 | The Burden of the Bell and Other Lyrics |  |
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THE GREETING ON THE THRESHOLD.
Speedeth Time, the unrelenting,
Speedeth onward, Time, the King,
Severing the years asunder
With the waving of his wing.
Christmas standeth at our thresholds,—
Brothers, through the murky air,
Let your hearts lean out and listen,—
Ye shall hear his voice declare—
Speedeth onward, Time, the King,
Severing the years asunder
With the waving of his wing.
Christmas standeth at our thresholds,—
Brothers, through the murky air,
Let your hearts lean out and listen,—
Ye shall hear his voice declare—
“I am Christmas:—read the records
Of the deeds that ye have done;
Read, O men, with stedfast vision,
By the shining of Truth's sun.
Turn the pages, turn them over,
Trace ye backward day by day:
Ere I pass within your portals,
I've a greeting I must say.
Of the deeds that ye have done;
Read, O men, with stedfast vision,
By the shining of Truth's sun.
Turn the pages, turn them over,
Trace ye backward day by day:
Ere I pass within your portals,
I've a greeting I must say.
Have ye walked the world meek-hearted?
In your patience, have ye worn
Lowly thoughts for inner vesture,
Nought of pride, and nought of scorn?
Have ye walked the world, love-missioned,
Impulse strong, and purpose high,
Foremost aye to strive and struggle
For the vexed humanity?
In your patience, have ye worn
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Nought of pride, and nought of scorn?
Have ye walked the world, love-missioned,
Impulse strong, and purpose high,
Foremost aye to strive and struggle
For the vexed humanity?
Have ye chased one cloud of error?
Have ye sown one seed of good?
Have ye done the work God gave you,
Honestly, as true men should?
Have ye borne a cheerful aspect,
Hoping on through toil and care?
Have ye won a poor man's blessing,
Or a poor man's broken prayer?
Have ye sown one seed of good?
Have ye done the work God gave you,
Honestly, as true men should?
Have ye borne a cheerful aspect,
Hoping on through toil and care?
Have ye won a poor man's blessing,
Or a poor man's broken prayer?
Then—burn bright your hearth-fires! brightly
Flash the mirthlight in your eyes!
All my olden gladness cheer you,
All my jests and jollities!
Loving friends be gathered round you,
Merry voice and visage gay—
Good befal you! God be with you!
Such the greeting I would say.
Flash the mirthlight in your eyes!
All my olden gladness cheer you,
All my jests and jollities!
Loving friends be gathered round you,
Merry voice and visage gay—
Good befal you! God be with you!
Such the greeting I would say.
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But, if ye have willed to follow
Other ways, O men, than these,
All regardless of the warning
Of life's solemn verities;—
If the loves that ye have cherished,
Have been self-loves, false and cold,
Love of earth, and earth's ambitions,
Love of greed and love of gold;—
Other ways, O men, than these,
All regardless of the warning
Of life's solemn verities;—
If the loves that ye have cherished,
Have been self-loves, false and cold,
Love of earth, and earth's ambitions,
Love of greed and love of gold;—
If your hearts have scorned to hearken,
In the hour of mastery,
To all pleadings of good angels,
Pity, Mercy, Charity,
If ye've walked alone, self-trusting,
Self-sustaining, unsubdued,
By God's love, shed warmly round you,
And your bond of brotherhood;—
In the hour of mastery,
To all pleadings of good angels,
Pity, Mercy, Charity,
If ye've walked alone, self-trusting,
Self-sustaining, unsubdued,
By God's love, shed warmly round you,
And your bond of brotherhood;—
Then,—still lonely, drear and lonely,
Be your hearth and be your home!
As a ghost from out the charnel
Of the dead years, lo! I come—
Come with gloom and desolation,
And a silence, doubly drear,
From the sound of pipe and viol
And sweet laughter heard anear.
Be your hearth and be your home!
As a ghost from out the charnel
Of the dead years, lo! I come—
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And a silence, doubly drear,
From the sound of pipe and viol
And sweet laughter heard anear.
Fate-like, I unfold your portals,
And I bid you judge aright
Of the wisdom ye have worshipped,
By the veiling of its light;—
And I bid you turn, self-chastened,
From the doom and the despair,
To the better paths, forsaken,
And the joy abiding there;
So, when next ye hear my greeting,
Blessëd meanings it may bear!”
And I bid you judge aright
Of the wisdom ye have worshipped,
By the veiling of its light;—
And I bid you turn, self-chastened,
From the doom and the despair,
To the better paths, forsaken,
And the joy abiding there;
So, when next ye hear my greeting,
Blessëd meanings it may bear!”
Speedeth Time, the unrelenting,
Speedeth onward, Time, the King,
Severing the years asunder,
With the waving of his wing.
Christmas standeth at our thresholds—
Brothers, through the murky air,
Let your hearts lean out and listen,
And give answer to him there.
Speedeth onward, Time, the King,
Severing the years asunder,
With the waving of his wing.
Christmas standeth at our thresholds—
Brothers, through the murky air,
Let your hearts lean out and listen,
And give answer to him there.
| The Burden of the Bell and Other Lyrics | |