 | Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious |  |
86
A GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED.
“What is the symbol that may best describe
The Kingdom of My Father in the world?”
The Saviour spake, and paused for a reply.
The Kingdom of My Father in the world?”
The Saviour spake, and paused for a reply.
Then answered he whom Jesus called a Stone
For the foundation of the Church of God:
For the foundation of the Church of God:
“The Kingdom of Thy God is like the morn
In cloudless glory, when the shadows flee,
And earth rejoices. And the kings of earth
Shall come, and lead the nations, to adore
The brightness of its rising.”
In cloudless glory, when the shadows flee,
And earth rejoices. And the kings of earth
Shall come, and lead the nations, to adore
The brightness of its rising.”
Then the Son
Of Thunder answered—he whom Jesus loved:
Of Thunder answered—he whom Jesus loved:
“The Kingdom of Thy God is like the stone
In vision of the Babylonian king,
Hewn from the mountain by no human hand,
Which fell and smote the image that displayed
All worldly domination, pomp, and power,
Scattering its form in dust; and then became
A mighty mountain, filling all the earth.
So shall a Stone from Zion's Rock be hewn,
To smite the power of Herod and of Rome;
So shall the Kingdom grow, and fill the world,
And stand for ever.”
In vision of the Babylonian king,
Hewn from the mountain by no human hand,
Which fell and smote the image that displayed
All worldly domination, pomp, and power,
87
A mighty mountain, filling all the earth.
So shall a Stone from Zion's Rock be hewn,
To smite the power of Herod and of Rome;
So shall the Kingdom grow, and fill the world,
And stand for ever.”
But the Lord replied:
“Yea, rather is the Kingdom like a grain
Of seed that groweth up unseen, unwatched,—
The sower knows not how; for of herself
Earth bears her increase; first the blade, and then
The ripening ear, and then the ripened corn.
Yea, like a mustard seed, the least of all,
Which groweth greater than the herbs, and spreads
A shelter where the birds of heaven may rest.
Such is My Father's Kingdom in the world.”
“Yea, rather is the Kingdom like a grain
Of seed that groweth up unseen, unwatched,—
The sower knows not how; for of herself
Earth bears her increase; first the blade, and then
The ripening ear, and then the ripened corn.
Yea, like a mustard seed, the least of all,
Which groweth greater than the herbs, and spreads
A shelter where the birds of heaven may rest.
Such is My Father's Kingdom in the world.”
| Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious | |