iii isyft?;^! .'*♦■>'■ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES it. fy <■--*. -^ ■" >- ■, -x^^ .iL'l-*' i*i-*5t- r..>. \<| !••(*' J * / '*.' ■'•^'•-^ v ^i'- ^ ^-v. i'-?' >!>■ - V " >r" '-* r''^* Q? -1. rfc ':-■■- .' *<, ■%," <^'' ^ 1 -^^ 5*^ :i: I _ ( I. d-iiglislj l^jirics. ALL SALNTS. — Page 16. (tonglisi) fijiic5 COLLECTION OF ENGLISH POETKY OF THE PRESEKT DAY. AUKANGED ItY THE liEV. liOBElJT H. BxiYXES, M.A. Editor of the " Lyra Anglicana " LONDON II U U L S T ON AND W 11 I G U T (i.j, PATEUNOdTliU now MUCCCLXV. LOS VON : PRINTED BY J. AND W. RIDER, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE. I 1^ 153^-, TO THE RIGUT llEVEKEND THE LOED BISHOr OF OXFOED, Chancellor of (he Most Noble the Order of the Garter, (Ln-;itrful Jilfmorn of numii ^liiiiiucsscs, ■^alitb bffp Jlcsjjftt imiJ Jlcbcrcnt ^^ffrction, THIS COLLECTION or WITH HIS LOIiDSIIIP'S FEIiMISSION, IS INSCTITBED. PREFACE. The following Collection of " English Lyrics " is intended as a companion volume to " Lyra Auglicana." The very large measiire of success which attended the pul)lication of the "Lyra" suggested the idea of the present Book, whilst it abundantly confirmed the remarks I there ventured to make as to the value of really good Hymns, and their ahidinu; intiuence on the Heart and Life. And it iris liecause I have so deep and growing a ct»n- viction of tlie power of this influence, lliat 1 regard it as no light privilege to have been jxaiiiitted in any degi'ee eitlier to awaken or strcngtluii, in earnest and tlioughtful minds, tlie sense nf ils real and practical imjxjrtance. viii Preface. The greatest Christian Poet of our land and age has sung to us of those who, amid toils and sorrows, — " Ply their daily task with busier feet, Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat." And this language is no exaggeration whatsoever. There is a marvellous power of consolation and of strength about true Poetry, lighting up as it does, with its own special briglitness, that which often seems to be material and conmionplace, and bringing home to us, in the way easiest of all to be remembered, the great lessons God would have us learn amid the trials and discipline of our earthly life. Most men, I suppose, who have any claim to be considered thoughtful at all, have at certain times of their history felt the force of this power of which I speak. Amid the multitudinous forms of beauty and delight in tlie world around ; amid the shadows and the stillness when we go forth to meditate at eventide; in the darkened chamber of sickness, or in the hour of bitter sorrow, who of us does not know what it is to have his soul uplifted, comforted, Preface. ix or made strong, l)y the familiar strains of one to whom God lias vouchsafed the high gift of Poetry and Song ? And in these days of luirry and excitement, when men's powers and energies are taxed to the uttermost iu the various callings they pursue, and when comparatively few have time or even inclination to enter on a long and systematic study of English Poetry for themselves, it can hardly Ije a useless or unimportant task to gather together, within the compass of a single volume, choice gems uf Thuught and of Expression, which may serve to gladden many a ^^•cary hour, and suggest ideas of Beautv and of Truth. The special feature of the Collection now ofiered to the reader consists in the fact that a large numlier of the I'ocms appear fur the lirst time in print, while tlie rest, so far as I know, have never as yet found a place in any other volume, excepting the Authfirs' r; '^ I -i-^^ 'C. V^^ '<^^ ^: v:A\ ^- r ■-V '4^ GOOD-NIGHT IN THE PORCH. K^ J^A f 'J' LITTLE longer in the liglit, Love, let me '^' be. The air is warm. \ I liear the cuckoo's last good-night float from the copse below the Farm. A little longer, Sister sweet — your hand in mine — on this old seat. ^<^ In yon red gable, which the rose creeps ^yp round and o'er, your casement shines Against the yellow west, o'er those forlorn and solitary pines. Tlie long, long day is nearly done. II()^\■ silent all the place is grown ! The stagnant levels, one and all, are burning in the distant marsh — Ilark ! 'twas the bittern's parting call. Tln' fntgs are out : with murmurs harsh Th(j low reeds vibrato. See ! the sun catches the long ])ools one by one. u 2 English Lyrics. A moment, and those orange flats will turn dead grey or lurid Avliite. Look up ! o'erhead the winnowing bats are come and gone, eluding sight. The little worms are out. The snails begin to move doAvn shining trails, With slow pink cones, and soft wet horns. The garden bowers are dim with dew. AVith sparkling drops the white-rose thorns are twinkling, where the sun slips through Those reefs of coral buds hung free below the purple Judas-tree. From the warm upland comes a gust made fragrant "with the brown hay there. The meek cows, with their white horns thrust above the hedge, stand still and stare. The steaming horses from the wains droop o'er the tank their plaited manes. And o'er yon hill-side lirown and barren (where you and I as children played, Starting the rabbit to his warren), I hear the sandy, shrill cascade Leap down upon the vale, and spill his heart out round the muffled mill. can it be for nothing only that God has shown His world to me 1 Or but to leave the heart more lonely with loss of beauty . . . can it be 1 closer, closer. Sister dear . . . nay, I have kissed away that tear. Good-Xight hi the Porch. o r«od bless you, Dear, for that kind thought which only upon tears could rise ! God bless you for the love that sought to hide them in those drooping eyes, AVhose lids I kiss ! . . . poor lids, so red ! but lot my kiss fall there instead. Yes, sad indeed it seems, each night — and sadder. Dear, for your sweet sake ! — To watch the last low lingering light, and know not where the morn may break. To-nifrht we sit together here. To-morrow night will come . . . ah, where ? 'o child ! hoAve'er assured be faith, to say farewell is fraught with gloom, AVhen, like one flower, tlie germs of deatli and genius ripen toward the tomb ; And earth each day, as some fond face at parting, gains a graver grace. There's not a flower, there's not a tree in this old garden where we sit, IJut what some fragrant memory is closed and folded up in it. To-night the dog-rose smells as wild, as fresh, as when I was a child. 'Tis eight years since (do j'ou forget 1) Ave set those lilies near the Avail : You were a blue-eyed child : even yet I seem to sec the ringlets fall — The golden ringlets, bloAvn behind your shoulders in the merry Avind. 4 English Lyrics. Ah, me ! old times, tliey cling, they cling ! And oft hy yonder green old gate The field shows through, in morns of spring, an eager boy, I paused elate "With all sweet fancies loosed from school. And oft, you know, when eves were cool, In summer time, and through the trees young gnats began to be about. With some old book upon your knees 'twas here you watched the stars come out. While oft, to please me, you sang through some foolish song I made for you. And there's my epic — I began when life seemed long, though longer art — And all the glorious deeds of man made golden riot in my heart — Eight books ... it will not number nine ! I die before my heroine. Sister ! they say that droAvning men in one wild moment can recall Their whole life long, and feel again the pain — the bliss — that thronged it all : — Last night those phantoms of the Past again came crowding round me fast. Xear morning, when the lamp was low, against the wall they seemed to flit ; And, as the wavering light would glow or fall, they came and went with it. The ghost of boyhood seemed to gaze down the dark verge of vanished days. Good-Kight in the Porch. 5 Once more the garden wliere she walked on summer eves to tend her flowers, Once more the lawn where first we talked of future years in twilight hours .Vrose ; once more she seemed to pass before me in tlio waving grass To that old terrace ; her bright hair about her warm neck all undone, And waving on the balmy air, with tinges of the dying sun. .lust one star kindling in the west : just one bird singing near its nest. 80 lovely, so beloved ! Oh, fair as though that sun hail never set "Which staid upon her golden hair, in dreams I seem to see her yet ! To see her in that old green place — the same hushed, smiling, cruel face ! A little older, Love, than you are noAV ; and I was then a boy ; And wild and wapvard-hearted too ; to her my passion was a toy, Soon broken! ah, a foolish thing— a butterfly with crumpled wing ! Her hair, too, was like yours — as bright, but with a wariuer golden tinge : Her eyes — a somewhat deeper light, and dreamed below a longer fringe : And still that strange grave smile slie had stays in my heart and keeps it sad ! 6 English Lyrics. There's no one knows it, truest friend, "but you : for I have never breathed To other ears the frozen end of those Spring garlands Hope once wreathed ; And death will come before again I breathe that name untouched by pain. From little things — a star, a flower — that touched us with the selfsame thought. My passion deepened hour by hour, until to that fierce heat 'twas wrought, Which, shriveUing over every nerve, crumbled the out- works of reserve. I told her then, in that wild time, the love I knew she long had seen ; The accusing pain that burned like crime, yet left me nobler than I had been. What matter with what words I wooed her '? She said I had misunderstood her. And something more — small matter what ! — of friendshi]) something — sister's love : She said that I was young — knew not my ovm heart — as the years would prove : She wished me happy — she conceived an interest in me — and believed I should grow x;p to something great— and soon forget her — soon forget This fancy — and congratulate my life she had released it, yet— With more such words — a lie ! a lie ! She broke my heart, and flung it by ! Good-yi[/}ct in the Porch. 7 A life's libation lifted up, from her proud lip she dashed untasted : There trampled lay love's costly cup, and in the dust tho wine was -wasted. 8he knew I could not pour such wine again at any other slirine. Then I remember a numb mood : mad murmurings of the words she said : A slow shame smouldering through my blood ; that surged and sung within my head: And drunken sunlights reeling through the leaves : above, the burnished blue Hot on my eyes — a blazing shield : a noise among the waterfalls : A free crow up the brown cornfield floating at will : faint sheijherd-calls : And reapers reaping in the shocks of gold : and girls with purple frocks : All which the more confused my brain : and nothing could I realize IJut the great fact of my OM-n jiain : I saw the fields : I heard the cries : The crow's shade dwindled up the hill : the world went on : my heart stood stilL I thought I h<'ld in my hut hand my life crushed up : I could have tost The crumpled riddle; from me, and laughed loud to tliiiik what I had lost. A bitter strength. Avas in my mind : like Samson, wh-ii she scorned him — l>liii 2 English Lyrics. II. " the depth of the riches hoth of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! " — Eomans xi. 33. I had been reading Paul's great argument, Where, after those deep chapters darkly penned. He bursts out, " the depth ! " toward the end ; When, "whether thought or memory might present Such image — lo ! a merchantman was bent, Under reefed topsails through a strait to drop, Hung o'er with cliff's that almost touched at top. Dark o'er the wallowing sea the vessel went. Till instantaneously she had passed through, A touch of moonlight on her sails — before her. World without end, the waves, a blue sky o'er her. Behold, I thought, an image passing true, — After Predestination's narrow road. The silver ocean of the love of God ! W. Alexander, M.A. jL Dean of Emly. on ''THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY: rVIR world ! these puzzled souls of ours grow weak "With beating their bruised wings against tlie rim ■^ V/ That bounds their utmost flying, when they seek The distant and the dim. ^_^ We pant, we strain like birds against their wires ; Are sick to reach the vast and the '^.^ beyond ;— -'^ And what avails, if still to our desires Those far-off gulfs respond ] Contentment comes not therefore ; still there lies An outer distance when the first is hailed, Axui still for ever yawns before our eyes ^Vn UTMOST — that is veiled. Searcliing those edges of the universe, "We leave the central fields a fallow part ; To feed the eye more precious things amerce, And starve the darkened heart. D 34 English Lyrics. Then all goes wrong : the old foundations rock ; One scorns at him of old who gazed nnshod ; One striking with a pickaxe thinks the shock Shall move the seat of God. A little way, a very little way (Life is so short) they dig into the rind, And they are very sorry, so they say, — Sorry for what they find. But truth is sacred — aye, and must be told : There is a story long heloved of man ; We must forego it, for it' will not hold — l^ature had no such plan. And then, " If God hath said it," some should cry, " We have the story from the fountain-head : " W^hy, then, what better than the old reply, The first " Yea, hath God said?" The garden, the garden, must it go, Source of our hope and our most dear regret? The ancient story, must it no more shoAV How man may win it yet ? And all upon the Titan child's decree, The baby science, born but yesterday, That in its rash unlearned infancy With shells and stones at play, And delving in the outworks of this world. And little crevices that it could reach, Discovered certain bones laid up, and furled Under an ancient beach. ''Through a Glass Darlhj." Xm\ other waifs tliat lay, to its young mind, Some fathoms lower than they ought to lie, By gain whereof it could not fail to find Much proof of ancientry, Hints at a pedigi-ee withdrawn and vast. Terrible deeps, and old obscurities. Or soulless origin, and twilight passed In the primeval seas, Whereof it tells, as thinking it hath been Of truth not meant for man inheritor ; .Vs if this knowledge Heaven had ne'er foreseen, And not provided for ! Knowledge ordained to live ! although the fate Of much that went before it was — to die. And be called ignorance by such as wait Till the next drift conies by. marvellous credulity of man ! If God indeed kept secret, couldst thou know Or follow up the mighty Artisan Unless He ^\dlled it so ] And canst tliou of the Maker think in sooth Th;it of the jMade He shall be found at fault. And dream of wresting from Him hidden truth By force or by assault 1 But if He keeps not secret — if thine eyes He o]»eneth to His wondrous work of late — Think how in so])erness thy wisdom lies. And liavc the grace to wait. o - 86 English Lyrics. Wait, nor against the half-learned lesson fret, Xor chide at old belief as if it erred. Because thou canst not reconcile as yet The Worker and the word. Either the Worker did in ancient days Give us the word, His tale of love and might ; (And if in truth He gave it us, who says He did not give it right 1) Or else He gave it not, and then indeed We know not if he is — by whom our years Are portioned, who the orphan moons doth lead. And the unfathered spheres. We sit unowned upon our burial sod, And know not whence we come or whose we be, Comfortless mourners for the mount of God, The rocks of Calvary : Bereft of Heaven, and of the long-loved page Wrought us by some who thought with death to cope ; Despairing comforters, from age to age Sowing the seeds of hope : Gracious deceivers, who have lifted us Out of the slough where passed our unknown youth : Beneficent liars, who have gifted us With sacred love of truth ! Farewell to them : yet pause ere thou unmoor And set thine ark adrift on unknown seas ; — How wert thou bettered so, or more secure. Thou and thy destinies 1 " Throiujh a Glass Darkly r 37 And if thou searchest, and art made to fear Facing of unread riddles dark and hard, And mastermg not tlieir majesty austere, Their meaning locked and barred; How would it make the weight and wonder less, If, lifted from immortal shoulders doAvn, The worlds were cast on seas of emptiness, In realms without a crown, And (if there were no God) were left to rue Dominion of the air and of the fire ? Then if there be a God, " Let God be true, And every man a Har." But as for me, I do not speak as one That is exempt : I am -with life at feud : My heart reproacheth me, as there were none Of so smaU gratitude. "\\Tierewith shall I console thee, heart of mine, And still thy yearning and resolve thy doubt \ That which I know, and that whicli I divine, Alas ! have left thee out. I have aspired to know the might of God, As, if the story of His love was furled, Nor sacred foot the grasses e'er had trod Of this redeemed world : — Have sunk my thoughts as lead into the deep. To grojje for that aljyss whence evil gnsw. And spirits of ill, with eyes tliat cannot weep. Hungry and desdlutc flew ; 38 English Lyrics. As if their legions did not one day crowd The death-pangs of the Conquering Good to see ! As if a sacred Head had never boAved In death for man — for me ; iN'or ransomed back the souls beloved, the sons Of men, from thraldom with the nether kings. In that dark country where those evil ones Trail their unhallowed wings. ^o'- And didst Thou love the race that loved not Thee % And didst Thou take to Heaven a human brow 1 Dost plead with man's voice by the marvellous sea 1 Art Thou his kinsman now] God, Kinsman loved, but not enough ! Man, with eyes majestic after death. Whose feet have toiled along our pathways rough. Whose lips drawn human breath ! By that one likeness which is ours and Thine ; By that one nature wliich doth hold lis kin ; By that high Heaven where, sinless, Thou dost shine, To draw us sinners in ; By Thy last silence in the judgment-hall ; By long foreknowledge of the deadly tree ; By darkness, by the wormwood and the gall, I pray Thee visit me. Come, lest this heart should, cold and cast away. Die ere the Guest adored she entertain — Lest eyes which never saw Thine earthly day Should miss Thy heavenly reign. "Through a Glass DarJcJi/." Si) Come, weary-eyed from seeking iu the night Thy wanderers strayed upon the pathless wold, Who wounded, dying, cry to Thee for light. And cannot tiud their fold. And deign, Watcher with the sleepless brow, Pathetic in its yearnmg — deign reply : Is there, oh, is there aught that such as Thou Wouldst take from such as 1 1 .Vre there no briars across Thy pathway tlirust / Are there no thorns that compass it about 1 Xor any stones that Thou wilt deign to trust My hands to gather out 1 Oh, if Thou wilt, and if such bliss might be. It were a cure for doubt, regret, delay, — Let my lost pathway go — what ailetli me 1 — There is a better way. AVhat though unmarked the hajjpy workman toil, ^Vnd break unthanked of man the stubborn clod I It is enough, for sacred is the soil, Dear are the hills of God. far better in its jilace the lowliest bird .Should sing aright to Him the lowliest son^jk Than that a seraph strayed should take the won.1 And sing His glory wrong. Jkan' I.vgeix)w. 40 THE NEW SONG. .^EYOND the hills where suns go down, 3SilWy^t< -^^ brightly beckon as they go, I see the land of far renown. The land which I so soon shall know. ;y Above the dissonance of time, And discord of its angry words, I hear the everlasting chime, The music of unjarring chords. I bid it welcome ; and my haste To join it cannot brook delay : song of morning, come at last. And ye who sing it, come away ! song of light, and dawn, and bliss, Sound over earth, and fill these skies ; ]S^or ever, ever, ever cease Thy soul-entrancing melodies. Glad song of this disburdened earth. Which holy voices then shall sing ; Praise for creation's second birth, And glory to creation's King. 41 THE SACRED FISHERMAN. ti^ E gave his fresh young heart to God, Nor shrank the cross to bear ; < ' Tlie narrow way of hfe he trud, With watch, and fast, and prayer. \ To Him who gave Himself he gave, Not man's imperfect good, ^ But a new heart Clirist died to save, Washed in His precious blood. II No labour hard, no suffering loss, So only he might prove How cheerfully he bore his cross For the dear sake of love. And at His word, into the deep He launched, his toils ^o set, Though many a night, while others sleep. He draws an empty net. Yet, at the bidding of his Lord, He casts that net again, — His strength, the warrant of His word ; His i)ri7.e, the souls of nun. 42 English Lyrics. And day and niglit he seeks to wiji, As sinks and swells life's tide, Out of the troubled depths of sin, Souls for Avhich Jesus died. ITntU the wished-for morn appear, And he, toihvorn, at last Feels that that precious gift is near Which well o'erpays the past. The teeming net, which yields at length, Tor labour long and hard, For broken health and vanished strength. More than its full reward, — In life's deep waters, o'er its shoals. Spread henceforth never more, — The net is broken, bvit the souls Are gathered in to shore. Kev. J, B. S. MoNSELL, LL.D. 43 FliAGMEXTS OF A LONG-PONDERED POEM. HAT MTatli Divine I sin", "whose "bitter curse 'd-AJL^-lh) "With liis high presence, was -with armies ^^ji\-//K j^^ Q^ jjgj. cfladness into niournin" turned -:^.*2^ n Weighed heavy on tlie race chosen of God; •i^^lA-i^^ "W^iat time the Holy City, favoured once /Jr^^f Say, thou Avho once above Jerusalem -/l. ^3^o Didst sheathe thy glittering sword. Angel /^(^^^ of Death! "When the forewarned king his altar reared, Humble, on Oman's floor : for thou dost know Wliat first, what last, in process dread, went forth From the Eternal's armoury of wrath : Sorrow too vast for human heart to hold, Destruction past example in all time. J5ut chiefly Thou, to whcjiii the thoughts of men Lie bare and open, from Thine inner stores Take of the things Divine, and show them me: Much sought by nightly prayer and daily toil, Shine on Thy servant, foolish else, and dark, 44 English Lyrics. And all unfit to meditate high themes ; But haply, in Thy light beholding light, Some rays of Truth, though dimmed, he may reflect Into the haunt and concourse of mankind. And utter forth, in strains of solemn verse, God's voice of warning to the sons of men. Tell first, what cause of moment did incite Abraham's Lord and Isaac's Fear, to thrust Thus hotly from His presence, whom His arm So long had shielded — whom He planted in The mountain of His own inheritance ? For not the murmurs on their desert path, Massah, nor Meribah, nor those false signs Eemphan and Moloch, nor the offerings vile Of Baal-peor, grieved Thee, Spirit Divine, As this ; nor all the foul idolatries Of Israel, or more cherished Judah, drove The God of Jacob to cast off His own. Nor yet that day, when Babylon's fierce king Slew in the sanctuary all the flower of youth, And burned the house of God, till that the land Enjoyed her sabbaths, might with this compare ; So foul the slaughter was : without, within. Inexorable vengeance withoiit stint Launched its red shafts against the fated race. Say, then, what cause aroused such wrath in Heaven ? The cry of holy blood : that on the soil Eelentless poured, sent upward unto God Its dread and silent witness evermore : Prophet, and priest, and heaven-sent messengers Cast out and foidly slain : but chiefly His, That Man of sorrows * * * * Fragments of a Long-Pondered Poem. II. Xow had the Son of God His upward path Accomplished to Heaven's gates, which open stood Greeting the Victor : He, for thus seemed best. Alone, as all alone He had achieved His mighty errand, tlirough the yielding air Buoyant, those adamantine portals passed, But not unwelcomed : such a shout hurst forth From all Heaven's armies, now in order bright Marshalled; and through clear ether jubilant, Ten thousand times ten thousand sweetest notes Swelled the fuU concord, while unnumbered harps "Woke into rapturous music : " Lo, He comes ; The Saviour of the world ; the mighty Lord ! All power is given to Him in Heaven and earth ; The Name that is above all other names, That before Him should every creature bow !" He through the middle way of highest Heaven Passed meekly on. Love from His countenance Shed softest light, blended with purest joy ; And as He went, effulgent streams of flame. Kindled by recent glory reassumed. Thickened around Him : Heaven beneath sent up Her fragrant incense, witli thick-springing flowers Bursting in various hues ; with native pearl And flexile ruby, as a bride bedecked. Now had the Saviour to the holiest place Approached, where from the Father's secret Throne Issues the counsel of the will Divine. This reached, He stood, first man of all our race Ajipearing at the judgment-seat of God ; 4G English Lyrics. In death, by His own power subduing death, Spotless from sin ; the Godhead into flesh Not turned, but taking manhood into God. Forthwith, unwonted radiance, pure and mild (For gaze, though of the clearest sight in Heaven, . That Throne erewhile endured not), issued forth ; So that all faces, reverently bent In lowly worship, beamed with silent joy. The while the voice Divine approval spoke : " Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool ; bring within the veil Thine human form, thus pure in righteousness ; Be Thou the King and Judge of Heaven and earth ; Stand Thou beside the Throne for man ; here plead Thy merits, and with grateful sacrifice Be Thou the great High Priest, by whom alone Shall man draw nigh to God, and meet with grace." To whom the Saviour thus in prayer replied : " Father, I will that on the race of men Thou shouldst bestow another Comforter, That He may ever with My Church abide ; Even the Spirit of truth, -whom I "will send. My promise made of old, now due by Me." Thus spake the Son of God : and over Heaven Effluent, as an odour from deep fields of balm, Passed the Almighty Spirit : not then first Sent forth ****** Fragments of a Long-Pondered Poem. 47 III. A lone place hy the Garden of Gethsmiane, First Christian. A voice from the East ! Prophets (unseen). Ann of the Lord, awake ! Second Christian. A voice from the West ! Martyrs (unseen). Sword of the Lord, come fortli I First Chris. Seven nights, as I benoatli the starry skies "Wandered, in heavenly contemplation rapt. Have those drear sounds been uttered on mine ear. Second Chris. Seven nights, in flashes through the duskv air. Mysterious visitants have come and gone ; And all Mount Zion, and Moriah's hill, TAnnkle with sudden gleams of spear and sliiiLl. First Chris. To-day at sunrise were we breaking bread ; And when the hpnn, " Thrice Holy," passed away, Sweet voices in the air took up the strain, — " Glory to Thee, Lord most high," they sung. Majestic angel-voices juliilant : And then, like mighty forests heanl from far, Itesponsive breathed unnumbered hosts around. Second Chris. Hear yet. 'Tis said that some have seen the Lord : How on yon Mount of Olives yesternight He stood — and sternly o'er the city towers Lifted His piercW Hand. Certain it is, Th<3 cup of wrath is full — the doom is near ; The day of vengeance of the Elect is come ! Gabriel (unseen). Arise — depart ! 48 English Lyrics. IV. Ephesus. A sick cliamher. Tlie liolij Angels tcatching by a bed. They sing softly. Thou that art highly favoured, once more Hail ! Not now with maiden blush Starting at the sudden guest Speaking o'er thee salutation strange : Not now among thy flowers Sitting shaded from the noon, thyself Fairest lily of all Palestine — - Yet once more Hail ! Thou that art hlessed among women, Hail ! Hail to Thy feebleness. Evening glory of Thine hoary head, Western brightness of Thine heavenward eye, Lit now by faith and hope ; Foremost Thou of all the saintly band, Standing on the brink of Jordan stream. Once more Hail ! Mother of God Incarnate, Hail, all hail ! Hail, flower of womanhood ; Sweetly slumbering at whose favoured breast Jesus, holy Child, drew human strength : At whose deep fond eyes Daily gazing, in long draughts He drew Human love, to blend with power Divine : Hail, all hail ! ****** Henry Alford, D.D. Deaii of Canterbury. 49 THE RECOLLECriOX OF A PICTURE. E are like children in the meadows i)laying, AVhere flowers, arc thickest and the grass is long; Often by caverned rocks our course delaying, Or \vhere the brook is rushing fast and strong ; ^ To far ott" dells and woodlands often straying, Led onwards by the flitting wild biixl's song. A great full river through the land is flowing, That will not i)ausc one moment on its way; Swift to the distant ocean ever going, Axi^ on its glassy mirror day by day '■%Sel~ Pictures of earth and heaven truly show- ^-3 ing,_ The lights of sunrise, and the evening grey. We, of our Itinries hourly growing fonder. Like wayward children on a summer morn. In joy or disappoiutment wildly wander, Fitful a.s leaves upon the breezes borne; Nor waiting on the thought of night to ponder, Till evening finds us weary and forlorn. \'^V oO English Lyrics. We climb and toil to prove our wanton poAver ; We slumber in the clover's fragrant nest ; We fly from flower to fruit, from fruit to flower, And linger in the paths we love the best, — Uut Avhen our limbs are torn, and tempests lower. We backwards turn, and think of seeking rest. Heart-sick and worn, our feet and hands all bleeding. We think of tvirning back, and finding Thee, Shepherd ! Avho in the dawn Thy flock wast leading Ey stony paths, through wastes with scarce a tree ; But now, the quiet sheep around Thee feeding. Dost pause awhile on yonder flowery lea. Thou, earlier in the day, oiir Avays discerning, Didst call us to accept Thy sheltering care, Whilst we, with youth and passion inly burning, Willed not Thy gviidance or Thy love to share ; But homewards now by twilight skies returning. We strain our sight and long to see Thee there. With children's hearts, with children's tears appealing. We come to tell how sweets have turned to sours ; Our griefs and disappointed hopes revealing. We show Thee cankered fruits and faded flowers ; Or at Thy knees in passionate sorrow kneeling, Feel safe, because Thy hand is holding ours. Ah ! pitying One, for us so long abiding ! All that has wearied us we tell to Thee, — " In that fair grove there was a serpent hiding, Tlie Recollection of a Picture. 51 "Wliicli, as I stooped, the dew-Lright buds to see, Unseen into my bosom s^^'iftly gliding, Twined closely round my heart and poisoned me. " Tliis flower so wondrous in its j^ristine glory, "\Miich my heart loved as queen flower of the Spring — I cannot tell the whole long tearful story, — How soon it withered like a moaner thinsr ! And now my hand is Avounded all and gory, For in my grasp it left a thorny sting," All, blest the children in Thy presence staying, "NMio, when they gather flowers, bring them to Thee ! Xor in the distant fields make long delaj'^ing. But in Thy range of sight feel glad and free, -Vnd find a joy Thy law of love obeying, ]\Iore happy near Thee than afar to lie ! Dear Lord ! with pity all my griefs allaying, Give this pure life of faith and peace to me. From "The House among the Hills.'' 52 THE SOUL-DIRGE. • Then said Jesus, Will ye also go away ? ' ' St. John vi. 67. HE organ played sweet music Wliileas, on Easter-day, All heartless from tlie altar, The heedless went away ; And down the broad aisle crowding, They seemed a funeral train ^\H'^ That were burying then* spirits "^'' To the music of that strain. As I listened to the organ, And saw them crowd along, I thought I heard two voices Speaking strangely, but not strong ; And one it whispered sadly, " Will ye also go away 1 " But the other spoke exulting, " Ha ! the soul-dirge ! — hear it play ! Hear the soul-dirge ! hear the soul-dirge ! And see the feast Divine ! Ha ! the jewels of salvation, And the trampling feet of swine ! I I Tlie Soul- Dirge. oo Hear the soul-dirge ! Ixear the soul-dirge ! Little think they, as they go, AMiat priceless pearls they tread on, AMio spurn their Saviour so. Hear the soul-dirge ! hear the soid-dirge ! It was dread to hear it play, ^\nule the famishing went crowding From the IJread of Life away. They were bidden, they were hidden To their Father's festal board ; liut they all, with gleeful faces. Turned their back upon the Lord. You had thought the Church a prison, Had you seen how they did pour, With giddy, giddy faces. From the consecrated door. Tliore was Angels' food all ready, J kit the bidden, where were they 1 ( )'er the highways and the hedges. Ere the soul-dirge ceased to play. Oh, the soul-dirge, liow it cchued . The emptied aisles along. As the 0{)en street grew crowded With the full (jutpouring throng ; And then — again the voices, " Ila ! the soul-dirge ! — licar it jilay ! " And the pensive, pensive whisjK'r, " \Vill ye also go away ? " 54 English Lyrics. Few, few were they that lingered To sup with. Jesus there ; And yet, for all that spurned Him There was plenty, and to spare ; And now the food of Angels Uncovered to my sight, — All glorious was the altar. And the chalice glittered bright. » Then came the hymn Trisagion, And rapt me up on high. With angels and archangels To laud and magnify. I seemed to feast in Heaven ; And downward wafted then, "With Angels chanting round me, Good-will and peace to men. I may not tell the rapture Of a banquet so Di\dne ; — Ho ! every one that thirsteth. Let Mm taste the Bread and Wine : Hear the Bride and Spirit saying, "Will ye also go away % " Or, — go, poor soul, for ever ! Oh, the soul-dirge ! — hear it play ! Arthur Cleveland Coxe, D.])., Lord BiaJwj} of Western New York. oo MARAH. " And when they came to Marah, tliey could not di-ink of tht waters of ilarah, for they were bitter." — Exodus xv. 23. OD sends us bitter, that the sweet, J5y absence known, may sweeter prove ; As dark for light, as cold for heat Urings greater love. Ciod sends lis bitter, as to show He can both sweet and bitter send ; That both the might and love we know Of our great Friend. He sends us bitter, lest too gay We wreathe around ut oh, how seldom do we feel I'hat ]tain and tears are host ! We praise Thee for the shining snii, For kind and gladsome ways : "When shall Ave learn, O Lord, to sing Through weary nights and days ] ^^'e praise Thee when o\ir path is plain, And smooth beneath our feet. But foin would learn to welcome pain, ^J And call the bitter sweet. "\\1ien rises first the blush of hope, Our hearts begin to sing ; Hut surely not for this alone .Should we our gladness bring. Are there no hours of conflict fierce, No weary toils and ])ain8, No watchings arnl no bitterness, Tbat bring their blessed gains ? — English Lyrics. That bring their blessed gains full well, In truer faith and love, And patience sweet, and gentleness, From our dear Home above 1 Teach Thou our weak and wandering hearts Aright to read Thy way, — That Thou with loving hand dost trace Our history every day. Then every thorny crown of care, Worn well in patience now, Shall grow a glorious diadem. Upon the faithful brow : And every word of grief shall change, And wave a blessed flower. And lift its face beneath our feet. To bless us every hour : And Sorrow's face shall be unveiled, And we at last shall see Her eyes are eyes of tenderness. Her speech but echoes Thee. John Page Horps. 59 BEST. "I say let the great sea of my soul, that swelleth witli the waves, calm itself in Thee — S. Augustixe. ! I'E'S mystery, deep restless as the ocean, Hath surged and wailed for ages to and fro ; Earth's generations "watch its ceaseless motion, As in and out its hollow moanings flow : Shivering and yearning by that unknown sea, Let my soul calm itself, Christ ! in Thee. Life's sorrows, "with inexorable power. Sweep desolation o'er the mortal plain ; And human hopes and loves fly as the chaff, Lome by the wliirlwind from the ripened grain. Ah ! when before that blast my hopes all flee. Let my soul calm itself, O Christ ! in Thue. 'i?. Between the mysteries of death and life Thou stande.st: loving guiding, not explaining We ask, and Thou art sik-nt : yet we gaze, And our charmed hearts forget their drear coni- jdaining. 60 English Lyrics. No cruslimg fate, no stony destiny, Thou Lamb that has been slain, we rest in Thee. The many waves of thought, the mighty tides, The groundswell that rolls up from other lands, From far off worlds, from dim eternal shores Wliose echo dashes on life's wave-worn strands : This vague dark tumult of the inner sea Grows calm, grows bright, risen Lord, in Thee. Thy pierced Hand guides the mysterious wheel. Thy thorn-crowned brow now wears the crown of power, And when the dark enigma presseth sore. Thy patient voice saith, " Watch with Me one hour." As sinks the moaning river in the sea. In silver peace, so sinks my soul in Thee. Harriet Beecher Stowe. 01 CLOUDS. CAXNOT look above, and see Yon high-piled, pillowy mass Of evening clouds, so swimmingly In golil and purple jiass, And think not. Lord, how Thou wast seen On Israel's desert way, Tie fore them, in Thy shadowy screen Pavilioned all the day ; — Or of those robes of gorgeous hue Which the lledeemer wore, AVhen, ravished from His followers' view, Aloft His flight He bore ; "When, lifted as on mighty Aving, He curtained His ascent, And, wrapt in clouds, went triumphing Above the firinamcnt. Is it a trail of that same ^11 Of many-coloured dyes, That high above, o'ermantling all, Hangs iniy-^^ ^"^ Hearing no sound save his hoarse breathing only, Saith, "He Avill rally when the Spring [^^^^^i^^-t days come." ^ i"^ V'O^ AVaiting for 8i)ring ! Ah me, all nature ^ A tarries, ^/J As motionless and cold she lies asleep, :Ii Wrapt in her green i)ine rohe that never varies, "Wearing out Winter l)y this southern deep. The tints are too iinhroken on the bosom Of those great woods ; we Avant some light green .shoots ; We want the white and reel acacia l)lossom. The Ijlue life liid in all these russet roots. Waiting for Spring ! The hearts of men are wateliing, Eiicli for some better, ])rigliter, fairer tiling ; Ivach ear a distant sound nujst sweet is catching, A herald of the beauty of liid Siiring. (^6 English Lyrics. "Waiting for Spring ! The nations in tlieir anger, Or deadlier torpor wrapt, look onward, still Feel a far hope through all their strife and languor, And better spirits in them throb and tlirill. Waiting for Spring ! Christians are waiting ever, Body and soul by sin and pain bowed down ; Look for the time when all these clouds shall sever, See high above the cross a flowery crown. Waiting for Spring ! Poor hearts ! how oft ye weary, Looking for better things, and grieving much ! Earth lieth still, though all her bowers be dreary ; She trusts her God, nor thrills but at His touch. It must be so, — the man, the soul, the nation. The mother by her child — we wait, we wait, Dreaming out futures ; life is expectation, A grub, a root that holds our higher state. Waiting for Spring — the germ for its perfection. Earth for all charms by light and colour given, The body for its robe of resurrection, Sovds for their Saviour, Christians for our Heaven. Cecil Ekances Alexander. 07 THE HARVEST MOON. ^<^^^::^ IIIXES the Harvest Moon full Ijiiglitly O'er the billows of the sea ; Shines the Harvest ^loon full softly O'er the upland and the lea : .Shines the Harvest Moon full (queenly, "With her chaste and silver light, "W^ith all nature sleeping gently In the silence of the night. Shone the Harvest JNIoon as brightly O'er the billows of the sea ; Shone the Harvest Moon as softly O'er the upland and the lea : Shone the Harvest Moon as queenly • As she shineth even now, Though her light, alas ! Avas shining ( )ii a dying maiden's brow ! Full of sorrow, watching sadly. As we stood about the bed, In the midnight silence thinking Of the spirit that had 11(m1 ! With the Harvest Moon briglit shinin In lier rich and silv(!r sheen, O'er the leaves of Autumn falling, Like the maiden that had been. 68 English Lyrics. Drooping slowly, slowly failing, Growing paler every day, We had watched our fair one flitting To her Home of love away. Through the Spring, and through the Summer, We had marked the paling eye : Wlien the Harvest Moon was shining, Came the message from on High ! Once again, so softly speaking, Once again we heard her say, — " Close about me, dear ones, standing, Watch Vl\j spirit flit away ! Let your voices whisper to me Words of hope and trusting love, As my spirit passeth onward To its Home of bliss above !" Then her faint voice, fainter growing, As her spirit ebbed still more. Like the distant surges breaking On the ocean's sounding shore. With the Angels she was speaking. And her face was Avondrous bright ; Then we knew that God was with her, That her soul was full of light ! Then we watched the shadow creeping O'er her pale and fading face ; Watched it stealing, surely stealing, All her beauty, light, and grace : TJie Ilan'etit Moon. 60 'o> AAliile the Harvest Moon came sliiuiuj,' As she shineth even now, Through the casement — shining sadly On the dying maiden's brow ! In the dead-room, Avatching, watcliing, In the silence of the night ; Witli the calm foce softly sleeping In the moonbeams' silver light ; With a sad heart, sadly thinking Of the sister that had fled ; With a sad heart, sadly weeping In the presence of the dead ! Rev. T. J. Potter. 70 LOST LOVE. HEY err who say that love alway Eegetteth like, and finds return ; Else surely all the world to-day Eor Clirist would yearn. Else the dark legions of the lost Would quick remount their native sky ; Eor though Almighty Love be crossed, It cannot die. But Love may breathe his hottest fire On hearts that as the ice remain. And lavish measureless desire But scorn to gain. And therefore, if with will unbound The God of love would served be. And love's sweet song must sweeter sound If love be free, — Then may a creature proudly will That love for ever to deny, And, by that hatred holding still. For ever die. Charles Lawrence Eord. 71 S. PAUL IX THE DESERT. "I went into Arabia." — Galatians i. 17. :rL^,AE, far behind, as cliildliood from a man, Damascus and her meads, and whispering streams, Her wealth of summer gardens — all are fled. Xo plashing fountain, in the mountain's sliade. Sprinkles each fragrant breeze with pearly dew; But o'er the Desert broods a (j^uivering haze, And the lean sands, in ghastly phantom - shape, "Writlie like that host, whom, in their mid- night camp, The angel of the Lord smote. Wlio sleeps there, 'Xoath the black curtain of yon stifling tent ? Xo living thing along those ocean sands, Save this lost man, with yellow tatti-red rijbc. Half shadowed from tlie glare, — so like to deatli. 72 English Lyrics. That but for sigliing heavings of his chest, But for uncertain twitching of parched lips, Faint tliroh of sunburnt pulse, one might have deemed Him friendless robber, — fallen foot to foot With man's remorseless Foe, while near him moans His faithful camel, patient in its pain. Hush ! slowly, sadly, from that haggard mouth, While the dark eyes, beneath a massive brow, Flash with prophetic light, mysterious falls The Burden of the Lord, as thunder-rain. " Alone Avitli God at last ! — outside the world, Its petty round of prying questionings, Unqiiiet soul, I have obeyed thy voice ; At last alone with God ! — yon far-off speck. Or ravenous vulture hastening to the corpse, Or robber plunderer, only makes to me Arabia's desolation more profound. " With God alone at last ! — In other days, I knew Him in the records of the Past, The storied roll of Israel ; could feel How He, The Monarch wise, omnipotent, Parted the deep, with pillared cloud of lire Palled the swift circles of each day and night. Of old, whole nights alone with God I watched. Where marshy Issus faced the seething bay. Could hear the hum of Persian chariot wheels, While through the blood-flecked pass the warrior fled, With battle-bow and shield left on the plain That gave the keys of all the world to INIacedon. S. Paul ill the Desert. 73 /o " Alone witli God ! — From boyhood I have scaled The glacier-tields of Taurus, when the sun Painted each Hushed snow-peak with deathliness ; ( )r where the Cydnus, clad in virgin foam, Kissed graceful i>alms, or citron's scented lips. While evening sang her olden, touching strain, Have I not dreamt of far-olf worlds and hopes, r>y bay or crag, or in some stream-swept glen, That left no solitude where God was not. " But this is loneliness ! — outside the Avorld < )f earthly love and longing here to lie, -Vnd fuel a voiceless wonder in the sky, ,\.s if a Love more liigh, a Face more pure. Than hers whom men have pictured in young dreams, As troubling all their manhood with one look. Clasped me with such a mighty charm, as passed The love of women. Dh ! not I, but He, Should speak of Love ! that scorching ride at noon, Dread lurid brilliance, as with thirsty hoofs "We whirled the sands, and I, fallen headlong, heard, Amid my comnides' shouting, heard a voice, -\jid felt, as I drooped stunned, a tender hand Laid on my heart-strings, waking into life -V thousand deep unutterable hopes. Of one descending from God's awful slopes, That shine across the bhu; rim of the seas. " (ih ! love to such as me ! — not I, but He, Should tell of Love ! Strange Future, that art spread r>eforo me, where I fear to enter in, and do As He would bid me : — this unworthy hand. 1 English Lyrics. That gripped a battle-blade against His Cliurcli, To touch the Sacred Food ! — to bear afar, 'Mid unknoAvn isles, an untaught Gentile world, The baptism I have hardly learnt of Love ! HoAv dare I say, ' Lord, here am I ; send me ' 1 And yet Thy love constrains me ; — in its might I am no longer I, but I in Him. " See yonder old man, with a shei^herd's staff, Wandering through city, desert, on the sea. Trembling and frail, yet with one story, full Of Love, — God's love to him, and his for God ! Yet look again. — The old man fills a cell, That hangs above a city's roaring street ; — Outside, a sentry's clanging tramp ; — and near, Eough laughter from a Eoman barrack-room. 1^0 man stands by him, where he feebly bends O'er the planked table, as he slowly writes To a far Church. — Behold, amid the gloom. On the stone floor a pathway of soft light Heralds the footstep of a King. No key, No challenge from the sentinel outside Proclaims His voiceless coming ; — there He stands, Radiant in love, such as pure woman's soul. When most unselfish, never dreamt or felt. " The King ! — no longer wearing beggar's robes ! And yet, like one who to high state hath won His perilous path, Avould fain look back to home, To boyish loves, and playmates, fields and streams, Would keep some poor love-token of the days When he Avas all iinknown, waiting his fame. S. Paul ill the Dt'tiert. lO A thoughtful boy, heir of a deathless dawn : — So, my dear Lord, thou wearest upon Thine Hands Eed nail-prints, — in Thy Side the rent Torn by the spear-point, — on Thy Holy Brow The fiery circlet of the thorns ! — AVhat foce, Lord, like Thine 1 — no prison, where Thou art. — The old man lifts his head, — 'tis I myself, Made pure through sulfering. There, before my King, On the wet stones I kneel ; till The Great Priest Dazzling absolves me, — prisoner of the Lord." Hex. Al.vx Lkudrick, ]\i.A. 76 THE CHURCH RESTORED. ^H^^^^ 00 long, fair slirine ! did dull decay prevailing, Thy tottering roof and sunken columns claim. Like Dead Sea fruits, in Leauty unavailing, The crumbled carvings and the moulder- ing frame. Yet from those ashes we behold Thee rearing Once more majestic, the fresh fabric wrought ; The graceful shafts, the chiselled wreaths appearing, Types of new strength and beauty to our thought. And may we trust that here is no vain seeming, Type of new vows, symbol of brighter days ; JSTor idly gaze we, of the future deeming That here young hearts shall gush in living praise. " Thither the tribes go up ! " — anew repairing, "With proffered gifts, our Zion ! to thy shrine. They who have wandered shall, thy blessing sharing, Breathe deeper thankfulness in songs Divine. And pray we for thy peace, Salem ! — Mother ! Home for the homeless, refuge for the poor ; Blest be the ministering hands that aid each other, Thy beauty to renew, thy shelter to restore. Cecil Frances Alexander. i i THE GIVER AXD THE GIFTS. J lUl path T trod so pleasant was and fair, , „ . • I counted it life's best ; ^^^ Forgetting that Thou, Lord, hadst placed me there, To journey toAvards TI13- rest. Forgetting that the path Avas only good Because tlie homeward mux, I held it fullest beauty where I stood, I thought these gleams the day. I know I might have seen in every star That sheds its light on me, A lamp of Thine, set out to guide from far My steps towards home and Thee ; — Have heard in streams Avith bending grasses clad, AVhich sparkled tlirough the sod, Tlie music of the river that makes glad The city of our God ; — In llowers plucketring '. "\\'liy the Avinged shaft retain 1 Let it cleave the very heavens, Though it be to fall again. "\Mien the sun looks forth in glory. Hailing Summer at her birth, And like footsteps of an Angel, Fall his rays upon the earth ; "\Mien the golden moon is shining. And the earth is still and pale. Save the rustling leaves that auswrr Mystic whispers of the gale ; And in long procession sweeping. Snowy clouds move on awhile. Like choristers in silence jtassing DoAvn some vast Cathedral aisle, — Then my heart swells liigli witliin me ; Words ! — I seek in vain fur them — What are words ] The floating seaweeds Tell not of the hidden gem. 96 English Lyrics. the spirits dum"bly striving With the weight of thought unsaid ; the blind words vainly diving In that sea unfathonied. Where is He the great Deliverer ] Prayerful eye and earthward knee Supplicate His lips to utter Ephphatha ! and set us free. ****** Cease, troubled soul ! thy mourning That no speech a mirror brings, Rendering in faithful beauty All thy deep imaginings. Weep not when thy sweetest fancies Pass like silent clouds away, Unremembered, unreturning. While no spell doth bid them stay. They are of a source immortal, I^or in earthly homes abide ; Eut with thine own resurrection Thou shalt find them glorified ; All the yearnings of thy spu-it, That have found no place or name ; All unuttered inspirations Perfected, and still the same. Then the burst of radiant voices, Where no thought is born to die ; Where the fulness of the Spirit Echoes tlu-ough Eternity. E. H. W. \)7 if*» f. ODE TO THE MOON. F thou art skilled, as poets say, Sweet soft Iieiiieiubraucer of day, To bauisli vmrelenting Care, Cheat hopeless breasts of old Despair, And quite beguile new tears away ; Shed yet abroad a fuller light, With tenfold tranquil glory bright, And soothe my aching heart awhile With all the magic of thy smile, Thou peerless Queen of summer night. Extinguish with thy gloAvang fires The tumult of my ■wild desires. And foster gently into life Tlie consciousness of conquered strife, "With calm Content, that never tires. Shine out to Fancy'.s hapjiy gaze On far-off scenes in Childhciod's days. When Nature seemed without offence To Ignorance and Innocence, And all the world a flowery maze : II 98 English Lyrics. Ere Sin liacl won the charm to lure, When every wish and thought was j)ure, And Faith, unwavering, fixed above, Felt God's lumtterahle Love, And all things in that Love secure. Alas ! we slowly, sadly learn How vainly restless spirits yearn : Like thy soft rays of yesternight. For ever hidden from the sight, . First faith, first love, can ne'er return. And therefore sorrow ever lies In our most pleasant memories, For we compare our present fate "VYith that which Avas oiu' first estate. And weep in sight of Paradise. Herbert E. Ormerod, M.A, 9 9 MEMORIES, THE FOOD OF LOVE. v-^^ ii-i HEX shall -we come to that delightful day ^Vhen each can say to each, "Dost thou remember]" Let us fill m-ns \di\). rose-leaves in our May, And hive the thrifty sweetness for De- cember. ^ 7^ For who may deem the tlirone of love seciu-e, . Till o'er the past the Conqueror spreads his reign 1 That only land where luunan joys endure, That dim Elysiimi where they live again ! Swelled by a thousand streams, the deeps that float The bark on Avhich we risk our all should be : A rill suffices for the idler's boat ; It needs an ocean for the argosy. The heart's religion kee^, apart from time, The sacred burial-ground of happy hours ; Tlie past is hcjly with the haunting cliimo Of dreamy Sabbath-bells from distant towers. 100 English Lyrics. Oft dost thou ask me with that bashful eye, If I shall love thee evermore as now ; Feasting as fondly on the sure reply, As if my lips were virgin of the vow. Sweet does that question, "Wilt thou love me ?" fall Upon the heart that has forsworn it Avill ; But when the words hereafter we recall, " Dost thou remember r' shall be sweeter still. Sir Edward Bulwer Lyttox, Bart., M.P. 101 SEA GLEAMS. [Suggested by reading the section in M. Saisset's " Essai de rhilosophie Religicuse," upon the "Existence of God established as a Truth of Intuition. ''] WAS a sullen summer day, Skies were neither dark nor clear ; Heaven in the distance sheer Over sharp clitt's sloped away — Ocean did not yet appear. Xot as yet a Avhite sail shimmered ; Xot "wdth silverness Divine l)id the great Atlantic shine ; l^ Only very far there glimmered ~ iJimly one long tremulous line. In tlie hedge were roses, snoweil Or hlushed o'er by summer morn. Itight and left grew fields of corn. Stretching greenly from the road. From the hay a breath was borne. Not of the wild roses' twine, Not of young corn waving free, Not of clover fields, thought we ; Only to that dim bright line Looking, cried we, " 'Tis the sen !" 102 English Lyrics. In life's sullen Summer day, Lo ! before us dull hills rise, And above, unlovely skies Slope off with their bluish grey O'er the eternal mysteries. Love's sweet roses, hope's young corn. Green fields whispered round and round, By the breezes landward bound (Yet, ah ! scalded too, and torn By the sea winds), there are found. And at times, in life's dull day, From the flower and the sod. And the hill our feet have trod. To a brightness far away Turn we, saying, " It is God !" II. AMONG THE SAKD-EILLS. Feom the ocean half a rood, To the sand-hills long and low Ever and anon I go. Hide from me the gleaming flood. Only listen to its flow. To those billowy curls of sand Little of delight is lent, — As it were a yellow tent Here and there by some wild hand Pitched, and overgrown with bent ; Among the Sand-hills. 103 Some few buds, like golden beads, Cut in stars on leaves that shine Greenly, and a fragrance tine Of tlie ocean's delicate weeds, Of his foamed and silver wine. But the place is music-haunted, Let there blow what Avind "soever; — Xow as by a stately river, A monotonous requiem's chanted ; Xow you hear great pine-woods shiver. Frequent, when the tides are low, Creep for hours sweet sleepy himis ; But when in the spring-tiile comes, Then the silver trumpets blow, And the waters beat like drums ; And the Atlantic's roll full often, ]Muttled by the sand-hills round, Seems a mighty city's sound, Wliich the night-time serves to soften, l}y the waker's pillow drowned : Seems a salvo — state, or battle's — Through the purple mountain gaps. Heard by peasants ; or, perhaps. Seems a wheel that rolls or rattles ; Seems an eagle Aving that flaps ; Seems a peal of thunder, caught ]iy the UKJuntain pines, and timed To a marvellous gt-ntle sound ; Wailings, where despair is not, Quieting the heart's deep wound. 104) English Lyrics. Still, what "winds there blow soever, Wet or shine, by siin or star, When white horses plunge afar. When the palsied froth-lines shiver, When the waters quiet are. On the sand-hills when waves boom. Or with ripples scarce at all Tumble not so much as crawl, Ever do we know of whom Cometh up the rise and fall. JS'eed is none to see the ships, None to mark the mid-sea jet. Softening into violet. While those old pre- Adamite lips To the heaps beyond are set. Ah ! we see not the great foam That beyond us strangely rolls, Whose white-winged ships are souls, Sailing from the port called Home, When the signal bell, Death, tolls. And we see no silver shimmer. And we catch no hue Divine, Of the purpling hyaline ; From the heaving and the glimmer, Life's sands bound us with their line. But by sounds unearthly driven Through life's sand-hills, we may be Sure that a diviner sea Floweth to our hearts from Heaven, Ebbeth to eternity. AV. Alexander, M.A., Dean of Emly. 105 THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST. "These false anoilia of man's forging tell of a true that has fallen from Ueaven." — IIulsean Lectures, 164<5. ^^T ^fARYEL night and day, and cannot cease ; Ask evermore, Can this thing be ? Heaven brought to earili, — her INIaker made my peace, — God bound, to set me free ! I cannot love Thee as I would and ought; But, by Thy gi-ace preventing still. From all things else to Thee returns my thought. And bruigs Thee back my will. All thoughts, all searches, to this centre tend ; All rays in tliis one focus meet ; llf^re, as of old, the wise men journeying spend Their treasures at Thy feet. 106 English Lyrics. There is no record, tut doth hint of Thee ; All history else Avere false or vain ; The stones Thy kingdom preach ; loosed with this key, AH hardest things are plain. There is no Avisdoni hut doth taste of Thine ; All lights that did Thine own forerun Caught Thy prevenient gleams, as clouds that shine In the unrisen sun. The glories of earth's empires, age hy age Submitting grandly to decay, Were but the illusive dawn that did presage Thy fixed and perfect day. ^rt's beauteous dreams, the charm of thought and song, The majesty of rule and law, The single mind outsoaring from the throng. Gifted a world to draw, — Wliat Avere they 'all but preludes poor and faint Of Thy supreme imperial Eeign In glory and in beauty, when each saint Thy likeness shall attain ? Thou hast been ever here : of old, as now, Walking unseen the paths we go ; But in the central years, one lifetime, Thou Thy visible form didst show. A cloud did steal Thee from us ; but that hour Thy glorious ministry began ; Thou gavest the Avord — from thence, with quickening power, Tliut Avord the earth o'erran. The Mysto-y of Christ. 1C7 Tliou art not gone, "but hidden : to our sense Thou shalt return ; Thou didst not show Thy glory at the first, -whose lieight immense •Stooped to our stature low. Till Thy true Advent dawn. Thy Church, like Thee, Shall suffer, die, and rise again ; Then, glinified, made wliite, eternally "With Thee on earth shall reign. Charles Lawrence Ford, 108 THE REDBREAST. A BRETON LEGEND. ^^^^fB^EAEIN'G His Cross, while Clirist passed forth forlorn, His Godlike forehead by the mock crown torn, '% A little bird took from that crown one thorn. To soothe the dear Eedeemer's throbbing head. That bird did what she could : His blood, 'tis said, Down-dropping, dyed her tender bosom red. Since then, no wanton boy disturbs her nest, "Weasel nor wild cat will her young molest, — All sacred deem that bird of ruddy breast. Eev. John Hoskyns Abrahall, M.A. 100 FROM HOUSE TO HOME. IIE first Avas like a dream tlu'ough Siuniucr heat, The second like a tedious numbing swoon, "\Mule the half-frozen pulses lagged to beat Beneath a winter mooiL " But," says my friend, " wliat was tliis thing and where ]" It was a pleasiu'e-placc within my soul ; An earthly Paradise supremely fair That lured me from the goal. The first part was a tissue of hugged lies ; The second Avas its ruin fraught Avith pain : Why raise the fair delusion to the skies But to be dashed again ] My castle stood of Avhite traiisi)aront glass, Glittering and frail Avith many a fretted spire ; But when the Summer sunset came to pass It kindled into lire. ] 1 EnrjUsh Lyrics. IVIy pleasavmce was an undulating green, Stately with trees whose shadows slept below, With glimpses of smooth garden-heds between, Like flame, or sky, or snow. Swift squirrels on the pastures took their ease, "With leaping lambs safe from the unfeared knife ; All singing-birds, rejoicing in those trees, Fulfilled their careless life. Wood-pigeons cooed there, stockdoves nestled there ; My trees were full of songs and flowers and fruit ; Their branches spread a city to the air. And mice lodged in their root. o My heath lay farther off, where lizards lived In strange metallic mail, just spied and gone ; Like darted Hghtnings here and there perceived, But nowhere dwelt vipon. Frogs and fat toads were there to hop or j)lod And propagate in peace, an uncouth crew, Where velvet-headed rushes rustling nod. And spill the morning dew. All caterpillars throve beneath my rule, With snails and slugs in corners out of sight,— I never marred the curious sudden stool That perfects in a night. Safe in his excavated gallery The burrowing mole groped on from year to year ; 'No harmless hedgehog curled because of me His prickly back for fear. From House to Home. 1 1 1 Oft-tinies one liko an iVngel AvalkeJ with me, "With spii'it-discerning eyes like flames of fii'e, But deep as the iinfathomed endless sea, Fultilling my desire : ^\jid sometimes like a snowdrift he was foir ; And sometimes like a sunset, glorious red ; And sometimes he had wings to scale the air With aureole round his head. AVe sang oxir songs together by the Avay, Calls and recalls and echoes of delight ; So communed we together all the day, And so in dreams by night. I have no words to tell what way we walked, "Wliat unforgotten path, now closed and sealed ; I have no words to tell all things we talked. All things that he revealed : This only can I tell: that hour l>y liour I waxed more feastful, lifted up, and glad ; T felt nfi thorn-prick when I plucked a flowi>r. Felt not my friend was sad. "To-mon-ow," once I said to liiiu witli smiles : "To-night," he answered gravely, and was dunjh, Ijut pointed out the stones that numbered miles And miles and miles to come. "Xot 80," I said : "to-morrow sliall be sweet ; Tu-night is not so sweet as coming days." Then iirst I saw that ]k- liail turned his feet. Had turned from mc his face. 112 English Lyrics. Eunning and flying miles and miles he went, But once looked back to beckon with his hand, " And cry : " Come home, love, from banishment ; Come to the distant land." That night destroyed me like an avalanche ; One night tiu'ned all my summer back to stiow : IS^ext morning not a bird uj)on my branch, I^ot a lamb woke below, — No bird, no lamb, no living breathing thing ; 1^0 squirrel scampered on my breezy lawn, Ko mouse lodged by his hoard : all joys took wing, And fled before that dawn. Azure and sun were starved from Heaven above, jS^o dew had fallen, but biting frost lay hoar : love, I knew that I should meet my love. Should find my love no more. " My love no more," I muttered, stunned with pain : I shed no tear, I wrung no passionate hand. Till something whispered: "You shall meet again, Meet in a distant land." Then with a cry like famine I arose, I lit my candle, searched from room to room, Searched up and down ; a war of winds that froze Swept through the blank of gloom. 1 searched day after day, night after niglit ; Scant change there came to me of night or day : "No more," I wailed, "no more:" and trimmed my light. And gnashed but did not pray. From House to Home. 1 1 Until my heart broke and my spirit broke : I'pon the frost-bound floor I stumlik^d, fell, Aiid moaned : " It is enough : withliLikl the stroke. Farewell, love, farewell" Then life swooned from me. And I heard the song Of spheres and spirits rejoicing over me. One cried : " Our sister, she hath sutfered long." — One answered : "Make her see." — One cried : " Oh, blessed she who no more pain, "\Mio no more disappointment shall receive." — One answered : " Not so : she must live again ; Strengthen thou her to live." So while I lay entrancecl a curtain seemed To slirivel with cracklmg from before my face ; Across mine eyes a waxing radiance beamed, • ^Vnd showed a certain place. I saw a vision of a woman, where Xight and new morning strive for domination : Incomi)ambly pale, and almost fair, And sad biiNntnd expression. Her eyes were like some fire-enshrining gem, "Were stately like the stars, and yet were tender; Her figure charmed me like a windy stem, Quivering and drooj»od and slender. I stood upon the outer barren ground, Slie stofKl on inner ground that budded flowers; While circling in tlnir never-slackening round Danced by the mystic hours. I o 114 English Lyrics. But every flower was lifted on a thorn, And every thorn shot upright from its sands To gall her feet ; hoarse laughter pealed in scorn "With cruel clapping hands. She hied and wept, yet did not shrink ; her strength Was strung up until daybreak of delight : She measured measureless sorrow toward its length. And breadth, and depth, and height. Then marked I how a chain sustained her form, A chain of living links not made nor riven : It stretched sheer up through lightning, wind, and storm, And anchored fast in Heaven. One cried : " How long ? yet ;^unded on the Rock She shall do battle, suffer, and attain." — One answered : " Faith quakes in the tempest shock : Strengthen her soul again." I saw a cup sent down and come to her Brim full of loathing and of bitterness : She drank with livid lips that seemed to stir The depth, not make it less. But as she drank I spied a hand distil ISTew wine and virgin honey ; making it First bitter-sweet, then sweet indeed, until She tasted only sweet. Her lips and cheeks waxed rosy-fresh and young ; Drinking she sang : " My soul shall nothing want ; " And drank anew ; while soft a song was sung, A mystical slow chant. From House to Home. 115 One crieil : "The wounds are faithful of a friend : The wilderness shaU blossom as a rose." — One answered : " Keud the veil, declare the eutl, Strengthen her ere she goes." Tlicn earth and heaven were rolle<:l up like a scroll ; Time and space, change and death, had jiassed away ; Weight, number, measure, each had reached its whole ; The day had come, — that day ! Multitudes — multitudes — stood uj) in bliss, Made ei[ual to the Angels, glorious, fair ; "With harps, palms, wedding-garments, kiss of peace, Anil cro\\Tied and haloed liair. Tlu'V sang a song, a new song in the height, Harping with harps to Ilim AVlio is Strong and True : They di-ank new wine, their eyes saw with new light, Lo, all things were made new. Tier beyond tier they rose and rose and rose So liigh that it Avas dreadful, flames with flames : Xo man could number them, no tongue disclose Their secret sacred names. As though one pulse stin-ed all, one rush of Ijlood Fed all, one breath swe})t through them myriad-voiced. They struck their harps, cast down their crowns, tliey stood And worshipped and rejoiced. luu-h face looked one way like a moon new-lit, lliuih face looked one way towards its Sun of Love ; Drank love and bathed in love and mirrored it, And knew no end thereof. 116 English Lyrics. Glory touched glory on each blessed head, Hands locked dear hands never to sunder more : These were the new-begotten from the dead, Whom the great Birthday bore. Heart answered heart, soul answered soul at rest, Double against each other, filled, sufficed ; All loving, loved of all ; but loving best And best beloved of Christ. I saw that one who lost her love in pain. Who trod on thorns, who drank the loathsome cup The lost in night, in day was found again ; The fallen, was lifted up. They stood together in the blessed noon, They sang together through the length of days ; Each loving face bent Sunwards like a moon New-ht with love and praise. Therefore, friend, I would not if I might Eebuild my house of lies, wherein I joyed One time to dwell : my soul shall walk in Avhite, Cast down but not destroyed. Therefore in patience I possess my soul ; Yea, therefore as a flint I set my face. To pluck down, to build up agam the whole — But in a distant place. These thorns are sharp, yet I can tread on them ; This cup is loathsome, yet He makes it sweet : My face is steadfast toward Jerusalem, My heart remembers it. From House to Home. IT I lift the hanging hands, the feeble knees — I, })rocious more than seven times molten gold — Until the day when from His storehouses God shall bring new and old ; Beauty for ashes, oil of joy for grief, Garment of praise for spirit of heaviness : Although to-day I fade as doth a leaf, I languish and grow less. Although to-day He prunes my twigs with pain. Yet doth His blood nourish and warm my root : To-morrow I shall put forth buds agaui, ^Vnd clothe myself with fruit. Although to-day I walk in tedious ways. To-day His staff is turned into a rod, Yft will I wait for Him the appointed days. And stay ujwn my God. Christina Kossetti. 118 BUN DA Y I was in tlie Spirit on tlie Lord's Day."— Eev. i. 10. (■C^ m '^ FTER long days of storms and showers, ' Of sighing winds and dripping howers, How sweet at morn to ope our eyes On newly swept and garnished skies ! To miss the storm and driving rain, And see that all is bright again, — ' So bright, we cannot choose but say. Is this the world of yesterday % Even so, methinks, the Sunday brings A change o'er all familiar things ; A change, we know not whence it came,- They are, and they are not, the same. There is a spell within, around, O'er eye and ear, o'er sight and sound. And, loth or willing, they and we Must own this day a mystery. Sure all things wear a heavenly dress That sanctifies their loveliness ; Types of that endless resting-day When we shall be as changed as they. Sunday. 119 To-day our peaceful ordered home Foreshadowetli mansions yet to come ; "We foretaste, in domestic love, The faultless chiU'ities above. And as at yester-eventide Our tasks and toys -were laid aside, So here our training for the day AVhen we shall lay them doAvn for aye. But not alone for musing deep, ^Meek souls their day of days Avill keep ; Yet other glorious things than these The Christian in his Sabbath sees. His eyes by faith his Lord behold, How on the week's first day of old From hell He rose, on death He trod, "Was seen of man, and went to God. And as we fondly pause to look, "\Mien in some daily handled book Aitproval's well-knoAvn tokens stand, Traced by some dear and thoughtful hand. E'en so there shines one day in seven, liright with the special mark of Heaven, That we with love and praise may dwell (Jn Him who loveth us so well ; — "\\Tiether in meditative Avalk Alone with Ood and llriiven Ave talk, Catching the simple chiiin' wliidi calls Our feet to some old Church's walls ; 120 English Lyrics. Or, passed within the Church's door, "Where poor are rich, and rich are poor, We pray the prayers and hear the Woo-d Which there onr fathers prayed and heard ; Or represent in solemn wise Onr all-prevailing Sacrifice, Feeding, in joint communion high, The life of Faith, that cannot die. And surely, in a world like this. So rife with woe, so scant of hliss, Where fondest hopes are oftenest crossed, And fondest hearts are severed most, 'Tis something that we kneel and pray With loved ones near and far away, — One God, one Faith, one Hope, one care. One form of words, one hour of prayer. 'Tis past ;— yet pause, till ear and heart, In one brief silence, ere we part. Something of that high strain have caught, The peace of God, which passeth thought. Then turn we to our earthly homes, K'ot doubting but that Jesus comes. Breathing His peace o'er hall and hut. At even, when the doors are shut, Then speeds us on oui* earthly way. And hallows every common day : Without Him, Sunday's self were dim. But all are bright if spent with Him. Eev. p. Freeman, M.A. l'2l ABOUXDIXG IX HOPE. (Second Sunday in Advent.) OPE, Christian soul ; in every stage Uf this thine eartlily pilgrimage Let heavenly joy thy thoughts engage : Ahound in hope. Hope : though thy lot he want and woe, Though hate's rude storms against thee blow, Thy SaA'iour's lut was such below : Abound m hope. Hope : for to all who meekly boar His cross. He gives His crown to wear ; Abasement here is glory there : Abound in hope. Hope : though thy dear ones round thee die, Behold with Faith's illumined eye Their deathless home beyond the sky : Abountl in hope. 122 English Lyrics. Hope ; for upon that happy shore Sorrow and sighing will be o'er, And friends shall meet to jjart no more : Abound in hope. Hope through the watches of the night ; Hope till the morrow bring the light ; Hope till thy faith be lost in sight : Abomid in hope. Eev. Benjamin Kennedy, D.l). .23 WOXDER AND REST. SUGGESTED BY THE MEMORIAL WINDOW, CIIARLCOMBE CHURCH. " CRUCIFIXrS." " What I do thou knowest not now, Lut tliou shalt know hereafter ! " • « ' « « « « « " ASCENDIT." " Wtcn I awake up after Thy likeness, I shall be satisfied with it." /:■:: HE saw Ilim wlieu tlic road to death ]Io trod, She saw His Cross was nigh : She knew He there should die, — He whom she owned the Holy One of God. !^ She knelt and gazed — mute wonder in licr eyes,— Gazed on that saddened Face Where sin had left no trace, Till, pitying her grief, the Christ replies : " I go up to Jerusalem to die, — Yet do not weep for jMe : Couldst thou the future see, Tliou wouldst not shed one tear m- heave one trigli. 