 | Songs of salvation |  |
31
EVERLASTING LOVE.
Come and sit by my bed awhile, Jeanie; there's just a little space.
Betwixt light and dark, and the fire is low and I cannot see your face;
But I like to feel I've hold of your hand, and to know I've got you near,
For kind and good you've been, Jeanie, the time that I've been here.
Betwixt light and dark, and the fire is low and I cannot see your face;
But I like to feel I've hold of your hand, and to know I've got you near,
For kind and good you've been, Jeanie, the time that I've been here.
“Kind and good you've been, Jeanie, when all was so dull and strange;
I was left to myself, and was not myself, and I seemed too old to change,
And I couldn't get framed to the House's ways; it was neither work nor play;
It wasn't at all like being at home, and it wasn't like being away.
I was left to myself, and was not myself, and I seemed too old to change,
And I couldn't get framed to the House's ways; it was neither work nor play;
It wasn't at all like being at home, and it wasn't like being away.
32
“And the days slipt on and the years slipped on, and I felt in a kind of dream,
As I used to do in the noisy school sewing a long white seam;
Sewing, sewing a long white seam the whole of the summer day,
When I'd like to have been in the open fields either at work or at play.
As I used to do in the noisy school sewing a long white seam;
Sewing, sewing a long white seam the whole of the summer day,
When I'd like to have been in the open fields either at work or at play.
“But now I feel as I used to feel in the summer evenings cool,
When we bairns would meet at the end of the street, or the edge of the village pool;
Or like when I've stood at the gate to wait for father home from the town,
And held him tight by the hand, or held my mother tight by the gown.
When we bairns would meet at the end of the street, or the edge of the village pool;
Or like when I've stood at the gate to wait for father home from the town,
And held him tight by the hand, or held my mother tight by the gown.
“And I feel to-night as I used to feel when I was a little lass,
When something seemed alive in the leaves and something astir in the grass;
And all in the room seems warm and light, and I'm pleased to go or to stay;
But I've got a word in my heart, Jeanie, that's calling me away.”
When something seemed alive in the leaves and something astir in the grass;
33
But I've got a word in my heart, Jeanie, that's calling me away.”
“Oh, what have you seen, Nannie, have you seen a blessed sight
Of angels coming to meet you; have you heard them at dead of night?”
“Oh, nothing, nothing like that, Jeanie, but what saith the blessed Word?
God speaketh once, yea twice, unto man, when never a voice is heard.
Of angels coming to meet you; have you heard them at dead of night?”
“Oh, nothing, nothing like that, Jeanie, but what saith the blessed Word?
God speaketh once, yea twice, unto man, when never a voice is heard.
“And He's given a word unto me, Jeanie—a word and a holy thought
Of something I've never found upon earth, and something I've always sought;
Of something I never thought that I'd find till I found it in Heaven above;
It's Love He has given to me, Jeanie, His everlasting love.
Of something I've never found upon earth, and something I've always sought;
Of something I never thought that I'd find till I found it in Heaven above;
It's Love He has given to me, Jeanie, His everlasting love.
34
“I'm old, Jeanie, poor and old, and I've had to work hard for my bread;
It's long since father and mother died, and ye know I was never wed;
And the most of my life's been spent in Place, and in places where I have been,
If I've heard a little talk about love, it's been work I've mostly seen.
It's long since father and mother died, and ye know I was never wed;
And the most of my life's been spent in Place, and in places where I have been,
If I've heard a little talk about love, it's been work I've mostly seen.
“And in summer the days were long and light, and in winter short and cold,
Till at last I was good for work no more, for you see I'm getting old;
And I knew there was nothing left for me but to come to the House, and I cried,
But if I was not good for work, what was I good for beside?
Till at last I was good for work no more, for you see I'm getting old;
And I knew there was nothing left for me but to come to the House, and I cried,
But if I was not good for work, what was I good for beside?
“And still when I went to chapel and church, I heard of love and of love;
It was something I hadn't met with on earth, and that hadn't come down from above;
It was something I'd heard of, but never seen, that I'd wished for and hadn't found,
But I liked to hear of love and of love, it had such a beautiful sound.
It was something I hadn't met with on earth, and that hadn't come down from above;
35
But I liked to hear of love and of love, it had such a beautiful sound.
“And I used to think, perhaps it was meant for richer people and higher,
Like the little maid that sits at church beside her father the Squire,
For the angels that always live above, or for good folks after they die;
But now it has come to me, I know it is nigh and is very nigh.”
Like the little maid that sits at church beside her father the Squire,
For the angels that always live above, or for good folks after they die;
But now it has come to me, I know it is nigh and is very nigh.”
“Oh, tell me what have you seen, Nannie; have you seen a shining light?
Have you heard the angels that harp and sing to their golden harps at night?”
“Oh, Jeanie, woman, I couldn't have thought of such things as these if I'd tried;
It was God Himself that spoke to me; it was Him, and none beside.
Have you heard the angels that harp and sing to their golden harps at night?”
“Oh, Jeanie, woman, I couldn't have thought of such things as these if I'd tried;
It was God Himself that spoke to me; it was Him, and none beside.
36
“It wasn't a voice that spoke in my ear, but a Word that came to my soul,
And it isn't a little love I've got in my heart when I've got the whole;
It is peace, it is joy, that has filled it up as a cup is filled to its brim;
Just to know that Jesus died for me, and that I am one with Him.
And it isn't a little love I've got in my heart when I've got the whole;
It is peace, it is joy, that has filled it up as a cup is filled to its brim;
Just to know that Jesus died for me, and that I am one with Him.
“It's love, Jeanie, that's come to me as nigh as you're now, and nigher;
It's love that'll never change, Jeanie, it's love that'll never tire,
Though I'm old and I'm poor, and deaf, and dark, —and the most of folks that I see,
Be they ever so kind I'd weary of them, or they'd soon grow weary of me.
It's love that'll never change, Jeanie, it's love that'll never tire,
Though I'm old and I'm poor, and deaf, and dark, —and the most of folks that I see,
Be they ever so kind I'd weary of them, or they'd soon grow weary of me.
“And this isn't the House any more! it's Home, and I'm pleased to go or to stay;
I'm not a woman weary with work, or a little lass at play;
I'm a child with its hand in its father's hand, its head on its mother's breast;
It's Christ, Jeanie, that's bid me come to Him, and that's given me rest.
37
I'm a child with its hand in its father's hand, its head on its mother's breast;
It's Christ, Jeanie, that's bid me come to Him, and that's given me rest.
“And it isn't little God's given to me, though He's kept it to the end,—
It's wealth that the richest cannot buy, that the poorest can never spend;
And I needn't wait till I go to Heaven, for it's Heaven come down from above;
It's love, Jeanie, God's given to me, His everlasting love!”
It's wealth that the richest cannot buy, that the poorest can never spend;
And I needn't wait till I go to Heaven, for it's Heaven come down from above;
It's love, Jeanie, God's given to me, His everlasting love!”
| Songs of salvation | |