Poems and Essays By the late William Caldwell Roscoe. (Edited with a Prefatory Memoir, by his Brother-in-law, Richard Holt Hutton) |
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“IF IT DIE, IT BRINGETH FORTH MUCH FRUIT.” |
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63
“IF IT DIE, IT BRINGETH FORTH MUCH FRUIT.”
The nectarine before its fall
Glows through green foliage on the wall,
Crimsoned with sunshine, and made fair
By summer rain-drops and soft air.
Glows through green foliage on the wall,
Crimsoned with sunshine, and made fair
By summer rain-drops and soft air.
Soon bitter wind and changing skies
Wither its bloom, it droops and dies;
The hidden worms make it their prey,
Or yellow wasps eat it away.
Wither its bloom, it droops and dies;
The hidden worms make it their prey,
Or yellow wasps eat it away.
This is its outward vestiture;
Deep in the centre lies secure
The living promise of the seed,—
So hides the soul in mortal weed.
Deep in the centre lies secure
The living promise of the seed,—
So hides the soul in mortal weed.
And first the northwind strips away
Green sheltering fancies' rustling play,
And icy Winter lays his hand
On loved associates,—till it stand
Green sheltering fancies' rustling play,
And icy Winter lays his hand
On loved associates,—till it stand
Alone: thus richest souls are rent
Down from their joy and dear content,
And grief and anguish eat away
The freshness of their early day.
Down from their joy and dear content,
And grief and anguish eat away
The freshness of their early day.
64
Take, then, this seed, laid bare with pain,
Softened with suffering's bitter rain,
And lay in the abhorred earth
Of isolation all this worth.
Softened with suffering's bitter rain,
And lay in the abhorred earth
Of isolation all this worth.
Throw on a spadeful of despair;
Shut out the hopeful healing air;
In cold and darkness bury deep,
And bid the prisoner watch and weep.
Shut out the hopeful healing air;
In cold and darkness bury deep,
And bid the prisoner watch and weep.
Then, even then, mysterious love
Within the prison's walls shall move;
A new sensation, new desires,
Shall stir the soul with secret fires.
Within the prison's walls shall move;
A new sensation, new desires,
Shall stir the soul with secret fires.
Sweet undiscovered hid relations,—
Not faint surmises,—revelations,
Shall swell the soul beneath the sod,
And it shall feel the living God.
Not faint surmises,—revelations,
Shall swell the soul beneath the sod,
And it shall feel the living God.
Deep down in grief it strikes its roots,
Swift up to heaven its head it shoots,
Serenely spreads its boughs abroad,
And fronts the chilly blast unawed.
Swift up to heaven its head it shoots,
Serenely spreads its boughs abroad,
And fronts the chilly blast unawed.
O happy soul, thus sorely tried!
Happy, thus strangely dignified!
Come joy or grief, thou canst but see
A father leaning over thee.
Happy, thus strangely dignified!
Come joy or grief, thou canst but see
A father leaning over thee.
Bryn Rhedyn, 1854.
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