911 54-99 ■■•-iwj^ .. .. THE RIVER OF LIFE A A = — .. <= A = A = 1 ^■^— -^ m -- — DJ m == ID ^^^^" ' 1 \ 3 = ^S^ — 6 m -^.. 2> 7 = ^^ c = =^= J> o = JU 4 = '^ ^" 2 = ^^= r— _, ^s 8 Jin J^lkgorg: iSTER "StRELLEY ?•'/. 15'// .■,:■'•■ dedicated, by Permission, to the FOBT LAUREATE. THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES v^ K THE RIVER OF LIFE: Jin llUccjorg. The River of Life: an auegota* BY WEBSTER STRELLEY. "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace. (John i. i6.) J^ancf)cstcr : TUBES, BROOK, AND CHRYSTAL, II, MARKET STREET. (All Rights Reserved.) S9'i'^^n To The Poet, TENNYSON, This Allegory is ( With the Foetus gracious permission ) humbly inscribed. |nfath Whatever of poetry — whether in diction or in simile — is to be found in the following lines, I have derived directly from the Bible. The wooden framework alone is mine — (I formed it many years ago). In presenting divine truth in figurative form, my sole aim has been to remind the poetry lover of the wealth of beauteous imagery contained in Holy Writ ; the gospel shident, of the abundance of New Testament teaching underlying Old Testament language. Would that Poetry were cherished by every Christian : the Bible by every Poet ! Yea ; that every Christian were a poet ! every poet, Christian ! Webster Strelley. Manchester, i88j. A TRAVELLER oncc stood near the spot where the Jordan empties itself into the Dead Sea. The scene, there pre- sented to him, led the traveller to thus soliloquise : — " How is it that the Dead Sea — after receiving, in con- stant flow, during thousands- of years, the clear waters of the river — is still so loathsome ? " The record of this soliloquy first suggested to the mind of the present author the plan of the after- written allegory. It is nothing new to compare the gospel to a beautiful, cleansing river ; but the author claims, as original, the attempt to show the complete likeness between the appa- rent mission of the "holy Jordan " and the aim and work of "saving grace." " Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ " (John i. 17) : and the river — representing this grace — is made to tell the legend of its origin : how the Eternal Godhead (likened to a mighty Cedar of Lebanon) stooped to Earth to redeem INTRODUCTION. mankind ; and how the Son of God (a Branch — Is. xi. i) became incarnate, and gave the world a gospel. The Dead Sea typifies heathendom — as yet but little affected (in outward appearance, at least) by the influence of Christianity in the world ; but destined to ultimately become, by the constant operation of the same influence, its pure, its praise-speaking convert. The Lake of Galilee represents the Jewish nation; which, as a people — though "His own" — "received Him not." The river's temporary disappearance from the surface, before reaching the favoured Jake, might be fairly used as a symbol of the Teacher's retired life in Nazareth, when the gospel truth seemed to be, for a while, withheld from human notice, prior to its being preached by its Divine Witness. The Hebrew race will one day be " the Lord's ; " and then — and not till then — will come the final triumph of the Gospel, when "a// shall know Him, from the least to the greatest" (Heb. xviii. ii); when "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." (Ps. Ixxii. S.) B ^I)c ^'wcv of ^ifc "an "ailcgorp. I. — The River and the Sea. Methought I stood where, age to age, fair Jordan casts itself, With warm embrace, on depths — the Dead Sea's Untold depths— of squalid misery. Methought the Sea of Death (whose shameful lot it is to hide A cursed site*, and brood o'er punished Sin), as Jordan kissed its dismal brow, Moaned, sullenly, "Unclean! unclean!" * That of Sodom and Gomorrah. 12 THE RIVER OF LIFE. Methought the Stream of Life (Whose gracious mission is to bless the Sea, and raise its gloom) replied, in soft, Sweet, love-full tones, "I cleanse ! redeem !" And, when I asked, " Whence came "Thy shame, O, Arabah*? and whence thy "Grace, O, Ardenf?" first, methought, I heard The stagnant waters mutter forth the Story of the Sea — How Sin had entered Siddim's vale (a Pleasant vale, a very paradise) — How God did, therefore, curse the place, and smite its souls with Death | — And how the Dead Sea's black and saltsome Waters rose, to mark the spot, and tell The world of God's just Wrath. * One of the names given to the Dead Sea. + Another name for the river Jordan. X " The wages of sin is death." THE RIVER OF LIFE. 13 The story ended : next, methought, I heard the sparkling river-wavelets Brightly sing this Legend of the Stream : — " Where Lebanon's chaste form doth rise above the northern plains, " There is a Cedar, of uncommon " Height and beauty and productiveness, "And having three gigantic mighty branches, matchless in " Their majesty. " The soil there once was " Dry and parched — for stream or springlet there "Was stranger — till, one night, the Cedar bent its kingly form, " And caused a Branch to touch the soil : when "Straightway withered all the winsome leaves " The Branch did bear. 14 THE RIVER OF LIFE. " But, where each withered leaf had kissed the earth, " The spot appeared refreshed; and, when at " Length the leaves, all lifeless, fell to earth, " There sprang a "\\'ell of living water up. " The Cedar thus " Addressed the new-born spring : — " ' ^Ve have, for "'Ages, watched with pain the growing gloom " ' And A\Tetchedness of far-off Arabah, and mourned its curse " ' Of death. And now we bid you, ' Arden,' " ' Speed to Siddim's vale; remove the bane " ' Of solitude ; and mingle with the turpid depths until THE RIVER OF LIFE. 15 " ' They be so fraught with you that they shall " ' Wear your glory — with you, fostering Life " ' Eternally.' " Then, instantly, the blighted Branch resumed " Its beauty — but with foliage lovelier " Still than first it had, of verdure far " Beyond the reach of all comparison. " The Cedar has " Not ceased to bend : nor Branch, out- stretched, to "Shade and guard the place of Arden's birth, "And whisper to the gushing stream the mes- sage, ' Grace is free ! ' " Thus sang the stream. And Arabah to Me appeared to gather Life and Hope. 1 6 THE RIVER OF LIFE. II. — The River and the Lake. Again methought. Methought I sailed in fairy craft o'er Lake Tiberias — a lake that Heaven had Favoured far above its sister-lakes. I watched how Arden — just emerged in full- grown vigour from Its subterranean cloisters* — bent on Beautifying all it met, passed through The Lake's fair, jealous throng : unentertained, unheeded,! save By some few humbler watery-atoms, + * The Jordan is lost underground for some miles be- fore it reaches the Sea of Galilee. t It is well-known that the Jordan flows through the Lake of Galilee, apparently without mingling with the waters of the Lake. J " The common people heard Him gladly." THE RIVER OF LIFE. 17 Far removed from either shore — themselves Despised by such their fellow-atoms able to reflect The trees and hills, and reproduce the Shore-built cities of the human race. Mistaken pride ! and base ingratitude ! Genesaret ! But, ah, when years, that nestle yet in Everlasting Future, glide into Eternal Past : and opportunities shall be the test At Judgment : Pride shall suffer, as did Siddim's sin — and yet more terribly ! ! i8 THE RIVER OF LIFE. III. — The Ocean. Once more methought. Methought the last, the endless, day had dawned ; And that I rode on that day's wings of Morn. I sought foul Arabah : but found Her not — nor fair Genesaret. Nor sea ; nor lake ; nor stream ; Nor even land, was visible — no. Nought, save Sky and Sun and Ocean — A cloudless Sky ; a constant Sun ; a boundless Ocean. THE RIVER OF LIFE. 19 I gazed in awe, in wonder, at the Change. I failed in all attempts to solve The mystery ; and looked around in deep des- pair : when, lo, The Ocean began to surge, and Silvery waves, in chorus, sang this song : — " Christ Jesus is our Saviour ! He to God hath us redeemed " Of every kindred, tongue and people ! " Israel, resigning all his pride, " Embraced the saving truth ; and joined to spread the Gospel cause. " Nor sea nor lake is more — nor Jew nor " Gentile — all are merged in one grand throng " Of blissful beings : saved by Grace — and Grace alone. And now " Eternity embraces them." 20 THE RIVER OF LIFE. An Angel, whisp'ring softly, breathed "Amen." THE END. rv UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. SEP 07 Form L9-32m-8, '57 (.0868084)444 _Strelle;jr_-^ PR S8992r life PR %99 S8992r University ol Calitornia, Los Angeles L 006 830 525 9 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 367 542 8 --■•:.f :;y' m --'— Vt ., -f-^'l