^ u )(lf THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES AMENOPHIS AM) OTHER POEMS SACRED AND SECULAR «s- The Kiglit of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved A M E X O P H I S AND OTHER POEMS SACRED AND SECULAR BY FRANCIS T. PALGRAVE PROFESSOR OF POETRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD ?1 n ti n M A C M I L L A N AND CO. AND NEW YORK 1892 CONTENTS HYMNS I 11 III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XIl" XIII XIV XV :;| XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI AND MEDITATIONS- OX LYME BEACH 3 QUATUOR NOVISSIMA 7 AT EPHESUS 13 THE REIGX OF LAW 18 FAITH AND SIGHT IX THE LAT'IER DAYS . 24 A PSALM OF CREATION 26 THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE 28 THE HIDDEN LIFE 34 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ENGLAND . . 37 SURSUM 40 A PROCESSIONAL HYMN 42 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS .... 44 FOUK HY.VINS FOR PUBLIC USE 50 HYMN FOR INFANT BAPTISM 50 HYMN FOR HOLY COMMUNION 52 A MARRIAGE HYMN 54 CHRISTIAN BURIA! 56 THE NEWELEUSLS 58 At) ALTARE 6l i33iiiir,G VI HYMNS AND MEDITATIONS {(ontinued)— XXII HYMENAEA SACRA 63 INTROIT • 63 HYMN 65 XXIII THE DAYSTAR 67 XXIV A LITANY OF '1 HE NAME OF JESUS .... 69 XXV A CHRISTMAS LITANY OF CONFESSION . . 7I XXVI HYMN TO OUR SAVIOUR 73 XXVII CHRISTUS COXSOLATOR 75 XXVIII THE LOVE OF GOD . 77 XXIX IN THE VINEYARD 79 XXX LOST AND FOUND • 81 XXXI A HYMN OF REPENTANCE 83 XXXII A LITANY 85 XXXIII THROUGH AND THROUGH 88 XXXIV QUIA DILEXIT MULTUM 89 XXXV A HYMN OF PENITENCE 9I XXXVI THE GARDEN OF GOD 93 XXXVII THE CITY OF GOD 94 XXXVIII VIRGINI DEIPARAE 96 XXXIX A CHRISTMAS HYMN ICO XL ON THE LOVE OF CHILDREN I02 XLI A LITTLE CHILD'S HYM.N FOR NIGHT AND MORNING 105 XLII A child's MORNING HYMN IO7 XLIII A child's EVENING HYMN I08 XLIV THAT CHILDREN SHOULD BE GENTLE . . IO9 XLV AN INCIDENT AT MENDRISIO Ill XLVI GUARDIAN ANGELS II3 XLVII THE king's MESSENGER IIS XLVIII DE.ATH AND THE FEAR OF IT II7 XLIX R. I. P 120 I. DESIDERATISSIMAE 122 LI I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE . I24 Vll PAGE EPITAPHS— I ON A LITTLE CHILD 126 II ON AN INFANT 126 III ON A MOTHER 127 IV IN MEMORIAM FRED. PARRY HODGES . . 12? V IN MEMORIAM W. F. HOOK 128 VARIA— I PAUSANIAS AND CLEONICE, AN OLD-HEL- LENIC BALLAD 130 II TO MY mother's MEMORY 1 42 III IN MEMORY OF ROBERT BROWNING . . . I47 IV F. C. C 149 V SAN CARLO BORROMEO AT ARONA .... I50 VI THE LAMENT OF ARGATHELIA 152 VII CHISLEHURST 154 VIII IN MEMORY OF CHARLES WELLS AND JOSEPH SEVERN, DYING IN 1879 ... 157 l.\ PERE LA CHAISE 158 X AN INVOCATION 161 XI AN ASPIRATION 162 XII A PAUSE BEFORE BATTLE 164 XIII THE LO.ST 'EURYDICE' 166 XIV THE SUN-DIAL 17° XV TO A CHILD 172 XVI PORTRAIT OF A CHILD OF SEVEN .... 1 74 XVH L'iMPRfeVU, PORTH GWYN, DINLLEYN . . I76 XVIII IN MEMORIAM 177 XIX THE HAI'i'Y VALLEY 1 7^ XX children's LAMENT FOR BABY 180 XXI VERE NOVO 182 XXII A LATE SPRING 183 XXIII NATURAE P.EPARATRICI 185 vni PAGE VARIA {continued) — XXIV A HALCYON DAY IN SUMMER 187 XXV A DORSET VALLFA' 188 XXVI BETWEEN NIGHT AND MORNING IN SOUTH- WESTERN ENGLAND 190 XXVII A SUMMER SUNSET IN SOUTH-WESTERN DORSET 192 XXVIII AUTUMN 194 XXIX FROM LUCERNE I97 XXX AN AUTUMN SONG TO EUGENIA I98 XXXI A VISION OF LIFE 200 XXXII BETWEEN GRAVE AND CRADLE 202 XXXIII ELEGY ON THE DEPARTED 204 AMENOPHIS 209 NOTES 249 INDEX TO FIRST LINES 251 HYMNS AND M P: D I T A T IONS -To write true, unfeigned verse, Is very hard — Henry Vaughan : Silex Scinlillans Some of the following pieces are printed, (with revision), from the series published in 1870 : Others have appeared dispersedly. Aug. 1892 Liltlc Park, Lyme Regis Dorset I ON LYME BEACH T T RAN I A, voice of Heaven within the heart ! ^-^ Urania fair, that art Silent amid thy sisters, yet alone To man then audible When the sad ear rejects all earthly tone \-^ When the last farewell sigh of wife or child Leaves us unreconciled ; When the gray death-mists o'er our own weak eyes Fold, and the Star of Faith Burns o'er the gulph that sheer before us lies : — O shrined by Hellas in her central shrine, I5y Milton named divine. By us, yet, meaner men, thy voice is heard At times, as the faint cry iJropp'd dewlike from the twilight-wheeling bird : — K 2 Mid life's low dust and din we hear that cry, And start to find thee nigh ; As in some rock-hewn den the sunlit blue Through rifts peers in, and tells Of higher worlds than this, and life more true. — Sweet summer moon, that pours on this fair bay A fairer light than day. O'er yon still sea thy steady gleam in flakes Of orange-silver laid Down one long path just heaves, and heaving breaks, And, broken, reunites itself: — and then I hear again, again. The great tenth wave with one long impulse smite Whole miles of bay, and send The voice ©f central ocean through the night. Remote at once and near, the muffled roar Intones around the shore : Then the wing'd tribes that call the night their day With elfin pipings pass ; And then again the billow smites the bay. As when the seven bold chiefs Pryderi led,' Bearing Bran's sacred head, At Harlech in Ardudwy, music-bound. Sat year on year, and heard Rhiannon's feather'd quire : O'erseas the sound I See Note 5 -Murmur'd, far-floating ; yet in each man's ear Rang sweet and close and clear ; And they forgot their slaughter'd comrades brave On Erin's fatal field, And the white-bosom'd Bronwen's long-hid grave, Listening : — E'en so o'er us, in this fair bay, Their spell the sea- sounds lay, Recallihg how the fresh Ionian breeze To that great sightless seer ^ Who sang the shadowy hills and sounding seas, Bore the same voice, and spoke of other powers And other worlds than ours ; As if some oracle in that rhythmic wave Told how, through all the noise Of those who cry, and boast, and laugh, and rave. The Eternal Order makes His music clear To hearts that choose to hear ; And though in His high pleasure He withdraw Himself behind Himself, Yet through all worlds is love, and life, and law. — Eugenia I Singly dearest ! Not as, while In love's first hour, a smile Of glory brighten'd earth, we see it now ; The dream is gone : and wc Calmly the bitter, better truth avow. ' See Note 6 E'en yet, life's journey to the children dear Looks sumnier-mid-day clear ; But taught by stumbling steps, we know the way Has no more light at best Than these low moonbeams on the billows gray, The dusking hills, and skies that darker grow As the stars keenlier glow : — Only within the heart Urania's voice Wakens a chord at times, And thy hand meets in mine, and we rejoice Sedately : and we know the faith we hold Was, before Time, enroll'd In God's own archives : and the dawn's soft breeze Smites cool upon the brow. And Heaven's first day-smile trembles o'er the seas. II QUATUOR NO VIS SIM A Argtivient Death ; Judgment ; Heaven ; Hell :— Man would despair of life if he really realized these, as was attempted by some of old.— The tradition of Glamis Castle.— The Chartreuse of Saint Bruno near Grenoble.— Such a life now scantly possible, nor, for mankind generally, in the truest accord- ance with Nature. Our detachment from the world must be while in the world.— Earthly and heavenly comforts as aids to life and death in Christ. B" EFORE these human eyes Could that dread Vision rise, Those four last Terrors all mankind must know ; The ghastly grave : The Throne And He Who is thereon : The verdict-voice of Ciod, dividing weal from woe : Scarce could we turn or care To look upon this fair And varied earth,- this laughing sea and sky ; On Nature's genial face The Falc-mark we should trace, — A rosc-crown'd victim led unconscious forth to die ! That long, long, trumpet-thrill Our trembling ears must fill. Gainst voice of man and joy of music steel'd : — Life's motley moving show Too poor would seem, too low For eyes to that vast world beyond the world unseal'd. As who in manhood's hour Within the fateful tower Goes, not returning what he went : For he On that has dared to gaze Which twilights all his days. And turns the whole vain world to vainer vanity : So on our mortal sight If Thou should'st choose to smite The fearful things to come, too clear, too nigh, The heaven-dishearten'd soul Would faint to near the goal ; Before Death's Gorgon face sweet life to stone would die. O 'tis in mercy, then. Thou hast withheld from men The sacred terrors of the final day ; The weight of too much truth Would crush the flowers of youth, And bhght the fruits of age, the crown of life's decay ! So keep the mercy-veil, Lest our sad spirits fail, Dead ere our day before the dread To-be : — Let Thy soft gracious cloud The black horizon shroud, Thy bow o'erarch the vale, and bid us rest in Thee ! — Yet those we blame not, they Who in earth's earlier day And nearer Christ, — fleeing to wold and waste. With the whole heart's whole power Fore-lived their life's last hour, Thirsting before the time the gulphs of death to taste. I see the climbing road Which from I sere he trode, Bruno, while on the heights a home he seeks : Rock-sown the vale and rude, The soul of solitude ; r,ray shiver'd walls around, and Angel-hauntcd peaks There in the twilight low The white-robed brothers go, And meet and pass, — no sign, no look, no word : Only they lift their sight Tow'rd the loved cross-crown'd height. And pierce beyond the blue, and src the ascended Lord. lO There in dim granite cave, To Fancy' s eye the grave Of some forgotten far-off warrior wild, Circling the saintly head The light of Heaven is shed, As in the Mother's arms he sees the Eternal Child. And though the final Fear Gloom near and yet more near As days from life's fast-falling rosary slip ; Yet in that Faith and Friend Secure, he sights the end, — God's pardon and award from his Redeemer's lip. — Not in the wild, not so Our later footsteps go, Doom'd to the garish world, the vulgar sphere ! Tlae dull worn ways, the strife And highway-dust of life. Such is thy lot, O Man !— thine heritage is here ! For not this globe alone Pursues a track unknown, Whirl'd by our Monarch Star through bound- less space : Man's heart is drawn by God In lines of old untrod ; Fresh paths to Heaven disclosed before the changing race. II — Where man cannot intrude We have our solitude ; The heart of heart, the inviolate inner shrine : We call on Thee, and there The soul Thou canst prepare To face the Four Last Things, veil'd o'er by Love divme : From sight veil'd o'er, that so With steadier fuller liow Life's river to the eternal sea may stream : — Uncheck'd by terror chill, That we the field may till, A man's work while 'tis day, ere night un\oke the team. A man's full year-long task, — Not less than this we ask, Lest sloth enrust the soul, unstirr'd and still : Unknown, or known ; low ; high ; Beneath the Master's eye 'Tis one, if wrought for Him, with joy of earnest will. Lift from our hearts the gloom Of that near-yawning tomb ! — The song of birds, the flower at our feet, All precious things and fair We need, life's weight to bear ;— The heaven-lit light of jionir, the smiles of children sweet. 12 And in Thy holy place Thou dost unfold the grace Strong in that hour to comfort and to save : We see the Victim die, The Lord gone up on high, The life-in-death of Christ,— the glory of the grave ! — Then keep the mercy-veil. Lest our faint spirits fail, Dead ere our day before the dread To-be : — Till the soft hand of Love The shroud of earth remove, All tears wiped from all eyes ; — the Soul at rest with Thee. 13 III AT EPHESUS . . . Vidi iin veglio solo Venir dormendo con la faccia arguta. O' ,F those that saw Him, when On common earth He trod The life of man with men, I only, only, breathe, Who lean'd upon His breast, and knew that lie was God. As some strange thing that lies Surviving all his kind, 1, 'neath the radiant skies, Crawl baby-weak once more. Stranded upon my hundred years of life, and blind. And as that beast could tfll Of old incredible shapes That peopled lake and dell ; Seas, where rocks climb the sky, vXnd azure ice-hills where the parch'd Sahara gapes : — 14 So John can testify, Alone of living men, By seeing of the eye And hearing of tlie ear, That very God as man breathed, died, and rose again. It was the time foreshown ; Like a new sun o'er earth, — Beyond all wonders known Wonder most wonderful, — The Well-Beloved came, the Babe of heavenly birth. He did the deeds, He spoke The words past human wit : Then gently slipp'd the yoke Of flesh, and went to God ; — And we our treasure found, only when losing it. Yet, though the Word withdrew, The Paraclete remain'd ; Christ's nearness oft we knew ; Enough to guide our life From thought of how He spoke, and how He loved, we gain'd. And once, 'tis said, o'er one As though born out of time The glory-vision shone, Journeying Damascus-way ; Who lived in Christ, and died in some far westward clime. 15 Of breathing witnesses Survives now none but I ; Who heard the Master bless The bread and wine of life ; Saw Him and touchd, betwixt the sepulchre and the sky. —But though the faith of Sight By natural law must fail, A heavenlier higher light Upon the soul will dawn ; The unseen outshine the seen ; the faith of Fai prevail. The things of sense are much ; But more the things of mind : What we but see or touch Less real, durable, true. Than that invisible all-sustaining Life behind : As one of Athens taught In his own ethnic way. That all things here were nought But shadowy images Of forms that in the eternal Wisdom living lay. When these dim eyes arc closed, Children ! Remember well The word that John imposed With his last lips on you,— To walk henceforth by faith, and grasp the invisible. i6 What if no more the Lord Before the last dread day Be seen, yet shall His word Its might and music keep ; Shall find fit echo in the heart of heart for aye. As, in due transit, by The milestone-years ye go, Though star-like fix'd on high The cross and He thereon Down Time's gray avenue further, fainter, show : — If then the Lord delays, O yet ye need not fear, Faint hearts of latter days ! Time cannot touch the love To which a thousand years but one brief hour appear. As age on age unrolls. If faith her light withdraw From present-bounded souls Who only dare believe What they themselves have seen, or hold for Nature's law ; Or those who will not raise, E'en as they cry for light. Their heads o'er life's hot haze, Nor care to see the stars. Mute witnesses for God, nor dawning after night :— 17 Yet oft in that dark hour When first the unseen is felt, The Word will come in power, The so-far-off draw nigh, Christ's living love the long doubt-frozen bosom melt. — O living Love, so near On earth, so near above, In Thy good time appear, Take all Thy children home, — Who love, yet know Thee not ; — who, faithful, bow, and love ! — My little children true ! Before these lips are dumb They leave this word for you, — Love one another ! And Again. Love one another ! . . . f^nough ; He calls : I come. i8 IV THE REIGN OF LAW 'T^HE dawn goes up the sky ■^ Like any other day ; And these have only come To mourn Him where He lay. — " We ne'er have seen the law Reversed, 'neath which we lie ; Exceptions none are found, And when we die, we die. Resign'd to fact we wander hither ; We ask no more the whence and whither, " Vain questions ! from the first Put, and no answer found. He binds us with the chain Wherewith Himself is bound. From west to east the earth Unrolls her primal curve The sun himself were vex'd Did she one furlong swerve : The myriad years have whirl'd her hither, But tell not of the whence and whither. " We know but what we see, Like cause, and like event ; '9 One constant force runs on Transmuted, but unspent : From her own laws the mind Infers a conscious plan ; Deducing from within God's special thought for man : The natural choice that brought us hither Is silent on the whence and whither. " If God there be, or Gods, Without our science lies ; We cannot see or touch. Measure, nor analyse. Life is but what we live ; We know but what we know ; Souls prison'd each in self Whether God be, or no : The self-moved force that bore us hither Reveals no whence, and hints no whither. " Ah, which is likelier truth, That law should hold its way, Or, for this One of all, Life reassert her sway ? Like any other morn The sun goes up the sky ; No crisis marks the day ; For when we die, we die. No fair fond hope allures us hither ; The law is dumb on whence and whither." c 2 20 — Then, wherefore are ye come ? Why watch a worn-out corse ? Why weep a ripple past Down the long stream of force ? If life be that which keeps Each organism whole, No relic may be traced Of what He thought the soul ; It had its term of passage hither, But knew no whence, and knows no whither. The atoms that were Christ Have ta'en new forms and fled ; The common sun goes up ; The dead are with the dead. 'Twas but a phantom life That seem'd to think and will. Evolving self and God By some nerve-fashion'd skill ; That had its day of passage hither, But knew no whence, and knows no whither. If this be all in all ; Life, but one mode of force ; Law, but the plan which binds The sequences in course ; All essence, all design Shut out from mortal ken : — We bow to Nature's fate. And drop the style of men ! 21 The summer dust the wind wafts hither Is not more dead to whence and whither. — But if our life be life, And thought, and will, and love Not vague unrhythmic airs That o'er wild harp-strings move ; If consciousness be aught Of all it seems to be, And souls are something more Than lights that flash and flee ; Though dark the road that leads us thither, The heart must ask its whence and whither. To matter or to force The All is not confined ; Beside the law of things Is set the law of mind ; One speaks in rock and star, And one within the brain, In unison at times. And then apart again ; And both in one have brought us hither That wc may know our whence and whither. This seeming solid Earth We touch through mind alone ; These sequences of law By the soul's eye are known : — With equal voice she tells Of what wc feel and see 22 Within these bounds of life, And of a life to be ; Proclaiming One Who brought us hither, And holds the keys of whence and whither. O shrine of God that now Must learn itself with awe ! O heart and soul that move Beneath a living law ! That which seem'd all the rule Of Nature, is but part ; A larger, deeper lore Claims also soul and heart ; The force that framed and bore us hither Itself at once is whence and whither. We may not hope to read Nor comprehend the whole Or of the law of things. Or of the law of soul : Among the eternal stars Dim perturbations rise ; And all the searchers' search Does not exhaust the skies ; , He Who has framed and brought us hither Holds in His hands the whence and whither. He in His science plans What no known laws foretell : The wandering fires and fix'd Alike are miracle : 23 The common death of all, The life renew'd above, Are both within the scheme Of that all-circling Love ; The seeming chance that cast us hither Accomplishes His whence and whither. What though the types of life From their first lowly root By order'd steps climb up To leaf and flower and fruit ; We ask not why the Hand Chose that august advance ; Content to admire and watch, In a wise ignorance. Life's countless tribes He marshall'd hither ; We know the Whence, and wait the Whither. — Then though the sun go up His constant azure way, (]od may fulfil His thought And bless His world to-day ; Beside the law of things The law of mind enthrone. And for the hope of all, Reveal Himself in One ; Himself the way that leads us thither. The All-in-all, the Whence and Whither. T V FAITH AND SIGHT IN THE LA ITER DA YS " I prae : sequar." HOU say'st, ''Take up thy cross, O Majt, a7id follow me : ' The night is black, the feet are slack, Yet we would follow Thee. But O, dear Lord, we cry, That we Thy face could see ! Thy blessed face one moment's space- Then miffht we follow Thee ! 't>' Dim tracts of time divide Those golden days from me ; Thy voice comes strange o'er years of change ; How can I follow Thee ? Comes faint and far Thy voice From vales of Galilee ; Thy vision fades in ancient shades ; How should we follow Thee? Unchanging law binds all, And Nature all we see : Thou art a star, far off, too far, Too far to follow Thee ! — Ah, sense-bound heart and blind ! Is nought but what we see ? Can time undo what once was true ; Can we not follow Thee ? Is what we trace of law The whole of God's decree ? Does our brief span grasp Nature's plan. And bid not follow Thee ? O heavy cross— of faith In what we cannot see ! As once of yore, Thyself restore And help to follow Thee I Within our heart of hearts In nearest nearness be : Ciwc Thou the sign ; Say, ' Yc arc Mine ' Lead, and we follow Thee. 26 VI A PSALM OF CREATION 'T^ HE Sun lifts his head in hirs might, -*■ And climbs the blue steps of the sky ; Nor stays when he reaches the height, Nor fears at the setting to die. For to-morrow again he is born, To go forth in glory and glee : — The Sun is Thy creature, O God ! O God, who is like unto Thee ! The Moon, silver ship of the sky, Rides over the star-dotted blue ; And the maiden-pure glance of her eye From the firmament falls like the dew. The stars round their mistress rejoice, And sing as her beauty they see : — These all are Thy creatures, O God ! O God, who is like unto Thee ! The cloud overshadows the vales ; And the mountain looks down on the cloud ; The eagle in solitude sails To the sun o'er the mountain-top proud. 27 The flood from the thundercloud breaks, And the torrents roar down to the sea : — All these are Thy hand-work, O God ! O God, who is like unto Thee ! Then the sky smiles her peace over earth. And earth her blue smiling returns ; The lily-bells dance in their mirth, And the rose in red radiance burns :-- The birds in the forest ring out, And a thousand wild voices agree. To praise their Creator and God : O God, who is like unto Thee ! But higher and fairer than all, In the counsels of Wisdom and Love From the dust Thy last work Thou didst call, Little less than Thine Angels above. Thou gavest him all to command, All that wanders on earth or in sea ; Thine Image Thou gavest to bear : — () God, who is like unto Thee I — O Man, from thy bower and home, The Tree and the garden of Heaven, By lust and the Serpent o'ercome, By the sword-glare of Cherubim driven I Yet, who turn to the Son and believe, From death by His death to set free He hath promised ; and He will fulfil : — O God, who is like unto Thee I 28 VII THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE So far ! so very far ! And this life pressing in, for good and ill, Sea-like at every pore ; the tangible Shrunk round the soul with adamantine bar, — And that world further than the farthest star ! So long ago ! so long ! The world devouring with impassion'd stride Its history ; Years that rather surge, than glide ; Peace with her garish triumphs, and the throng Of wonders working equal weal and wrong ; Science so free of hand, Yet vaunting more than she can give or know ; The dazzling Present with his glory-show ; — And that scarce-visible life in Syrian land, Lost and time-buried by the Dead Sea strand ! — Strange warfare, which the seen. The present, wage against the unseen, the past ! As that enchantress, whose sweet guile held fast Within her palace-walls and forest green The gray world-wanderer ; — though the faithful Queen Sate in his island-hall, And the hearth blazed in winter, and the sun Shone summer-high above the mountains dun, As erst before the fatal Spartan call, And the long siege, and holy Ilion's fall :— But he remembers nought Of what has been, and will be : — till the spell Fade, and his eyes behold the invisible Long hid :— the faithful wife, the fields he fought The signs Athena for his safety wrought. — We too, amid the glare Of present life, misdeem the world we view. Our small horizon, for the boundless blue. Holding all things must be as now they are. And our experience valid everywhere. ' Let others tell their tale ' Of wonders by the Hellenic questioning mind ' Accepted : — We ne'er saw the shroud unbind ' Its tenant ; nor the cheek change rose for pale, ' Raised up from earth : nor do our powers avail ' To go round Death, and view 'An incorporeal life in realms unseen ! ' So let what will be rest with what has been ! ' Let the bright Hours their daily dance renew, ' While dreamers chase the Eternal and the True. 3° ' If scanty all we know, ' At least, 'tis knowledge palpable and pure : We see ! — Thus far, our footsteps are secure : ' No more we ask than sense and senses show, ' And Hope and Faith, vain luxuries, forgo. ' The envious Fates on high ' Grudge our horizon, nor will let man stray ' Unpunish'd past the bounds of sentient clay, ' And puff to scorn the adventurers who try ' On self-blown airballs to transcend the sky. ' Man was not made to soar ! ' Ascidian-born, not Angel : on this earth ' We clench our sight, nor claim a loftier birth ; ' Accept our fate and creep along the shore, ' And with life's music drown the dead-sea roar.' — To Circe's sleep-soft isle Straight let us steer, and live by Circe's creed, If this be all, if this be all, indeed ! —But should our science of things seen, meanwhile, Have its own bounds and quicksands : Should the smile Of sceptic doubt assail The message of the senses ; whether things Be what we see and touch, or imagings By self on self imposed, without avail To make us grasp the Infinite, which our frail 31 Yet eager reason knows Essential to the scheme of thought, and yet Transcending thought, because 'tis infinite :- • If beyond Space and Time no wisdom goes, — Man's limitations, yet to which man owes The stage whereon he stands And breathes and thinks and acts : — How then shall man Cut fragments out from Nature's general plan, Naming these known, while all beyond he hands To nescience ? — O fair palace, but on sands, For all thy bravery, set ! — — To our own selves, O friends, let us be just ! Either not know, or else our knowledge trust : For all our wisdom, howsoe'er we fret. Or boast our narrow certainties, is yet Enframed by hint and guess And theory :— As when the nights are dark In Autumn, and men trace a transient arc That threads its burning way with lightning stress, And then is swallow'd in blank nothingness, Deducing from the seen A credible unseen ; some curve, to roll Wider for aye, or circle, closed and whole : — So on our knowledge, partial though, we lean, And what will be forecast from what has been. — O sceptics airily bold ! 'Tis Reason bids you scorn the facile sneer That bars the search for truth beyond the sphere ! It is the weak who doubt ; the strong who hold The resolute Faith where new is one with old. Within a narrow vale Rock-wall'd and closed, and skies with cloud o'er- wrought, The Powers have planted Man, for life and thought Knowledge, and love : and, from beyond the pale, Some bird of God at times above may sail, Or gleams ascend and go. As on some castle turret-steps by night The lam.p climbs square by square, and light o'er light ; And then the shameful things of sin and woe, The poison-plants that in the valley grow, The sights that in the heart Tingle, and make us cry, O Lord ! how long ? Hast Thou forgotten ? Why concede such wrong ? Glare with less luridness, and the cloud in part Thins, and behind we know Thee, that Thou art ;— Justice, and Love, and Law Eternal. — Madness then, aside to thrust The heart's unsyllabled voice, the instinctive trust. The signal gleams that lighten and withdraw, Because with mortal sense man never saw 33 Nor touch'd nor measured God !— —As that lone sophist of earth's earh'er days Empedocles, who life's common, sunlit, ways Scorn'd, and the lava layers of Aetna trod, And dived for light in Typho's red abode : Nor saw the Immortals rise Star-eyed around the zenith, when the veil Of marsh-white mist parts in the midnight gale ; Nor where the dawn above horizon lies, And Phoebus fluting to the saffron skies. I) 34 VIII THE HIDDEN LIFE T^HRICE-HAPPY they, who know ^ The hidden things of Heaven ! In spirit with the risen Lord Who bless'd His sad Eleven : — Amid the world, within another world, Their own unseen, and Christ's, they move, And that without seems dark to this Sunn'd by the smile of saving Love : — Nor will that inner light decline, While Thou art ours, and we are Thine. The great and gaudy world, Throned on his car, goes by ; Surveys himself, and God, and Earth, With self-complacent eye : Unfolds his liberal lures, and calls mankind To share his pleasures, fair and free, Low whispering with a mystic smile, " If they quit Christ, and worship Me :"•— But all the world we will resign, While Thou art ours, and we are Thine. Proud Science next, with eyes That pierce the heart of things, 35 The dance of atoms ; — She who darts Through space on lightning wings ; In one vast pattern weaving law with law, And Soul alone beyond the plan ; With loud and louder voice proclaim'd The fount of light and life to Man : But all that knowledge we resign, While Thou art ours, and we are Thine. —Ah ! poor external things ! They only prize ye right Who, gazing on the invisible Lord, Walk in His inner light. What smiles of gold, what joys of Science high, What loveliness of earth below, Equals the settled look of Love, The peace the world cannot bestow ? All, all, with welcome we resign, While Thou art ours, and we are Thine ! From fear of death, and that Worse fear, that man must go, Blind puppet of blind force, push'd on Through paths he cannot know ; — From sick despair at ills we cannot cure, — O Saviour, Thou hast made us free, If only on Thy face we look. If only wc believe in Thee, — Safe on Thy bosom to recline, While Thou art ours, and we arc i hinc I D 2 36 Thrice-happy they, who see The hidden heavenly home ! Who know He walk'd on earth, and hence Know He again will come ! O gracious Faith of Reason, sane and sure ! O joy beyond all human speech ! O secret life of peace and love ! Treasure no robber-arm can reach ! — And all in humble hope are mine, While Thou art ours, and we are Thine. 37 IX THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ENGLAND Donee aspiret dies et inclinentur umbrae — O CHURCH of our fathers in England, O Home of the living Lord, Full fountain of Faith for ages And witness firm to the Word ! From Alban, Augustine, and Aidan, Paulinus and Cuthbert and Bede, To our days, ours even, what armies Of Christ His long triumph lead ! Saints in lowliness known to Him only ; Saints famed in their own despite ; Life-service pour'd forth for His poor ones, Or crown'd with the martyr-light : Of whom the world was not worthy. Counting earth's riches as dross ; Now laid 'neath gray village spires, And the sign of the saving Cross. The sin-vex'd offspring of Adam, While the centuries onward glide. Have grown in this field of Kngland, The tares and the wheat beside :■ - 38 O visible fold of the Shepherd, How oft in His sorrow survey'd, As the myriad snares of the Tempter Himself again have betray'd ! But the Presence unseen at the altar, And the Fountain of heavenly birth, And the Grace of Christ and His Spirit Abide with His Church upon earth ; While the tall cathedral, in brightness O'er sin-strife and turmoil below, Lifts the sign of the great Forgiveness, The peace which the world cannot know. Nor for these alone hath His mercy The gracious " Come unto Me " ; And not of this fold are others In secrecy known to Thee ! Grace-led while unknowingly straying. Or stumbling in sceptic gloom, Or dazed by the glare of the Present From the Cross and the vacant Tomb. What then if in ignorant anger, Or doing they know not what, Or casting — unholy alliance ! — With the infidel legion their lot, The foes of the Faith in its beauty 'Gainst the Church of our fathers unite — But not in our strength, O Saviour ! Thine only, we gird for the fight. 39 All wrongfulness, firm yet forgiving, For His sake, O brothers, endure : For His heritage 'tis we are warring, And the heritage of His poor : — Though the spoiler rage hotly around us, We stand in full faith in His word ; For our House on the Rock is founded, And the Rock is the Living Lord. — O Boat on Gennesareth heaving, As the winds 'gainst her oarsmen prevail ! Christ's Ark, which the forces of darkness In all lands, through all ages, assail ! — The Holy One moves in the tempest ; The storm-cries of fury are stay'd : And lo ! the still Voice of assurance — "It is I, Sons I be not afraid." 40 X SURSUM Vesper adest : iuvenes, consurgite — I N WARD and upward, whatever the way ; Gloomy or glad, through darkness and day Vow'd to the end, be it distant or soon. Under the banner of Christ to march on ; Strong in His armour to war against ill. With a will, with a will. Onward and upward ! 'Tis to no easy achievement we go ; Self must meet self, as a man meets his foe ; Thoughtlessness, indolence, coldness of soul, Selfishness, — are between us and the goal. As on life's meadow we war against ill, With a will, with a will, Onward and upward. 'Tis not the doubters who move us to flight ; We see in faith, where they waver in night. 'Tis not the evil of things that we fear ; AU the world's mystery cannot be clear As in this twilight we war against ill, With a will, with a will, Onward and upward.- 41 But with the self within self, and the heart Ready to stray, are the pain and the smart : — Here are the foes, as we march to the goal ; — Saviour and Lord ! be the soul of the soul In this hard lifelong campaign against ill, With a will, with a will. Onward and upward. Fierce in the heart is the battle of life ; Bitter the wounds, — yet not hopeless the strife ; Groans in the darkness, and cry upon cry : Yet there is One Who will not let us die. Heading the march as wc war against ill, With a will, with a will. Onward and upward. High o'er the host floats His banner along, Red with the love that redeems us from wrong ; He has made ready a home for His own ; He will return to the rescue alone, — Leader and Lord, as we war against ill. With a will, with a will, Onward and upward ! 42 XI A PROCESSIONAL HYMN HRISTIANS in name and faith, C "J As gain we count the loss, The world's contempt for those who bear The banner of the Cross. Who is on My side ? Who with Me ? The Lord cries day by day : — In Thy blest service only free, We range ourselves to follow Thee, The Truth, the Life, the Way ! Then follow, follow. Him Whose blood From death and doom hath freed us The crimson'd footsteps of His love To life eternal lead us ! Sons of the Church of Christ, A stricter rule we own, A loftier law, than they who live By Nature's law alone. Thou art our Hope, ascended Lord, Our leading-star in Heaven ! But in Thy life with human-kind, That perfect Manhood here, we find Our great Exemplar given. Then follow . . . 43 All justice, truth, and love, All purity, Thy days ; We cannot think Thee as Thou wert ; We cannot speak Thy praise ! When doubt and danger round us rage. Uphold us by Thy power ; And in Thy mercy lend the grace By faith to see Thee face to face In Death's imperious hour ! Then follow . . . —Ah ! little love to Thee For Thy great love we bring ! So is there sadness in our song, E'en while for joy we sing ! Captain of our salvation, come ! Uplift Thy victor-sign ! For Thee we fight ; with Thee we bleed : Lord, to Thy peace Thy soldiers lead, And make us wholly Thine ! Then follow, follow. Him whose blood From death and doom hath freed us The crimson'd footsteps of His love To life eternal lead us ! 44 XII MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS I T ORD GOD of morning and of night, ^—^ We thank thee for thy grace of light : As in the dawn the shadows fly, Thy presence shines on us more nigh. Fresh hopes have walcen'd in the heart, Fresh force to take the loftier part ; Thy slumber-balms our strength restore Throughout the day to serve Thee more. Yet whilst Thy will we would pursue. Oft what we would we cannot do : The sun may stand in zenith skies. But on the soul thick midnight lies. O Lord of light ! Thy grace alone Can make the darken'd heart Thine own : Cleanse then our sin-dimm'd eyes, till they Unclose on Heaven's eternal Day ! Praise God, our Maker and our Friend ; Praise Him through time, till time shall end ; Till psalm and song His name adore Through Heaven's great day of Evermore, 45 XIII II /^ \ THOU Who, in Thy night of prayer, ^ Pain past all pain for man didst bear, Before Thee now we kneel and pray. And make confession for the day. Oft from Thy royal road we part. Lost in the mazes of the heart : Our lamps put out, our course forgot, We seek for God, and find Him not. What breath of flowers then cheers the night, What star-eyed heavenly beacon bright ? Thou risest on our way, and we Find Guide and Path and all in Thee. When that last sleep and Death arc near. Be Thou with us, Redeemer dear ; Safe so within Thy fold to wake, When God's great Judgment-morn shall break. Praise God, our Maker and our Friend ; I'raisc Him through time, till time shall end : Till psalm and song His name adore Through Heaven's great day of Evermore. 46 XIV III T T IGH in heaven the sun Shines his worship to Thee The bird in the brightness Sings his hymn from the tree : Thou art praised on the earth, Thou art praised in the sky ; Last comes Thine own creature To praise the Most High. For the sleep, for the waking, For the rest of my bed ; For in Thine arms I slept. By Thy touch awakened. As Thou wast in the night, Be with me by day : Morning, noon, evening ; All my Hfe, and alway. Go Thou beside me Wherever I go : Whatever Thou wiliest. Make that I wish it so : That in thought of Thee All I do may be done : As all great in Thy sight, All small in my own. When to-day brings its trial Be Thy voice mine aid : Say, ' It is I ; Be not afraid. The night is Mine, And Mine is the day, Morning, noon, evening. All thy life, and alway.' 48 XV IV ' I ""HE day is over, The darkness is come : I thank thee, O Lord, For the peace of home. This night and ever Keep my feet in Thy way : Feet slow to follow Thee, Feet quick to stray. Oft wandering from Thee, At Thy guidance I chafe ; Hold Thou me up, I shall be safe. Sad shades of old sin Dog my steps as I go : What was done in the darkness, In the daylight I know. With the voice of the sea Sin allures to the brink ; Stretch out Thine hand : Let me not sink. 49 Whom have I In heaven but Thee ? And on earth there is none Set beside Thee may be. Life soon is over, And death will come : Lord, linger not In Thy heaven-home : As God, come in power To judge us and bless : As Man with man again, Come in Thy tenderness. E 50 XVI FOUR HYMNS FOR PUBLIC USE I HYMN FOR INFANT BAPTISM T ORDJESUS, Who didst here Thy love ^-^ With little children share, With love from highest heaven behold And bless this baby fair ! And as we wash with water bright Our hands from soil of earth, So in Thy gracious fountain cleanse The stain of human birth. As that great Ship athwart the flood Mankind in safety bore ; As Israel through the Red-Sea gates Foresaw the promised shore ; As Thou in Jordan river plunged Didst sanctify the wave : So on this child Thy blessing pour, All-Merciful ! — and save. O God with Manhood clothed for us, Remember Thou the years Within the Nazaraean home, Thine infant smiles and tears : And by that innocence of Thine Do Thou this dear one free 51 From sin of flesh and sin of soul, And make him one with Thee ! O safe within Thy sacred Ark, The faithful happy fold, Through all the pain and joy of life, The new-born inmate hold ! Guard Thou when gold or pleasure lure, Or thoughtless selfish sin. Or blinding doubt, or black despair, And lead the wanderer in. Safe, safe within the haven hold, Whatever storms may rave ; If long or few the allotted days, His ransom'd spirit save ; So at Thy right-hand may he be, With those whom Thou shalt own, On that great Day of Wrath and Love, Before the Judgment-Throne. DOXOLOGY For each hyfim Eternal Father, Sovran Lord, Around, below, above ; Eternal Son, Who, Man with man, Redeem'd the world by love ; Eternal Spirit, Fount of trulli And comfort evermore ; Eternal Trinity, for us All mercy we implore. V. 7. 52 XVII II HYMN FOR HOLY COMMUNION T T is Thine hour, Ascended Lord ! -*- The holy time is near With suppliant hands and hearts to kneel Before Thine altar here. Creator of the worlds !— As God, Where Being is, Thou art ; — Thyself in mystic union now, As soul to soul, impart. Ah ! — Souls for such a guest unmeet ! Unworthy Thou should'st come, If Thy pure Spirit breathe not first To cleanse the sin-stain'd home ! The burden is beyond our strength ; The thought of it abhorr'd : Have mercy on us. Son of Man ! Have mercy, risen Lord ! " Come unto Me," we hear Him cry, With gracious fond request ; " Come unto Me, world-wearied hearts, And 1 will give you rest. 53 In memon' that I died for you, To you Myself I give ; My Body and My Blood are here, To take, and eat, and Hve." O wondrous Feast, where Christ, beyond Our bounded eyesight dim, In real presence deigns to be, And make us one with Him ! One in the Sacrifice that here Our inmost hearts adore ; One with all faithful souls to be. And one with all of yore. With Angels and Archangels now We, even we, unite, To praise Thy Name, Almighty Lord, High o'er the highest height. And by the Blood Thou gav'st for us And all mankind to share, O Son of God, at God's right hand, Hear and accept our prayer I 54 XVIII III A MARRIAGE HYMN r^\ THOU by Whom the life on earth ^-^ Is unforgot on high, This morn with special blessing sweet, O Son of Man, be nigh ! And as Thy glory did not turn From Cana's feast away, Once more as man with men be here. And sanctify the day. What though to mount and desert wild, The pensive heart's abode, Retiring oft, — communion high ! — Thou wast alone with God : Yet could'st Thou taste our transient joys, The pleasures pure from sin ; With all-embracing human heart. And loving to Thy kin. — As Isaac in Rebekah found The bliss for which he strove ; As Sarah to her lord gave back The comfort of her love ; 55 As Thine own heart goes eager forth To meet Thy cherish'd Bride : So be the love between these tw^o, Till death their days divide. The joy of helpful toil be theirs, The peace of hearth and home : The single heart, the mutual years, The children sweet to come : — So through life's meadow guide them safe, And gently down the slope ; And bid their eyes the glory see Of Heaven's immortal hope. All flower and fruit of earthly joy, All joy when earth is o'er, Almighty Lord of death and life, For these we now implore ! And as they join their faithful hands In loving marriage-sign. Preserve them ever in Thy love, Here and hereafter Thine. 56 XIX IV CHRISTIAN BURIAL f ^ARK gateway of the house of God, Which all Mankind must tread, A light strikes through thee o'er the graves Of Jesu's faithful dead ! For He has pass'd whose passing through The way for us hath won ; The Resurrection and the Life Secured by Him alone. O destined Saviour of the world Before the worlds began, Thy riven grave and rising brought The hope of hopes to man ! Lord, in that faith we see the day Through death's own midnight shine : — And resting in that faith to Thee Our dear ones we resign. Yet 'gainst ourselves, in love's behalf, Our inmost heart will fight : We clasp them fast, we know not how To let them leave our sight. The blank of Jiis dear face we feel ; The voice beyond recall ; 57 And murmurs 'gainst Thy Will break out, And rebel tears will fall. Ah ! Pardon ! — by the crimson drops Rain'd o'er Mount Olivet ! Before the downcast eyes of love Our sure horizon set ; — The mortal frame for Heaven renew'd ; The soul from frailty free ; The heart within Thy heart received, For ever one with Thee. — Thou host gone up on high, and left Thy shining track afar. To guide our feet before Thy face, And where Thy children are. Beneath Thy might the stingless darts Of Death down-trampled lie : — The gate of life stands wide for Man : — — Thou hast gone up on high ! DOXOLOGY Eternal Father, Sovran Lord, Around, below, above : Eternal Son, Who, Man wiili man, Redcem'd the world by love ; Eternal Spirit, Fount of truth And comfort evermore ; Eternal Trinity, for us All mercy wc implore. 58 XX THE NEW ELEUSIS (In Memoriam 21 March, 1872) T) ABY fair, that know'st not yet If the sun be risen or set ; Know'st not yet of mother's love, Man on earth, or God above ; Who thou art, or w^hy we here Bear this lamb-Hke burden dear ; — — Yet the Eternal Counsels hold All within the holy fold Thine appointed place, which we Come in faith to claim for thee. As the ark that safely bore Noah the gray billows o'er ; As the ocean-gates outspread Before Israel when he fled ; As, where Jordan waters run, God to us reveal'd the Son ; So, His child, thy tender flesh Takes the saving sign afresh, Love confirming love bestow'd When the fount of Calvary flow'd. 59 Mystic sign of things unseen, What will be, and what has been ! Things from mortal sense more far, Yet more true than sun or star ! Mystic Names of Three in One, That, as age on age has run, Heard by man in earthly place, Echo through the spaceless space ! Heaven around the helpless head ! Child in God initiated ! — Mighty Saviour, by Whose hand Earth was framed as Wisdom plann'd ; Thou Who cam'st by mortal birth, Child with children once on earth, — By the days of Manhood here. By the vacant sepulchre. By the glory-seat on high, — By the sudden, speechless cry Of this suppliant at Thy Throne, Call our Child Thy very own ! Bid the baby-soul complete All its birthright promise sweet : Steadfast faith, cmblazon'd sure On the unfurrow'd forehead pure : Eyes of hope, and smiles that move o'er the deep, deep heart of l(ne • 6o — O fair dawning, if the light, Widen on to Heaven's height ! If the flower in Him have root Who alone gives life and fruit ! Thou, all knowing, well hast known,- As we kneel before the Throne, With what ardency of prayer We give baby to Thy care ! Clasp Thy faithful Arms to hold This white inmate of the fold ; Safe through trial-storms of woe, Snares of sin that smile below, Safe across life's troublesome sea, Heaven-haven'd safe with Thee. 6i XXI AD ALTARE /~\NCE Man with man, now God with God above us, ^-^ Loving us here, and after death to love us : Enough is this for us, O Saviour dear, When to Thine altar our faint feet draw near. ' Come unto me all that are heavy laden, I will refresh you ; mine is love unfading : ' It is enough ; we ask not where Thou art, Present in space, and in the faithful heart. — Memorial of the Death, and all it gave us. Himself offers Himself to cleanse and save us ; -Sacrifice still renew'd, yet still the same, — The bloodless Lamb, the Cross without the shame. Once in mean swaddling clothes and infant feature The world's Creator dcign'd to come as Creature ; So here behind these earthly signs' disguise The Flesh He took for us in myster)' lies. O ye who named from Christ, should be Christ's wholly, Mar not the Feast of Love with strife unholy ! Words are too weak that Presence to define, — Here in Memorial, Sacrifice, and Sign. 62 — So long since Thou wast here, that to our seeming Thou art like some fair vision seen in dreaming- • With glare and glow and turmoil, sigh and shout, The world rolls on, and seems to bar Thee out. Behind the midday sky the stars are shining ; O shine out on us in our sun's declining : With loved ones lost, and loved ones yet to quit, Were this life all, we could not bear with it ! — Once Man with man, now God with God above us Who lov'st us here, and after death wilt love us ; When to Thine altar our faint feet draw near, It is enough for us if Thou art here. 63 XXII HYMENAEA SACRA — Graecis et Barbaris debitor sum — I INTROIT "T^EAR not : come forth : draw near : — Before ye goes Immortal Love, with changeless passion pale ; Star-eyed and crown'd with amaranth and rose, And flame about him like a marriage-veil : First-born of Heaven, and messenger of God, He signs the golden road. And Innocence in courage clad is here, And those well-girdled Graces from on high, — Three known in Hellas, and three not less dear Fair Hope, fair Faith, and fairest Charity ; — Whilst Angels lifting loud their unheard song, Above the altar throng. — Glide on, fair Visions, glide, with holy Mirth, Sweet fears, sweet presages of bliss to be, Love multiplied in love around the hearth, And Youth exulting in youth's victory ; — Life's triumph in full tide of chastcn'd state, And joy for words too great. 64 —But who is He Who to faith's inmost eye Apart and alien from the glory stands ? Lamb-like and white, as one prepared to die, The thorn-crown'd forehead and the nail-struck hands : - pitying eyes ! O lips of grief divine ! What in this hour is Thine ? — " I, even I, once man with man on earth, From heaven look down to ratify the vow : — 1 feel the touch of holy human mirth ; The thorns of human love are round My brow : Thorns blent with blessings for My children true : — Approach ! All are for you ! " Pure joys, chaste fires, caressing and caress'd ; Earth knit with Heaven in mystic union high, The little faces at the mother's breast ; On such I look with beatific eye : Nor any sight dearer to Me than this — The heart-deep marriage kiss. " As Abraham to Sarah set his word, As Jacob with fair Rachel, so be ye : As My love is to those who love their Lord Known or unknown, — yet all beloved by Me ; Through life's dark days to God's immortal year So let your love burn clear." 65 — As silence heard in silence is the Voice, Yet pure and certain to Faith's secret ear: — Fear not ! Approach ! 'Tis He who bids rejoice To Whom His least least little ones are dear :— One flesh, one soul, one heart, henceforth to dwell ; On earth, Immanuel. HYMN T T OLY Hymen ! whom of yore -*- ■■■ Mortal passion deem'd divine, — Holy Hymen, we once more Welcome thee within the shrine : Holy to the world of old. Holier we thy presence hold. — Father of mankind and Head, Unknown God, and God reveal'd ; Since man first with woman wed Thou Thy love dost freely yield When two hearts, by love made wise, Offer self in sacrifice. — Holy Saviour ! Lord on high ! Age o'er age has roll'd and fled Since Thy blcssdd feet went by On the common earth we tread ! Yet, through long-receding space, We at Cana see Thy face. F 66 Bring that ancient blessing here On the home, the board, the bed ! Thou invisible art near ; Safe their steps hast hither led ; Lo the feast prepared ! — But Thou Hast kept back the best till now. — Holy Wisdom, born of Love, Lead them in Thy tranquil way, Spread Thy genial wings above, Shadow in the sultry day : Shielding them, where'er they go, From the extremes of wealth and woe : — Till they gain the shining land, Mid the twilight guide secure. Heart in heart, and hand in hand, Footsteps equable and sure : While through earth's brief years they prove All the infinite of Love. — Holy Love ! that art of God, Fold them in thine arms, we pray ; In thine innermost abode. Two, and one, henceforth for aye : One on earth, and one above ; One in everlasting love. 67 XXIII THE DAYSTAR aciiov aepo