 | Lazarus And other Poems |  |
And then, as strength returned, he spake to us
As none e'er spake before: “I find you friends;
God's law of love is written on your hearts;
Ye seek the Unknown, the Lord of Earth and Heaven,
The Father of us all. And yet I see
In every home the forms of household gods;
Ye bow before dumb idols. Vain deceit,
Transmitted from your fathers, wraps you round;
Ye know not that the Lord your God is One,
Not far off, dwelling on Olympian hills,
Beyond the furthest Ocean's western glow,
Or down in shadowy realms of Hades dark,
But near, around, within you. Turn, oh! turn
To Him who seeks you, calls you. He has spread
Through all the world the tokens of His love,
The showers from Heaven, and fruitful years, and joy
Of vintage and of harvest. In the soul
Of man himself He wakens solemn dread,
And questionings that stir the depths of life,
And yearnings after peace, the sense of guilt,
Vague hopes and vaguer fears. Yet men are blind,
Blind the untaught, and blinder still the wise,
By wisdom missing God. But through the world
His purpose runs; and when the time had come,
And Jew and Greek had learnt the bitter truth
That sin and death enslaved them, then He sent,
Born in our flesh, in nature one with us,
His Son, His well-beloved, to set us free.”
As none e'er spake before: “I find you friends;
God's law of love is written on your hearts;
Ye seek the Unknown, the Lord of Earth and Heaven,
The Father of us all. And yet I see
In every home the forms of household gods;
Ye bow before dumb idols. Vain deceit,
Transmitted from your fathers, wraps you round;
Ye know not that the Lord your God is One,
Not far off, dwelling on Olympian hills,
Beyond the furthest Ocean's western glow,
Or down in shadowy realms of Hades dark,
But near, around, within you. Turn, oh! turn
To Him who seeks you, calls you. He has spread
Through all the world the tokens of His love,
The showers from Heaven, and fruitful years, and joy
Of vintage and of harvest. In the soul
Of man himself He wakens solemn dread,
And questionings that stir the depths of life,
59
Vague hopes and vaguer fears. Yet men are blind,
Blind the untaught, and blinder still the wise,
By wisdom missing God. But through the world
His purpose runs; and when the time had come,
And Jew and Greek had learnt the bitter truth
That sin and death enslaved them, then He sent,
Born in our flesh, in nature one with us,
His Son, His well-beloved, to set us free.”
Then told he of the works of One who lived
In Galilee, a Prophet, yea, and more
Than prophet e'er had been, for grace and truth
Illumined all His life. He came to heal
Each ill of suffering men, to loose the chains
Of custom, and to bid the oppressed be free,
To tell them of a Father's love, and bind
Their tyrant and destroyer. So He worked
For three short years. And then against Him rose
His nation's priests and rulers, cutting short
The life that shamed them. On the cursèd tree
He died, as die the robber and the slave.
They knew not what they did: the blood that streamed
From those blest wounds was like a God's, and Love
Was mighty in that death to ransom all,
The countless generations of the past,
Those who now walk the earth, and all to come,
Through circling ages. Death, and then the grave,
Came as they come to all; but not for Him
The drear abyss of Hades. Over Him
Death could claim no dominion. In His might,
As Son of God He rose; as Son of Man
Ascended up on high, and liveth there,
A Priest, a Friend, hereafter Lord and Judge.
In Galilee, a Prophet, yea, and more
Than prophet e'er had been, for grace and truth
Illumined all His life. He came to heal
Each ill of suffering men, to loose the chains
Of custom, and to bid the oppressed be free,
To tell them of a Father's love, and bind
Their tyrant and destroyer. So He worked
For three short years. And then against Him rose
His nation's priests and rulers, cutting short
The life that shamed them. On the cursèd tree
He died, as die the robber and the slave.
They knew not what they did: the blood that streamed
From those blest wounds was like a God's, and Love
Was mighty in that death to ransom all,
The countless generations of the past,
Those who now walk the earth, and all to come,
60
Came as they come to all; but not for Him
The drear abyss of Hades. Over Him
Death could claim no dominion. In His might,
As Son of God He rose; as Son of Man
Ascended up on high, and liveth there,
A Priest, a Friend, hereafter Lord and Judge.
“He claims you as His own;” so ran the words
Of that strange preacher when his tale was done;
“In Him you may find pardon, as even I
Have found it for my trespass, darker far
Than you have ever known; for I blasphemed
That holy Name; I bound, and scourged, and stoned
The saints who owned Him Lord: and yet He turned
On me His pitying look. In vision strange,
Within me and without, He met my soul,
And showed me to myself, and bade me know
The glory of His cross. And now I go,
Bearing that cross through all the lands of earth,
And bidding all the nations turn and look
On Him the Crucified. He died for you;
For you He rose again; for you He lives,
And pleads for you before His Father's throne.
Easy His yoke, His burden light. To love,
Repent, believe, is all He asks of you:
His simplest gifts in nature come as signs
And pledges of His love. The running stream
That purifies the flesh shall cleanse the soul;
The daily bread, the wine that glads the heart,
Are by His great command the flesh, the blood,
He gives to be our life; the pledges true
Of fellowship with God's great charity.”
Of that strange preacher when his tale was done;
“In Him you may find pardon, as even I
Have found it for my trespass, darker far
Than you have ever known; for I blasphemed
That holy Name; I bound, and scourged, and stoned
The saints who owned Him Lord: and yet He turned
On me His pitying look. In vision strange,
Within me and without, He met my soul,
And showed me to myself, and bade me know
The glory of His cross. And now I go,
Bearing that cross through all the lands of earth,
And bidding all the nations turn and look
On Him the Crucified. He died for you;
For you He rose again; for you He lives,
And pleads for you before His Father's throne.
Easy His yoke, His burden light. To love,
Repent, believe, is all He asks of you:
His simplest gifts in nature come as signs
61
That purifies the flesh shall cleanse the soul;
The daily bread, the wine that glads the heart,
Are by His great command the flesh, the blood,
He gives to be our life; the pledges true
Of fellowship with God's great charity.”
| Lazarus And other Poems | |