Matin Bells and Scarlet and Gold By "F. Harald Williams"[i.e. F. W. O. Ward]. First Edition |
 |
 | I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
THE BABY WE LOVE. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
 | Matin Bells and Scarlet and Gold |  |
THE BABY WE LOVE.
Bring to the waking of duty and taking
The seal from above,
In its excellent meekness and infinite weakness
The baby we love;
Helplessness only and lovely but lonely
And lost without this,
The Divine dedication, the true consecration,
The sacrament kiss;
Bring it to making of beauty and breaking
Of earthlier ties,
With its innocent gesture that asks the white vesture,
Whose grace never dies.
The seal from above,
In its excellent meekness and infinite weakness
The baby we love;
Helplessness only and lovely but lonely
And lost without this,
The Divine dedication, the true consecration,
The sacrament kiss;
Bring it to making of beauty and breaking
Of earthlier ties,
175
Whose grace never dies.
Wash in the fountain that flows from the mountain,
Whereby we must live,
In its pitiful sweetness that craves this completeness,
The baby we give;
Bathe it in waters that crown our fair daughters
With wonderful gifts,
And our sons with the merit they do not inherit
In strength that uplifts;
Cleanse it from staining and evil's enchaining,
Asleep in the blood,
That the bonds may be shattered and enmity scattered
By the mystical flood.
Whereby we must live,
In its pitiful sweetness that craves this completeness,
The baby we give;
Bathe it in waters that crown our fair daughters
With wonderful gifts,
And our sons with the merit they do not inherit
In strength that uplifts;
Cleanse it from staining and evil's enchaining,
Asleep in the blood,
That the bonds may be shattered and enmity scattered
By the mystical flood.
Mark for the fighting with God's own hand-writing
That traces our creed,
With the sign of the lowly and pledge of the holy,
The baby we need;
Born into battle and meant with its prattle
Our shadows to light,
And in awful new pureness to beacon with sureness
Our footsteps through night;
Stamp it with token the word has been spoken
That blesses with loss,
And the Church in the manner of old gives the banner,
The world-shaking Cross.
That traces our creed,
With the sign of the lowly and pledge of the holy,
The baby we need;
Born into battle and meant with its prattle
Our shadows to light,
And in awful new pureness to beacon with sureness
Our footsteps through night;
Stamp it with token the word has been spoken
That blesses with loss,
And the Church in the manner of old gives the banner,
The world-shaking Cross.
Leave in the holding of Christ and the folding
Of life from above,
Beyond earth and its welter within the one shelter,
The baby we love;
Treasure so little and vessel so brittle
Unmade by a fall,
Not for storms or the wearing of strife, and yet bearing
Eternity's all;
Leave it for ever, without one endeavour
To lessen the rod
That afflicts but with kindness, and leave it in blindness
Alone with its God.
Of life from above,
Beyond earth and its welter within the one shelter,
The baby we love;
Treasure so little and vessel so brittle
Unmade by a fall,
Not for storms or the wearing of strife, and yet bearing
Eternity's all;
Leave it for ever, without one endeavour
To lessen the rod
That afflicts but with kindness, and leave it in blindness
Alone with its God.
| Matin Bells and Scarlet and Gold | |