University of Virginia Library


198

A SONG OF SUSTAINMENT.

I.

When the riddle of thy life darkest seems;
When no beams
Pierce thy soul, of heavenly light,
And thou dreamest in the night
Evil dreams:
Truly love the True, and truth shalt thou find;
Thy vext mind
Shall attain a golden shore
Which thou sawest not before,
Being blind.

II.

When the darkness as of Egypt round thee clings;
When the wings
Of vampyres foul flap near,
And fiend-voices in thine ear
Whisper things
Obscene and horror-fraught, to drag thee down;
When God's frown

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Seems in anger o'er thee bent,
Heaven shut, and Christ content
Thou shouldst drown:
Doubt all else, if in thine anguish doubt thou must,
Only trust
That, though thou be tempest-tost,
Rudder gone and compass lost,
God is just.

III.

Faint and weary, wait on God patiently:
It may be
He would have thee stand and wait,
Till He ope for thee a gate
Meet for thee.
Being strong, strive ever upward like a fire;
Still aspire
Toward the Perfect and the Pure—
God appoints thy life, be sure,
Never tire.
Trust that all things well-ordered from above
Rightly move.
God is just—hold fast that creed,
It will serve thee in thy need,
Till thou come to know indeed
God is love.