 | Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious |  |
50
THE PEACE OF CHRIST.
“I leave with thee My peace;
Not as the world might give, I give to thee.
It is a fount whose stream shall never cease,
But widen to a sea.”
Not as the world might give, I give to thee.
It is a fount whose stream shall never cease,
But widen to a sea.”
“No, my Redeemer! no!”
Thus in my restless youth I made reply;
“The streams of heavenly peace can never flow
For me, before I die.
Thus in my restless youth I made reply;
“The streams of heavenly peace can never flow
For me, before I die.
“Love I can understand,
Although it passeth knowledge; and Thy power
I can exult in. Saviour, from Thy hand
I seek that twofold dower:
Although it passeth knowledge; and Thy power
I can exult in. Saviour, from Thy hand
I seek that twofold dower:
“Let love and strength be mine;
And joy I can imagine, full and free;
And knowledge of Thy will and Thy design;
But peace is not for me.
And joy I can imagine, full and free;
And knowledge of Thy will and Thy design;
But peace is not for me.
“Our earthly life and breath
Are spent in deep unrest and hurrying haste;
A draught of peace would seem a draught of death;
I should not know the taste.”
Are spent in deep unrest and hurrying haste;
A draught of peace would seem a draught of death;
I should not know the taste.”
51
Thus once I made reply,
And to the blast I turned my aching breast.
But when the storm was threatening yet more high,
I found unsought-for rest.
And to the blast I turned my aching breast.
But when the storm was threatening yet more high,
I found unsought-for rest.
The cloud that was so dark
Burst not in tempest, but in calming rain,
Which stilled the waves that surged around my bark;
And now, though clouds remain,
Burst not in tempest, but in calming rain,
Which stilled the waves that surged around my bark;
And now, though clouds remain,
And youthful joy is fled,
I feel the calm that follows on the strife;
And, by the star of Christ in safety led,
I find that peace is life.
I feel the calm that follows on the strife;
And, by the star of Christ in safety led,
I find that peace is life.
| Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious | |