 | The Last Crusade |  |
THE BUD'S PERFECTION.
None ever died too soon, none ever can,
God does His duty,
And works through all with the same wondrous plan;
The babe complete is as maturest man,
Each hath his separate beauty.
The infant, that draws but a breath and dies,
Equals in promise the eternities.
God does His duty,
And works through all with the same wondrous plan;
The babe complete is as maturest man,
Each hath his separate beauty.
The infant, that draws but a breath and dies,
Equals in promise the eternities.
The bud hath its perfection and a grace
Big as the blossom,
Though blighted in a moment beyond trace;
The petal, and the planet swept through space,
Alike rest in God's bosom.
Both are fulfilled by ages or an hour,
Infinitude is summed in star or flower.
Big as the blossom,
Though blighted in a moment beyond trace;
The petal, and the planet swept through space,
Alike rest in God's bosom.
Both are fulfilled by ages or an hour,
Infinitude is summed in star or flower.
24
Your only boy, who left you to the night
Of utter sorrow,
Yet liveth on in everlasting light;
He was immortal when he chose the right,
And asked for no to-morrow.
He was not called too soon, despising fears
In one brave act, he lived for crowded years.
Of utter sorrow,
Yet liveth on in everlasting light;
He was immortal when he chose the right,
And asked for no to-morrow.
He was not called too soon, despising fears
In one brave act, he lived for crowded years.
Time and extent and bulk are little worth,
They have no meaning
To souls that see the heaven within the earth;
That feel how death is but a grander birth,
The enfranchised spirit's weaning.
For we are spirit and not flesh, the flame
Our birthright gladly throws aside its frame.
They have no meaning
To souls that see the heaven within the earth;
That feel how death is but a grander birth,
The enfranchised spirit's weaning.
For we are spirit and not flesh, the flame
Our birthright gladly throws aside its frame.
For all lie in God's arms, He bringeth out
By gloom or glory
His purposes in trust or truer doubt;
The pain and grief, which girdle us about,
Are still His own Love-story.
The dreadful doom, the sufferings, are just part
Of the perpetual Cross that stabs His heart.
By gloom or glory
His purposes in trust or truer doubt;
The pain and grief, which girdle us about,
Are still His own Love-story.
The dreadful doom, the sufferings, are just part
Of the perpetual Cross that stabs His heart.
They minister and move for the same end,
The bitter and sweetness
Alike toward new creation strive and tend;
All in a broader revelation blend,
And crowned are with completeness.
The oldest and the youngest, dying, give
Pledges and proof to faith whereby we live.
The bitter and sweetness
Alike toward new creation strive and tend;
All in a broader revelation blend,
And crowned are with completeness.
The oldest and the youngest, dying, give
Pledges and proof to faith whereby we live.
| The Last Crusade | |