And there the weary be at rest ;
There all the wisdom of the wise
Is vanity of vanities.

Man flourishes as a green leaf,
And as a leaf doth pass away ;

Or as a shade that cannot stay
And leaves no track, his course is brief:
Yet man doth hope and fear and plan
Till he is dead :--oh foolish man!

Our eyes cannot be satisfied

With seeing, nor our ears be filled With hearing yet we plant and build And buy and make our borders wide; We gather wealth, we gather care, But know not who shall be our heir.

Why should we hasten to arise

So early, and so late take rest? Our labour is not good; our best Hopes fade; our heart is stayed on lies: Verily, we sow wind; and we Shall reap the whirlwind, verily.

He who hath little shall not lack;

He who hath plenty shall decay: Our fathers went; we pass away; Our children follow on our track: So generations fail, and so

They are renewed and come and go.

The earth is fattened with our dead;

She swallows more and doth not cease: Therefore her wine and oil increase And her sheaves are not numbered; Therefore her plants are green, and all Her pleasant trees lusty and tall.

Therefore the maidens cease to sing,
And the young men are very sad ;
Therefore the sowing is not glad,
And mournful is the harvesting.
Of high and low, of great and small,
Vanity is the lot of all.

A King dwelt in Jerusalem ;

He was the wisest man on earth; He had all riches from his birth, And pleasures till he tired of them; Then, having tested all things, he Witnessed that all are vanity.

PARADISE.

NCE in a dream I saw the flowers

ONCE

That bud and bloom in Paradise ; More fair they are than waking eyes Have seen in all this world of ours. And faint the perfume-bearing rose, And faint the lily on its stem, And faint the perfect violet Compared with them.

I heard the songs of Paradise :
Each bird sat singing in his place ;
A tender song so full of grace
It soared like incense to the skies.
Each bird sat singing to his mate
Soft cooing notes among the trees :
The nightingale herself were cold
To such as these.

I saw the fourfold River flow,

And deep it was, with golden sand; It flowed between a mossy land With murmured music grave and low. It hath refreshment for all thirst,

For fainting spirits strength and rest; Earth holds not such a draught as this From east to west.

The Tree of Life stood budding there,
Abundant with its twelvefold fruits;
Eternal sap sustains its roots,

Its shadowing branches fill the air.
Its leaves are healing for the world,
Its fruit the hungry world can feed,
Sweeter than honey to the taste

And balm indeed.

I saw the gate called Beautiful;

And looked, but scarce could look within ; I saw the golden streets begin,

And outskirts of the glassy pool.

Oh harps, oh crowns of plenteous stars,
Oh green palm branches many-leaved-
Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard,
Nor heart conceived.

I hope to see these things again,
But not as once in dreams by night;
To see them with my very sight,
And touch and handle and attain :
To have all Heaven beneath my feet

For narrow way that once they trod;
To have my part with all the saints,
And with my God.

SLEEP AT SEA.

SOUND

OUND the deep waters :---
Who shall sound that deep ?-.

Too short the plummet,

And the watchmen sleep.

Some dream of effort

Up a toilsome steep;

Some dream of pasture grounds

For harmless sheep.

White shapes flit to and fro

From mast to mast;

They feel the distant tempest

That nears them fast:
Great rocks are straight ahead,

Great shoals not past;
They shout to one another

Upon the blast.

Oh, soft the streams drop music

Between the hills,

And musical the birds' nests

Beside those rills

The nests are types of home

Love-hidden from ills,

The nests are types of spirits

Love-music fills.