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 THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 
 
 56 PATERNOSTER ROW AND 65 ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD
 
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 C. K. OGDEN ;
 
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 THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 
 56 PATERNOSTER ROW AND 65 ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD
 
 OXFORD : HORACE HART 
 PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
 
 THE thoughts in this little book are 
 packed as close as my skill could con- 
 trive. I hope the memory may carry 
 them easily. 
 
 If here and there I have repeated 
 myself, it has been because I wanted to 
 repeat something else. 
 
 The headings can claim no proverbial 
 sanction, but are pegs of my own turning. 
 Sometimes they are condensations of 
 the verses that they introduce. More 
 frequently they give the thought a new 
 twist. 
 
 Poor as the thing may be, it is as 
 good as I can make it. May it help a 
 simple heart here and there!
 
 HEAVEN'S LETTERS ARE GRAVED DEEP . .n 
 IT is THE TRIFLES MATTER MOST . . .11 
 CLIMB UPWARD ON THY PRAYERS . . .11 
 GOD'S WILL CUTS NO ONE OFF . . .12 
 SATAN'S WHEELS HAVE NO DRAG . . . 12 
 
 'TIS ILL TEACHING GOD 12 
 
 HEAVEN COVERS ALL 13 
 
 LIGHTED HEART MAKES SHINING FACE . 13 
 LOOKS ARE MORE THAN LOOKS . . 14 
 
 HAVE A WIDE CHIMNEY-CORNER TO THY 
 
 HEART 14 
 
 A STOUT HEART is HALF-WAY THERE . . 15 
 NONE COVERS HIS LIFE WITH HIS HAT . 15 
 ENOUGH THE LILY KNOWS, THAT DRINKS THE 
 
 SUN, AND GROWS 15 
 
 LITTLE IN CHRIST'S HANDS GOES FAR . . 16 
 GOD COUNTS NONE MEAN WHO GIVES HIM- 
 SELF 16 
 
 PASSION KNOCKS LOUD : COMPASSION HAS A 
 
 KEY 17 
 
 SEARCH WELL BEFORE YOU SAY, ' GOD is NOT 
 
 HERE' 17 
 
 WHEN GRACE TEACHES, THE FACE PREACHES 18
 
 PAGE 
 
 GROW RICH WITH GIVING . . . .18 
 Sow FEELINGS, DEEDS COME UP . . .19 
 
 TRUTH FINDS GRASS OUTSIDE THY PADDOCK 19 
 
 TRULY FORGIVEN TRULY FORGIVES . . 20 
 WERE WISDOM ALWAYS WISE, WISDOM WOULD 
 
 GROW A FOOL 20 
 
 OUR HUMILITY DEFIES COMPETITION . . 21 
 WE PRAISE HEAVEN'S BANK, BUT EARTH HAS 
 
 OUR ACCOUNT 21 
 
 SOUL-SICKNESS BREEDS SOUL-QUACKS . . 21 
 
 OVER OUR BODIES MARCH OUR THOUGHTS . 22 
 
 SIT ON A GRAVE TO KEEP REVENGE'S BOOKS 22 
 
 BREAK HABIT WHILE HE'S A COLT . . 22 
 
 IT is THE EASY THINGS THAT ARE so HARD 23 
 
 HUMILITY is THE SAINT'S STRONG-BOX . 23 
 
 PITY SCOURGES DEEP 24 
 
 THE LARK MAKES BRIGHTER SCHOLARS THAN 
 
 THE MOLE 24 
 
 WORK AND REST ARE BOTH BUILDERS . . 25 
 WHILE GOD'S BREATH is IN A MAN, so is GOD'S 
 
 SPIRIT 25 
 
