 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
639
THE TREE OF DEATH.
In the dead of the night the Christ came down,
To visit the earth He made;
And a cross of care was His only crown,
As He stood in the heart of a mighty Town,
In the dread of the prison shade.
To visit the earth He made;
And a cross of care was His only crown,
As He stood in the heart of a mighty Town,
In the dread of the prison shade.
Lo, his brow had the brand of the cruel thorn,
And His hands by the nails were rent,
And His face with a voiceless woe looked worn,
Though His eyes shone out like the light of morn
On a waking continent.
And His hands by the nails were rent,
And His face with a voiceless woe looked worn,
Though His eyes shone out like the light of morn
On a waking continent.
And He came, as a mourner comes to keep
His watch, till the shadows fly;
And the prisoner felt a solace deep,
As he turned in his hateful haunted sleep,
When the gracious Christ went by.
His watch, till the shadows fly;
And the prisoner felt a solace deep,
As he turned in his hateful haunted sleep,
When the gracious Christ went by.
And the doors unlocked and the bolts shot back,
As He passed from cell to cell;
While a trail of glory marked His track,
And the walls they seemed to reel and crack
To their uttermost iron cell.
As He passed from cell to cell;
While a trail of glory marked His track,
And the walls they seemed to reel and crack
To their uttermost iron cell.
And the murderer dreamed, where he huddled lay,
That he yet again was free;
And he raised his blood-stained hand to pray,
For soft did a heavenly whisper say,
“Dark soul, I died for thee.”
That he yet again was free;
And he raised his blood-stained hand to pray,
For soft did a heavenly whisper say,
“Dark soul, I died for thee.”
And the creature with his years of crime,
Though he still was but a boy,
When he heard those words of pity chime,
In the midst of his visioned slough and slime,
Had the thrill of a purer joy.
Though he still was but a boy,
When he heard those words of pity chime,
In the midst of his visioned slough and slime,
Had the thrill of a purer joy.
And the woman fallen so long and low,
Who was all unsexed by sin,
In her wintry suffering found a glow,
And a sudden rapture through her flow,
As the Blessed One came in.
Who was all unsexed by sin,
In her wintry suffering found a glow,
And a sudden rapture through her flow,
As the Blessed One came in.
And the villain stamped with every stain,
With the scar of every lust,
Drew a respite from the galling chain,
As an unseen Hand relaxed his pain,
And upraised him in his dust.
With the scar of every lust,
Drew a respite from the galling chain,
As an unseen Hand relaxed his pain,
And upraised him in his dust.
640
And the wretch, who was ugly and old and lost,
Who the vice as of ages bore,
In his hopeless misery torn and tost,
When that unknown Step his wanderings crost,
Looked young and fair once more.
Who the vice as of ages bore,
In his hopeless misery torn and tost,
When that unknown Step his wanderings crost,
Looked young and fair once more.
So the Christ passed on, as a presence bright,
In his vigil lone and dim;
And the gates, that mocked at the human might,
They bent to the power of that solemn sight,
And they opened wide to Him.
In his vigil lone and dim;
And the gates, that mocked at the human might,
They bent to the power of that solemn sight,
And they opened wide to Him.
Then He came at length to the Gallows high,
Where it stood like a funeral stone;
And again he wept, as His feet drew nigh,
While there broke from His heart a human sigh,
As he gazed at the Devil's throne.
Where it stood like a funeral stone;
And again he wept, as His feet drew nigh,
While there broke from His heart a human sigh,
As he gazed at the Devil's throne.
For it seemed as sackcloth on the sky,
As if all were under ban;
And its roots, for ever parched and dry,
Sucked food of the exceeding cry,
From the bleeding breast of man.
As if all were under ban;
And its roots, for ever parched and dry,
Sucked food of the exceeding cry,
From the bleeding breast of man.
Till He spoke,—“I planted many a tree,”
But He spoke with troubled breath—
“And I framed them beautiful to see,
“And I called them good, but who made thee,
“O ghastly Tree of Death?
But He spoke with troubled breath—
“And I framed them beautiful to see,
“And I called them good, but who made thee,
“O ghastly Tree of Death?
“And I know thee not, O sterile stem,
With thy harvest of grief and strife;
But I know the precious ore and gem,
And I love the flowers and fashioned them,
And I gave the Tree of Life.
With thy harvest of grief and strife;
But I know the precious ore and gem,
And I love the flowers and fashioned them,
And I gave the Tree of Life.
“For thy branches reach to the farthest land,
And thy poison shade is spread,
Over mountain peak, over desert sand,
Like the midnight gloom, with its curséd band,
And it follows the bridal tread.
And thy poison shade is spread,
Over mountain peak, over desert sand,
Like the midnight gloom, with its curséd band,
And it follows the bridal tread.
“I formed thee not, and I fed thee not,
Thou are bathed in no showers of mine,
And thou growest there as the one grim spot,
With the fruit that ripens but to rot,
Whereon no sun may shine.
Thou are bathed in no showers of mine,
And thou growest there as the one grim spot,
With the fruit that ripens but to rot,
Whereon no sun may shine.
“It was sinful man who sowed the seed,
When the first foul deed was done;
It was sinful man who let thee speed,
Who chose the barren tare and weed,
When I had planted none.
When the first foul deed was done;
It was sinful man who let thee speed,
Who chose the barren tare and weed,
When I had planted none.
641
“Thou hast had thy reign, O blasted trunk,
In a blighted orb since then;
And though worlds have risen and worlds have sunk,
Thou hast thriven on sighs, and still art drunk,
With the blood of martyred men.
In a blighted orb since then;
And though worlds have risen and worlds have sunk,
Thou hast thriven on sighs, and still art drunk,
With the blood of martyred men.
“Through the day and night of the dreadful years,
I have heard the cry of pain,
From the famished heart and the widow's fears;
And thou art fat with the orphan's tears,
And thy empire is in vain.
I have heard the cry of pain,
From the famished heart and the widow's fears;
And thou art fat with the orphan's tears,
And thy empire is in vain.
“Thou hast had no pity from the first,
If the poor before thee bent;
On the helpless thou hast wreaked thy worst,
And with all thy ravening yet dost thirst,
For the sweet and innocent.
If the poor before thee bent;
On the helpless thou hast wreaked thy worst,
And with all thy ravening yet dost thirst,
For the sweet and innocent.
“Thou hast only scattered the fiery brands,
That sunder man from mate;
And the shadow of thy shameful hands,
It has fallen upon the fairest strands,
With a heritage of hate.
That sunder man from mate;
And the shadow of thy shameful hands,
It has fallen upon the fairest strands,
With a heritage of hate.
“Thou hast hung the heavens with curtain black,
And hast mingled earth with moans;
For thou takest all, nor givest back,
And thou leavest but the one pale track
Of bleaching skulls and bones.
And hast mingled earth with moans;
For thou takest all, nor givest back,
And thou leavest but the one pale track
Of bleaching skulls and bones.
“And I bid thee go, thou withered stock,
With the laws that grind and slay;
And I swear thou shalt no longer mock
The hope of the penitent, nor block
The path of a kinder sway.
With the laws that grind and slay;
And I swear thou shalt no longer mock
The hope of the penitent, nor block
The path of a kinder sway.
“Thou hast run thy course and had thy fill,
With the terrors that live and lie;
Thou hast had thy time to curse and kill,
With the plagues of hell and the powers of ill,
And now thyself must die.
With the terrors that live and lie;
Thou hast had thy time to curse and kill,
With the plagues of hell and the powers of ill,
And now thyself must die.
“Thou art wanting found, and hast no lot
In the day from darkness born;
For thou canst not hold what thou hast got;
And I bid thee go, thou damnèd blot,
At the burst of a brighter morn.”
In the day from darkness born;
For thou canst not hold what thou hast got;
And I bid thee go, thou damnèd blot,
At the burst of a brighter morn.”
