 | Poems |  |
49
THE SUFFERINGS OF JESUS.
So weak our joys, so poor our lives,
That towards thy affluence of soul
Human conception vainly strives,
Seizing but fragments of the whole.
That towards thy affluence of soul
Human conception vainly strives,
Seizing but fragments of the whole.
And we are glad; we smile, we laugh;
But thou didst weep, didst never smile;
And so we deem, that thou didst quaff
Of naught but sorrows, deep or vile.
But thou didst weep, didst never smile;
And so we deem, that thou didst quaff
Of naught but sorrows, deep or vile.
50
In that last awful ghastly scene,
Where Sin and Death danced in mad glee,
Our weakness makes thy sufferings keen;
We groan in fleshly sympathy.
Where Sin and Death danced in mad glee,
Our weakness makes thy sufferings keen;
We groan in fleshly sympathy.
O, what to thee were torture's fangs?
What death, to thy ecstatic mind?
A tranquil dream were death's worst pangs;
Thy pain was pity for mankind.
What death, to thy ecstatic mind?
A tranquil dream were death's worst pangs;
Thy pain was pity for mankind.
Earth's mists to earthly eyes bedim
The sun, that calmly glows above;
Through mists we see the cross, and Him,
Calm with a strong pain-quenching love.
The sun, that calmly glows above;
Through mists we see the cross, and Him,
Calm with a strong pain-quenching love.
Will vanish then our sensual fears,
When we shall rise towards his pure living;
Sweeter than our best joys were tears
Of him, whose life was one long giving.
When we shall rise towards his pure living;
Sweeter than our best joys were tears
Of him, whose life was one long giving.
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