 | Lazarus And other Poems |  |
We listened. Some still doubted; others mocked,
As though a dreamer spake, with idle tales
Lulling men's minds to slumber. I for one,
And others with me, felt that God had sent
His messenger, that these glad tidings came
To call us to His kingdom; and we owned
The Christ of whom he told us. Then the two,
Silvanus and Timotheos, led us down
To where the river, in its winding curves,
Leaves a smooth-margined bay. With trembling sense
Of some great change impending, we drew near;
Naked we stood for that our second birth
As at our first, in spirit putting off
The flesh-stained garments of our sinful youth:
Then entered we the waters; “In the Name,
Thrice-blessèd, of the Father, and the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit” (so they spake
The mystic words), and o'er us closed the stream,
As the grave closes, and we rose again,
(As Christ, our Master, on that Easter morn),
New-born, new creatures, chosen, heirs of God.
As though a dreamer spake, with idle tales
Lulling men's minds to slumber. I for one,
And others with me, felt that God had sent
His messenger, that these glad tidings came
To call us to His kingdom; and we owned
The Christ of whom he told us. Then the two,
Silvanus and Timotheos, led us down
To where the river, in its winding curves,
Leaves a smooth-margined bay. With trembling sense
Of some great change impending, we drew near;
Naked we stood for that our second birth
As at our first, in spirit putting off
The flesh-stained garments of our sinful youth:
Then entered we the waters; “In the Name,
Thrice-blessèd, of the Father, and the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit” (so they spake
The mystic words), and o'er us closed the stream,
As the grave closes, and we rose again,
(As Christ, our Master, on that Easter morn),
62
The names were lofty, yet they spake them out,
As doubting nothing, and though memory fails
And thoughts of that high hour are grown confused
With the world's wear, and all the earth-born cares
That since have vexed our souls, I, too, believe
I felt that moment stirrings of a life
Till then unknown, the purpose fixed and strong,
(As when a soldier joins a noble band
Of warriors true) with Christ to live and die,
My Lord, my Leader, yea, my King, my God.
As doubting nothing, and though memory fails
And thoughts of that high hour are grown confused
With the world's wear, and all the earth-born cares
That since have vexed our souls, I, too, believe
I felt that moment stirrings of a life
Till then unknown, the purpose fixed and strong,
(As when a soldier joins a noble band
Of warriors true) with Christ to live and die,
My Lord, my Leader, yea, my King, my God.
| Lazarus And other Poems | |