 RISE WITH THE LARK, AND WITH THE LARK 
 
 TO HEAVEN 25 
 
 GOD UTTERS NO BASE COIN . . . .26 
 
 LORD'S DAY COMES SEVEN TIMES A WEEK . 26 
 
 FORGIVE OUR DEBTS, AS WE DO NOT FORGIVE 27 
 
 SlN HAS A SlN ON EITHER ARM . . -37 
 
 THE ROOM FOR SIN : THE WAITING-ROOM FOR 
 
 CHRIST 27 
 
 ONE GOOD DEED LIGHTS ANOTHER'S FEET . 28 
 
 LOST IN HEAVEN 28 
 
 FOUR LETTERS MAKE HEAVEN'S ALPHABET . 29 
 
 A MAN MAY ARGUE HEAVEN OUT OF HIS HEART 29 
 IF HEAVEN GAVE THEE FUR, WHY STRIVE FOR 
 
 SCALES ? 29 
 
 LEAVE NO POINTS PRICKING WHEN YOU PIN 
 
 YOUR CREED 30
 
 PAGE 
 
 TAKE OFF YOUR GLASSES WHEN you LOOK FOR 
 GOD 30 
 
 'I CAN'T STEP IN,' SAYS YESTERDAY . .31 
 TEMPTATION is GOD'S FURNACE . .31 
 
 KIND MASTER, MERRY MAN . . . .32 
 GOD'S SCHOOL HAS NO TRUANTS . . 32 
 
 SOME KEEP ' SHALL NOT,' BUT WHO KEEPS 
 
 SHALT'? 33 
 
 TRUTH TRODDEN is TRUTH SOWN . . 33 
 HEAVEN'S STAIRS HAVE MANY STEPS . . 34 
 TRUE GIFTS ARE TIED WITH HEART-STRINGS . 34 
 
 THE BARTER SHOP 35 
 
 EVERY CRACK LETS HEAVEN IN . . .36 
 WHAT PEDLAR SLEEPS IN HIS PACK? . . 36 
 ALL HEAVEN WILL GO INTO A BIBLE VERSE . 36 
 NOVEMBER is GOD'S MONTH AS WELL AS JUNE 37 
 HUMILITY'S BACK-ROOM is PRIDE . . 38 
 
 HOBBLE THOUGHT, STILL SHE STRAYS . . 38 
 SIN is A BRAVE NAG OUT, A LAME NAG HOME 39 
 GREAT MOMENTS BRAND . . . .40 
 ' HAPPY WORM,' SAYS THE EAGLE ; ' THOU 
 
 CANST CREEP ! ' 41 
 
 HEAVEN'S GOODS ARE NOT MARKED CHEAP . 41 
 LOVE IS A GREAT LINGUIST . . . -43 
 NOTHING is FIXED EXCEPT A FAITHFUL HEART 45 
 SICK-BEDS ARE GREAT TRAVELLERS . . 46 
 WHO RESTS BENEATH THE CROSS OF CHRIST 
 
 FINDS REST BENEATH HIS OWN . . 47
 
 are 
 
 deep. 
 
 from this coin the soilure may 
 erase : 
 Nothing can rub away the Royal Face. 
 
 t0 die rifFe0 matter ntoet 
 
 sends great angels in our sore 
 dismay, 
 But little ones go in and out all day. 
 
 on 
 
 prayer did ever speed aright, 
 But forth it steals anon, 
 And hangs in heaven a little light, 
 To lead its brothers on.
 
 12 
 
 <8>oo'0 Q#iff cute no one off, 
 
 AT man affirms he hath no dower 
 Of noble gifts and dearly-priced, 
 When every loving smile hath power 
 To show the human face of Christ? 
 
 no 
 
 I get down :' yet Sin whips 
 onward still : 
 ' How can I stop my horses on the hill?' 
 
 'JJjHEN we look back on all the paths 
 
 we tried, 
 
 The turns and windings all, 
 Shall we not own, where'er the paths 
 
 divide, 
 It was the Hand we sought to thrust 
 
 aside 
 That let the blessing fall?
 
 13 
 
 cohere aff. 
 
 TJjHEN the world's weight is on thy 
 
 mind, 
 
 And all its black-winged fears affright, 
 Think how the daisy draws her blind, 
 And sleeps without a light. 
 
 jface. 
 
