 | Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious |  |
118
FORGIVENESS.
O Thou who dwellest alone in unapproachable light,
Higher than highest heaven, and yet dost bend Thine ear
To hear the cry of those who call to Thee out of the night
Of pain, and sorrow, and sin, of ignorance, doubt, and fear!
Higher than highest heaven, and yet dost bend Thine ear
To hear the cry of those who call to Thee out of the night
Of pain, and sorrow, and sin, of ignorance, doubt, and fear!
The darkness is full of fear, but the light is more awful still;—
The Light in which nothing is dark;—the Eye before whose sight
All thoughts of the heart are open, all secrets of good and of ill;—
O Father, help us to bear the glory of Thy might!
The Light in which nothing is dark;—the Eye before whose sight
All thoughts of the heart are open, all secrets of good and of ill;—
O Father, help us to bear the glory of Thy might!
But if Thou seest our thoughts of sin and of sorrow, we trust
That a Father's heart is Thine, Thy children's woes to feel;
Thou knowest our earthly frame, Thou rememberest that we are dust;
O send Thy Spirit of power and love, to forgive and to heal!
That a Father's heart is Thine, Thy children's woes to feel;
Thou knowest our earthly frame, Thou rememberest that we are dust;
O send Thy Spirit of power and love, to forgive and to heal!
119
Save and forgive when the light of our life is overcast,
And the noise of toil and strife overpowers the adoring hymn;
When the future looms like impassable mountains misty and vast,
And all that we trusted fades like an island distant and dim.
And the noise of toil and strife overpowers the adoring hymn;
When the future looms like impassable mountains misty and vast,
And all that we trusted fades like an island distant and dim.
Forgive us all, O Father! and teach us all to forgive;
That all who have done and all who have suffered wrong, may rest
In the rest of Heaven, in the peace wherein our spirits shall live,
In the light of God which is life, eternally blessing and blest.
That all who have done and all who have suffered wrong, may rest
In the rest of Heaven, in the peace wherein our spirits shall live,
In the light of God which is life, eternally blessing and blest.
But is it true, O God, we must loathe ourselves in Heaven
For shame of the sins we wrought on Adam's natal sod?
Did not the Saviour die, that all might be forgiven?
Has not the Christ ascended, that all may ascend to God?
For shame of the sins we wrought on Adam's natal sod?
Did not the Saviour die, that all might be forgiven?
Has not the Christ ascended, that all may ascend to God?
We trust the quenchless fire of the wrath of God that burns
The chaff, when the chaff is consumed, shall cease in eternal calm;
And the breath that awakes the dead from their sleep shall breathe, and the thorns
Of the martyr's crown shall bud, and be changed to the conqueror's palm.
The chaff, when the chaff is consumed, shall cease in eternal calm;
And the breath that awakes the dead from their sleep shall breathe, and the thorns
Of the martyr's crown shall bud, and be changed to the conqueror's palm.
120
All that is Thine is ours.
Oh, not to a hopeless Fate,
And not to a changeless Law, does our faith send up its prayer.
Thy name, O God, is Love!—no place can be left for hate;
Thou, God, art the God of Hope!—no room can be found for despair.
And not to a changeless Law, does our faith send up its prayer.
Thy name, O God, is Love!—no place can be left for hate;
Thou, God, art the God of Hope!—no room can be found for despair.
| Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious | |