 | Peace and other poems |  |
49
THE CALL
I did not hope that shallow fame
Should crown your quiet worth,
The idle glitter of a name
That wins the sons of earth;
But year by year I marked you grow
More tranquil, strong, and kind;
I deemed you apt to serve below;—
Ah me, but I was blind!
Should crown your quiet worth,
The idle glitter of a name
That wins the sons of earth;
But year by year I marked you grow
More tranquil, strong, and kind;
I deemed you apt to serve below;—
Ah me, but I was blind!
I questioned why you strayed so far
By sunny Southern streams,
What dim and visionary star
Still led your silent dreams;
You gazed upon the pictured Child,
The Mother's radiant brow,
And if I wondered why you smiled
I do not wonder now.
By sunny Southern streams,
What dim and visionary star
Still led your silent dreams;
50
The Mother's radiant brow,
And if I wondered why you smiled
I do not wonder now.
I muse upon the frail desires
Wherein my spirit slips,
It may be that the heavenly fires
Shall cleanse these soilèd lips!
You had no need to be forgiven,
No stain was on your brow;
Ah, you were ready for His Heaven,
And so He claims you now.
Wherein my spirit slips,
It may be that the heavenly fires
Shall cleanse these soilèd lips!
You had no need to be forgiven,
No stain was on your brow;
Ah, you were ready for His Heaven,
And so He claims you now.
| Peace and other poems | |