The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith ... Revised by the Author: Coll. ed. |
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[He had not gone to ply the net] |
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 | The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith |  |
[He had not gone to ply the net]
“I go a fishing.”—John xxi. 3.
He had not gone to ply the net
Upon the lake of Galilee,
As he went to Gennesaret
The risen Lord to see.
Upon the lake of Galilee,
As he went to Gennesaret
The risen Lord to see.
493
And as the weary hours crept by
Where once such blissful days he had,
His soul with haunting memory
And misery was mad.
Where once such blissful days he had,
His soul with haunting memory
And misery was mad.
It all came back—the happy past,—
How Jesus once had named him Rock,
And then the end of all at last,—
The maid and crowing cock.
How Jesus once had named him Rock,
And then the end of all at last,—
The maid and crowing cock.
How could he meet the Master's sight,
Whom he with curses did deny?
Yet if he met Him not that night,
'Twere better he should die.
Whom he with curses did deny?
Yet if he met Him not that night,
'Twere better he should die.
Then swiftly striding to the shore
He leapt into the swaying boat,
To haul a net, or ply an oar,
And rid him of his thought.
He leapt into the swaying boat,
To haul a net, or ply an oar,
And rid him of his thought.
O breaking heart! that sought in toil
The shame and anguish to forget,
Thy Lord was seeking thee mean while
To ply thee with His net.
The shame and anguish to forget,
Thy Lord was seeking thee mean while
To ply thee with His net.
And in our failure and despair,
When hardly we dare think or feel,
Lo! He is looking for us there,
Our aching wounds to heal.
When hardly we dare think or feel,
Lo! He is looking for us there,
Our aching wounds to heal.
| The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith | |