The Christian year thoughts in verse for the Sundays and holidays throughout the year ... hundredth edition [by John Keble] |
Gunpowder Treason.
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The Christian year | ||
299
Gunpowder Treason.
As thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear
witness also at Rome.
Acts xxiii. 11.
Beneath the burning eastern sky
The Cross was rais'd at morn:
The widow'd Church to weep stood by,
The world, to hate and scorn.
The Cross was rais'd at morn:
The widow'd Church to weep stood by,
The world, to hate and scorn.
Now, journeying westward, evermore
We know the lonely Spouse
By the dear mark her Saviour bore
Trac'd on her patient brows.
We know the lonely Spouse
By the dear mark her Saviour bore
Trac'd on her patient brows.
At Rome she wears it, as of old
Upon th' accursèd hill:
By monarchs clad in gems and gold,
She goes a mourner still.
Upon th' accursèd hill:
By monarchs clad in gems and gold,
She goes a mourner still.
She mourns that tender hearts should bend
Before a meaner shrine,
And upon Saint or Angel spend
The love that should be thine.
Before a meaner shrine,
And upon Saint or Angel spend
The love that should be thine.
By day and night her sorrows fall
Where miscreant hands and rude
Have stain'd her pure ethereal pall
With many a martyr's blood.
Where miscreant hands and rude
Have stain'd her pure ethereal pall
With many a martyr's blood.
300
And yearns not her parental heart,
To hear their secret sighs,
Upon whose doubting way apart
Bewildering shadows rise?
To hear their secret sighs,
Upon whose doubting way apart
Bewildering shadows rise?
Who to her side in peace would cling,
But fear to wake, and find
What they had deem'd her genial wing
Was Error's soothing blind.
But fear to wake, and find
What they had deem'd her genial wing
Was Error's soothing blind.
She treasures up each throbbing prayer:
Come, trembler, come and pour
Into her bosom all thy care,
For she has balm in store.
Come, trembler, come and pour
Into her bosom all thy care,
For she has balm in store.
Her gentle teaching sweetly blends
With the clear light of Truth
Th' aërial gleam that Fancy lends
To solemn thoughts in youth.—
With the clear light of Truth
Th' aërial gleam that Fancy lends
To solemn thoughts in youth.—
If thou hast lov'd, in hours of gloom,
To dream the dead are near,
And people all the lonely room
With guardian spirits dear,
To dream the dead are near,
And people all the lonely room
With guardian spirits dear,
Dream on the soothing dream at will:
The lurid mist is o'er,
That shew'd the righteous suffering still
Upon th' eternal shore.
The lurid mist is o'er,
That shew'd the righteous suffering still
Upon th' eternal shore.
If with thy heart the strains accord,
That on His altar-throne
Highest exalt thy glorious Lord,
Yet leave Him most thine own:
That on His altar-throne
Highest exalt thy glorious Lord,
Yet leave Him most thine own:
301
O come to our Communion Feast:
There present, in the heart
As in the hands, th' eternal Priest
Will His true self impart.—
There present, in the heart
As in the hands, th' eternal Priest
Will His true self impart.—
Thus, should thy soul misgiving turn
Back to th' enchanted air,
Solace and warning thou mayst learn
From all that tempts thee there.
Back to th' enchanted air,
Solace and warning thou mayst learn
From all that tempts thee there.
And O! by all the pangs and fears
Fraternal spirits know,
When for an elder's shame the tears
Of wakeful anguish flow,
Fraternal spirits know,
When for an elder's shame the tears
Of wakeful anguish flow,
Speak gently of our sister's fall:
Who knows but gentle love
May win her at our patient call
The surer way to prove?
Who knows but gentle love
May win her at our patient call
The surer way to prove?
The Christian year | ||