[Poems by Clark in] The religious souvenir a Christmas, New Year's and Birth Day Present for MDCCCXXXIV |
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 | [Poems by Clark in] The religious souvenir |  |
176
CHRIST HEALING THE SICK.
Giver of health and life,
Where, but to thee, can pain and sorrow go,
Amidst the weary strife,
The fitful fever, and the maddening throe,
Which wring the bosom in this world of woe?
Oh thou, of all, the meekest and the best,
Where, but with thee, can the sad heart find rest?
Where, but to thee, can pain and sorrow go,
Amidst the weary strife,
The fitful fever, and the maddening throe,
Which wring the bosom in this world of woe?
Oh thou, of all, the meekest and the best,
Where, but with thee, can the sad heart find rest?
Calmly thou standest there:
The temple's arches vast are swelling round:
Thy presence fills the air
With holy radiance and with peace profound,
And bids an influence, as of hope, abound;
On thee the languid eye in trust is turned,
Where late the baleful fires of frenzy burned.
The temple's arches vast are swelling round:
Thy presence fills the air
With holy radiance and with peace profound,
And bids an influence, as of hope, abound;
On thee the languid eye in trust is turned,
Where late the baleful fires of frenzy burned.
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On thee the mother bends
Her tearful glance, and checks the rising sigh
Which on her hope attends,
As to the Lord she draweth fondly nigh,
And meets the light of his benignant eye;
She clasps her breathing infant to her breast—
She marks the power of Jesus—and is blest.
Her tearful glance, and checks the rising sigh
Which on her hope attends,
As to the Lord she draweth fondly nigh,
And meets the light of his benignant eye;
She clasps her breathing infant to her breast—
She marks the power of Jesus—and is blest.
And they who linger near,
With friends in sickness yet more fondly loved—
Betwixt a smile and tear
Gaze on the Saviour, and with faith are moved
To see the wonders of his kindness proved;
Around his robes they cling—the faint revive—
The stings of pain are quenched—the dying live.
With friends in sickness yet more fondly loved—
Betwixt a smile and tear
Gaze on the Saviour, and with faith are moved
To see the wonders of his kindness proved;
Around his robes they cling—the faint revive—
The stings of pain are quenched—the dying live.
The face, that wore but now
The settled paleness of the suffering hour,
Reclaims its healthful glow;
The red lip, faltering, speaks of heavenly power,
While crystal tears descend—a grateful shower;
Watering the damask cheek, that changed so soon,
Like some fair lily to a rose of June.
The settled paleness of the suffering hour,
Reclaims its healthful glow;
The red lip, faltering, speaks of heavenly power,
While crystal tears descend—a grateful shower;
Watering the damask cheek, that changed so soon,
Like some fair lily to a rose of June.
178
'T is done,—and from the crowd
Sweet voices, filled with joy and thanks, arise—
The healed ones sing aloud;
And like rich incense, soaring to the skies,
Ascend the anthems of their glad surprise:
The lame, the blind are healed, the sick restored,
And with rejoicing hearts they praise the Lord.
Sweet voices, filled with joy and thanks, arise—
The healed ones sing aloud;
And like rich incense, soaring to the skies,
Ascend the anthems of their glad surprise:
The lame, the blind are healed, the sick restored,
And with rejoicing hearts they praise the Lord.
W. G. C.
Philadelphia.
220
DEPARTURE OF THE ISRAELITES FROM EGYPT.
The dawn was grey in Egypt. Broken clouds,
In long and wavering companies, o'erhung
The realms of Pharoah and the land of Nile,
Tinct with the crimson of the coming morn.
Faint hues of struggling light enwrapt the piles,
The pillar'd halls, and domes, and columns huge,
That with ambitious effort seemed to pierce
The chambers of the sky, and rest in air.
Red rays were on the pyramids. Their tops,
Companions of the clouds, did seem to wear
The orient lustre from their borders flung,
As in rich troops they caught some radiant smile,
Won from the golden fountains of the sun.
In long and wavering companies, o'erhung
The realms of Pharoah and the land of Nile,
Tinct with the crimson of the coming morn.
Faint hues of struggling light enwrapt the piles,
The pillar'd halls, and domes, and columns huge,
That with ambitious effort seemed to pierce
The chambers of the sky, and rest in air.
