by CA-VerrcJkqyfe
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 SOME ADVENTURES OF THE SOUL 
 
 AND 
 
 THE DELIVERER
 
 SOME ADVENTURES OF 
 THE SOUL 
 
 AND 
 
 THE DELIVERER 
 
 BY 
 
 C. M. VERSCHOYLE 
 
 LONDON 
 JOHN M. WATKINS 
 
 21 CECIL COURT, CHARING CROSS ROAD
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAOK 
 
 THE SEVEN THORNS .... 7 
 
 OUT OF EGYPT . . ; . . . 9 
 
 TEMPTATION . . " .' . . .16 
 
 A PRAYER ... . . . .18 
 
 QUEST . . . . . . 20 
 
 WAYFARING LOVE . r "? . . . . 22 
 
 THE GIFT . . . . . . . 26 
 
 VISION ....... 29 
 
 ILLUMINATION ...... 33 
 
 SATIETY ..... .34 
 
 THE PRICE ....... 35 
 
 THE KING'S SON ...... 37 
 
 THE GARDEN ...... 39 
 
 THE WAY OF PERFECTION . . . . .43 
 
 CRUCIFIXION ON THE MOUNTAIN . . . .44 
 
 DEPARTURE ....... 50 
 
 DIALOGUE ....... 51 
 
 As TO A FEAST ...... 54 
 
 THE DIVINE BEAUTY ..... 55 
 
 THE SONG CEASES . .... 56 
 
 THE DELIVERER . . 59 
 
 'fy>*-7
 
 SOME ADVENTURES 
 OF THE SOUL V u 
 
 THE SEVEN THORNS 
 
 ON the grassy hillside in the golden morning 
 Woven thick with gossamer and starred with 
 diamond dew, 
 
 Came a lonely shepherd piping on a reed-flute 
 Magic songs of dawning and a world made new. 
 
 Seven thorns behind him, seven sheep before him, 
 
 Seven larks above him, rising in the blue. 
 
 Climbs an aged woman laden with a bundle 
 
 Slung across her shoulders, old and sad she seems ; 
 
 Age had bent her double, but she chanted softly, 
 Murmuring of sorrow's solacing in dreams. 
 
 Seven hills for climbing, seven joys for missing, 
 
 Seven stones for crossing seven running streams. 
 
 " Mother with the bundle, let me guide your 
 footsteps, 
 
 Let me help you onward, life is sad alone." 
 " Gentle son, I thank you ; leaning on your shoulder 
 
 I shall travel bravely till my journey's done. 
 Seven days of wandering, seven nights of weeping, 
 Seven griefs I carry for stars that never shone." 
 
 7
 
 8 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 Over grassy mountains, over purple moorland, 
 Through the beech and pine woods led the way 
 
 they trod ; 
 
 Hard she leant upon him, heavy was her bundle, 
 Heavy seemed their dragging feet, as though 
 
 with iron shod. 
 
 Seven hours to strive in, seven breaths to die in, 
 Seven saints to wait for them beside the throne of 
 God. 
 
 Still the young are piping, still the old are passing, 
 Journeying through Life and Death, and half 
 
 across the sky ; 
 
 Under clouds or sunshine, under dark or moonlight, 
 Straggle lonely pilgrims with tattered flags held 
 
 high. 
 
 Seven circling cycles, seven lordly races, 
 Seven guides lest they should pass the seven 
 heavens by.
 
 OF THE SOUL 
 
 OUT OF EGYPT 
 
 When the soul has received her summons she cannot 
 but leave all. 
 
 I LINGERED at the banquet of the world ; 
 
 High revelry 
 
 And choric minstrelsy 
 Surrounded us, but piercing through the music 
 
 evermore 
 Thrilled a faint echo from some far-off shore 
 
 That gave a pause 
 
 To the guests' loud applause, 
 And dimmed the torches' steady shine ; 
 Mingling a vague disquiet with the wine, 
 
 A breath of possible magic to the sound 
 
 Of all familiar utterance around. 
 Strange restlessness ! that quickened and was fain 
 
 Of suffering to be. 
 
 Then, in the plangent minor of a present pain, 
 The witching music rose and sank again : 
 
 Dim I discerned some vanished harmony, 
 Some blest solution missed in the sad strain : 
 
 Meseemed a maimed part of some great whole, 
 
 But every chord struck out, Come forth, oh Soul ! 
 
 I raised the goblet to my trembling lips, 
 Where, wreathed in snow, 
 The jewelled bubbles floated to and fro
 
 10 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 Upon a crimson drink ; 
 Striving to sink 
 
 So wondrous a desire in present bliss, 
 In the sweet draught and in the stinging kiss 
 The icy tankard leaves on scented finger-tips. 
 Yet the taste said to me, 
 Not here is ecstasy. 
 
 I turned me to loved eyes bent upon mine, 
 And on a tender breast 
 I sought for rest, 
 
 Weeping warm tears that brought me no relief 
 From the strange grief, 
 That knew no comforting for song or wine. 
 But in the pulse of that dear heart I heard 
 A hidden word 
 
 That told of somewhat distant, more divine ; 
 
 And lo ! a more insistent supplication stole, 
 Come forth, oh Soul ! 
 
 The strong appealing of the inner voice 
 Controlled my choice, 
 
 Therefore I left my festal robe, and unclothed, 
 stark, 
 
 Shrinking with dread crept out into the dark ; 
 And at long last, resistance slain, 
 
 I was delivered from those lesser joys 
 Into the higher mysteries of pain. 
 Athirst for sight, 
 A speck of dust blown forth into the night ;
 
 OF THE SOUL 11 
 
 Quitting the tabernacle of my mean abiding, 
 I set my feet upon the road, to seek 
 The Hallows none may speak, 
 
 The tent unto its maker, Earth, confiding. 
 
 Through the darkness hovered there 
 The legions of the Powers of Air ; 
 
 From whose tempting 
 
 The pilgrim Soul knows no exempting : 
 I saw their Prince, with starry eyes 
 
 And tortured face, 
 Whose words were poignant travesties 
 
 Of heavenly grace ; 
 
 His brow, borne downward with a lurid coronet, 
 That once with gems was set, 
 
 Now held the burnt-out stars that erst shone bright 
 
 In Lucifer's great crown of light. 
 He bore upon his wings the luring of the Earth, 
 Its opal tears, and bitter, changing mirth ; 
 
 With such sad joys he strove to ensnare 
 The questing Soul, 
 
 But distant glimmered fair 
 The mystic goal. 
 
 Hell's mightiest embassies 
 Around me gathered, smiling, 
 
 But oh, the anguish in their loveliness, 
 The wormwood in the cup of their beguiling. 
 
 Grievous the penance on these wretches laid, 
 Pain they may not confess,
 
 12 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 Sharp, tearless agonies ; 
 
 And sore hearts yearning 
 
 Beneath the burning, 
 
 That yet must strive all wanderers to betray, 
 And the unslayable to slay. 
 
 God ! that their grieving 
 
 Might find relieving. 
 
 Courage, my brothers ! (thus I cried) I know 
 Hell cannot hold that which desires to go, 
 
 Be unafraid : 
 
 I hear the call across these glaciers roll, 
 Come forth, oh Soul ! 
 
 Still on I fared, where all the tempests rest, 
 
 Till at some great conductor's signal they arise 
 To bear their part in Heaven's symphonies : 
 They coil about the purple deeps 
 Where, shot with vivid Lightning, sleeps 
 Dull black-palled Thunder 
 In a sullen wonder ; 
 
 On whose breast 
 
 Drips liquid fire, aflame with violet stars, 
 Leaving deep scars 
 
 Upon the shrinking denizens of night, 
 
 God's messengers of light. 
 
 Then did I slough 
 
 This pitiful garment of mortality ; 
 And piercing through 
 
 The rending veil that some have called the sky,
 
 OF THE SOUL 13 
 
 I climbed the swinging ladder of Love's bands, 
 Held fast in angel-hands, 
 
 Through dizzying cloud-wrack, where 
 
 Like swathes of meadow-grass lie layer on 
 
 layer 
 
 Those monstrous billowy shapes, servants of God, 
 That sink in moisture, 
 Or, in foamy vesture, 
 Spread a baptismal mantle at His nod : 
 Or gather, soft and white, 
 Harboured, a mighty fleet, 
 Riding at anchor at His Feet ; 
 Or, by the waking winds 
 
 Driven from their serried ranks at His intent, 
 About the violet vaults of the deep firmament, 
 
 For His delight. 
 
 Still as they sailed across each starry shoal, 
 The crying ceased not, Come thou forth, oh 
 Soul! 
 
 I passed where Watchmen of the Towers of Heaven 
 
 rehearse 
 In gallant verse, 
 
 The weary Knight to rouse, 
 
 Of the besieging of the Royal Treasure-house, 
 The building of the City of the Soul ; 
 
 And the strange questing of the pilgrim, drawn 
 
 Out of the flesh, toward lands beyond the 
 
 dawn, 
 Cheered and sustained by a celestial Dole.
 
 14 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 I saw across the worlds the secret Sign, 
 
 And wondering heard 
 
 The echoes of the Word, 
 Such great astonishment was mine, 
 
 That I, of all men least, should now behold 
 The things divine, 
 
 And see the Life unfold, 
 
 And the dross turn to Gold ; 
 Should know that Nature's Ritual conceals 
 
 A myriad Sacraments, 
 
 Whose sevenfold sanctified Contents 
 Only the Light within reveals ; 
 
 A flame clear-burning yet, 
 
 Though with enclosing flesh its shining is 
 
 beset. 
 Here, too, the great command rings out from pole 
 
 to pole 
 Come forth, oh Soul ! 
 
 I lingered, less in dread than half in doubt, 
 Whether a beggar, travel-stained and worn, 
 Should enter where the Lords of Heaven adorn 
 With their begemmed serenity 
 The Palace of Eternity. 
 Their sceptres, trailing light across the sky, 
 Made a wide causeway, as of unreaped corn ; 
 While joyously the white-robed reapers' shout 
 Of triumph thrilled the festival about : 
 
 The plumes that edged their raiment brushed 
 the heights
 
 OF THE SOUL 15 
 
 Of distant worlds, and mingled with the breeze 
 Faint scents, as from celestial argosies ; 
 And their deep joy adds ardour to the lights 
 Illumining the homely tasks of earthly nights, 
 And their soft laughter brims the measure 
 Of earthly treasure. 
 
 Then in my hesitation I was 'ware 
 
 Of a great Chord of Light 
 
 Bewildering my sight ; 
 And lo ! even there, 
 
 I knew encircling Arms, 
 
 And pierced Hands raised to bless 
 The world's distress ; 
 
 Till in the ensphering of a measureless content, 
 
 Truth filled me with divine astonishment. 
 " No sulking back 
 For thee into the black 
 
 Of long-endured division ; 
 
 Thine to see the Vision, 
 Who followedst My call across the world ; 
 
 Holding all harms, 
 
 All Powers and Principalities of Hell, 
 Only incitements further to impel 
 
 Thy Soul upon the Quest, 
 
 Enter, and be My guest ; 
 The ship has anchored, all her sails are furled. 
 
 Leave part, regain the Whole, 
 
 I bid thee welcome home, Come in, oh Soul ! "
 
 16 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 TEMPTATION 
 
 The soul, invoking the beauty of wounded holiness, drives 
 away temptation, and thereby opens the gates of heaven to the 
 tempter. 
 
 DARKNESS had slipped its myriad widening rings 
 Over the glittering joy of earthly things. 
 
 The wind had sunk, the land seemed paralysed, 
 The stars were dead. 
 And overhead 
 
 A barrier grew, shutting out things most prized. 
 A dreadful silence, perilous to break 
 Was stifling me, and still I could not wake. 
 
 Then I was tempted of the devil, 
 
 Who showed me lurking beauty in things evil, 
 And loveliness in all that was most vile. 
 
 He took all loathsomeness and showed it fair, 
 
 Shining with phosphorescence of decay, 
 And in the tortured wonder of his smile 
 
 Enchantment of strange sins had sway. 
 Then I said, 
 
 Show me the jewelled lights that play 
 About the feet and hands and head, 
 
 And flicker round the pierced side 
 
 Of my sweet Guide. 
 And as I spoke I wept 
 For pity, and dawn crept
 
 OF THE SOUL 17 
 
 Distant and faint upon the hill ; 
 
 Whereupon night and ill 
 Brew off their sable swathes deliberately, 
 
 And mild forgiveness warmed them, till 
 They thinned and melted silently, 
 
 And heaven, opening wide 
 
 Received them, purified. 
 So, at the last, the age-old earth I trod 
 Became a garden flowery from the feet of God.
 
 18 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 A PRAYER 
 
 The soul in prayer becomes as a little child. 
 
 FORGIVE me that I cannot find 
 Words wonderful and deep, 
 
 To tell Thee all that stirs my mind 
 And makes me smile or weep. 
 
 Only I so desire to give 
 Thanks to the Lord on high, 
 
 That taught me, dying, how to live, 
 And living, how to die. 
 
 Teach me to take both good and ill 
 As gifts from Thy dear hand, 
 
 And to accept the holy will 
 I cannot understand. 
 
 Help me to help some child of Thine, 
 
 Help me to pray aright, 
 And strengthen with Thy fire divine 
 
 My restless wavering light. 
 
 Grant me Thy grace, that I may do 
 
 Thy service everywhere ; 
 Upon Thy great adventure go, 
 
 And Thy sweet banner bear.
 
 OF THE SOUL 19 
 
 Give me a heart both warm and pure, 
 
 And strengthen by Thy grace 
 Mine eyes, lest they should not endure 
 
 The glory of Thy face.
 
 20 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 QUEST 
 
 The soul, being conscious that she is among things alien, 
 doubts her high destiny ; but even in this state of dimness 
 climbs towards the Light. 
 
 How can I struggle still ? The elusive future 
 That fancy painted in such gleaming gold, 
 No longer shines, e'en faintly, through the suture 
 O'er whose thin outlines darkling clouds have 
 
 rolled. 
 
 How the hopes sink 
 When doubting voices question, fears enfold, 
 
 Breaking the link 
 
 Betwixt me and the surety of my Quest, 
 Slaying my rest. 
 
 Was it a mood, the certainty of morning ? 
 Was it but courage, attribute of youth, 
 Nature's fair lure, that age and weakness scorning 
 I might still climb, and hold deceit the truth ? 
 
 But for her snare 
 I might have looked Life in the eyes, forsooth, 
 
 And found Death there ; 
 And having seen that unsurmisdd guest, 
 Had I pursued my Quest ? 
 
 Yet I still travel in unchanged endeavour, 
 
 The stars are hid, the lantern's flame burns low ; 
 
 Faith went long since, and hope too soon will sever, 
 Quenchless endurance bids me onward go.
 
 OF THE SOUL 21 
 
 So till the end 
 Perchance that wondrous End I thought to know 
 
 I shall ascend 
 
 Those strange scarped rocks that all the ways invest 
 Toward the Quest.
 
 22 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 WAYFARING LOVE 
 
 Love seeks in vain among those who have great possessions, 
 but takes the outcast and neglected for friends. 
 
 WHEN Day stretched forth his shining arms to 
 
 Night, 
 
 And her star-kisses broke above his brow 
 That sunk below the thrill of all caresses 
 Saving the scented sway of her soft tresses ; 
 Immortal radiance pierced and seemed to glow 
 About a Wayfarer, whom lambent light 
 
 Encircled like a glory : 
 A Wayfarer who sobbed to rocks and trees 
 
 Some piteous story 
 That echoed in the breeze, 
 Still prevailing 
 With the sad burden of its wailing, 
 
 " Who, who will love me ? " 
 And through the twilight's glamour 
 Came answering clamour : 
 " I, for thy starry crown, 
 
 I, for thy future glory, 
 And for our sure renown 
 
 When men shall tell our story." 
 
 Yet still the cry uprose 
 Above all human woes, 
 " Who, who will love me ? "
 
 OF THE SOUL 23 
 
 " Lord, I walk lonely, 
 
 Like unto thee, 
 Companied only 
 
 Fair One, by me, 
 Pass the world by, 
 Heeding no sigh." 
 
 And the wind moaned and wailed 
 About the way, for Love's friends failed ; 
 
 And still one cried above me, 
 
 " Who, who will love me ? " 
 " I, for the fairest dream 
 
 That played about my slumber, 
 Less lovely fair doth seem 
 
 Than thou. Shining One, number 
 Me too among thy saints, and be my pains 
 Duly requited with celestial gains." 
 
 There fell a silence, then fresh crying sounded 
 As of a grief unbounded, 
 " Who, who will love me ? " 
 " I will, for I am strong 
 To bear Earth's wrong, 
 And set her evils right, 
 Bringing true light 
 
 To those who in a chosen darkness dwell." 
 Lo, through the vaults of hell 
 Echoed the sad petition, 
 Manifold, without intermission, 
 " Who, who will love me ? "
 
 24 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 Last of all a voice, 
 
 Pitiful, broken as with weeping sore, 
 
 Rose from the stony path that lay before 
 The traveller's bleeding feet. 
 
 " Help, sir, I perish. Without thee 
 My day is dark, my night is hell, 
 Lying unshriven where I fell 
 
 Pursuing Joy right heedlessly ; 
 Whose fluting sweet 
 
 Has lured me far from playmates of my youth 
 
 To die on stony wastes, my ardent mouth 
 All unassuaged with her draught of pleasure. 
 Wayfarer, measure 
 
 Thy splendour against my unworthiness, 
 And of thy boundless charity befriend 
 
 A helpless outcast, banned by all save thee. 
 Love, condescend, 
 
 That I may share thy cross eternally : 
 Canst thou so bless 
 
 A beggar, whose deep love, felt, ah, too late, 
 
 Is but an insult to thy high estate ? " 
 
 The dimness broke into a golden flower 
 
 Whose jewelled centre seemed a perfumed song ; 
 And soft wings beat above the starry shower 
 
 Strewn as a pathway for the angel throng. 
 But silence echoed round the lazar's bed 
 As the Wayfarer bent, and said, 
 
 " Son, take thy wish ; my love supplies 
 
 The utter anguish lif e denies ;
 
 OF THE SOUL 25 
 
 Thy striving hands with wounds be numb, 
 Thy unslaked mouth from thirsting dumb ; 
 
 And for thy lamed feet 
 
 Be set a stony street. 
 Dark, dark shall seem thy soul's abyss 
 
 Save when the fires of anguish rise, 
 
 Whose light shall teach thy frightened eyes 
 
 What boundless gloom within thee lies. 
 Now are we brothers by the kiss 
 
 That on thy throbbing brow I press ; 
 
 No lesser boon could bless 
 Thy pride and my humility. 
 
 " Rise, Son, and walk with me, 
 Thou, thou shalt love me."
 
 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 THE GIFT 
 
 The soul, having dissipated much treasure, returns with 
 shame ; but her Lord ceases not patiently to entrust her with 
 more. 
 
 GOD woke me early, ere the sun 
 
 Had cleared the mountain's rim ; 
 I felt so glad, I fain would pray, 
 And, sleep but partly brushed away, 
 
 I knelt to worship Him. 
 
 He smiled, and hosts of little birds 
 
 Straightway began to sing, 
 
 But silenced when they heard His voice 
 " Arise, My child ; My son, rejoice, 
 
 For thee a gift I bring. 
 
 " A golden gift, a royal gift, 
 No emperor has more ; 
 
 Wide as the sky, deep as the sea, 
 
 An unspoiled day I give to thee, 
 Fresh from My heavenly store. 
 
 " Three angels brought it, white and clear, 
 
 And laid it at My feet ; 
 
 While from great Gabriel's altar came 
 Four angels wrapped in living flame, 
 
 Swinging their censers sweet.
 
 OF THE SOUL 27 
 
 " So, with celestial perfume mixed, 
 Receive My loving gift ; 
 
 And render it again to Me 
 
 Spotless and fair, if that may be, 
 When evening shadows drift." 
 
 I took the gift with thankful heart, 
 Meet words to find I strove, 
 
 For thanking God that He did bring 
 
 To me so heavenly a thing, 
 So dear a gift of love. 
 
 And now the day before me stretched, 
 Its hours before me lay 
 
 Golden and perfect, like a stream 
 
 That widens to some sea of dream, 
 Foaming with opal spray. 
 
 But soon a little wind uprose ; 
 
 I saw with troubled eyes 
 How clouds obscured the sun's bright track, 
 Covered the sky, and necked with black 
 
 My day from Paradise. 
 
 And others scoffed and mocked at me, 
 And I made harsh replies ; 
 
 While deeper grew the stain of sin, 
 
 And hosts of demons, pressing in, 
 Profaned my sanctuaries.
 
 8 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 Then evening came, and starry eyes 
 
 Sought for the beauty flown ; 
 
 Weeping with sorrow and with shame 
 Then with my ruined day I came, 
 
 To lay it at God's throne. 
 
 I dared not raise my eyes to Him, 
 
 I felt so deep disgraced ; 
 
 And all the lovely angels sighed 
 When they the blots and stains espied, 
 
 That God's sweet day defaced. 
 
 Then I spoke, tremblingly and low, 
 
 I could make no excuse, 
 
 But only murmur how I grieved 
 For love betrayed and hope deceived, 
 
 And the bright hours' misuse. 
 
 I ceased. His voice like a caress 
 Revived me through and through : 
 " Weep not, My treasure-stores enfold 
 More bliss than all thy days could hold- 
 Lo ! I make all things new." 
 
 So the next morn another gift 
 
 God of His bounty gave ; 
 
 Its hours with grace and hope bedight, 
 From earliest dawn till darkest night, 
 And love withal to be my light 
 
 In life and through the grave.
 
 OF THE SOUL 29 
 
 VISION 
 
 The soul would know the answer to life's problem ; but having 
 been shown where the solution lies, she asks no more, and is 
 content day by day to follow the clue. 
 
 LORD, I have knelt here praying many hours, 
 While thoughts, that should have been celestial 
 
 flowers, 
 
 Unfolded, floated, rose 
 About my head, 
 And fell back dead ; 
 
 Never to reach the heaven of their desiring, 
 Or perfect my aspiring 
 
 With the solution of these human woes. 
 Lord, I would learn 
 The secret of the soul's return, 
 The surety of the great arriving, 
 The far-off goal of all man's striving. 
 
 While day by day the world's sad face 
 Turns on the thread of life impaled ; 
 
 Say, is it nearer to Thy grace, 
 Or has it failed 
 
 To reach the outstretched arms of Thy compassion ? 
 See where these wavering tapers burn, 
 Lit by the children of Thy hand, who yearn 
 
 Toward Thee, distant ; each in his fashion 
 
 Bearing the imprint of his Master's passion.
 
 30 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 Man opened wondering eyes, 
 
 And saw the shadows flying from immortal hills, 
 And for one glorious heart-beat heard 
 A distant echo of the Word. 
 Arise ! 
 
 Be not content 
 
 To have thy habitation in this tent 
 Pitched in the desert, when thy house is made 
 In heaven ; and thy birthright, greater far 
 Than all the angels' glories are, 
 Centres about a secret Name, 
 Whose flame 
 
 When first Life's corner-stone was laid, 
 Was graven with a hidden art 
 Upon thy heart ; 
 
 And written in transcendent duplicate 
 Upon the white cube by the Temple gate. 
 
 And lest to those who wait God's sign grow dim, 
 The angels, pitying, over heaven's rim 
 
 Fling snowy wafers from the heavenly board, 
 Each marked with the insignia of His mint 
 
 A cross, deep scored ; 
 Which He did print, 
 
 Token of honour on the colt that carried Him, 
 And on his humble house from age to age : 
 Still wheresoe'er man's eyes may turn 
 He sees the mystic symbol burn, 
 His very limbs a constant cross afford 
 Where he is crucified beside his Lord.
 
 OF THE SOUL 31 
 
 Oh, dreamer, wake ! and follow still 
 
 The paths of pain that bear His mark, 
 Accept His will 
 
 As rudder to thy wandering bark. 
 And day by day His manna take, 
 Nor for the morn provision make ; 
 
 For doubtless He shall give thee from His store 
 
 The daily bread that pilgrim souls implore, 
 
 And each day more ; 
 A better nourishment, a stronger meat 
 The food of yesterday, though sweet, 
 For yesterday alone had power, 
 
 And souls starve, hearts grow cold 
 
 Who treasure stores grown old, 
 Feeding on manna of an outgrown hour. 
 
 Hold fast the age-long clue whose spirals ran 
 So far, thou mayst not see where they began ; 
 
 Lost in the mists of Time they lie. 
 But follow through the grave, the womb, 
 O'er mountain peaks, in chasms' gloom, 
 
 For where the summits of Eternity 
 In changeless beauty stand, 
 The end rests, in God's hand. 
 
 So, holding now the clue, I rose and went 
 About the common tasks of every day 
 
 Full of a grave content, 
 A deep trust that the way,
 
 32 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 Veiled or revealed, is His, and that our feet, 
 
 Though they may err, can never stray 
 Beyond the appointed term, where they must turn 
 
 again, 
 In joy or pain ; 
 
 And slowly climbing, rise 
 To their predestined place above the skies. 
 Thus, full of thoughts most sweet, 
 I gained fresh courage, and I onward trod, 
 Serene, hi God.
 
 OF THE SOUL 33 
 
 ILLUMINATION 
 
 The soul, having drunk of that Cup, is inebriated 
 with the divine beauty. 
 
 THE Earth, wrapped in the purple cloak of night, 
 Stirs in her sleep, roused by the prick of fire 
 Whose starry shining is dawn's pledge, desire 
 
 Of vision that should melt into clear sight. 
 
 Now dark's illumined ministers take flight 
 Upon the solemn sounding of the lyre 
 That heralds all the morning stars' glad choir, 
 
 When manifests from Heaven the Royal Light. 
 
 Mighty, invisible, the hands that raise 
 
 Above the trembling Earth the Cup of Gold, 
 
 The consecration of her daily bread 
 
 Into that Host whereby her soul is fed. 
 
 Awake! soon comes High Noon, the hour of 
 
 praise, 
 The glowing Chalice of the Graal behold.
 
 34 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 SATIETY 
 
 The soul, having entreated her Lord for earthly joys, becomes 
 satiated, and beseeches Him for the purging sharpness of 
 deprivation. 
 
 WEARY of all the darling earthly joys 
 And charming toys, 
 
 For which I urgently and long implored 
 
 My patient Lord, 
 I turned to soar on unaccustomed wings ; 
 
 But when I would have flown, 
 Heavy with cloying sweetness, such as brings 
 
 Earth's joy alone, 
 
 They bore me down, and shamefast, standing there 
 And weeping, I besought my Lord in prayer. 
 
 Oh Lord, remove this barrier that I stretched, 
 Sinner most wretched ; 
 
 Betwixt my soul and Thy desirous love, 
 
 That I might rove 
 With vain delight, who ever luring sings 
 
 The siren song 
 Whose call seduced me from immortal things 
 
 To do Thee wrong. 
 
 Give me sharp thorns, bedewed with Thy grace, 
 Bereaving me of all that hides Thy face.
 
 OF THE SOUL 35 
 
 THE PRICE 
 
 The soul learnB of a solitude moat sweet, suffers a wounding 
 which is pure joy, and enters into a desolation which is more 
 dear than Paradise. 
 
 NOT till thy heart is broken canst thou love me, 
 Not till thou diest, outcast and alone, 
 
 Imploring the unpitying sky above thee 
 Because thy Lord, forsaking thee, is gone. 
 
 See, I have taken all thy youthful pleasure, 
 Thy smiles, thy beauty, harshly I withdrew, 
 
 Laid heavy burdens on thee, filled thy leisure 
 With weary tasks that scarce an ending knew. 
 
 I sent cold doubt to touch thee, and thy spirit 
 Shivered beside thine inmost altar's fire, 
 
 Lest at the last his will should disinherit 
 The royal Prince of my supreme desire. 
 
 I flung across thy mind the veil delusion, 
 And peopled all the caverns of thy brain 
 
 With writhen shapes of madness and confusion 
 That pity could not bind, nor will restrain. 
 
 Say, art thou angered ? naught at all is left thee, 
 A shrunken body and a wandering soul ; 
 
 Softly of all thy joys I have bereft thee, 
 
 Untwisting thread by thread the patterned whole.
 
 36 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 Now, at the last, I turn me to forsake thee, 
 Ploughing thy heart with superhuman pain, 
 
 Nor shall thy sweat and agony awake me 
 Thy heart must break, or else thy love is vain. 
 
 Alas ! thou deemest me unfeeling, cruel, 
 
 Thinkest that through thine anguish I can sleep, 
 
 Or, scatheless, to thy torment add fresh fuel 
 O child, I did but turn aside to weep.
 
 OF THE SOUL 37 
 
 THE KING'S SON 
 
 The prince, to learn the secrets of the Kingdom, muab 
 share the sufferings of the King. 
 
 CHILD of my burning joy, 
 
 Come, enter here ; 
 Leave every gaud and toy, 
 
 Pass without fear, 
 
 Thou art flame no fire can sear. 
 Child of my burning joy, 
 
 Come, enter here. 
 
 Child of my bitter pain, 
 
 Anguish is past ; 
 No pang was felt in vain, 
 
 Nothing was lost. 
 Since thou art rent in twain, 
 Child of my bitter pain, 
 
 Anguish is past. 
 
 Child of my golden heart, 
 
 Lie closer yet ; 
 Over the throb and smart, 
 
 Wake and forget 
 
 Lost dreams and eyes tear-wet. 
 Child of my golden heart, 
 
 Lie closer yet.
 
 38 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 Child, by the three days' death 
 
 That we have tasted, 
 Child, by the Spirit's breath 
 
 That toward us hasted. 
 . Love, wounded, sank beneath 
 
 Life, to death's portal, 
 Risen now, it wears the wreath, 
 
 Starry, immortal.
 
 OP THE SOUL 39 
 
 THE GARDEN 
 
 The soul, becoming greedy of spiritual refreshment, finds 
 dryness and disappointment ; even the Holy of Holies becomes a 
 burying-place. But when in her despair she looks into the 
 tomb, she finds it full of lilies, emblem of the Resurrection. 
 
 I SAID 
 
 Let me go forth into the garden where the lilies 
 
 grow. 
 
 (For it was summer, and I would have laid 
 Me down beneath the sweet trees' shade 
 
 And dreamed ; while to and fro 
 The waving shadows lengthened in the breeze, 
 
 And flickered on smooth grass.) 
 I said 
 
 Let no man pass ; 
 Let solitude enfold my heart, 
 That resting thus apart, 
 
 Stillness may gather round my Lord and me. 
 
 So I uprose and went 
 Along the quiet road beside the sea, 
 Where the tall cypress murmurs, and the palm 
 Beckons to peace, and the pale sky pours balm 
 
 By heaven sent 
 
 To comfort tired pilgrims travelling, 
 And echoes fall of songs the angels sing.
 
 40 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 So I came to the wicket in the wall 
 
 And raised the latch, and entered softly there 
 Into the garden of the King, 
 
 Where in the twilight His dear footsteps fall 
 Among the bowing lilies. It grew dim, 
 And 'mid the flowers there was no trace of 
 Him. 
 
 I said 
 
 (For I was half afraid), 
 He is within, 
 
 Where no alarm disturbs He lies, 
 
 Beside the spraying fountain's radiant symphonies. 
 
 So I passed on, and came 
 
 To an arcade of rosy porphyry 
 Which the great flame 
 
 Of the sun's noonday fire seemed to entice 
 And tame from its fierce empery 
 To a soft flush upon the tracery, 
 
 Whose fair device 
 
 Fine as frost flowers upon a cobweb strung, 
 So lace-like seemed as it above me hung, 
 
 I thought I saw it quiver. 
 Still on I went, and evening round me fell, 
 And now I heard a sound, the knell 
 That heralds death, insistent, terrible, 
 
 Beneath which all the flowers seemed to shiver 
 And droop as at the kiss of winter, dead. 
 I said 
 
 Lo ! all things perish when the King is gone.
 
 OF THE SOUL 41 
 
 1 will go further yet, beside the shrine, 
 Where royal clusters of red roses twine, 
 
 Hid in the garden's heart He stays alone. 
 And being now in terror, I began 
 
 To sing aloud of how my gracious Lord, 
 
 According to His word, 
 Should never leave the trusting soul of man, 
 
 But by the pleasant waters lead His sheep, 
 
 And guard them whether they should wake or 
 
 But sadly sank the melody 
 To strains of melancholy, 
 
 And notes of joyous confidence declined 
 
 To sighs of fear on the pursuing wind ; 
 And minor echoes of the tune 
 Were strewn 
 
 Like timorous leaves upon a rising gale 
 And still about me all the flowers were dead. 
 Then I fled 
 
 Panic-struck down the vale, 
 And crossed the stream and climbed the 
 
 stair 
 Before the inmost shrine, and found it bare ; 
 
 Stripped of the roses, and untenanted, 
 
 Grim as the house of the forgotten dead. 
 And as I gazed again, 
 
 No shrine I saw before my startled eyes, 
 But pallid loomed a gaunt grey sepulchre.
 
 42 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 I was fain 
 
 To look within, yet hardly dared to stir, 
 lake one who, nightmare-holden, cannot rise ; 
 
 And while I crouched swooped night, 
 Heavy with the battalions of the dead, 
 Weighting my shrinking soul with dread. 
 
 I said 
 
 Lord, whither these my ways 
 Have wandered, by what charnel-house I lie 
 I know not, but I trust Thy clemency ; 
 
 And even in these dwellings of the dead 
 
 I sing Thy praise. 
 
 Forthwith a scent of heavenly meadows 
 Stole through the shadows, 
 
 And rays of golden light soothed all my fear. 
 
 So, rising, I drew near, 
 And looking boldly down into the gloom 
 No corpse I saw, but lilies in the tomb.
 
 OF THE SOUL 43 
 
 THE WAY OF PERFECTION 
 
 The soul is greatly troubled by the day of small things. 
 
 To struggle on after high ecstasy 
 No, 'tis not easy ; difficult to bear 
 The fret of burdens that we may not share, 
 
 Suffering with patience our mortality. 
 
 Here, hemmed in by small things perpetually, 
 Harassed by vanities, beset by care 
 How hard to live, in such a murky air, 
 
 By the large measure of infinity. 
 
 Yet to endure, as meet is, day by day, 
 Shall crown us with a glory to transcend 
 
 That moment on the heights ; when, as we pray, 
 We may afar perceive renouncement's end, 
 Nor from high thoughts to lesser deeds descend 
 
 Help us, oh God, to tread this difficult way.
 
 44 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 CRUCIFIXION ON THE MOUNTAIN 
 
 The soul would endure splendid martyrdoms, but her Lord lays 
 upon her the ultimate reward of failure and of death. 
 
 I FOUND full many a hindrance on the road 
 That led up to the summit of desire, 
 Sharp rocks and wounding thorns ; and in the 
 
 mire 
 
 I fell, and soiled the garment I had care 
 To keep so fair 
 
 For the great rites awaiting me in Love's abode. 
 Yet on I pressed, 
 Dreaming of rest 
 That should be sweeter for toil undergone, 
 
 When on my Saviour's breast 
 Divine and human should be one. 
 
 Deep ran the chasms across the way, 
 
 Chasms my wilfulness had made, 
 But Love had cast a bridge above the spray 
 Flung by the roaring waters far below ; 
 And with the cross my strength, the cross my guide, 
 My worser self for ever crucified, 
 
 I climbed toward the line of snow 
 
 That Love had laid 
 Far up, to mark the final stage 
 
 Of chill forlorn desertion, that should close 
 My pilgrimage.
 
 OF THE SOUL 45 
 
 High on the summit shone the mystic cross 
 Beside which life is death, and riches dross ; 
 
 Not such the cross that companies my way, 
 
 A harsh rude copy meet for every day, 
 Beauty it lacks, untrimmed and harsh the wood, 
 And bitter as Christ's rood ; 
 Heavy as death, no staff to life is this, 
 
 But such a weight 
 
 As leaves the soul unsoothed, disconsolate, 
 And drags the body down to the abyss. 
 
 Upward I crawl, the dream of joy is past, 
 
 I, that would share the sorrow of my Lord 
 
 And feel the piercing sword 
 Divide my flesh and spirit, now at last 
 
 Discern the failure I am forced to share, 
 
 And see the garment I would keep so fair, 
 Foul from the dirt of many a foolish fall 
 
 The world might mock at. When I set my feet 
 Upon the path I said 
 
 A martyrdom were sweet ; 
 Come sword, come fire, 
 All tortures are less sharp than my desire. 
 
 Let me have flints for bed, 
 
 And thorns, such as once wove my Master's crown, 
 Spurring me on to share in His renown. 
 
 And lo ! I faint 
 
 Beneath a common cross I cannot raise. 
 Mankind might jeer, but on celestial praise 
 
 Free from all envious taint
 
 46 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 I counted ; wherefore then this loneliness 
 
 Weighted with death ? 
 Give me the nails, the spear, oppress 
 
 My soul with every pang till my last breath, 
 
 And then, the victor's wreath. 
 
 Yet I climbed still, the bitter words I spoke 
 Fell into silence and no echoes woke ; 
 
 But in my heart a small voice murmuring 
 
 Whispered, thy King 
 Humbly exchanged celestial gain for loss, 
 
 Requiring no place to lay Him down, 
 
 No victor's crown, 
 But only wood enough to make a cross. 
 
 I bowed my head in shame, and upward went 
 Slowly, beneath my burden bent ; 
 
 Deep in the snow my bleeding feet 
 
 Sank at each step, and on the sheet 
 Of dazzling white left scarlet stains. 
 My eyes grew blind, my trembling knees gave 
 
 way, 
 
 My body was a mass of fiery pains : 
 And still I rose and fell, 
 
 And struggled on a space, 
 Half dreaming broken words from far away 
 The heavenward way, 
 The pains of hell, 
 
 And murmuring, weeping, falling, 
 
 Upon my Master calling,
 
 OF THE SOUL 47 
 
 Unconscious now of all save agony, 
 I still endured, until I lay 
 On the appointed place 
 Upon the summit, faint and like to die. 
 
 So, I thought, heaven is won, 
 
 Gone is the burden that so long I carried ; 
 
 Yet still the summoning angels tarried. 
 I lay alone, 
 Almost desiring back the fardel gone, 
 
 That was my bliss and bale ; 
 And so methought a thousand years 
 
 Of silence passed. 
 
 At last 
 
 I raised my eyes to see 
 Some angel that should bind my wounds and wipe 
 
 my tears, 
 
 But there was Calvary, 
 And black and gaunt three crosses rose 
 Untenanted, among the snows. 
 
 Then, deep within, the silence spoke, 
 
 Now thou hast left Gethsemane, 
 
 Stretch thy rebellious limbs upon the tree, 
 
 Giving thy body up for Me. 
 And I obeyed, 
 And laid 
 
 My feet and hands to bear the stroke 
 Of piercing nails. 
 
 And so I hung another thousand years.
 
 48 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 The wind arose, and far below me tossed 
 
 A sea of sombre-crested pines ; the cloudy skies 
 
 Burst with the gale, and showed an orange rent, 
 
 And heavy clouds, like boats with tattered sails, 
 Flapped low, and dipped and raced about the 
 
 height 
 Until they sank in mist that swathed my sight. 
 
 Then I closed my eyes, 
 
 And tore my way from the poor earthly tent, 
 And free, I knew my labours all well spent, 
 
 And no pang lost. 
 
 Abandoned hung the earthly form 
 
 While round it swayed and shrieked the storm ; 
 
 But my soul, being free, 
 
 Rejoiced most thankfully, 
 Until a voice cried, nay, 
 Still must thou lay 
 
 Thy soul upon the rood. 
 So my stripped soul was fastened there, 
 
 And that cross stood 
 Beside the centre, towering gaunt and bare 
 
 While other thousand years went by ; 
 Till my purged spirit burst its sheath, 
 And free of soul and body knelt beneath 
 The triple emblem of a conquered death. 
 
 Now let my spirit rise to God who gave 
 Not through the grave, 
 But upward into light.
 
 OF THE SOUL 49 
 
 Aye, chanted seraphs with their dulcimers, 
 The ladder it prefers 
 
 Is the great midmost cross. 
 My spirit trembled, but I clomb 
 
 Ah, then fell night ; 
 This, this is not my home. 
 
 And in a horror far too deep to tell 
 
 I knew the pains of hell, 
 
 And for a thousand years I drank this bitter cup, 
 Until my spirit yielded itself up, 
 
 And hands of love 
 
 Stretched from above 
 Upraised me in a most delicious rest, 
 
 Upon that cross and ladder of delight, 
 Which now I knew was but my Master's breast.
 
 50 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 DEPARTURE 
 
 The soul, ready to leave all, would depart in silence 
 and unnoticed. 
 
 So let me go, without leave-taking ; 
 
 Let no hand press my hand, no smile pursue ; 
 Let them dance on, though dawn be breaking, 
 
 And wan*the false light shows beside the true. 
 
 Set but the door ajar, and I, long ready, 
 Will slip forth swiftly, leaving all behind ; 
 
 I am prepared, heart high and pulses steady, 
 To face the morning star, the morning wind. 
 
 Only let silence fall about my spirit, 
 
 Let no one mingle tears with life's warm wine, 
 
 Because I leave these shadows to inherit 
 Those deeper joys inalienably mine. 
 
 So let me go, with my unanswered singing 
 Drowned by the festival I watched so long, 
 
 But like an angel's pinions round me clinging 
 Let me go hence on echoes of that song.
 
 OF THE SOUL 61 
 
 DIALOGUE 
 
 The messenger entreats the soul to depart with him to the 
 place prepared for her ; but she, being fearful, and blinded by 
 the things of earth, refuses until he unveils to her the beauty of 
 his face. 
 
 Messenger 
 
 GIVE me thy hand, I waited for thee long, 
 Now lay aside the lute and cease the song, 
 Those dreams are done. 
 
 Soul 
 
 Alas ! but just begun 
 My day of sunshine ; let me stay awhile 
 And smile 
 
 And dance among the dewdrops merrily, 
 For all things pass, 
 
 And I would make them mine before they go. 
 I have but sipped life's goblet, it is sweet, 
 And I would tread with happy flying feet 
 
 Among the scented clover and the grass 
 Full many a tripping measure. 
 
 To and fro 
 
 Clothed with the purple shadows I would move 
 When night descends upon the orchard's treasure, 
 And dream of love 
 
 And find him too, perchance, 
 Counting his golden charms 
 Within the arms 
 
 Of some dear dark-eyed sharer of my dance.
 
 62 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 Messenger 
 
 Come, I have waited long, give me thy hand, 
 Down by the sea the other travellers stand. 
 
 Soul 
 
 Ah no, the curtain of the night hangs low 
 
 Over the shore, 
 And darkness on the lonely water lies. 
 
 Messenger 
 I have my argosies 
 That evermore 
 
 Through all the dimness safely come and go. 
 Give me thy hand, no more delay. 
 
 Soul 
 
 Spare me some hours yet ; so short my day, 
 Unworthy of thy -transport is such gain 
 
 As I have gathered, let me glean awhile 
 
 Where others reaped and harvested their grain, 
 Nor wholly empty-handed hence depart. 
 
 Messenger 
 
 Not with such promises canst thou beguile 
 Thy long appointed hour ; come forth. 
 
 Soul 
 Nay, be not wroth, 
 
 Wait yet a moment. All my throbbing heart 
 Is full of lovely songs as yet unsung,
 
 OF THE SOUL 53 
 
 And all thy songs are silence : mine eyes crave 
 For light, and thou wouldst seal them in the grave, 
 Where love decays, and youth and beauty change 
 Into a pinch of dust. I will not come, 
 
 For I am choked with music : I will make 
 Songs that shall stir mankind ; and range 
 Over the changing world, until I slake 
 My thirst for joy. 
 
 Messenger 
 
 Earth's pleasures cloy ; 
 Nay, do not struggle, but come home, 
 
 Where thy desires interlace 
 And melt in rapture. Canst thou bear pure light ? 
 
 Behold my face. 
 
 Soul 
 
 Lord of my life, I come. 
 Call me not back, you fair delights ; 
 Earth's miracles of days and nights 
 
 Are but the dreaming veil through which the soul 
 
 Perceives her goal. 
 I see the inner meaning of the flowers, 
 
 The truth behind the stars ; the dream 
 Has broken into iridescent showers, 
 
 Life's long stream 
 Has parted, as for Israel of old 
 The sea, and piled on either hand I now behold 
 
 Dark Jordan's flood. Angel of life, I come, 
 
 My hands no longer tremble, lead me home.
 
 54 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 AS TO A FEAST 
 
 Overmuch sorrow dims the glory of heaven to 
 the new-born soul. 
 
 UPON the wind that's blowing, 
 He sighed out his last breath ; 
 
 With proud demeanour going 
 To the festival of death. 
 
 No more our love may bind him, 
 Or from his path restrain ; 
 
 Now he has left behind him 
 The panoply of pain. 
 
 Great Michael for him tarried, 
 Prince of God's chivalry ; 
 
 And Christopher, who carried 
 His Saviour faithfully. 
 
 The hero wakes from sleeping 
 Let us God's ways extol ; 
 
 Nor mar with too much weeping 
 The birthday of a soul.
 
 OF THE SOUL 55 
 
 THE DIVINE BEAUTY 
 
 The secret of the soul is incommunicable. 
 
 How shall I tell the marvel ? circling flame 
 
 Has blinded me, and hid in fire I grope, 
 Burned by the brightness of my hidden name, 
 
 Bewildered with fulfilment of all hope. 
 Slight is the vision that the seer tells 
 
 In fluent song ; 
 
 Too deeply have I drunk of heavenly wells 
 To do such wrong. 
 
 Far more than rest, reunion, joy or peace, 
 Echoes of earth it lies so far above ; 
 
 Or, if I must compare with such as these, 
 I think of beauty, melody, and love. 
 
 Yet here doth silence honour Him the most, 
 That bid me come 
 
 And see things hidden from the angel host, 
 So, I am dumb 
 
 Save for the Hallelujahs that I raise 
 
 Incessantly in my dear Master's praise.
 
 56 SOME ADVENTURES 
 
 THE SONG CEASES 
 
 The soul finds no words to tell of her vision. 
 
 I WOULD sing 
 
 Of all the glory that surrounds my King. 
 
 Of melody in crystal goblets stored 
 That ever sweetly brimming is outpoured ; 
 Of light, so far transcending all we know, 
 In which transfigured souls move to and fro ; 
 Of warmth, that fills the grateful heart with 
 
 joy. 
 
 Of bliss delicious and without alloy ; 
 
 Of singing birds, of flowers, and scented air, 
 Of cooling breezes and of beauty rare 
 
 These are but things 
 
 Vainly imagined for our earthly kings. 
 
 I am ashamed that I have tried to sing 
 Of all the glory that surrounds my King. 
 
 Silence were best, so was I rapt away 
 Beyond the circling change of night and day. 
 
 Or if His glory may at all be told, 
 
 A hint of it will linger in the gold
 
 OF THE SOUL 57 
 
 That clings about my garments, and the glow 
 That through the windows of my soul I show, 
 Lightening the shadowy valleys of the earth 
 With bright reflections from my land of birth. 
 
 No longer will I sing 
 
 In words the glory that surrounds my King.
 
 (THE city quakes, the earth is filled with blood 
 I, I that love Thee raised Thee on this Rood !) 
 
 Lord, I am least of all Thy followers, 
 Yet greatest in my love : devotion spurs 
 
 Me on to strange deep thoughts and stranger deeds 
 My roughness planned not erst, 
 For all unversed 
 
 In ways of love I would content Thy needs, 
 Delight Thee with a flower, a word, a song, 
 Striving to make Thy toilsome way less long, 
 
 Its stones less bitter, its rebuffs less rude, 
 
 To guard Thee 'gainst the sharp ingratitude 
 Of those who beg Time and Eternity, 
 Both worlds at once, abusing clemency. 
 
 Dazzle them, Master, with a word 
 Such as the universe has never heard ; 
 
 Whisper it till the earth's foundations quake, 
 
 And fiery worlds awake 
 
 And shake 
 Their burning pinions, and ring out the cry 
 
 That shrilly echoes
 
 60 THE DELIVERER 
 
 Where between whirling planets flows 
 The ardent stream of palpitating light. 
 
 Destroy the worlds, Oh Lord, 
 
 With the one whispered word, 
 And with consuming flame illume the sight 
 
 Of all those muddy souls who love Thee not : 
 Or bid the flying circles cease 
 And a great peace 
 
 Thunder across immensity, 
 Enwrapping heaven and earth and sky. 
 
 Bid the air cease to hum 
 
 And all the murmuring orbs be dumb, 
 Suddenly, utterly, 
 
 And shatter them with silence 
 
 Yea, Master, I have borne to see Thee weep, 
 More deep 
 
 The iron scarce could pierce my suffering soul ; 
 Have seen Thee fast and pray, 
 
 Struggle and sweat. 
 While the eleven slept the night away 
 
 My brow was wet, 
 My heart beat high, 
 
 For, lo, I read 
 
 The scroll of Heaven emblazoned, 
 And knew Thy triumph nigh 
 
 (The city quakes, the air is full of blood 
 
 I, I that love Thee raised Thee on this Rood !)
 
 THE DELIVERER 61 
 
 Scourged, spit upon, denied, 
 
 I suffered all with Thee ; 
 
 Raising Thee high that all should bend the knee. 
 That very royal crown of thorns 
 
 That crimsoneth Thy brow 
 
 So might gleam rubies set on snow, 
 I offered it ; dear Master, look on me, 
 
 Say, have I not done well ? 
 
 How my poor heart would swell 
 At praise from Thee 
 
 For see, without my deed, 
 Thy deed had not been done ; 
 This be my meed 
 
 Thy battle won 
 And that down future ages, lighted by the torch 
 
 That Thou dost kindle, men shall say 
 
 (The city quaked, the air was full of blood, 
 Judas that loved Him raised Him on the Rood !) 
 
 Peter in the porch 
 
 Warmed his chilled hands as he denied, 
 While Judas' teeth did chatter before Caiaphas ; 
 My darkness seemed a heavy monstrous mass 
 
 With but one quivering light Thy tortured 
 death 
 
 Ay, for it pierced beneath 
 My heart into my spirit yet I knew 
 Before the worlds the task I had to do ; 
 
 God set it me, let me fulfil 
 
 His very bitter will
 
 62 THE DELIVERER 
 
 Master, my voice is harsh, mine eyes are dim, 
 I should rejoice and hymn 
 
 Thy great uplifting, high above all towers 
 
 Follow the circle round, there Judas cowers, 
 Lonely, forsaken, outcast, anguish-swayed ; 
 Yet we are one, betrayer and Betrayed ; 
 
 Thou drinkest of my cup, I drink of Thine, 
 
 Thou art immortal, I shall be divine ; 
 Dreaming, Thou risest from Thy painful Throne, 
 Waking, Thou drawest to Thee me, Thine own. 
 
 I kissed Thee gently Thou hast understood ? 
 Out on the silly cowards who deserted Thee, 
 
 Whom men call good. 
 Thou and I are free, 
 We see not as the others see, 
 
 We dream 
 And that is times away. 
 
 Far down the stream 
 Of heavenly ways we see our paths unite 
 
 Where the veils fall, and day 
 For me replaces night 
 
 (The city quakes, the earth is full of blood 
 I, I that love Thee raised Thee on this Rood !) 
 
 Farewell, my Love, my Mastej, I have dared 
 For Thee that lesser men had left undone, 
 
 Be my love hereby proved, I have not spared 
 To give my God where God but gave His 
 Son.
 
 THE DELIVERER 63 
 
 I bear such pains, my body was not formed 
 
 To see the struggles of a dying God, 
 Or hold the terror of a prisoned soul 
 
 Striving for freedom : I am fain 
 
 Of silence, and the peace of night again. 
 Night brooding over Galilee, 
 And our small company 
 Each with his portioned dole 
 
 Quietly laid about Thee on the sod, 
 Beneath which, now, there is no peace for 
 me, 
 
 For Thou and I have work to do Oh God ! 
 Forsaken, helpless, therefore doubly to be loved 
 See how I yearn o'er Thee ! 
 
 Yet are Thy throes soon past, 
 
 And mine, aeonial, scarce begun, 
 For where Thy name is honoured, I am cursed ; 
 
 Outcast, reviled, I down the ages go, 
 Death but delivers me to greater woe. 
 
 But where Thy passion is rehearsed 
 Our names are linked still, 
 And Thine shall such a heavenly dew distil 
 
 That mine shall be washed pure and sweet some 
 
 day, 
 And children's lips sing " Judas," like a kiss, 
 
 But in no softer way 
 
 Than fell that kiss with which I did betray 
 Thy sad humanity, 
 Freeing the Godhead for eternity
 
 64 THE DELIVERER 
 
 (The city quakes, the air is full of blood, 
 Judas that loves Thee raised Thee on this Rood !) 
 
 These triumphs are too keen, we die, 
 So sharp the sacrifice, the agony. 
 
 Keep Thou the hapless Judas in Thy heart, 
 Nor fail me on that far-off day 
 When all that erred in my sad deed is purged away. 
 
 My lowly part 
 
 Was just to make the sacrifice complete, 
 Adding to heavenly stature earthly feet : 
 
 Thou art uplifted, I shall be cast down, 
 
 Master, farewell, until my destined crown 
 Is won, and all Thou strivest for fulfilled. 
 I am not worthy that my blood be spilled 
 
 Like Thine : in grosser pangs be spirit torn 
 
 From my gross body, let the wide world scorn 
 So I but join Thee aeons after 
 Where the soft laughter 
 
 Of the redeemed echoes about the heavenly 
 space ; 
 
 And find, crouched at Thy feet, a little quiet 
 
 place. 
 
 Then, when my courage grows, after awhile, 
 Murmur to me, with Thy celestial smile 
 
 Judas ! for the great love I bear to Thee 
 I grant thee to be crucified with Me ! 
 
 PRINTED BY NKILL AND 00., LTD., EDINBURGH.
 
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