Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious :: :: University of Virginia Library

This poem is written on the supposition, which seems highly probable, that Saint James the Lord's brother, the first Bishop of Jerusalem and the author of the Epistle of James, was not a believer in Christ until after the Resurrection, when he was converted by the appearance of Christ to him alone. Compare John vii. 5 with I Cor. xv. 7.

Jesus, my brother! He is Lord and Christ!
Though I have known Him from my earliest years
As brother in the flesh, I know Him now
No more as brother, but as Christ and King—
As Lord and Saviour!

Oh, accuse me not
Before the Father, that I disbelieved;
I only waited for a sign from heaven,
And Thou hast granted it!—Thy living face,
Thy living voice, Thy words of love to me!

But wherefore was it that I knew Thee not?
Why understood I not the Prophet's words,
“A Man of Sorrows, pouring out His soul
Even to death”? And wherefore bowed I not
Before the Saviour's awful purity?

Well I remember, in our early days,
When for some childish fault I sank rebuked,
Awed by His majesty of gentleness;
And all men saw what wondrous signs were showered,
In glory and in blessing, round His path;
Sight to the blind and utterance to the dumb,
Life to the dead, glad tidings to the poor.
Can God's forgiveness ever be for me—
For me, who joined the Pharisees and Scribes
In asking for a greater sign than these?
I might have been among the faithful Twelve,
Who—He hath promised it—shall sit on thrones,
Judging the tribes of Israel.

And, O Lord,
What means that proverb which I heard Thee speak
When I beheld Thee living from the dead,
“Blessed are they who see not, yet believe”?
Hast Thou no smallest blessing left for me?

And yet Thou dost not visit to upbraid;
Thy looks were not of anger, but of love;
And I recall another word of Thine,
“God giveth freely, and upbraideth not.”
Freely Thou wilt forgive, my Lord, my God!
The glory and the thrones remain for those
Who shared Thy sorrows and Thy toils on earth;
But grant me Thy forgiveness and Thy love;
And I will follow Thee!

Thou shalt restore

The throne of David and of Solomon;
All nations shall behold Thy glory; kings
From Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts,
And Sheba and Arabia bow the knee,
And Rome pay tribute. I shall see from far;
But grant me in Thy Kingdom to be called
Only the least and lowliest!

And, O Lord,
If for Thy Church a time of toil and pain
And trial as of silver in the fire,
Must come before Thy glory is revealed;—
If those who share Thy throne must share Thy cross;—
Oh, take me! let me drain the cup of woe,
So that I suffer and rejoice with Thee!

Epistle of James i. 5. This Epistle is so full of allusions to the recorded teaching of Christ, that the above may not improbably be one of His unrecorded sayings.