 | Poems |  |
1
THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS.
Oh! crown and climax of a life of dying;
Oh! light intensest in the gloom of death;
Oh! cry beyond all might of mortal crying,
Sobbed forth in agony of broken breath.
Oh! light intensest in the gloom of death;
Oh! cry beyond all might of mortal crying,
Sobbed forth in agony of broken breath.
Oh! Love divine—Oh! Heaven-descended forces,
That draw mankind to paths that Jesus trod:
Fountains eternal—never-failing sources,
That feed the river of the grace of God—
That draw mankind to paths that Jesus trod:
Fountains eternal—never-failing sources,
That feed the river of the grace of God—
Come, for the currents of my being languish,
Fill them and flood them till they journey on;
Christ! I would be beside Thee in Thine anguish,
Close to the cross with Mary and with John.
Fill them and flood them till they journey on;
Christ! I would be beside Thee in Thine anguish,
Close to the cross with Mary and with John.
Sweet is the shadow of Thy pain and passion,
Oh! let me rest beneath it for a while,
Far from the world of fading, fleeting fashion,
Far from the sultry sunshine of its smile.
Oh! let me rest beneath it for a while,
Far from the world of fading, fleeting fashion,
Far from the sultry sunshine of its smile.
2
Even as one who desolately paces
The crowded highways of a busy town,
Lone in the thronged, inhospitable places,
Friendless and homeless, roving up and down;
The crowded highways of a busy town,
Lone in the thronged, inhospitable places,
Friendless and homeless, roving up and down;
Till by the majesty of minster-towers,
Drawn from the glare and babble of the street,
He rests, regardless of the passing hours,
In dark solemnity of cool retreat.
Drawn from the glare and babble of the street,
He rests, regardless of the passing hours,
In dark solemnity of cool retreat.
And now the dazzle of the daylight streameth
Mellowed and hallowed through the painted panes,
And now the uproar of the people seemeth
Hushed in the rolling of the organ strains.
Mellowed and hallowed through the painted panes,
And now the uproar of the people seemeth
Hushed in the rolling of the organ strains.
So do I wander, for the world is busy
With countless myriads thronging to and fro,
Seething and surging—till the brain is dizzy
Dazed by the light above, the life below,
With countless myriads thronging to and fro,
Seething and surging—till the brain is dizzy
Dazed by the light above, the life below,
Whose boiling stream for ever whirls and rushes
In endless eddies and unceasing foam,
While from its golden source the noonday gushes,
Flooding with glare the ways wherein I roam;
In endless eddies and unceasing foam,
While from its golden source the noonday gushes,
Flooding with glare the ways wherein I roam;
3
No shaded seat, no shading tree to lend me
A moment's shelter, or a moment's rest,—
No human heart to welcome or befriend me,
No home to enter—an unbidden guest.
A moment's shelter, or a moment's rest,—
No human heart to welcome or befriend me,
No home to enter—an unbidden guest.
Until perchance my soul no longer prizes
This lower world but counts its gains as loss;
Then as it gazes upwards, there arises
Before its eyes the vision of the Cross;
This lower world but counts its gains as loss;
Then as it gazes upwards, there arises
Before its eyes the vision of the Cross;
In sweet and solemn majesty uprearing,
Its Heav'nward heights above the fevered din;
I stand beneath it in the porchway hearing
The whispered words, “Come, wearied heart, within.”
Its Heav'nward heights above the fevered din;
I stand beneath it in the porchway hearing
The whispered words, “Come, wearied heart, within.”
And straight the world puts forth her utmost power;
The blinding blaze is light divine and free;
The crowd, the crush, the turmoil are the dower
Of life that weds herself to liberty.
The blinding blaze is light divine and free;
The crowd, the crush, the turmoil are the dower
Of life that weds herself to liberty.
And if at length I stand without no longer,
But lift the latch and leave the world behind;
Awhile—for so her sights, her sounds were stronger—
Mine ears are deafened, and mine eyes are blind.
But lift the latch and leave the world behind;
Awhile—for so her sights, her sounds were stronger—
Mine ears are deafened, and mine eyes are blind.
4
Then through the darkness and the stillness slowly,
Gaining a shape, and growing on the soul,
I see the pillared nave, the altar holy,
I hear the sacred organ's thunder roll.
Gaining a shape, and growing on the soul,
I see the pillared nave, the altar holy,
I hear the sacred organ's thunder roll.
Each single note stands forth serene and solemn,
Building a deathless dome beyond the sight,
Fixed and eternal as yon stately column,
Whose brotherhood uplift the vaulted height.
Building a deathless dome beyond the sight,
Fixed and eternal as yon stately column,
Whose brotherhood uplift the vaulted height.
But where is now the dazzle that distressed me?
Have clouds arisen or is evening near?
Where are the crowds whose clamorous cries oppressed me?
Say are they hushed, or have I ceased to hear?
Have clouds arisen or is evening near?
Where are the crowds whose clamorous cries oppressed me?
Say are they hushed, or have I ceased to hear?
See through the mouldings of yon window pouring,
There streams a flood of glory sweet and calm,
And hark! the city's might of muffled roaring
Deepens the grandeur of the rolling psalm.
There streams a flood of glory sweet and calm,
And hark! the city's might of muffled roaring
Deepens the grandeur of the rolling psalm.
So strange the change—and did my sense deceive me?
Or does it mock me now—and which is real?
The world without whose scenes so seldom leave me,
The world within—the heart's untold ideal.
Or does it mock me now—and which is real?
The world without whose scenes so seldom leave me,
The world within—the heart's untold ideal.
5
Then fountain-like there comes this thought up welling—
God sees things as they are—I cannot doubt;
And here within where God has fixed His dwelling,
The seeming is the real, and not without.
God sees things as they are—I cannot doubt;
And here within where God has fixed His dwelling,
The seeming is the real, and not without.
I raved against the world when I was near it,
Its joys were pain to me: its gold was dross:—
And it was so because my trembling spirit
Shrunk from the mystic darkness of the cross.
Its joys were pain to me: its gold was dross:—
And it was so because my trembling spirit
Shrunk from the mystic darkness of the cross.
I looked on it with anger and derision,
Ah! but that world was not God's universe;
It lived but in the nearness of my vision:—
My narrow self clung round me like a curse,
Ah! but that world was not God's universe;
It lived but in the nearness of my vision:—
My narrow self clung round me like a curse,
Until I left it for awhile and humbly
Knelt by the Cross, and straight the world was gone,
Or changed to Heav'n, but hush! what voice is dumbly
Murmuring words that lead my longings on.
Knelt by the Cross, and straight the world was gone,
Or changed to Heav'n, but hush! what voice is dumbly
Murmuring words that lead my longings on.
“Yet—even yet—thine eyes are darkness-shrouded:
The world is yet around thee: would'st thou see
God's universe of love with eyes unclouded,
Come to the Cross and die thereon with Me.”
The world is yet around thee: would'st thou see
God's universe of love with eyes unclouded,
Come to the Cross and die thereon with Me.”
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