 | From Sunset Ridge |  |
52
THE LAMB WITHOUT THE FOLD
Whene'er I close the door at night,
And turn the creaking key about,
A pang renewed assails my heart—
I think, my darling is shut out.
And turn the creaking key about,
A pang renewed assails my heart—
I think, my darling is shut out.
Think that, beneath these starry skies,
He wanders, with his little feet;
The pines stand, hushed in glad surprise,
The garden yields its tribute sweet.
He wanders, with his little feet;
The pines stand, hushed in glad surprise,
The garden yields its tribute sweet.
Thro' every well-known path and nook
I see his angel footsteps glide,
As guileless as the Pascal Lamb
That kept the infant Saviour's side.
I see his angel footsteps glide,
As guileless as the Pascal Lamb
That kept the infant Saviour's side.
His earnest eye, perhaps, can pierce
The gloom in which his parents sit;
He wonders what has changed the house,
And why the cloud hangs over it.
The gloom in which his parents sit;
He wonders what has changed the house,
And why the cloud hangs over it.
He passes with a pensive smile—
Why do they linger to grow old,
And what the burthen on their hearts?
On him shall sorrow have no hold.
Why do they linger to grow old,
And what the burthen on their hearts?
On him shall sorrow have no hold.
53
Within the darkened porch I stand—
Scarce knowing why, I linger long;
Oh! could I call thee back to me,
Bright bird of heaven, with sooth or song!
Scarce knowing why, I linger long;
Oh! could I call thee back to me,
Bright bird of heaven, with sooth or song!
But no—the wayworn wretch shall pause
To bless the shelter of this door;
Kinsman and guest shall enter in,
But my lost darling never more.
To bless the shelter of this door;
Kinsman and guest shall enter in,
But my lost darling never more.
Yet, waiting on his gentle ghost,
From sorrow's void, so deep and dull,
Comes a faint breathing of delight,
A presence calm and beautiful.
From sorrow's void, so deep and dull,
Comes a faint breathing of delight,
A presence calm and beautiful.
I have him, not in outstretched arms,
I hold him, not with straining sight,
While in blue depths of quietude
Drops, like a star, my still “Good-night.”
I hold him, not with straining sight,
While in blue depths of quietude
Drops, like a star, my still “Good-night.”
Thus, nightly, do I bow my head
To the Unseen, Eternal force;
Asking sweet pardon of my child
For yielding him in Death's divorce.
To the Unseen, Eternal force;
Asking sweet pardon of my child
For yielding him in Death's divorce.
He turned away from childish plays,
His baby toys he held in scorn;
He loved the forms of thought divine,
Woods, flowers, and fields of waving corn.
His baby toys he held in scorn;
He loved the forms of thought divine,
Woods, flowers, and fields of waving corn.
54
And then I knew, my little one
Should by no vulgar love be taught,
But by the symbols God has given
To solemnize our common thought;
Should by no vulgar love be taught,
But by the symbols God has given
To solemnize our common thought;
The mystic angles, three in one,
The circling serpent's faultless round,
And, in far glory dim, the Cross,
Where Love o'erleaps the human bound.
The circling serpent's faultless round,
And, in far glory dim, the Cross,
Where Love o'erleaps the human bound.
| From Sunset Ridge | |