 | Songs of the silent world and other poems |  |
135
VI.
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A PRAYER.
MATINS.
Lord, Thou hast promised. Lo! I give Thee back
Thine own great Word. Keep it. I summon Thee.
Keep it as God can, not as men do. See,
Great God! who art to us the awful Truth
Whereby we live, and move, and know the true—
I ask Thee to be true unto Thyself.
Thine own great Word. Keep it. I summon Thee.
Keep it as God can, not as men do. See,
Great God! who art to us the awful Truth
Whereby we live, and move, and know the true—
I ask Thee to be true unto Thyself.
There is a soul that has not sinned unto
The death. I pray for it. To such as seek
For such a one, O Power invisible!
O Mystery and Mercy! Thou hast said
Thou hearkenest. I dare remind Thee, God.
I dare appeal unto Thine honor. Hear!
Fulfill Thy pledge to me.
God, God! Great God!
I pour my soul out, dash it down awaste
Like water, as I would my life, to save
This other one. I light my words with fire,
Like fagots scorching all my shrinking heart.
So would I walk in fire with these my feet
Of flesh, if that could melt this frozen heart
I pray for.
Thou who listenest! Dumb God!
Had I Thy dreadful power to turn the souls
Of men as they were rivers in Thy hand,
Then would I have this noble one. I would
Not lose its loyalty. I tell Thee, Lord,
If I had made it, then it sure should love
And honor me.
Hearken to me! Oh, save!
Give me mine answer! Save!
Great God,
I summon Thee! I summon Thee!
[OMITTED]
Father,
I am Thy child. If I have asked too much,
Or asked or longed amiss in any wise,
Or read awry Thy Word mysterious,
Or made one cry unworthy of a child,
I pray Thee to deny me all I ask
Unto my asking, and rebuke me so.
And if Thou savest, Lord, dear Lord, dear Lord!
Then let it be because some worthier
Than I, did pray. ...
The death. I pray for it. To such as seek
For such a one, O Power invisible!
O Mystery and Mercy! Thou hast said
Thou hearkenest. I dare remind Thee, God.
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Fulfill Thy pledge to me.
God, God! Great God!
I pour my soul out, dash it down awaste
Like water, as I would my life, to save
This other one. I light my words with fire,
Like fagots scorching all my shrinking heart.
So would I walk in fire with these my feet
Of flesh, if that could melt this frozen heart
I pray for.
Thou who listenest! Dumb God!
Had I Thy dreadful power to turn the souls
Of men as they were rivers in Thy hand,
Then would I have this noble one. I would
Not lose its loyalty. I tell Thee, Lord,
If I had made it, then it sure should love
And honor me.
Hearken to me! Oh, save!
Give me mine answer! Save!
Great God,
I summon Thee! I summon Thee!
[OMITTED]
Father,
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Or asked or longed amiss in any wise,
Or read awry Thy Word mysterious,
Or made one cry unworthy of a child,
I pray Thee to deny me all I ask
Unto my asking, and rebuke me so.
And if Thou savest, Lord, dear Lord, dear Lord!
Then let it be because some worthier
Than I, did pray. ...
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AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
For the faith that is not brokenBy the burden of the day;
For the word that is not spoken
(Dearest words are slow to say);
For the golden draught unproffered
To the thirst that thirsteth on;
For the hand that is not offered
When the struggling strength is gone;
For the sturdy heart that will not
Make a pauper of my need;
Friend, I mean sometime to thank thee,
From my soul, in truth and deed.
Wait! Some day, when I am braver,
I will do so—say so. Now
(Oh! be tender!) I am tired;
I have forgotten how.
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HYMN.
FOR A BROTHER'S INSTALLATION.
Lord, are there any stones upon the way,
That tear Thy bleeding feet?
If our weak hands can move them from Thy path,
Give us that duty sweet.
That tear Thy bleeding feet?
If our weak hands can move them from Thy path,
Give us that duty sweet.
Is there, O patient and pathetic Face!
One thorn upon Thy brow
That we can pluck from out Thy cruel crown?
For we would do it now.
One thorn upon Thy brow
That we can pluck from out Thy cruel crown?
For we would do it now.
Is there a deed so difficult for us
That none but Thou canst ask?
Thine asking be our answering. Lo! swift
Be ours that happy task.
That none but Thou canst ask?
Thine asking be our answering. Lo! swift
Be ours that happy task.
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Lord, hast Thou left Thy hungry in the world
For us to find, to feed?
Sharper the hungers of the soul. Give us
Nutrition for that need.
For us to find, to feed?
Sharper the hungers of the soul. Give us
Nutrition for that need.
And hast Thou prisoners unvisited,
Whose woes our care should tell?
There is a deeper prison of the heart;
Help us to find that cell.
Whose woes our care should tell?
There is a deeper prison of the heart;
Help us to find that cell.
Is there a mourner dear to Thee, whom we
Have left uncomforted?
Yet still through lonelier loneliness, the heart
Bereft of Thee, is led.
Have left uncomforted?
Yet still through lonelier loneliness, the heart
Bereft of Thee, is led.
O world of common, human cries! and calls
Of souls in direst need!
To meet ye, mighty were the love that sought
To take the Master's speed.
Of souls in direst need!
To meet ye, mighty were the love that sought
To take the Master's speed.
Give us that love, dear God, who gave to us
To bear His loving name.
Give us that sacred speed to keep the step
That strikes with His the same.
To bear His loving name.
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That strikes with His the same.
Waves of one tide, this people be! and flow
Straight shoreward to Thy will.
White as a dove, upon them, now descend
Thy Spirit, strong and still.
Straight shoreward to Thy will.
White as a dove, upon them, now descend
Thy Spirit, strong and still.
Thy blessings on their future rest and brood,
—The brightest, lip can tell,—
In home and heart, in faith and fact, O best
Of daily mercy! dwell.
—The brightest, lip can tell,—
In home and heart, in faith and fact, O best
Of daily mercy! dwell.
With those who summon—trusting it to lead
Their feet to walk Christ's way—
The voice of him on whose bowed head, I call
The grace of God to-day.
Their feet to walk Christ's way—
The voice of him on whose bowed head, I call
The grace of God to-day.
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ANSWERED.
Why did I never sing a song to you?Dearest! To you again, behold the question start.
To mine own pulses have I ever sung? Or do
I read a rhyme unto my beating heart?
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WESTWARD.
My thoughts like waves creep up, creep on,
How patient is the sea!
How shall we climb—the tide and I—
Up to the hills and thee?
How patient is the sea!
How shall we climb—the tide and I—
Up to the hills and thee?
Were waters free as winds, to go
Where mood or need might be,
They could but find the sky, above
The cañon as the sea.
Where mood or need might be,
They could but find the sky, above
The cañon as the sea.
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THREE FRIENDS.
Oh, not to you, my mentor sweet,
And stern as only sweetness can,
Whose grave eyes look out steadfastly
Across my nature's plan,
And stern as only sweetness can,
Whose grave eyes look out steadfastly
Across my nature's plan,
And take unerring measure down
Where'er that plan is failed or foiled,
Thinking far less of purpose kept
Than of a vision spoiled.
Where'er that plan is failed or foiled,
Thinking far less of purpose kept
Than of a vision spoiled.
And tender less to what I am,
Than sad for what I might have been;
And walking softly before God
For my soul's sake, I ween.
Than sad for what I might have been;
And walking softly before God
For my soul's sake, I ween.
'T is not to you, my spirit leans,
O grave, true judge! When spent with strife,
And groping out of gloom for light,
And out of death for life.
O grave, true judge! When spent with strife,
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And out of death for life.
Nor yet to you, who calmly weigh
And measure every grace and fault,
Whose martial nature never turns
From right to left, to halt
And measure every grace and fault,
Whose martial nature never turns
From right to left, to halt
For any glamour of the heart,
Or any glow that ever is,
Grander than Truth's high noonday glare,
In love's sweet sunrises;
Or any glow that ever is,
Grander than Truth's high noonday glare,
In love's sweet sunrises;
Who know me by the duller hues
Of common nights and common days,
And in their sober atmospheres
Find level blame and praise.
Of common nights and common days,
And in their sober atmospheres
Find level blame and praise.
True hearts and dear! 't is not in you,
This fainting, warring soul of mine
Finds silver carven chalices,
To hold life's choicest wine
This fainting, warring soul of mine
Finds silver carven chalices,
To hold life's choicest wine
Unto its thirsty lips, and bid
It drink, and breathe, and battle on,
Till all its dreams are deeds at last,
And all its heights are won.
It drink, and breathe, and battle on,
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And all its heights are won.
I turn to you, confiding love.
O lifted eyes! look trustfully,
Till Heaven shall lend you other light,
Like kneeling saints—on me.
O lifted eyes! look trustfully,
Till Heaven shall lend you other light,
Like kneeling saints—on me.
And let me be to you, dear eyes,
The thing I am not, till I, too,
Shall see as I am seen, and stand
At last revealed to you.
The thing I am not, till I, too,
Shall see as I am seen, and stand
At last revealed to you.
And let me nobler than I am,
And braver still, eternally,
And finer, truer, purer, than
My finest, purest, be
And braver still, eternally,
And finer, truer, purer, than
My finest, purest, be
To your sweet vision. There I stand
Transfigured fair in love's deceit,
And while your soul looks up to mine,
My heart lies at your feet.
Transfigured fair in love's deceit,
And while your soul looks up to mine,
My heart lies at your feet.
Believe me better than my best,
And stronger than my strength can hold,
Until your magic faith transmute
My pebbles into gold.
And stronger than my strength can hold,
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My pebbles into gold.
I'll be the thing you hold me, Dear!—
After I'm dead, if not before—
Nor, through the climbing ages, will
I give the conflict o'er.
After I'm dead, if not before—
Nor, through the climbing ages, will
I give the conflict o'er.
But if upon the Perfect Peace,
And past the thing that was, and is,
And past the lure of voices, in
A world of silences,
And past the thing that was, and is,
And past the lure of voices, in
A world of silences,
A pain can crawl—a little one—
A cloud upon a sunlit land;
I think in Heaven my heart must ache—
That you should understand.
A cloud upon a sunlit land;
I think in Heaven my heart must ache—
That you should understand.
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A NEW FRIEND.
The sun is sinking on the sacred lands
Wherein the grain ungarnered beckoning stands.
Wherein the grain ungarnered beckoning stands.
Who loses never finds, nor can, nor may,
The common, human glory of the day.
The common, human glory of the day.
Close, let us enter, tear-blind as we must;
Reapers, not gleaners of a solemn trust.
Reapers, not gleaners of a solemn trust.
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AN ETCHING.
A true knight! Knowing neither worldly fear,Nor yet reproach of her unworldly faith;
Fine eyes shall see, yet see not, on this page,
A man, who from a woman's heart of hearts
Could earn, and keep, the sacred name of Friend.
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TO MY FATHER.
Tired with the little follies of the day,
A child crept, sobbing, to your arms to say
Her evening prayer; and if by God or you
Forgiven and loved, she never asked or knew.
A child crept, sobbing, to your arms to say
Her evening prayer; and if by God or you
Forgiven and loved, she never asked or knew.
With life's mistake and care too early old,
And spent with sorrow upon sorrow told,
She finds the father's heart the surest rest;
The earliest love shall be the last and best.
And spent with sorrow upon sorrow told,
She finds the father's heart the surest rest;
The earliest love shall be the last and best.
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THE GATES BETWEEN.
Pearl-white, opaque and fixèd fast,
Flashing between the hands unclasped,
Blinding between despairing eyes,
The awful Gates shut to, at last,
On comfort snatched, and anguish done,
On every moan beneath the sun,
Till we and ours, and joy are one.
Flashing between the hands unclasped,
Blinding between despairing eyes,
The awful Gates shut to, at last,
On comfort snatched, and anguish done,
On every moan beneath the sun,
Till we and ours, and joy are one.
This is your hour, Gates of God,
Your solemn hour, bars of gold,
But there shall come another yet.
Like silken sails you shall be furled,
Like melting mist you shall be set.
Your solemn hour, bars of gold,
But there shall come another yet.
Like silken sails you shall be furled,
Like melting mist you shall be set.
Oh, ye the dearest! vanished from
Love's little inner, sheltered spot.
To ye I whisper; not forgot,
But loved the dearer, namèd not.
Across the barrier old as life,
Lean to us from the Silent World.
Love's little inner, sheltered spot.
To ye I whisper; not forgot,
But loved the dearer, namèd not.
Across the barrier old as life,
Lean to us from the Silent World.
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A PRAYER.
VESPERS.
Great God!
Behold, I lie
Beneath Thine awful eye,
As the sea beneath the sky.
Behold, I lie
Beneath Thine awful eye,
As the sea beneath the sky.
My God,
What hope abides?
Thine unknown purpose rides
The torrent of my tides.
What hope abides?
Thine unknown purpose rides
The torrent of my tides.
Dear God,
I am not a shore, or hill,
An ocean must take still
The colors of the heavens' will.
I am not a shore, or hill,
An ocean must take still
The colors of the heavens' will.
Choose, God.
Though days be blue, or gold,
Though sorrows new, or cold,
Though purple joy be there,
Or gray of old despair,
Give but Thyself to me,
And let me be Thy sea.
Thy storms have had their way.
I pray now not to pray.
Though days be blue, or gold,
Though sorrows new, or cold,
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Or gray of old despair,
Give but Thyself to me,
And let me be Thy sea.
Thy storms have had their way.
I pray now not to pray.
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