Sequences, Hymns, and Other Ecclesiastical Verses ::

[It need hardly be said that the main thought of the following sequence is taken from the sublime conclusion of S. Augustine's Commentary on S. John's Gospel. The English reader may need to be informed that the Vulgate translation of our Lord's saying, omits the If; and simply runs thus: “I will that he tarry till I come . . . . . follow thou Me.”]

Art thou fainting in the tempest,
While thy bark the huge waves toss?
Art thou faintly, feebly, dreaming
Of the gain without the loss;
Longing, O degenerate Christian,
For the Crown before the Cross?

It had come, that glorious Morning:
Jesus stood upon the Shore:
Scourging, Mocking, Coronation,
Crucifixion—all were o'er:
With His own the Prince of princes
Tarried yet a while once more.

Stood His chief Apostle by Him;
All in love, but half in doubt:
Answering, till the thrice Confession
Blot the thrice Denial out;
Listening, how his own departure
Christ's dear Cross shall bring about.

“Follow Me,” saith He. And straightway
Went that Mighty following on:
But the loved one came behind him
In the way which He had gone:
Cephas turned; and there unbidden,
But still loving, seeth John.

“Lord, and how shall this man serve Thee?
Peter, let the question be:
Hear:—“I will that he shall tarry
Till I come:—thou follow Me:”
—O sweet words of golden comfort
That shall last eternally!

These Two Lives; one, the fleeting;
One, that cannot pass away:
One in exile; one in Mansions
That can never more decay:
This in faith, and that in vision
Of the Beatific Ray.

This gives battle to the foeman;
That no foeman hath to fight:
This is bathed in tears for failings;
That, in torrents of delight:
This is misery, this is weakness;
That perpetual joy and might.

This forgives and is forgiven;
Pardon that nor gives nor needs;
This rolls on in ceaseless action;
That in contemplation speeds:
That with joy shall reap the harvests;
This in tears had sown the seeds.

Hear it then, your Captain's watch-word,
Christians militant on earth:
Ye who sometimes think the glory
Of the labour scantly worth;
How He tells you, that hereafter
Is the banquet, here the dearth.

“Ye,” saith He, “at once would quit you
of the struggle and the pain:
Ye at once change pain and sorrow
For the Life that shall remain:
But—My Will is that shall tarry,
Tarry till I come again.

“Follow Me mean while.”—And answer:
(Spite of battle and distress)
“Whatsoever snares beset us,
Whatsoever toils opprest,
When Thou puttest forth Thine own sheep,
If Thou go before them—Yes.

University of Virginia Library

Follow Thou Me.

A SEQUENCE FOR THE FESTIVAL OF S. PETER OR S. JOHN.