nor from Him stray. 
 'Tis all of life to learn its greatest lore. 
 Its sweetest fragrance, its but one bouquet 
 That fadeth not, that bloometh more and more. 
 
 LXXVI 
 
 Enthroned for aye within the childish heart, 
 Thy loving power is never on the wane. 
 It waxeth more and more to greater gain: 
 Nor know I why unless it be love's art, 
 
To Christ 261 
 
 To keep the whole for fear of losing part. 
 Thy color true without a spot or stain, 
 Bespeaks a love that ne'er will need to 
 
 feign. 
 Who, larkspur, would not love thee from the 
 
 start? 
 As I the One, who hath a love for me. 
 Too true to ever know the change, unrest. 
 Imperfect love must know ; too great to be 
 Untrue to any kind or sort of test : 
 A love too perfect in its entity, 
 To ever lose in passion, ardor, zest. 
 
 LXXVII 
 
 Soft, soft, so soft, softer than thistle-down, 
 More varied in hue than many I ween. 
 How lovesome thou art in satiny sheen. 
 Exquisite in tone of thy bell-shaped gown ! 
 A heartsome flower for solely love's renown, 
 As to be loved thou only must be seen. 
 So winsome thy form, so modest thy mien. 
 Petunia ! thou art worthy of thy crown. 
 For aye my heart hath crowned Him with a 
 
 love. 
 Too great in reverence, too complete in 
 
 trust, 
 For any power to shake, below, above: 
 A love too leal to know a doubt, distrust 
 Of One, whose love for me will ne'er remove, 
 Tho' I unworthy be of e'en a crust. 
 
262 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 LXXVIII 
 
 White, white, so white, as the fresh-falhng flake, 
 
 Pure, pure, so pure, as the down-dropping dew, 
 
 Is thy feathery outHne, clear as true. 
 
 From thy fair hf e new thoughts impelHng wake : 
 
 How may I Hve thy hfe to so partake 
 
 With thee of all its purity anew? 
 
 How blend the colors into thy one hue? 
 
 For this, spiraea, what must I forsake? 
 
 How best to live, His purer life to know ? 
 
 For thy white life but symbolizes His ; 
 
 A life no mortal ever lives below, 
 
 Unsought, unhelped, alone ; a power there is, 
 
 But only one to make it white as snow : 
 
 If not the power of love, I'll no more quiz. 
 
 LXXIX 
 
 Only a tuft of bloom, no more, you say, 
 But oh ! so white, 'tis pure as angel's sight ; 
 A dewdrop glistening in the lap of night ; 
 A pearl of truth for every doubting day. 
 That opens up and out the loving way 
 Of perfect trust, with new increasing light : 
 If I but read thy life's one lesson right. 
 A tuft of bloom ? yea more, a full-blown ray ! 
 For such is He for life's most darksome hour : 
 A lute of love from out the heavenly sphere, 
 To waft away, away the clouds that lower, 
 Low-lying clouds of doubt, distrust and fear. 
 
To Christ 263 
 
 A flower of flowers ? yea more, the only flower 
 Of love to bloom for every falling tear. 
 
 LXXX 
 
 Blow not ye winds upon my sweetest flower. 
 Unless ye softly blow with kisses kind ; 
 Unless ye have no other thought in mind, 
 For sweet is He exhaling more each hour, 
 In fragrant will and deed His loving power. 
 So redolent a flower I nowhere find, 
 Nor one I could so little leave behind. 
 I nohow live unless I haunt His bower, 
 The bower of love and prayer along the way, 
 The toilsome, weary way, the rugged road, 
 That grows more painful with the closing day. 
 Unless I frequent pause to ease the load, 
 Unless I hear Him oft caressing say, — 
 "My dear, dear child, my love is not a goad." 
 
 LXXXI 
 
 Flower of a life that fadeth not away. 
 Flower of a bloom that changeth not its hue. 
 Thou so art ever sweetly fresh as new, 
 Thou so art not the creature of a day, 
 Nor night, divest of power to last alway! 
 Immortal flower ! thou hast a wider view : 
 Thou whisperest to my heart of hope anew, 
 Hope of a life that will not change, decay, 
 Hope of a love that will not fade and die. 
 
264 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Else thy one life could not unending be. 
 Thou breathest, breathest but of One most high, 
 Who gives such endless Hfe and love to me : 
 Who cheers me greatly with His word so nigh, — 
 "This life's but portal to the one you'll see." 
 
