 | The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery |  |
THE WEEPING CHRIST.
“Jesus wept.”—John xi. 35.
There is a mute but mighty voice in tears,—
Words of the eyes, that passionately weep
A liquid eloquence, which Pity hears
Gush from the heart's unfathomable deep.
Words of the eyes, that passionately weep
A liquid eloquence, which Pity hears
Gush from the heart's unfathomable deep.
Whether soft teardrops, like a starry dew,
Bedim the eyeballs of some beauteous child,
Till the soul glistens through their heaven of blue
Mournfully bright, or exquisitely wild;
Bedim the eyeballs of some beauteous child,
Till the soul glistens through their heaven of blue
Mournfully bright, or exquisitely wild;
Or, drawn from depths where burning silence glows,
From passion-fountains, or, from feeling's soul
When like a heart-rain, inward grief o'erflows,
And down pale woman's cheek the rich tears roll;
From passion-fountains, or, from feeling's soul
When like a heart-rain, inward grief o'erflows,
And down pale woman's cheek the rich tears roll;
Or, if in shaded walk, or crowded street,
Some iron visage where cold harshness dwells,
Melted and mild, in tears we chance to meet,—
How are we moved by all sad contrast tells!
Some iron visage where cold harshness dwells,
Melted and mild, in tears we chance to meet,—
How are we moved by all sad contrast tells!
Yet Painting, Poetry, nor Pathos can
Touch the pure mind with such majestic pain,
As when from eyelids of the Son of Man
Roll'd human tears, untinged by human stain!
Touch the pure mind with such majestic pain,
As when from eyelids of the Son of Man
Roll'd human tears, untinged by human stain!
But, with that pain a blissful feeling blends,
Born of this thought,—our Lord beside the grave,
True to our nature, was sublime of Friends,
And sympathized with those He came to save.
Born of this thought,—our Lord beside the grave,
True to our nature, was sublime of Friends,
And sympathized with those He came to save.
Awfully veil'd a God in Flesh appears!
But, Faith is challenged to a deeper awe
When she beholds Him with subduing tears
Hallow the scene delighted Angels saw.
But, Faith is challenged to a deeper awe
When she beholds Him with subduing tears
Hallow the scene delighted Angels saw.
And to that grave-scene, turn thee, mortal, now;
Where Jesu wept, true hearts will often be,—
And while we gaze upon His awful brow
Come, Holy Ghost! and let us learn from Thee
Where Jesu wept, true hearts will often be,—
And while we gaze upon His awful brow
Come, Holy Ghost! and let us learn from Thee
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How no immunities divine remove
Incarnate Mercy from our common doom;
Down to our tears descends His mortal love
With eyes which moisten'd to behold a tomb!
Incarnate Mercy from our common doom;
Down to our tears descends His mortal love
With eyes which moisten'd to behold a tomb!
And may Suggestion, with a sacred awe,
Dream that He wept the cited dead should come
Forth from those glories which the spirit saw
In the bright region of its boundless home?
Dream that He wept the cited dead should come
Forth from those glories which the spirit saw
In the bright region of its boundless home?
If to this lovely creed the heart may cling,
Then, O pale weeper! for the loved and gone,
Ne'er wilt thou yearn once more on earth to bring
Back to life's gloom, some dead, but glorious one.
Then, O pale weeper! for the loved and gone,
Ne'er wilt thou yearn once more on earth to bring
Back to life's gloom, some dead, but glorious one.
Emanuel wept!—enough this truth to know;
Lord of our spirit, let Thy tear-drops fall
Full on sad hearts, till faith's responsive glow
Warm the cold breast to cry, “My All in All!”
Lord of our spirit, let Thy tear-drops fall
Full on sad hearts, till faith's responsive glow
Warm the cold breast to cry, “My All in All!”
Religion, Friendship, Feeling, Love, and Truth,
All in Thy tears a consecration find,
To soothe worn age, or sanctify wild youth,
And haunt the temple of each tender mind.
All in Thy tears a consecration find,
To soothe worn age, or sanctify wild youth,
And haunt the temple of each tender mind.
And when bereaved ones o'er the coffin bend
To hear the earth-clod with an echoing heart,
Saviour, who wept for Thine unrisen friend,
Breathe o'er the soul the sympathy Thou art!
To hear the earth-clod with an echoing heart,
Saviour, who wept for Thine unrisen friend,
Breathe o'er the soul the sympathy Thou art!
| The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery | |