The Sanctuary A Companion in Verse for the English Prayer Book. By Robert Montgomery |
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Churching of Women.
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 | The Sanctuary |  |
330
Churching of Women.
“We give thee humble thanks, for that thou hast vouchsafed
to deliver this woman thy servant, from the great pain
and peril of childbirth.”
—English Prayer Book.
In love maternal hides a spell
A mother's heart alone can see,
Transcending all that tears may tell
Or man can be.
A mother's heart alone can see,
Transcending all that tears may tell
Or man can be.
Far down within the spirit's deep
Her fountains of affection lie
Like currents which in darkness sweep
Nor face the sky.
Her fountains of affection lie
Like currents which in darkness sweep
Nor face the sky.
Tender abyss of peerless love!
To heaven's omniscient eye-glance known,
The Woman-born Who reigns above
Thy claims doth own.
To heaven's omniscient eye-glance known,
The Woman-born Who reigns above
Thy claims doth own.
A pillow'd Babe on mother's breast
Beneath Him throbb'd the Virgin-heart,—
And, Woman! thou on Him canst rest
Whoe'er thou art.
Beneath Him throbb'd the Virgin-heart,—
And, Woman! thou on Him canst rest
Whoe'er thou art.
Oh magic force of nature!—felt
Far as the sun and sea extend;
Beneath whose law all beings melt
And spirits bend.
Far as the sun and sea extend;
Beneath whose law all beings melt
And spirits bend.
The Indian-mother, stern and strong,
Cradles her infant on the tree
And wildly chants her loud wood-song
For lullaby.
Cradles her infant on the tree
And wildly chants her loud wood-song
For lullaby.
And the stern negress, seeking food,
Fastens the babe upon her back,
To roam each rocky solitude
Or lion's track.
Fastens the babe upon her back,
To roam each rocky solitude
Or lion's track.
331
Nor scene nor change, nor earth nor sky
Enfeeble love's maternal force;
Distance and time before it die
Whate'er their course.
Enfeeble love's maternal force;
Distance and time before it die
Whate'er their course.
A passion this, so pure and deep,
That while bereavèd fathers moan
Enduring mothers only weep
In heart alone!
That while bereavèd fathers moan
Enduring mothers only weep
In heart alone!
But, why did God such love create
Ineffably profound and pure?—
Because from mothers spirits date
Their curse, or cure.
Ineffably profound and pure?—
Because from mothers spirits date
Their curse, or cure.
Thus martyrs, saints and heroes,—all
Whom wond'ring time delights to praise,
In heaven itself may still recall
Those infant-days
Whom wond'ring time delights to praise,
In heaven itself may still recall
Those infant-days
When learn'd they from maternal lips
Lessons of holy love and prayer,—
No clouds hereafter could eclipse
With sad despair.
Lessons of holy love and prayer,—
No clouds hereafter could eclipse
With sad despair.
Then, pallid mother! draw thee nigh,
Perill'd by pangs but saved in birth;
And dovelike lift thy downcast eye
To heaven from earth.
Perill'd by pangs but saved in birth;
And dovelike lift thy downcast eye
To heaven from earth.
The virgin-whiteness of that veil
Becomes thine inward purity,
And hides upon thy forehead pale
What angels see
Becomes thine inward purity,
And hides upon thy forehead pale
What angels see
Of blissful worship,—deep and mild
Which mothers for their first-born pay,
And love with conscience undefiled
Offers to-day.
Which mothers for their first-born pay,
And love with conscience undefiled
Offers to-day.
Thou art the parent of a soul,
The mother of a deathless mind!
And Christ to thee imparts control
For this design'd.
The mother of a deathless mind!
332
For this design'd.
Self-discipline with prayer-born love
And persevering wisdom calm
Send, Holy Spirit, from above,
And soothing balm;
And persevering wisdom calm
Send, Holy Spirit, from above,
And soothing balm;
That from Thine Altar she may part
In saintly mood serene and high,
And worship Christ with yearning heart
Until she die.
In saintly mood serene and high,
And worship Christ with yearning heart
Until she die.
Mothers are more than mines of wealth
If God-devoted souls they be;
And what makes empire's moral health
And purity
If God-devoted souls they be;
And what makes empire's moral health
And purity
They guard. For, how do nations sink
Into dark graves of sin and woe?—
When Church and State no longer think
What debt they owe
Into dark graves of sin and woe?—
When Church and State no longer think
What debt they owe
To christian mothers! unto whom
Both God and nature have consign'd
Existence, from whose dawning bloom
They nurse mankind.
Both God and nature have consign'd
Existence, from whose dawning bloom
They nurse mankind.
| The Sanctuary | |