"And Might." "Get thee behind me. Lord, Who hast redeemed and not abhorred My soul, O keep it by Thy Word." ONE CERTAINTY. SONNET. ANITY of vanities, the Preacher saith, VANI All things are vanity. The eye and ear Cannot be filled with what they see and hear. Like early dew, or like the sudden breath. Of wind, or like the grass that withereth, Is man, tossed to and fro by hope and fear: Till all things end in the long dust of death. To-morrow also even as one of them; The old thorns shall grow out of the old stem, And morning shall be cold, and twilight gray. CHRISTIAN AND JEW. A DIALOGUE. "O HAPPY happy land! Angels like rushes stand About the wells of light." 66 Alas, I have not eyes for this fair sight: Hold fast my hand.". "As in a soft wind, they Bend all one blessed way, Each bowed in his own glory, star with star." "I cannot see so far, Here shadows are.". "White-winged the cherubim, Yet whiter seraphim, Glow white with intense fire of love.". "Mine eyes are dim: I look in vain above, And miss their hymn." "Angels, Archangels cry One to other ceaselessly (I hear them sing) One Holy, Holy, Holy,' to their King.""I do not hear them, I." "Joy to thee, Paradise, Garden and goal and nest! Made green for wearied eyes; Much softer than the breast Of mother-dove clad in a rainbow's dyes. "All precious souls are there Most safe, elect by grace, All tears are wiped forever from their face : Untired in prayer They wait and praise, Hidden for a little space. “Boughs of the Living Vine, They spread in summer shine Green leaf with leaf: Sap of the Royal Vine, it stirs like wine In all both less and chief. "Sing to the Lord, All spirits of all flesh, sing; For He hath not abhorred Our low estate nor scorned our offering: Shout to our King.". "But Zion said: My Lord forgetteth me. In dust; forsaken weepeth she "She laid her body as the ground, Her tender body as the ground to those Who passed; her harpstrings cannot sound In a strange land; discrowned She sits, and drunk with woes." "O drunken not with wine, Whose sins and sorrows have fulfilled the sum, Be not afraid, arise, be no more dumb; Arise, shine, For thy light is come." "Can these bones live?" "God knows: The prophet saw such clothed with flesh and skin; A wind blew on them and life entered in; They shook and rose. Hasten the time, O Lord, blot out their sin, SWEET DEATH. HE sweetest blossoms die. THE so And so it was that, going day by day And crossing the green churchyard thoughtfully, 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 colors turn to green; The bright hues vanish and the odors fly, And youth and beauty die. So be it, O my God, Thou God of truth : Are Saints and Angels, a glad company; Why should we shrink from our full harvest? why |