 AY* EETING with one whose looks are 
 
 ^ all imbued 
 
 With a still depth, a shining quietude, 
 
 Men say (for these none findeth other- 
 where) 
 
 'Lo, this man cometh from the mount 
 of prayer.'
 
 14 
 
 JSoofte ate more fljan Boofte* 
 
 thy heart sweet, and surely, 
 
 in a while, 
 God shall anoint thee sorrow to be- 
 
 guile, 
 And preach good tidings by a happy 
 
 smile. 
 
 N a sweet spirit and a happy face, 
 And thou shalt be a quiet resting- 
 place, 
 Whither, beyond the wheels, the angry 
 
 hum, 
 Tired hearts will seek, and souls the 
 
 crowd hath trod, 
 Saying, 'The Good Physician bade me 
 
 come, 
 
 For greenness, peace, and tender 
 gleams of God.'
 
 15 
 
 t0 
 
 77ROUSE thy courage ere it fails and 
 
 faints : 
 God props no Gospel up with sinking 
 
 saints. 
 
 Qtone cot>er0 0i0 ife witty 
 
 QJIELD but thy thought to sin, 
 ^ And, ere a deed begin, 
 
 Evil shall find thy clime a homely breath: 
 The things that hide from God 
 Shall bask where thou hast trod, 
 
 And all thy life be rank to nourish death. 
 
 , if our heart had only root 
 In Love's benignant sod, 
 Our life should stretch a happy shoot 
 To every grace of God.
 
 16 
 
 n 
 
 far. 
 
 (T)IELD thy poor best, and nurse not 
 ^ how or why, 
 
 Lest, one day, seeing all about thee 
 
 spread, 
 A mighty crowd and marvellously 
 
 fed, 
 
 Thy heart break out into a bitter cry, 
 ' I might have furnished, I, yea, even I, 
 The two small fishes and the barley 
 bread.' 
 
 counte none QtUan wo <jive0 
 
 77 H, if the love, the love be deep, 
 How little all beside appears! 
 The richest ointments are so cheap, 
 Beside the costly tears.
 
 JSftffe 
 
 a00ton 
 ompa00ion 0a0 a 
 
 SIN,' cried Virtue, ' God will smite 
 
 thee dead!' 
 Sin laughed, and flung the scouring 
 
 of the street. 
 
 1 God help thee, brother Sin,' young Pity 
 said ; 
 
 And lo ! Sin's face was wet upon 
 her feet. 
 
 Before gou 0ag, 
 t0 nof jere.' 
 
 all life's way with awed, ex- 
 pectant feet: 
 Men jostle Heaven in every common 
 street.
 
 n (Brace feadSes, $e jface 
 
 sends three preachers: one has 
 might of deeds, 
 And one has words that spring as living 
 
 seeds ; 
 
 The third, a face that heals and in- 
 tercedes. 
 
 (Brow (JUc(5 nri(0 (Bttnncj* 
 
 77 H, with what patient pain 
 
 We wring from man's domain 
 Some private right, some nook to hold 
 
 apart ! 
 
 Yet they the blessed are, 
 Who, bursting fence and bar, 
 Pour on the earth and Heaven their 
 little heart.
 
 19 
 
 come up. 
 
 thou thy words, thy tones, thy 
 looks control : 
 Soft clay are these, yet they shall build 
 thy soul. 
 
 God to keep thee from a 
 narrow soul, 
 And its dear mate, a controversial 
 
 mind : 
 Of all the things that melt, subdue, 
 
 console, 
 Lo, these have tossed the heart upon 
 
 the wind : 
 They feed on husks, and go content 
 
 and fed, 
 
 And gather dust to make the living 
 bread. 
 
 B 2
 
 20 JSitffe 
 
 nJXROTHER, forgive to-day, 
 ^^ Lest, having made delay, 
 By some white bed thou say : 
 
 ' What peace can I allow ? 
 My peace is nothing now: 
 God's peace is on his brow.' 
 