He spoke, and the gloom before me fled,
As a guilty thing that must;
And the bowing heavens a glory shed,
While the yawning earth gave up its dead,
From the depths of the coffin dust.
As a guilty thing that must;
And the bowing heavens a glory shed,
While the yawning earth gave up its dead,
From the depths of the coffin dust.
642
He spoke, and I saw them upward start,
From their tombs that flashed like flame,
As again to play a living part,
Through the battle stress, on the busy mart—
In a solemn host they came.
From their tombs that flashed like flame,
As again to play a living part,
Through the battle stress, on the busy mart—
In a solemn host they came.
He ceased, and the night appeared to ope,
And out of its silent deep,
In a sorrow that had no ray of hope,
All the victims of the hangman's rope,
Arose from their awful sleep.
And out of its silent deep,
In a sorrow that had no ray of hope,
All the victims of the hangman's rope,
Arose from their awful sleep.
The old and young, the rich and poor,
They met in a ghostly mob,
From the crowded street, the quiet moor;
And the long-locked vault threw wide its door,
That the Conqueror came to rob.
They met in a ghostly mob,
From the crowded street, the quiet moor;
And the long-locked vault threw wide its door,
That the Conqueror came to rob.
They uplifted all their piteous arms,
But they never uttered sound;
While they stared behind at fancied harms,
And they huddled close in dire alarms,
As on infernal ground.
But they never uttered sound;
While they stared behind at fancied harms,
And they huddled close in dire alarms,
As on infernal ground.
And they cried for mercy unto Him,
Who alone was strong to save;
Like sinking souls that fain would swim,
When they swoon upon the threshold grim
Of the inexorable grave.
Who alone was strong to save;
Like sinking souls that fain would swim,
When they swoon upon the threshold grim
Of the inexorable grave.
And again He spoke, and His words were few,
But they breathed a holy balm,
And they fell as soft as the evening dew,
When it makes the weary meadows new,
In the happy twilight calm.
But they breathed a holy balm,
And they fell as soft as the evening dew,
When it makes the weary meadows new,
In the happy twilight calm.
“Thou art doomed, O spoiler of the earth,
Thou hast held in bondage long
The lives of men, with the leperous dearth
Which has clcuded every household hearth,
And saddened every song.
Thou hast held in bondage long
The lives of men, with the leperous dearth
Which has clcuded every household hearth,
And saddened every song.
“For the axe of Judgment at thy root,
It is laid and thou must fall;
That instead may spring a better shoot,
And a goodlier stem may bear the fruit
That a blessing is to all.”
It is laid and thou must fall;
That instead may spring a better shoot,
And a goodlier stem may bear the fruit
That a blessing is to all.”
But then in a moment it was gone,
And its rule with murmuring rife;
While the multitudes went laughing on,
And the sun in all its splendour shone
Around the Tree of Life.
And its rule with murmuring rife;
While the multitudes went laughing on,
And the sun in all its splendour shone
Around the Tree of Life.
643
Lo, its healing boughs stretched far and wide,
And the leaves their shadows threw,
Wherein the timid heads could hide;
And it took the sufferer to its side,
And beneath its shelter drew.
And the leaves their shadows threw,
Wherein the timid heads could hide;
And it took the sufferer to its side,
And beneath its shelter drew.
For the power of violence was past,
And the people knew their own,
And they all received their King at last,
While he turned to feasting every fast,
And made every heart His throne.
And the people knew their own,
And they all received their King at last,
While he turned to feasting every fast,
And made every heart His throne.
It was broken thus that bitter chain,
When the only law was love—
When the earth cast out the curse of pain,
And the heavens came down to cleanse each stain,
And the lands leapt up above.
When the only law was love—
When the earth cast out the curse of pain,
And the heavens came down to cleanse each stain,
And the lands leapt up above.
And thus was shattered evil's might,
With its murderous penal rods;
The captives saw a blesséd sight,
And they walked rejoicing in its light,
And men became as gods.
With its murderous penal rods;
The captives saw a blesséd sight,
And they walked rejoicing in its light,
And men became as gods.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |