GOOD FRIDAY. AMI a stone, and not a sheep, That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross, To number drop by drop Thy Blood's slow loss, And yet not weep? Not so those women loved Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee; Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly: Not so the thief was moved; Not so the Sun and Moon Which hid their faces in a starless sky, Yet give not o'er, But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock; Greater than Moses, turn and look once more And smite a rock. SWEET DEATH. HE sweetest blossoms die. THE And so it was that, going day by day Unto the Church to praise and pray, And crossing the green churchyard thoughtfully, I saw how on the graves the flowers Shed their fresh leaves in showers, And how their perfume rose up to the sky Before it passed away. The youngest blossoms die. They die and fall and nourish the rich earth From which they lately had their birth; Sweet life, but sweeter death that passeth by And is as though it had not been : All colours turn to green; The bright hues vanish, and the odours fly, And youth and beauty die. So be it, O my God, Thou God of Truth: Why should we shrink from our full harvest? why SYMBOLS. I WATCHED a rosebud very long Brought on by dew and sun and shower, Waiting to see the perfect flower : Then, when I thought it should be strong, It opened at the matin hour And fell at evensong. I watched a nest from day to day, Then in my wrath I broke the bough But the dead branch spoke from the sod, 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 The poppy saith amid the corn Of humble lessons we would read. But not alone the fairest flowers: Along the roadside where we pass, To nourish one small seed. THE WORLD. SONNET. BY day she woos me, soft, exceeding fair: But all night as the moon so changeth she; Ripe fruits, sweet flowers, and full satiety: In all the naked horror of the truth With pushing horns and clawed and clutching hands Is this a friend indeed; that I should sell My soul to her, give her my life and youth, Till my feet, cloven too, take hold on hell? I A TESTIMONY. SAID of laughter: it is vain. Of mirth I said: what profits it? |