 (HHefcom afwage wiee, 
 a 
 
 when to rest, if thou would'st 
 conquer fate 
 (In all the Churches read ye mine 
 
 epistle) : 
 
 Folly will burn its candle soon and late : 
 
 But Wisdom learns to lean upon a gate 
 
 And whistle.
 
 21 
 
 Our jEjwtttftfp &efte0 Competition. 
 
 AOME praise the Lord for humbleness 
 
 too loud, 
 And cannot praise at all without a 
 
 crowd. 
 
 our 
 
 rightly gives, to Heaven hath 
 lent 
 
 Ah, truth that moves us not 1 
 Whoever calls the penny spent 
 The penny got ? 
 
 ^TRAVELLING to Heaven, of char- 
 latans beware : 
 
 Accept no guide but Love : her home 
 is there.
 
 22 
 
 Over our Qt3o5te0 ware? our 
 
 is eternal : gentle deeds 
 Pass on, but never die : 
 And loving thoughts are patient seeds 
 Of immortality. 
 
 * 
 
 \t on a (Brave fo fteep QJet>enge'0 
 
 in life's warm, breathing 
 hour, 
 
 As God forgave : 
 Thy friendly hand may be a power 
 
 To lift and save : 
 What help to cast a little flower 
 
 Upon a grave? 
 And yet (God knows) his eye may love 
 
 that flower, 
 
 Although he has all Summer on his 
 grave. 
 
 * 
 
 '0 a 
 
 /JXOVERN thy temper, lest thou groan 
 
 and rave 
 Under the lash of thy revolted slave.
 
 JSttffe aer0 23 
 
 10 t <a0 tt<0 a are 00 
 
 change life's cloth, not trim it for 
 display, 
 
 Christ gave His charter: 
 All men can be religious when they 
 pray, 
 
 But few at barter: 
 Better be self-denying every day, 
 Than once a martyr. 
 
 ffijumtftty i0 flje ^atnf 
 
 door '' saith Lowl y- heart ' is a11 
 
 unbarred,' 
 And sets a lamp, and keepeth fearful 
 
 guard : 
 Pride praises God that all his bolts are 
 
 strict, 
 And smiles at robbers while the safe 
 
 is picked.
 
 24 
 
 ity 0courcje0 deep. 
 
 heart hath walls that anger 
 never shook; 
 But love shall break and take it with 
 a look. 
 
 ffian 
 
 3 READ (and that without my glasses' 
 dint) 
 
 Life's open page : 
 It is a fair and goodly heritage, 
 And love I find three-quarters of the 
 
 whole : 
 
 When of the kindly text I fear no stint, 
 Why should I pore upon the little print, 
 The crabbed notes that only blind 
 my soul?
 
 25 
 
 an& (ge0( are 60$ 
 
 BROTHER-TOILER, when my 
 
 heart was dried, 
 I had this grace to smile, and stand 
 
 aside : 
 And lo! my work went forward in the 
 
 dark, 
 As doth a meadow's in the growing 
 
 tide. 
 
 i0 in a (Wan, 
 00 10 &od'0 jbpitit. 
 
 thy brother's heart with awe 
 and prayer: 
 It is God's temple : thou may'st meet 
 Him there. 
 
 (gi0e wtfg fje BarR, an6 nity 
 
 is the matin lark that sings, 
 Bathed in pure Heaven, elate, apart ; 
 Then, dropping earthward, folds her 
 wings, 
 
 And sits upon the heart.
 
 26 
 
 no a0e Coin. 
 
 ,URELY this piece of gold 
 
 Not out of sight hath rolled. 
 God's image on it set 
 It never shall forget. 
 He that doth seek hath power 
 To find and raise and scour : 
 It shall be spent in His good service yet. 
 
 a QBeeft. 
 
 H, some there be that make, in sordid 
 
 wise, 
 The House of God a house of merchan- 
 
 dise : 
 But others make who after Christ have 
 
 trod 
 A house of merchandise the House of 
 
 God.
 
 27 
 
 our eBte, ae we 
 oo nof $6r<3u>e. 
 
 yet thy heart be hard and dry, 
 Make haste to pardon and atone : 
 One hoarded hate shuts all the sky, 
 And turns the Father's face to stone. 
 
 a m on 
 
 knocks so loud? 'A little 
 lonely sin.' 
 
 ' Slip through,' we answer, and all Hell 
 is in. 
 
 * 
 
 0e (goom for ^i 
 (goom for 
 
 CHOUGH Satan's promises to pay 
 Came ever back upon our hands, 
 His bills run everywhere to-day: 
 Without a crack his credit stands. 
 
 He passes to the inner room, 
 A solid trader, courted much : 
 
 While Christ stands holding in the 
 
 gloom 
 The idle paper none will touch.
 
 28 
 
 One 
 
 feet 
 
 SPHERE is a dreadful shadow hides 
 the sun, 
 
 And veils the Father's face; 
 But every time a gentle deed is done, 
 
 The shadow lifts a space. 
 
 n 
 
 Heaven be the land we hope to 
 reach, 
 
 Is it not time to learn the heavenly 
 speech ? 
 
 It were so sad, amid the shining band 
 To roam, lost children, none could under- 
 stand : 
 
 While blessed eyes should learn a sweet 
 
 despair, 
 Knowing we never could be happy there.
 
 JSiftfe aer0 29 
 
 mafte 
 
 word makes free of that soft 
 realm above : 
 A whispered word, a Name, all Heaven : 
 LOVE. 
 
 a 
 
 <S (Wan ntag argue Jgeaven ou( of 
 
 controversy's angry whirl 
 This evil doom for ever dwells 
 To cast away the shining pearl, 
 
 And pelt each other with the shells. 
 
 3f ]^eaven gave fljee 
 wlig e^trive for 
 
 paths of service would'st thou tread? 
 Humbly enquire what gifts be thine : 
 Some hide their light beneath the bed, 
 And set their darkness forth to shine.
 
 30 
 
 no (pointe pricfting 
 gou pin gour reefc* 
 
 save our faith from that schis- 
 matic heart 
 That snaps at others' creed its ' There 
 
 we part.' 
 God grant us charity, whose thoughts 
 
 are sweet, 
 And ripen difference to, 'There we meet ! ' 
 
 off pour <Bfa00e0 wfkn pou 
 fooft for <Bo&. 
 
 AOME think God's blessing must be 
 
 sought afar, 
 
 And hurry forth amain, 
 Haply to find it where the deserts are, 
 And the slow dromedaries snarl and 
 
 strain, 
 
 Or borne in old Elijah's rushing car 
 From the mid-court of Heaven's august 
 
 demesne : 
 And on their threshold, lo ! they passed 
 
 a man 
 Who stood and knocked, and brought 
 
 it in the van 
 That meets the daily train.
 
 31 
 
 * J can'* 0&p in/ eape 
 
 ET us be thankful now : some have 
 
 not learned 
 To know sweet Mercy till her back is 
 turned. 
 
 i0 (Bofc'e jfurnace. 
 
 77H, brother, draw not near 
 
 Unto that mouth of fear, 
 Lest a light tongue run out and lick 
 
 thee up : 
 
 To men of vain desire 
 The fierceness of the fire 
 Is poured from night and Hell's malig- 
 nant cup. 
 
 But if, at God's command, 
 
 They bind thee foot and hand, 
 And fling thee where its serpents hiss 
 and twine, 
 
 Thou shalt go safe and free ; 
 
 Yea, Heaven shall walk with thee, 
 And recreate thee in the fount divine.
 
 32 
 
 QHa0for, Qttetrp (Wan, 
 
 AERVANTS of God, why go ye 
 
 hollow-eyed ? 
 Is not His wage secured, His board 
 
 supplied ? 
 Ye shame your Master with your 
 
 grievous face 
 Hinting that Satan's were the better 
 
 place. 
 
 no 
 
 'YYlE paint our life a dream of pas- 
 toral air, 
 Meadows of Eden, skies of faultless 
 
 blue: 
 The Master comes, and, to our hurt 
 
 despair, 
 Masses the shades, doth deepen, 
 
 merge, subdue: 
 But when the picture hangs, we shall 
 
 declare 
 It was those darkening touches here 
 
 and there, 
 Whence all the beauty grew.
 
 33 
 
 many a one in futile pain hath 
 
 willed 
 To call again some word that leaped 
 
 and killed ! 
 How many a one shall hear by night 
 
 and day, 
 Sounding his doom, some word he did 
 
 not say ! 
 
 * 
 
 10 
 
 AOLDIER of God, sore-smitten and 
 
 dismayed, 
 Hold forth thy shield, let not thy 
 
 point decline : 
 See how the morning marches to thine 
 
 aid : 
 
 See how the lances of the light are 
 thine !
 
 34 JStftfe 
 
 jeat>en'0 ^atr0 (Save many 
 
 trivial loss, well-borne, this 
 little smart, 
 Will leave a little blessing ere it part. 
 
 (Bifte are titb 
 
 H AT can I spare ? ' we say : 
 
 'Ah, this and this, 
 From mine array 
 
 I am not like to miss: 
 And here are crumbs to feed some 
 
 hungry one: 
 They do but grow a cumbrance on 
 
 my shelf:' 
 And yet, one reads, our Father gave 
 
 His Son, 
 Our Master gave Himself.
 
 35 
 
 (garter 
 
 window in a quiet street 
 Doth flatter many a quaint desire: 
 A sword, a star, a cushioned seat, 
 A ruby heart of melting fire. 
 
 Some words of welcome, blandly strange, 
 Are scrolled in letters old and black: 
 
 ' Here goods are taken in exchange : 
 Come in, sweet folk, for what ye lack.' 
 
 Behind his counter all the day 
 The old obliging dealer stands: 
 
 He hath a grave and quiet way, 
 Yet now and then he rubs his hands. 
 
 ' And what am I to give for this ? ' 
 A maiden asks below her breath : 
 
 ' Oh, something none doth ever miss 
 Only thy little soul,' he saith. 
 
 C 3
 
 36 
 
 77 H ! Heaven and Earth are not, as 
 people say, 
 
 Dim distances apart : 
 Leave but a little door ajar to-day, 
 
 And Heaven shall flood your heart. 
 
 in (He 
 
 A^ONTENT to lay no manna by, 
 
 But gather every day anew, 
 How many for their thorns' supply 
 Find nothing less than life will do! 
 
 5)cax>cn wtff go info a 
 
 (getree. 
 
 in thy heart some tender word 
 of God, 
 Beaming clear love between life's 
 
 mysteries dark : 
 
 It shall refresh thee as a tufted sod, 
 That gives the green world to a 
 prisoned lark.
 
 37 
 
 Qtovemfietr t0 (Bofc'e QHon$ ae 
 weff a0 Jfune. 
 
 QgROTHER, thy heart is cold, 
 
 ^^ And round thy prayer 
 
 There spreads no balmy kindness of 
 
 the air ; 
 
 And in the text where dwelt of old 
 A message rich and manifold, 
 
 Silence inhabits, and a grey despair. 
 
 Vex not thine aching head 
 
 Our God is wise : 
 By many a route He sends His folk 
 
 supplies : 
 
 To one He dealeth household bread, 
 And for another, fiercely led 
 By desperate marches, lo! the manna 
 lies. 
 
 And this I surely know 
 
 The Wise is just: 
 He doth not starve the heart that fain 
 
 would trust : 
 
 Thy faith shall wake in happy glow, 
 Or, passing when the night is low, 
 Shall build immortal pinions from her 
 dust.
 
 38 
 
 oom ie 
 
 (Y)EA, God forgave the debt: yet folk 
 ^ are found 
 
 Whose looks of sleek humility suggest 
 Assets of twenty shillings in the pound, 
 And full arrears at compound in- 
 terest. ...,- 
 
 |EAR heart, thou thinkest, with 
 
 a sigh, 
 'My life is walled about: 
 To few of them that travel by 
 It reaches kindly out.' 
 
 And yet thy lamp a beam doth shed 
 That cleaves the night apart : 
 
 Shall no benignant glory spread 
 Around a kindled heart? 
 
 The thought that inward seemed most 
 Hath passed upon the breeze, 
 
 And lives, a pure and perfumed ghost, 
 A waft from Eden trees. 
 
 Each household task serenely wrought, 
 Each step in patience trod, 
 
 Ripens to fruit some lingering thought, 
 Or brings a dream of God.
 
 JSttffe aere 39 
 
 jbin ie a Qj5rat>e QJa<5 ouf, 
 a JSame (Ua$ gome. 
 
 thou art sleeping 
 In the languid hours, 
 If Sin come peeping, 
 
 He will break thy flowers, 
 And lightly gather all that he can snatch : 
 But if thou lift an eye, 
 The trespasser will fly, 
 And thou shalt bolt that door upon 
 the latch. 
 
 But if thou view him 
 
 Passing down the street, 
 And call unto him, 
 
 'Stay, and wash thy feet: 
 Thereafter they shall bring thee flesh 
 and wine : ' 
 
 Ere yet the night be old, 
 Sin, waxing hot and bold, 
 Shall tell thee to thy face, ' This house 
 is mine.'
 
 40 JSiftfe 
 
 Qttomente 
 
 down thy head, and enter, 
 ^^ fearing much 
 The throned and dreadful presence of 
 
 this hour : 
 There lives in it a quick and eager 
 
 power 
 
 To try thee with a touch. 
 Its white, essential truth is even such, 
 None goeth forth as he did enter in, 
 But it will set the soul in each man's 
 
 face 
 The joy and wonder of his proven 
 
 grace, 
 
 Or dark precipitation of his sin. 
 As Moses, yea, as Jesus from the mount, 
 
 One shall arise, 
 With dews, and living splendours in 
 
 his eyes, 
 
 Out of the heavenly morning's very fount, 
 So that his kindled robe shall flash 
 
 and glow: 
 And one shall be made white in other 
 
 wise: 
 
 He shall go forth a leper white as 
 snow.
 
 Bttffe aer0 41 
 
 can0f creep!' 
 
 set thy nature in a certain key : 
 Therein do thou work out the 
 melody. 
 
 {jeaven'0 <Boo&0 are nof 
 
 an exceeding price 
 This gift one buys 
 This dear enfranchisement to sympa- 
 
 thize; 
 They show it not with lace of old 
 
 device, 
 Missals, and tapestries. 
 
 By every anguished bed 
 
 To rear a throne, 
 
 To hold the heart of Sorrow in thine own ; 
 Out of thy hand to have cool slumber 
 
 shed, 
 And healing from thy tone ;
 
 To bear the blessed face, 
 
 The saving eyes, 
 
 That Sorrow's wistful children recognize; 
 To draw as to a safe and lighted 
 
 place, 
 All that is lost and cries ; 
 
 That is the pearl outweighs 
 
 All fond renown : 
 None ever bought it with an emperor's 
 
 crown ; 
 The milk of Heaven doth light its 
 
 cloudy rays 
 That shine all glories down. 
 
 Oh, far away and deep 
 
 This pearl doth hide : 
 Folk do not find it on the soft hill-side ; 
 You ask the way upon a scalped 
 
 steep 
 Where hangs One crucified.
 
 43 
 
 a 
 
 AOME hearts know one sole language, 
 
 every heart 
 A different language, but God knows 
 
 them all, 
 And if we make no answer to His 
 
 call 
 In the great tongues authentic, quite 
 
 apart 
 He will o'ertake us, and will speak 
 
 a word 
 In that quaint dialect our childhood 
 
 heard, 
 
 Yea, in our household language fond and 
 small. 
 
 One heart shall hear Him if a bright- 
 
 eyed bird 
 Run o'er the shadows, or a wayside 
 
 stone 
 Be cupped and silver- fretted with 
 
 its own 
 
 Quaint broidure ; and another shall be 
 stirred
 
 44 
 
 Under the skies of grey November- 
 
 tide 
 When to our earth, from some poor 
 
 star that died, 
 Comes the last tender message long- 
 
 deferred. 
 
 And one shall feel strong music lift him 
 
 high, 
 And storm the gates of Heaven, and 
 
 cast him in, 
 Under the gentle Feet that trode 
 
 on sin ; 
 And one among earth's bones and relics 
 
 dry 
 Shall find the Life: and from a 
 
 baby's hand 
 Shut on his finger, one shall under- 
 
 stand 
 
 All knowledge, clasped in Love's im- 
 mensity.
 
 45 
 
 s 
 
 Igearf. 
 
 ' He shall not be afraid of evil tidings : his heart 
 is fixed, trusting in the LORD.' PSALM cxii. 7. 
 
 ^pAITH hath a leafy walk, serene, a- 
 part 
 
 A sheltered heart. 
 She only in the chill and growing shade 
 
 Is not afraid. 
 She only at the swift, disordered feet 
 
 And fluttered beat, 
 
 Cries not, with answering roll of inward 
 drums, 
 
 1 At last it comes ! ' 
 
 But hears the sudden message with 
 a still, 
 
 Unshaken will. 
 
 Her smile is deep : she turns no restless 
 eyes 
 
 Of quick surmise ; 
 
 Knowing that change and loss will ever 
 bring 
 
 Some better thing, 
 
 And evil hath no place wherein to fall, 
 Since God is all.
 
 46 
 
 are cjuaf 
 
 is my chamber where I lie 
 And look at all familiarly, 
 With my own breath put out the light, 
 And spread the spacious calm of night. 
 Yet if (to-day might have it so) 
 My sleeping to my sick-room grow, 
 Therein I shall be farther borne 
 From all the lore of night and morn, 
 Than if my lonely feet should teach 
 Sound to some night-bound polar beach. 
 Ah, room of mystery, to-day 
 Only a landing's breadth away ; 
 Then, all the circuit of a heart, 
 More than a world myself apart. 
 
 And thou, soft-pillowed world, in thee 
 What calm and guarded potency! 
 I think of that enchanted bed 
 Whereon a man might couch his head, 
 And override the hunting wind, 
 And catch and leave the dawn behind. 
 Thy might is more : in thee one lies, 
 
 And lets the heart be very still 
 (Trusting a friend to shut the eyes, 
 
 Whose light would soon be strange 
 and chill),
 
 47 
 
 And lo ! one travels at a breath 
 A breath resigned the gulf of death, 
 The peaks of life, the primal skies, 
 Silences realms immensities. 
 
 reete 8enea$ t$t twee of 
 fm&0 UQt 
 own. 
 
 ' If any man will come after Me, let him deny 
 himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow 
 Me.' LUKE ix. 23. 
 
 ' Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heayy 
 laden, and I will give you rest.' MATT. xi. 28. 
 
 177 E calls us to the cross : not 
 " once to bear. 
 
 A deadly load, 
 Raised above nature's height 
 On some proud moment's might, 
 With leagues of faces white, 
 
 To bless or goad : 
 It is a hidden cross, for daily wear 
 Along a common road.
 
 48 
 
 And yet He calls us to the boon supreme, 
 
 The crown of rest : 
 Rest that can draw the sting 
 Of toil and suffering : 
 The soft, embracing wing, 
 
 The balmy breast : 
 That which we moan for in a fevered 
 
 dream, 
 The longed-for, unpossessed. 
 
 The Cross bears all our crosses : there 
 at length 
 
 The light grows clear: 
 For him whose trusting eyes 
 Unto the Cross arise, 
 Mild powers and sanctities 
 
 Are alway near: 
 He that decrees our cross provides the 
 
 strength, 
 And makes the burden dear.
 
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