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 | The Poetical Works of Frances Ridley Havergal |  |
Leaning over the Waterfall.
[_]
A young lady, aged 20, fell over the rocks at the Swallow Waterfall in the summer of 1873, and was lost to sight in a moment. The body was not recovered till four hours afterwards.
Leaning over the waterfall!
Lured by the fairy sight,
Heeding not the warning call,
Watching the foam and the flow,
Smooth and dark, or swift and bright,
Here in the shade and there in the light!
Oh, who could know
The coming sorrow, the nearing woe!
Lured by the fairy sight,
Heeding not the warning call,
Watching the foam and the flow,
Smooth and dark, or swift and bright,
Here in the shade and there in the light!
Oh, who could know
The coming sorrow, the nearing woe!
Leaning over the waterfall!
Only a day before
She had spoken of Jesu's wondrous call,
As He trod the waves of Galilee.
They asked, as she gazed from the sunset shore,
‘If He walked that water, what would you do?’
Then fell the answer, glad and true,
‘If He beckoned me,
I would go to Him on the pathless sea.’
Only a day before
She had spoken of Jesu's wondrous call,
As He trod the waves of Galilee.
They asked, as she gazed from the sunset shore,
‘If He walked that water, what would you do?’
Then fell the answer, glad and true,
‘If He beckoned me,
I would go to Him on the pathless sea.’
Leaning over the waterfall
Only a moment before!
And then the slip, the helpless call,
The plunge unheard in the pauseless roar
By the startled watchers on the shore;
And the feet that stood by the waterfall,
So fair and free,
Are standing with Christ by the crystal sea.
Only a moment before!
233
The plunge unheard in the pauseless roar
By the startled watchers on the shore;
And the feet that stood by the waterfall,
So fair and free,
Are standing with Christ by the crystal sea.
Leaning over the waterfall!
Have you not often leant
(What should hinder? or what appal?)
Freely, fearlessly, over the brink,
Merrily glancing adown the stream,
Or gazing wrapt in a musical dream
At the lovely waters? But pause and think—
Who kept your feet,
And suffered you not such death to meet?
Have you not often leant
(What should hinder? or what appal?)
Freely, fearlessly, over the brink,
Merrily glancing adown the stream,
Or gazing wrapt in a musical dream
At the lovely waters? But pause and think—
Who kept your feet,
And suffered you not such death to meet?
Leaning over the waterfall!
What if your feet had slipped?
Never a moment of power to call,
Never a hand in time to save
From the terrible rush of the ruthless wave!
Hearken! would it be ill or well
If thus you fell?
Hearken! would it be heaven or hell?
What if your feet had slipped?
Never a moment of power to call,
Never a hand in time to save
From the terrible rush of the ruthless wave!
Hearken! would it be ill or well
If thus you fell?
Hearken! would it be heaven or hell?
Leaning over the waterfall!
Listen, and learn, and lean!
Listen to Him whose loving call
Soundeth deep in your heart to-day!
Learn of Jesus, the only way,
How to be holy, how to be blest!
Lean on His breast,
And yours shall be safety and joy and rest.
Listen, and learn, and lean!
Listen to Him whose loving call
Soundeth deep in your heart to-day!
Learn of Jesus, the only way,
How to be holy, how to be blest!
Lean on His breast,
And yours shall be safety and joy and rest.
| The Poetical Works of Frances Ridley Havergal | |