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THE MILKY WAY
When Jesus in his heavenly bower
Was yet a little child of mirth
God told him of another flower
He wished to plant upon the earth;
Was yet a little child of mirth
God told him of another flower
He wished to plant upon the earth;
And asking if the boy inclined
To company His wayfaring,
He saw the answer of his mind,
And made him room beneath His wing.
To company His wayfaring,
He saw the answer of his mind,
And made him room beneath His wing.
They sped together through the bands
Of travellers busy in the sky;
And Jesus gaily clapped his hands
As world and comet hurried by.
Of travellers busy in the sky;
And Jesus gaily clapped his hands
As world and comet hurried by.
At last in Eden's grove they trod
The lawn of Man's deserted dower,
And, sighing very deeply, God
Took from His breast the Passion-Flower.
The lawn of Man's deserted dower,
And, sighing very deeply, God
Took from His breast the Passion-Flower.
'Twas planted. Then the shining Pair
Looked zenithward, and left the earth
For which the younger's love and care
Were destined, through his second birth.
Looked zenithward, and left the earth
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Were destined, through his second birth.
The rounded constellations flew,
In patterns by their God designed,
Vermilion, opal, emerald, blue;
And Jesus, marvelling, lagged behind.
In patterns by their God designed,
Vermilion, opal, emerald, blue;
And Jesus, marvelling, lagged behind.
The Father, silent in His grief,
Swept ever onward into space,
Devising, for the world's relief,
The crown of thorn, the cross of grace.
Swept ever onward into space,
Devising, for the world's relief,
The crown of thorn, the cross of grace.
So deep His thought of human weal,
Of Paradise by sin defiled,
The Lord and Maker did not feel
His wing no longer roofed the child.
Of Paradise by sin defiled,
The Lord and Maker did not feel
His wing no longer roofed the child.
But when He knew His son was gone,
He turned Him round, and bent His eyes
To where the boy in beauty shone
Amid the splendour of the skies.
He turned Him round, and bent His eyes
To where the boy in beauty shone
Amid the splendour of the skies.
God bridged the distance by a look,
Till, dazzled by the glorious beam,
The eyelids of the Saviour shook
As though they fluttered in a dream.
Till, dazzled by the glorious beam,
The eyelids of the Saviour shook
As though they fluttered in a dream.
Waving a hand to deer that fed,
Upon a moon, beside a spring,
Along the road of light he sped,
And brushed against his Father's wing.
Upon a moon, beside a spring,
Along the road of light he sped,
And brushed against his Father's wing.
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That anxious look for ever kept
A strip of heaven as white as may:
Where tides of love immortal swept
We point our sons the Milky Way.
A strip of heaven as white as may:
Where tides of love immortal swept
We point our sons the Milky Way.
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