Red rays were on the pyramids. Their tops,
Companions of the clouds, did seem to wear
The orient lustre from their borders flung,
As in rich troops they caught some radiant smile,
Won from the golden fountains of the sun.
221
A murmur rises from a gathered throng
Of bright rejoicing youth and reverend age,
A band, with groups and trains diversified,
And of dim length immeasurable:—afar,
Beyond the bases of high pillars old,
The throng is wandering on, heavy and slow,
Like some wide deluge, o'er the distant land.
Of bright rejoicing youth and reverend age,
A band, with groups and trains diversified,
And of dim length immeasurable:—afar,
Beyond the bases of high pillars old,
The throng is wandering on, heavy and slow,
Like some wide deluge, o'er the distant land.
Thus, as with measured strength the living tide
Rolls its long masses on, the man of God,
Moses,—the servant of the mightiest King,
Whose rule is through immensity from heaven,—
In solemn grace, and mein majestic, stands
And views, with tranquil glance, the impressive scene.
Rolls its long masses on, the man of God,
Moses,—the servant of the mightiest King,
Whose rule is through immensity from heaven,—
In solemn grace, and mein majestic, stands
And views, with tranquil glance, the impressive scene.
Onward, still on, they move;—the weary eye
No end to the long column can discern—
But something like a cloudy fire is seen,
Hovering afar, 'twixt Migdol and the sea.
The morning seems to pause—and wavering rays
That play on wreaths of mist, high in the East,
Appear to tremble 'gainst the envious bars
That check the lingering glory of the dawn.
No end to the long column can discern—
But something like a cloudy fire is seen,
Hovering afar, 'twixt Migdol and the sea.
The morning seems to pause—and wavering rays
That play on wreaths of mist, high in the East,
Appear to tremble 'gainst the envious bars
That check the lingering glory of the dawn.
222
A voice, as of command, through the deep air,
Above the countless throng is heard to move,
And the whole plain is motion. As they tread
In grateful temper on, a song, out-poured
From lips and hearts unnumbered, seems to rise
As the broad concourse lift the joyous lay:
Above the countless throng is heard to move,
And the whole plain is motion. As they tread
In grateful temper on, a song, out-poured
From lips and hearts unnumbered, seems to rise
As the broad concourse lift the joyous lay:
I.
“We are passing on to the heaving main,From the bitter curse and the bondsman's chain;
From the taunts of the vile and the proud we go,
To the land where rich honey and milk will flow;
Where the smile of God on our homes will lie,
Like the calm, pure light of a summer sky;
We go, where peace in our hearts may dwell,
We bid to the region of plagues farewell.
II.
“We haste from these borders, where now the wailOf desolate mothers is on the gale;
The cries of the first-born in death we hear,
Fainter they wax on the pitying ear;
223
O'er the dreamless sleep of the unrestor'd—
These are the sounds in this gloomy land,
So late by the wings of the tempest fann'd.
III.
“We go, though the journey be long and sad,To a clime where the mourner will soon be glad;
Where the waters are sweet, and the air serene—
Where our flocks may wander in pastures green;
We may faint in our languor, as on we tread,
On the cold earth pillow the weary head;
But our God hath spoken—we trust his word,
We have heard the voice of the living Lord!
IV.
“He will guide us onward, whose mighty handScattered cloud and blight over Egypt's land;
Whose glance unobstructed surveyed it round,
When fire and hail smote the desert ground;
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And drave the light from their course on high;
When they sank, like poison, to blast the spring,
To destroy each tender and vernal thing.
V.
“He will bear us on! We shall rest at last,And, in peace, look back on our journey passed;
Upon perils averted, on blessings shed,
Like dews of eve on the mountain's head;
The Lord will temper the midnight gale,
He will guard our feet from the scorpion's trail;
From fiery serpents, from drought and pain—
Our God is mighty where man is vain.
VI.
“We will praise his name, in that goodly land,Where tend the steps of this lengthened band;
Where the pomegranate ripens, and strays the vine.
Where the olive-leaves bloom in the bright sunshine;
225
Are rich on the fragrant and blessed breeze:
That promised land as a type is given
Of the regions of glory and life in heaven”
W. G. C.
Philadelphia.
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