 | Jesus of Nazareth |  |
17
PRELUDE.
Through many a starless night of endless time
Those far-off souls have slept, who strove and fell
Round Jesus battling in the far-off clime
Whence first shone forth our heaven, flared forth our hell.
Those far-off souls have slept, who strove and fell
Round Jesus battling in the far-off clime
Whence first shone forth our heaven, flared forth our hell.
But now I bid the sleeping souls awake;
I draw them forth from their dim priest-closed tomb:
Man hears again the true sweet words they spake
And sees once more love's flowers in earliest bloom.
I draw them forth from their dim priest-closed tomb:
Man hears again the true sweet words they spake
And sees once more love's flowers in earliest bloom.
Those far-off souls were human even as we;
They spake no language mystic or profound:
No pulpit's shadow darkened Galilee;
They heard as yet no godless sermon's sound.
They spake no language mystic or profound:
No pulpit's shadow darkened Galilee;
They heard as yet no godless sermon's sound.
Their hands were filled with no celestial flowers—
Nay, passion shook them with its stormy might:
Their hearts were gladdened through the morning's hours,
Chilled at the sunset, saddened at the night.
Nay, passion shook them with its stormy might:
Their hearts were gladdened through the morning's hours,
Chilled at the sunset, saddened at the night.
Their Jesus swayed them even as mightiest Lord
Because he loved with human love and deep:
Jesus, no crowned Messiah, they adored;
Man's eyes, not God's, on Calvary closed in sleep.
Because he loved with human love and deep:
Jesus, no crowned Messiah, they adored;
Man's eyes, not God's, on Calvary closed in sleep.
18
Man, in some strange unknown sweet fashion, rose;
Man's heart through man's lips breathed the immortal tale:
Not God but man beyond death's deep repose
Reached that far shore no winds nor waves assail.
Man's heart through man's lips breathed the immortal tale:
Not God but man beyond death's deep repose
Reached that far shore no winds nor waves assail.
Man's was the sorrow, man's the triumph too,
Aye man's and woman's—this the poet sees:
For him Gennesareth's waters still are blue;
Still bloom the undying flowers, the unfading trees.
Aye man's and woman's—this the poet sees:
For him Gennesareth's waters still are blue;
Still bloom the undying flowers, the unfading trees.
Where Churches cannot tread, the poet goes:
The gates no Churches open, open wide
Before him; Jesus' inmost heart he knows
Because he seeks that heart with love, not pride.
The gates no Churches open, open wide
Before him; Jesus' inmost heart he knows
Because he seeks that heart with love, not pride.
He hears the words that early lovers spake:
He hears, though dark sad ages loom between,
Fisher to fisher shouting on the Lake;
He sees the brown eyes of the Magdalene.
He hears, though dark sad ages loom between,
Fisher to fisher shouting on the Lake;
He sees the brown eyes of the Magdalene.
He sees the Jesus whom the Church has slain—
Then, with the eternal pity in his heart,
Wipes from the sacred brow the last blood-stain
And saves the saviour by redemptive Art.
Then, with the eternal pity in his heart,
Wipes from the sacred brow the last blood-stain
And saves the saviour by redemptive Art.
He says, undoubting, with strong heart made clear
Because the love of truth within it lies,
To Jesus stricken to death by Christian's spear,
“Thou Son of man, I say unto thee, ‘Arise’!”
Because the love of truth within it lies,
To Jesus stricken to death by Christian's spear,
“Thou Son of man, I say unto thee, ‘Arise’!”
| Jesus of Nazareth | |