[Henry Ward Beecher, in] Beecher memorial contemporaneous tributes to the memory of Henry Ward Beecher |
 |
 | [Henry Ward Beecher, in] Beecher memorial |  |
36
HENRY WARD BEECHER.
A MEMORY OF A SERMON.
Out of the past comes forth one Sabbath-day,
A silvering head uplifted from the crowd
That the great preacher's eloquence could sway
Like wind-swept wheat; a voice not low nor loud.
A silvering head uplifted from the crowd
That the great preacher's eloquence could sway
Like wind-swept wheat; a voice not low nor loud.
Varying from gentle to impetuous force
As changeful inspirations struck the keys
Of utterance; like a torrent in its course,
Breaking apart into new harmonies.
As changeful inspirations struck the keys
Of utterance; like a torrent in its course,
Breaking apart into new harmonies.
Unspoken thoughts rose, struggling underneath
The current of expression, deepening still
The emphasis of full and steady breath
That, poised in silence, seemed the house to fill.
The current of expression, deepening still
The emphasis of full and steady breath
That, poised in silence, seemed the house to fill.
Slow came the words, as when swift waters lie
Calmed in the pool whereunto they have run:
“Brethren, this will I strive for till I die—
Union in Christ, his sundered flock made one.”
Calmed in the pool whereunto they have run:
“Brethren, this will I strive for till I die—
Union in Christ, his sundered flock made one.”
The voice is hushed; the impulse that it gave
Is moving onward like an army's tread;
The man who helped the outcast and the slave,
And loved the little children, is not dead!
Is moving onward like an army's tread;
The man who helped the outcast and the slave,
And loved the little children, is not dead!
He lived in this great human family
As in the all-embracing church of God.
He lives here still; a freer path have we
Since with so free a step our earth he trod.
As in the all-embracing church of God.
He lives here still; a freer path have we
Since with so free a step our earth he trod.
The petty shibboleths of sect and clan
His lips refused, rejected to the end;
His manhood met itself in every man,
He counted even his enemy his friend.
His lips refused, rejected to the end;
His manhood met itself in every man,
He counted even his enemy his friend.
What grander glory to attain than this?
To be an overflow of God, a force
Magnetically fusing lives in his,
The father of all spirits, our life's source.
To be an overflow of God, a force
37
The father of all spirits, our life's source.
There are men—he was one—whose atmosphere
Breathes freshening vigor through earth's drowsy air:
The master in the servant so draws near,
And hearts leap up His sacrifice to share.
Breathes freshening vigor through earth's drowsy air:
The master in the servant so draws near,
And hearts leap up His sacrifice to share.
The day is dawning; beautiful the glow
Upon the mountains, of Christ's coming feet;
And the prophetic heavens already know
His world redeemed, His church in Him complete,
Upon the mountains, of Christ's coming feet;
And the prophetic heavens already know
His world redeemed, His church in Him complete,
The purpose this man lived for cannot die,
The fire is kindled, and the work begun;
And still he urges, from the neighboring sky,
“O brethren, in the name of Christ, be one!”
The fire is kindled, and the work begun;
And still he urges, from the neighboring sky,
“O brethren, in the name of Christ, be one!”
LUCY LARCOM.
Beverly, Mass.
| [Henry Ward Beecher, in] Beecher memorial | |