 Lxxxn 
 
 Look not, look not upon this bright-hued 
 
 flower. 
 Unless ye look with eyes that clearly see, 
 Unless ye read the thought for you and me, 
 The thought that life is His most precious 
 
 dower : 
 The selfless life of solely loving power, 
 The warmth of tone that is its entity. 
 Else for a life there is not e'en a plea, 
 A life of but a second, minute, hour. 
 If so this red, red flower be e'en His thought, 
 In texture, form, in loveliness of hue. 
 His thought of all a life, His life hath wrought. 
 Should not mine own conform in color too? 
 Should it not strive for all He ever sought. 
 The life in death for love's immortal view? 
 
 LXXXIII 
 
 Shall I know thee? O tiny, tiny flower! 
 As I know thee in this most happy dream, 
 As I see thee as thou dost truly seem, 
 Unfolding so much sweetness for the hour, 
 
To Christ 265 
 
 Thou couldst not have a more attractive 
 
 power: 
 So tuneful is thy more than touching theme, 
 'Tis more divine than human, I well deem. 
 Nor would I wake unless within thy bower, 
 Where thou wouldst whisper of His love for 
 
 me; 
 A love that sweetly grows with every day, 
 That is its theme tho' long or short it be, 
 Tho' rough or rugged be the weary way. 
 A theme so melting in its melody, 
 'Tis harmony for hfe's discordant lay. 
 
 LXXXIV 
 
 A foam, a field all tremulous with foam, 
 A-swaying here, there with the slightest sigh, 
 Tho' I see thee afar, I wish thee nigh; 
 O snowy flower! make, make my heart thy 
 
 home! 
 Stray not away if breezes lightly roam. 
 Lest I should look in vain nor thee espy. 
 Lest I should droop to see thee fade or die. 
 Thy whitely life, of thought is one full tome, 
 To illustrate His purity for me. 
 To ever keep it in my range of view. 
 Lest I thro' gross insight should fail to see 
 Its spotlessness, its clarity of hue. 
 If thy pure tone more pearly white could be, 
 'Twould but portray His purer color true. 
 
26(i The Heavenly Voice 
 
 LXXXV 
 
 A drop of snow unfolding in a bloom 
 So white, it is the flower of winter's night : 
 Delightsome promise of a spring more bright. 
 Drop down, blithe flower, into my heart's drear 
 
 room, 
 To so unwrap thy cheer, that it may loom 
 With ray refracted from thy heavenly light: 
 Nor e'er remove, I pray beyond my sight. 
 For thine own heart can never harbor gloom. 
 As my blest heart if I but bid Him stay, 
 If I but ope the door to His loved knock; 
 If I but let Him in nor say Him nay, 
 His Christly store of cheer He will unlock: 
 So flowers the blossom of the blithesome day, 
 In which my heart takes great and greater stock. 
 
 LXXXVI 
 
 Thy fringing robe, O pretty pale flower ! 
 Is it suggestive of a prettier thought, 
 A subtile meaning in thy mantle wrought? 
 For so it seemeth seeing thee this hour, 
 In all the wondrous beauty of thy dower, 
 I would in thy sweet lore be better taught, 
 To learn to live the life I truly ought : 
 To know that life is only trusted power ; 
 To make it beautiful in word and deed ; 
 To breathe, exhale His thought of love for 
 all, 
 
To Christ 2.6^ 
 
 In daily ministering to another's need. 
 Else for a life there's not a right to crawl, 
 Nor for its continuity to plead, 
 Nor for its share of blessings great or small. 
 
 LXXXVII 
 Star from yon starry sphere, why dost thou 
 
 come 
 To ope, unfold thy petal's silvery glow? 
 Unless thou wouldst thy life more fully show. 
 Unless thou wouldst have me like thee become 
 In form, in hue, in all that is thy sum. 
 Thou to my heart art truly welcome so. 
 As I would know all thou dost fully know : 
 Lest I divested be of e'en a crumb. 
 So comes He forth from yonder heavenly sphere. 
 To let His Hfe unfold its lesson true, 
 The lesson little learned, so needed here : 
 Exhaling it in every shade and hue. 
 Expressing it in form so sweetly dear. 
 Ah ! who hath known would not e'en learn it too. 
 
 LXXXVIII 
 
 Beyond all my compare, so beauteous Thou ! 
 Beyond belief is Thy exquisite bloom. 
 Unless unveiled to view in love's dear room. 
 The room of all I mostly frequent now ; 
 The hallowed room, the only shrine I trow, 
 Where health of heart replaces ill of gloom, 
 
268 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Where love like Thine doth all its space illume, 
 Where rest of heart and love is found, somehow. 
 Flower of the beautiful, beautiful flower ! 
 Thy life unveiled is love's revealing sole ; 
 The light of love for every lightless hour, 
 The loving life that constitutes the whole. 
 Would I compare, 'tis far beyond my power 
 Of pen, to paint on any screed or scroll. 
 
