 | Words by the Wayside |  |
46
The Way of Life
“ο θανατος ουκ εσται ετι.”
Shadow of wings on the window-curtain,
Push of life in the pear-tree bough,
Buds long hesitant, leaves uncertain,
Softly murmuring, “Now, now, now!”
Eyes of love from the past that beckon—
Beckon from where no past can be!—
And, spite of winters I scarce dare reckon,
Youth and Spring at the heart of me!
Push of life in the pear-tree bough,
Buds long hesitant, leaves uncertain,
Softly murmuring, “Now, now, now!”
Eyes of love from the past that beckon—
Beckon from where no past can be!—
And, spite of winters I scarce dare reckon,
Youth and Spring at the heart of me!
Now while the loud-lipped ages thunder
“This frail body must soon to sleep,”
Whose is the still, small voice, I wonder,
Whispers, “Was it not thine to keep?”
Truth stands sentry at Life's wide portal;
Could but his thoughts to Life cling true,
Man e'en now were of mould immortal;
Let him be wise and win thereto!
“This frail body must soon to sleep,”
Whose is the still, small voice, I wonder,
Whispers, “Was it not thine to keep?”
Truth stands sentry at Life's wide portal;
Could but his thoughts to Life cling true,
Man e'en now were of mould immortal;
Let him be wise and win thereto!
Knowledge-fashioned and Law-surrounded,
Framed o'er nature to rule sublime,
Firm as the rock beneath thee founded
Wouldst thou smile at the tides of time—
Dread no menace of fiend infernal,
Powers of the earth, or stars above—
Tune thy soul to the tones eternal,
Faith Omnipotent, Wisdom, Love.
Framed o'er nature to rule sublime,
Firm as the rock beneath thee founded
Wouldst thou smile at the tides of time—
Dread no menace of fiend infernal,
Powers of the earth, or stars above—
Tune thy soul to the tones eternal,
Faith Omnipotent, Wisdom, Love.
Though my words but awake your laughter,
Though men sicken and die to-day,
Yet shall those to be born hereafter
Seek, persèver, and find the Way.
How should the world's illusion blind him,
How catch tripping the toils of sin—
Man, made ware of the Might behind him,
Man, grown conscious of God within?
Though men sicken and die to-day,
Yet shall those to be born hereafter
Seek, persèver, and find the Way.
47
How catch tripping the toils of sin—
Man, made ware of the Might behind him,
Man, grown conscious of God within?
Into the Silence let me enter,
Pierce to the Spirit's inmost shrine,
There in the glow of the soul's hid centre,
Bathe each thought till it burn divine!
So, let the change come swiftly, slowly,
Earth-bound body, thou yet shouldst be
Cleansed, transfigured, a house made holy
For That which thrills at the heart of me!
Pierce to the Spirit's inmost shrine,
There in the glow of the soul's hid centre,
Bathe each thought till it burn divine!
So, let the change come swiftly, slowly,
Earth-bound body, thou yet shouldst be
Cleansed, transfigured, a house made holy
For That which thrills at the heart of me!
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