 | Carmina crucis |  |
23
CŒLO TEGITUR QUI NON HABET URNAM.
“La colombe demande un
pétit nid bien clos; le cadavre un tombe, et l'âme le paradis.”
—From a Breton sóne.
In Spring the green leaves shoot,
In Spring the blossoms fall,
With Summer falls the fruit,
The leaves in Autumn fall,
Contented from the bough
They drop, leaves, blossoms now,
And ripen'd fruit; the warm earth takes them all.
In Spring the blossoms fall,
With Summer falls the fruit,
The leaves in Autumn fall,
Contented from the bough
They drop, leaves, blossoms now,
And ripen'd fruit; the warm earth takes them all.
Thus all things ask for rest,
A home above, a home beneath the sod;
The sun will seek the west,
The bird will seek its nest,
The heart another breast
Whereon to lean, the spirit seeks its God.
A home above, a home beneath the sod;
The sun will seek the west,
The bird will seek its nest,
The heart another breast
Whereon to lean, the spirit seeks its God.
24
Oh! mourn not that no tear
Should fall upon thy tomb,
That through the grasses sere
No loving footstep here
Should wear a pathway 'mid the deepening gloom.
Should fall upon thy tomb,
That through the grasses sere
No loving footstep here
Should wear a pathway 'mid the deepening gloom.
For, when thou livedst, none
Would watch thy step to greet,
And when thou wouldst be gone,
Thy parting look to meet,
No soft, beseeching eye,
No fond, half-smother'd sigh
With sweet arrest would bid thee linger on.
Would watch thy step to greet,
And when thou wouldst be gone,
Thy parting look to meet,
No soft, beseeching eye,
No fond, half-smother'd sigh
With sweet arrest would bid thee linger on.
Of all thou lovedst well,
Who is there that will spare
An hour from joy, from care,
Beside thy grave to tell
Love's slow sweet beads that ceaseless fall one after one—the knell
Who is there that will spare
An hour from joy, from care,
Beside thy grave to tell
Love's slow sweet beads that ceaseless fall one after one—the knell
25
That toll'd for thee awoke
Kind, gentle words, they spoke
Of thee awhile, but from his pillow none
Awoke with sudden start
To feel through all the heart,
And all the world's dim space and find thee gone.
Kind, gentle words, they spoke
Of thee awhile, but from his pillow none
Awoke with sudden start
To feel through all the heart,
And all the world's dim space and find thee gone.
All that for thee was meant
Was given, and all is spent;
A little love was thine, a little grief;
How quickly dries the brief
Sweet tear, the loosen'd leaf,
How light it falls to earth and well content!
Was given, and all is spent;
A little love was thine, a little grief;
How quickly dries the brief
Sweet tear, the loosen'd leaf,
How light it falls to earth and well content!
Peace upon earth I found
And gave; with all around
Sweet peace was mine, calm greetings met me still,
Peace, peace, and evermore this same good-will;
Yet now methinks with sound
More sweet, a Voice is calling from the ground.
And gave; with all around
Sweet peace was mine, calm greetings met me still,
Peace, peace, and evermore this same good-will;
Yet now methinks with sound
More sweet, a Voice is calling from the ground.
26
By clear and shallow streams,
My steps were led, my spirit at no urn
Was fed, but still for fuller draughts would yearn,
From deeper founts, and evermore my dreams
Brought the wide ocean in its flashing gleams.
My steps were led, my spirit at no urn
Was fed, but still for fuller draughts would yearn,
From deeper founts, and evermore my dreams
Brought the wide ocean in its flashing gleams.
I sang in shelter'd bowers,
Shut in from danger and from sin, yet gloom
Hung o'er the heavy leaves, until a tomb
The garden seem'd, and oft I saw the Hours
Pass sadly, slowly by, though told by flowers;
Shut in from danger and from sin, yet gloom
Hung o'er the heavy leaves, until a tomb
The garden seem'd, and oft I saw the Hours
Pass sadly, slowly by, though told by flowers;
And sweet those flowers, but lo!
Methinks they once did grow
On wild-wood banks remote! this very soil
Whereon they spread, with toil
Was brought to raise their bright exotic glow.
Methinks they once did grow
On wild-wood banks remote! this very soil
Whereon they spread, with toil
Was brought to raise their bright exotic glow.
What bloom is this that lends
To air no fragrance, unto earth no fruit?
What life is this that spends
Its soul and strength in keeping up the mute
Faint show of life, death wither'd at the root?
To air no fragrance, unto earth no fruit?
What life is this that spends
Its soul and strength in keeping up the mute
Faint show of life, death wither'd at the root?
27
Thou Jesu! that of life
Art Lord and Giver! thou the Lord of love!
Now from this deadly strife,
This deadly calm above,
I pass to thee, far other joys to prove.
Art Lord and Giver! thou the Lord of love!
Now from this deadly strife,
This deadly calm above,
I pass to thee, far other joys to prove.
Oh! open to me wide
The gates of death, of life that I may be
Among the dead, among the living free;
Free, free to soar and sing,
To spread my soul's glad wing,
To shed my spirit's hoarded fragrancy!
The gates of death, of life that I may be
Among the dead, among the living free;
Free, free to soar and sing,
To spread my soul's glad wing,
To shed my spirit's hoarded fragrancy!
At noon-tide came a voice “Thou must away;
Hast thou some look to give, some word to say,
Or hear, of fond farewell,” I answered, “Nay,
Hast thou some look to give, some word to say,
Or hear, of fond farewell,” I answered, “Nay,
My soul hath said its farewell long ago,
How light, when Summer comes, the loosened snow,
Slides from the hills! yet tell me, where I go,
How light, when Summer comes, the loosened snow,
Slides from the hills! yet tell me, where I go,
28
Doth any wait for me?” Then like the clear
Full drops of summer rain that seem to cheer
The skies they fall from, soft within mine ear,
Full drops of summer rain that seem to cheer
The skies they fall from, soft within mine ear,
And slow, as if to render through that sweet
Delay a blest assurance more complete,
“Yea,” only “yea,” was whisper'd me, and then
A silence that was unto it, Amen.
Delay a blest assurance more complete,
“Yea,” only “yea,” was whisper'd me, and then
A silence that was unto it, Amen.
“Doth any love me there,” I said, “or mark
Within the dull, cold flint the fiery spark
One moment flashing out into the dark?
Within the dull, cold flint the fiery spark
One moment flashing out into the dark?
“My spirit glow'd, yet burn'd not to a clear,
Warm, steadfast flame, to lighten or to cheer;”
The sweet voice said, “By things which do appear
Warm, steadfast flame, to lighten or to cheer;”
The sweet voice said, “By things which do appear
We judge amiss. The flower which wears its way
Through stony chinks, lives on from day to day,
Approved for living, let the rest be gay
Through stony chinks, lives on from day to day,
Approved for living, let the rest be gay
And sweet as Summer! Heaven within the reed
Lists for the flute-note, in the folded seed
It sees the bud, and in the Will the Deed.”
Lists for the flute-note, in the folded seed
It sees the bud, and in the Will the Deed.”
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