Grim the gate unopened
Stands with bar and lock:
Yet within the unseen Porter
Hearkens to the knock.-
Doing and undoing,
Faint and yet pursuing,
This man's feet are on the Rock.

With a cry unceasing
Knocketh, prayeth he:
'Lord have mercy on me
When I cry to Thee.'
With a knock unceasing
And a cry increasing:
'O my Lord, remember me.'

Still the Porter standeth, Love-constrained He standeth near, While the cry increaseth Of that love and fear: 'Jesus, look upon me

Christ, hast Thou foregone me?

If I must, I perish here.'

Faint the knocking ceases, Faint the cry and call: Is he lost indeed for ever, Shut without the wall? Mighty Arms surround him, Arms that sought and found him, Held, withheld, and bore through all.

O celestial mansion,

Open wide the door:

Crown and robes of whiteness,

Stone inscribed before,

Flocking Angels bear them;

Stretch thy hand and wear them, Sit thou down for evermore. 5 September 1853.

SLEEP AT SEA

SOUND the deep waters :

Who shall sound that deep?

No voice to call the sleepers,

No hand to raise :

They sleep to death in dreaming

Of length of days. Vanity of vanities,

The Preacher says: Vanity is the end

Of all their ways. 17 October 1853.

CONSIDER THE LILIES OF

THE FIELD

FLOWERS preach to us if we will hear:

The rose saith in the dewy morn :
I am most fair;

Yet all my loveliness is born
Upon a thorn.'

The poppy saith amid the corn:
'Let but my scarlet head appear
And I am held in scorn;
Yet juice of subtle virtue lies
Within my cup of curious dyes.'
The lilies say: Behold how we
Preach without words of purity.'
The violets whisper from the shade
Which their own leaves have made :
'Men scent our fragrance on the
air,

Yet take no heed

Of humble lessons we would read.'

But not alone the fairest flowers:
The merest grass

Along the roadside where we pass,
Lichen and moss and sturdy weed,
Tell of His love who sends the

dew,

The rain and sunshine too, To nourish one small seed.

21 October 1853.