 | Benedicite and Other Poems |  |
53
The Soldier-Artist.
Major-General G. F. Moore, a brave soldier, an upright man, a sincere Christian, and a great lover of Nature and Art. He was wounded severely at the siege of Moultan. He died September 8, 1884. To a friend who asked him shortly before his death if he felt comfort and confidence in the Cross of Christ, he answered, “I have got beyond the Cross; I am in the Presence.”
And of the misty hills to bathe his sight;
The calmness, the expansion, and the height
Allured his ardent soul and artist eye:
Once more his skilful pencil he would ply
To catch from Nature's face a transcript bright;
But ah, there fell a dimness as of night:
He looked, he sighed, and but returned to die.
Now sword alike and palette gather dust,
The noble heart and cunning hand are still:
But in the Presence, he had learnt to trust,
Of beauty and of peace he takes his fill,
And uncorrupt and righteous, true and just,
He rests for ever on God's holy hill.
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