 LXXXIX 
 
 Se'st thou my flower in all His brilliant hue, 
 
 A flaming hue of one undying shade, 
 
 A shade that shows no sign of change nor fade? 
 
 Ah ! then thou se'st Him as I see Him too, 
 
 So fully robed, arrayed for me and you ; 
 
 So we might wear His garb of finer grade, 
 
 His spotless hue, for love's sole purchase paid : 
 
 So we might know His purer color true. 
 
 O flaming flower ! Thy color is Thy life. 
 
 Thy life surrendered for my worthless own, 
 
 Incarnadined in my great conflict, strife ; 
 
 Else but for this wouldst not have worn nor 
 
 known. 
 Else not with suffering's hue would be so rife : 
 Can I withstand the sight of love so shown ? 
 
 XC 
 
 Thou art, thou truly art my love's own flower ! 
 So startling is thy contour, shape, 'tis true; 
 
To Christ 269 
 
 True to His form of life, His death e'en too. 
 
 I see, I see it all in thee this hour ! 
 
 Wert grown to show the tournure of His 
 
 power ? 
 Keep, keep, O flower ! forever in my view, 
 So I may see His wondrous love anew 
 In all the greatness of its matchless dower. 
 Flower of the cross ! no flower is like to Thee, 
 In such unfolding of the bloom of love. 
 In such exhaling of its fragrancy. 
 Inbreathe Thy life, so I no more remove 
 From Thee, in thought, in act, in entity : 
 So I assume the shape Thou dost approve. 
 
 XCI 
 O flower ! thou too art like my pierced flower ! 
 Thou too exud'st thy life in every stem ! 
 Hast thou some healing virtue in thy hem? 
 If so, thou know'st somewhat His reach of 
 
 power. 
 If so, thou hast a blessing for the hour. 
 Thy petals' glow is not thy diadem, 
 Tho' crusted o'er with many a pearly gem ; 
 Thy life's free flow is thy most precious dower: 
 The only dower that e'er avails for me. 
 That changes all my life to thy one hue, 
 That gives the blessing of the life to be. 
 O pierced flower ! Thy life's full flow, anew 
 Prevails. Thy whitely life I know, I see ! 
 Its hue shall be my life's sole color too. 
 
270 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 XCII 
 
 Flower of the heart ! my heart's exquisite flower ! 
 Unfolding more and more the roseate hue, 
 Exhahng more and more the fragrance true, 
 Thou art a flower, not for the day, the hour, 
 But for the Hfe of new increasing power : 
 The only power that makes the old as new. 
 That broadens out the one of narrow view. 
 Heart-flower ! Thou art my heart's one dower ! 
 Nor want, nor need I more in having Thee : 
 Thou art the whole in one, the one in whole. 
 Unfurl Thy petals all so I but see 
 Thee as Thou art, of all the flowers, the sole : 
 The only one that breathes the life to be, 
 That is of all my heart's desires the goal. 
 
 xcni 
 
 Unrivaled in Thy brilliancy of hue. 
 Surpassed by none in scintillating light. 
 Thou art, O flower! my heart's one jewel bright. 
 Nor know, nor want I one more purely true. 
 That glows with such increasing luster too. 
 Thou openest up new vistas of delight, 
 To one who else would have no inner sight. 
 No concept of Thy revelation new. 
 Encrusted in the setting of my heart, 
 Illuminant of its small, its darkest spot. 
 Thou so within my love art set apart 
 As one who fully knows what I know not: 
 
To Christ ' 271 
 
 As one who will Himself alone impart, 
 So I may freely share His higher lot. 
 
 XCIV 
 
 So sweet, O flower ! so freshly sweet as thou, 
 
 So like, so truly like thy blushing hue. 
 
 So known, so fully known, yet ever new, 
 
 Is my love-flower, I see so clearly now. 
 
 Who comes so sweetly nigh in thee, somehow, 
 
 Thy breath, perforce His exhalation true: 
 
 Of Him, thy fragrant life the nearer view, 
 
 Before whose shrine, I lowly worship, bow. 
 
 As sight of thee in all thy roseal bloom, 
 
 In all the emanation of thy life, 
 
 In all the varied ways it doth illume. 
 
 So doth a view of Him dispel all strife, 
 
 Disperse the lonely days and nights of gloom, 
 
 With cheer, make every minute, hour so rife. 
 
 XCV 
 
 Flower of my love! Thou flower of delight! 
 Exhale Thy rare perfume within my heart. 
 So it may breathe of Thee in every part. 
 Unfold Thy petals' glow in all their light, 
 So it may keep illumed throughout the night. 
 Thy daintiness of hue to me impart, 
 So I may know the beauty of Thine art. 
 Flower of delight! Thou couldst not be more 
 bright. 
 
2^2 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 More pleasing to the eye, the feeling, touch ; 
 Nor surely couldst Thou less attractive be. 
 To one who never loved Thee overmuch, 
 Who never knew the love I know for Thee : 
 How more delightsome must Thou be to such 
 As see Thee, as I now so fondly see. 
 
 XCVI 
 
 O flower of mine ! my first, my vernal flower ! 
 Thou whisperest of a time approaching near. 
 When spring eternal shall be regnant here: 
 When its fair bloom shall far outlast the hour, 
 That gave it birth or limited its power. 
 Its full unfolding will be for the year, 
 That ushers in the brighter life of cheer: 
 The life without a cloud to threaten, lower. 
 Awake, awake from dormant sleep, this 
 
 heart ! 
 Impart the vigor of Thy conscious life, 
 So it may bud and bloom in every part ; 
 Exhaling fragrant balm for all the strife, 
 Expressing love with all a petal's art : 
 Thus with refreshing cheer may it be rife. 
 
 XCVII 
 
 O flower of thought! what is more fine than 
 
 Thou? 
 Tho' spun by skilled Arachne's subtle art, 
 Would no aerial flight to Thee impart. 
 
To Christ 273 
 
 As Thou, Thy creatures couldst the more endow : 
 To think Thy thought would be e'en bliss 
 
 enow. 
 Ah me ! what rapture would enthrill my heart ! 
 What ecstasy to be with Thee apart ! 
 Apart from ego of the why and how, 
 In purer ether of the thought sublime. 
 That is not limited to one small grange, 
 Confined to but one sphere of zone and clime. 
 But hath the universe for all its range: 
 The thought that knows no mark nor sign of 
 
 time, 
 That to the highest flight is never strange. 
 
 XCVIII 
 Hail, hail, all hail ! Thou flower of roseal morn ! 
 I greet Thy beauty with a rare delight ; 
 A panacea Thou for jaded sight, 
 A great relaxing for the heart wayworn, 
 Of all its dewy freshness early shorn : 
 A new unfolding after every night, 
 A fresh revealing with increase of light, 
 So sweet a ministrant to one forlorn. 
 O morning flower! Thou most refreshing 
 
 flower ! 
 My heart would know no cheer without Thy 
 
 bloom. 
 Would feel no life without Thy quickening 
 
 power 
 To rouse it from its state of torpid gloom : 
 
274 The Heavenly Voice 
 
 Would be bereft of hope, within the hour 
 Thou leavest it for any other room. 
 
 XCIX 
 
 flower ! to me, Thou art the twihght flower, 
 That most unfolds if I'm with Thee alone ; 
 That most exhales about the old hearthstone : 
 That blooms the fullest in the quiet hour. 
 Thou hast o'er me the most persuasive power, 
 The power for all my ills to make atone, 
 Expressing love for every grief and moan. 
 Although I love Thee in Thy native bower, 
 
 1 love Thee most if Thou so drawest near, 
 I feel Thy conscious presence in my heart ; 
 If I but hear Thy voice a-speaking here, 
 
 I listen so to all Thou wouldst impart : 
 
 Nor couldst Thou ever be more sweetly dear, 
 
 Nor I unhappy more from Thee apart. 
 
 O welcome, welcome, flower of most high noon ! 
 
 My heart ne'er felt the greet it feels this hour, 
 
 Ne'er knew the love that is its priceless dower. 
 
 That puts its voiceless keys in sweetest tune. 
 
 That changes all to melody its rune. 
 
 Thy life unfolds in plenitude of power, 
 
 Tho' storms may break or threatening clouds 
 
 may lower. 
 Tho' Thou dost come o'erlate or very soon, 
 
To Christ 2^5 
 
 My life but blossoms into flower thro' Thee ; 
 But fresh exhales a fragrance through Thy 
 
 breath, 
 Its full fertility in Thee to see ; 
 'Tis powerless else to overcome the death. 
 The hopeless death of its sterility : 
 Could I say more than this, my heart so saith. 
 
15 1905