In Cornwall and Across the Sea With Poems Written in Devonshire. By Douglas B. W. Sladen |
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A LEGEND OF THE SABBATH. |
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 | In Cornwall and Across the Sea |  |
236
A LEGEND OF THE SABBATH.
There is a legend old, which says
That God comes down on Sabbath days
A little nearer earth,
And posts His angels in the ways
To gather deeds of worth.
That God comes down on Sabbath days
A little nearer earth,
And posts His angels in the ways
To gather deeds of worth.
It did mayhap originate
In some old preacher's pious pate,
His people to induce
One day a week to consecrate
Unto religious use.
In some old preacher's pious pate,
His people to induce
One day a week to consecrate
Unto religious use.
For, thinking God was nearer earth
And angels' questing deeds of worth,
They sanctified this day
Alike from labour and from mirth
To do good deeds and pray.
And angels' questing deeds of worth,
They sanctified this day
Alike from labour and from mirth
To do good deeds and pray.
237
The legend may be true or no;
Good men believed it long ago,
And profited thereby,
If once a week they acted so
As if their God was nigh.
Good men believed it long ago,
And profited thereby,
If once a week they acted so
As if their God was nigh.
We live in an enlightened age
And war on superstition wage,
And yet no better do
Than those who hearing this adage
Believed it to be true.
And war on superstition wage,
And yet no better do
Than those who hearing this adage
Believed it to be true.
| In Cornwall and Across the Sea | |