 | Later Lays and Lyrics |  |
GOD'S TENT.
I.
Let every knee be bent,Let every head be bowed,
For in this holy tent
Speaks Deity aloud.
55
In loved embrace it holds,
Not made with human hands
Are its blue curtain folds.
II
A countless host encampsWithin, watched o'er by Love;
Sun, moon and stars are lamps
That light it from above.
These things endowed with breath,
Pour out perpetual praise,
And Life's pale sister, Death,
Clasped hands at times will raise.
III.
What stirs devotion deepLike voices that arise
When Nature wakes from sleep,
And darkness drapes the skies—
When tribes of earth are dumb,
And storm unfurls its wings,
While thunder beats his drum,
And bass roused Ocean sings?
IV.
By billow, breeze and birdA ritual is read
Sweeter than written word
By priest or abbot said.
Hymns sung by falling showers
Beyond the reach of art,
Those smiles of God, the flowers,
Rebuke a thankless heart.
56
V.
Shall man no praise bestow,A prayerless mute be seen
While thanks the cattle low
To God for pastures green—
While mountains that aspire
His majesty proclaim,
And clouds have tongues of fire
That thunder out his name?
VI.
Grand are the waves of soundThat through old minsters roll,
Stirring the heart's profound,
Lifting on high the soul;
But in God's holy tent
Is grander music far,
Its dome, the firmanent,
Its lamps, sun, moon and star.
| Later Lays and Lyrics | |