124 English Lyrics. " What now I do thou canst not understand, — Trust Me 'tis best and right : Hereafter to thy sight All shall unveil itself as wisely planned." JE, 4*. ^ ^ Jt Jb JJp -Jp "ilP TV" w ■«• She saw Him once again : hoAV changed that form ! !No hint of anguish there ; N'o 'Avhelming weight of care ; No features Avorn with facing the rough storm ! She knelt and gazed, — calm gladness in her eyes ; Gazed on that wondrous Face, Where Godhead she could trace. As slow from earth to Heaven she saw Him rise ! " When I awake up in Thy likeness I Shall then be satisfied," She reverent cried : " Now looking up, I am content to die ! " The mystery of the Cross is with us now ; We wonder as we see Christ's life and agony — See the Life-giver's head in anguish bow. We, too, must look beyond the mortal strife ; Watch Him with trustful eyes, Till we, too, see Him rise. And bid us follow Him,— "the Way— the Life !" Louisa Fagan. 12 •>\ 5ir M - ' ^ SO UTII 1 1 'ELL MIXSTER. T Avas a "ladsome Suinmor morn, tlie sun \\' Avas bright and liigli, v\i The birds were singing cheerily, beneath the deep blue sky ; The flowers were all unfolding, and their perfume filled the air — All nature seemed rejoicing in sights and sounds so fair : Xor could I wonder, as I gazed on stream, and vale, and wood, That in the world's young morning God liad called tlicni " very good ;" For though a withering blight hath marred the beauty first they Avore, Yet still to each discerning heart there's beauty evermore ! I wandered on with lightsome step, till, from its deep re[)08e, The ^linster, with its grand old towers, before my vii^ion rose ; 126 Englisli Lyrics. And whilst I stood Avith joy beneath its consecrated shade, I thonght of those who long ago in their peaceful rest were laid ; — Of those Avhose day of trial was o'er — who had fought the battle well — Who within the Church's blessed home had ever loved to dwell — "Who found what strength and gladness God surely giveth there, "Wlien at "Matins," and at "Evensong," ascends the voice of Prayer. Oh ! those were England's brightest days, that have departed long. When all men loved the holy Church, and their faith and hope were strong ; And when, in earnest charity, their time — their all — was given. To rear those noble Temj)les — " the very gates of Heaven !" I stood within its hallowed walls ; from many a storied pane The light in richest colours fell, and as I looked again. The deeds of love the Healer WTought were plainly on them seen. Or an apostle, or a saint, or weeping Magdalen ! Southivcll Minster. 127 And as the Clunr I entered, the organ-notes were pealing, And white-robed I'riests, before the Cross, were all devoutly kneeling ; Then upward borne on Avings of faith arose the chanted cry, The spirit's deepest utterance, our " solemn Litany ! " Oh ! would that those who cast such scorn ujjon our holy things Could only know the life and peace Christ's true Spouse ever brings; To His one and blessed fold of rest they surely would return. And the priceless birthright of His grace iii i)ridc no longer spurn. The Church's Prayers were over, and yet I lingeri.'d there — A holy and a deep repose lay round me everywhere ; No longer now I gazed alone on fine-wrought tracery, For One was by my side whose form was fair exceed- ingly. Her face a quiet beauty wore, and her deep expressive eyes Beamed brightly, purely, like the stars that gem the mid- night skies ; And as with her I wamlered adown those stately aisles, I felt that e'en her frown must be more fair than others' smiles ! 128 English Lyrics. The Minster, with its grand old towers, I ne'er may see again, Nor hear that voice so musical, whose tones fell on me then ; But still, the memory of that day, with all its untold joy, Will be a bright spot in the waste, no time can e'er destroy ! Arthur St. John, IV 1. A. 129 CHRIST WALKING UPON THE SEA. HERE are, who proudly tkrone Stern iiatunil laws, progressing still, un- aided, From simplest germ of being, to the zone Of worlds in cluster braided ; "Who view the hours serene, Their ceaseless march in grand succession "oin7 \u TEARS. EAES are not always fruitful ; their hot drops Sometimes but scorch the cheek and dim the eye ; Despairing murmurs over hlackenetl hopes, Xot the meek spirit's calm and chastened cry. Oh, better not to weep than weep amiss ; For hard it is to learn to weep aright, — To weep wise tears, the tears that heal and bless, The tears which their own bitterness requite. Oh, bettor not to grieve than waste our woe ; To fling away the spirit's finest gold ; To lose, not gain, by sorrow ; to overH(nv The sacred channels which true sadness liold. To shed our tears as trees their blossoms shed, Not all at random, but to make sure way For fruit in Hcason, wlum tlie bloom lies dead On till; chill earth, the victim of di'cay ; — 1-38 English Lyrics. This is to use the grief that God has sent, To read the lesson, and to learn the love. To sound the depths of saddest chastisement, To pluck on earth the fruit of realms above. AVeep not too fondly, lest the cherished grief Should into vain, self-pitying weakness turn ; Weep not too long, but seek Divine relief; Weep not too fiercely, lest the fierceness burn. Husband your tears ; if lavished, they become Like waters that inundate and destroy ; For active, self-denying days leave room. So shall you sow in tears, and reap in joy. It is not tears but teaching we should seek ; The tears we need are genial as the shower ; They motdd the being wdiile they stain the cheek. Freshening the spirit into life and power. Move on, and murmur not ; a warrior thou — Is this a day for idle tears and sighs 1 Buckle thine armour, grasp thy sword and bow. Fight the good fight of faith, and win the prize. Eev. Horatius Bonar, D.I). I of) UXEA'PBESSED. \VKLL8 within tlie soul of every artist ]\rore tlian all his elForts can exjjress ; And he knows the best remains unuttered, Sii^diing at what we call his success. A'aiiily he may strive ; he dare not tell us All the sacred mysteries of the skies : Vainly he may strive ; the deepest beauty ^ f C'annot be unveiled to mortal eyes. And the more devoutly that he listens, And the holier message that is sent, Still the more his soul must struggle vainly, Lowed beneath a noble discontent. Xo great Thinker ever lived and taught you All the wonder that his soul received ; X(i true Painter ever set on canvas All the glorious vision he conceived ; No Musician ever held your spirit Charmed and bound in his melodious chains, iJut Ixi 8UII' he hcai'.j, and strove to render, Feeble echoes of celestial strains. 160 English Lyrics. 1^0 real Poet ever wove in numbers All his dream ; but the diviner part, Hidden from all the world, spake to him only In the voiceless silence of his heart. So with Love : for Love and Art united Are twin mysteries ; different, yet the same : Poor indeed would be the love of any "Who could find its full and perfect name. Love may strive, but vain is the endeavour All its boundless riches to unfold ; Still its tenderest, truest secret lingers, Ever in its deepest depths untold. Things of Time have voices, speak and perish ; Art and Love speak, but their words must be Like sighings of illimitable forests. And waves of an unfathomable sea. Adelaide Ann Procter. IGl EASTER. " Beliold the place where they laid Ilini." — Makk xvi. G. ',* v*4i ^» '>] SACRED sight ! behold tlie place,— The sepulchre Avhere Jesus lay ! At either end an Angel sits In silent rapture, as hehts 'I'lie guardians of this wondrous day : And in the midst that empty space. Before one early streak of da^^^l Hath lit the Garden's hallowed shade, Lo, faithful women come to mourn, "With costly si)ices duly borne, And eager hearts, yet sore afraid, "Whom holy love had thither drawn. But what is this ] From out the gloom Bright Angels tell their glorious news ]■ — They show the swathings of the Dead, The napkin that was round His head : But over-ljlcssed liearts refuse The tidings of the empty tomb. M 162 Eng I ish L yr ics. Still week by week its Easter brings, — The holy day the Lord hath made : Yet, slow of heart, of spirit weak. We, trembling in the darkness, seek The Living One among the dead. Though Death itself of glory sings. * But when the age has run its race. Behold, new-born from out the dust Ten thousand saints shall throng the air, And earth be left forsaken there ; — The sleeping-place of all the just An Easter-grave, — an empty space. For now hath broke the Eternal Day ; wondrous morn of second birth ! The blessed dead in Christ arise To meet Him living in the skies : And they shall see ncAV heavens, — new earth, — Xo more the earth where Jesus lay ! EeV. H. a TOMKINS, M.A. 163 BREAD UPON THE WATERS. " For now we see through a glass, darkly ; but then face to face." — 1 Coil. xiii. 12. AY not, " 'Twas aU in vain," The angnisli, and the darkness, and the strife ; Love tlu'own upon the waters comes again In quenchless yearnings for a nobler life. Think ! In that midnight, on thy wear}' ^ ' ^>!r^ The stars shone forth — and 'neath their •^^^O^f' welcome rays, ^^^Ay^ Thine hopes to Heaven like birds first took 'V' jV.r their flight, ^ And " thou shalt find them — after many days." Say not, " 'Twas all in vain," The vigil, and the sickness, and the tears ; For in tliat Land " where there is no more pain," The grain is garnered from those mournful years. The faded form, once sheltered on thy breast, In gentle ministry thy care repays; And smiling on thee from her sinless rest, i'ear not to liiid her — " after many day.s." 164 English Lyrics. Say not, " 'Twas all in vain," Thy tenderness, thy meekness — oh ! not so ; A strength for others' sufferings shalt thou gain, As healmg bahiis from hruised flowerets flow. "Weep not the wealth in fearless faith cast forth On the dark billows shipwrecked to thy gaze : The bark was frail, the gem had still its worth. And "thou shalt find it — after many days." Say not, " 'Twas all in vain," The watching, and the waiting, and the prayer ; In pierced hands hath it unanswered lain 1 'Twill grow more radiant as it lingeretli there. 'Tis space — where once thy quivering form was cast. Thy heart- wrung sobs no floating breeze betrays ; Yet, 'mid the white-winged choir thy prayer hath j)assed. And " thou shalt find it — after many days." Say not, " 'Twas aU in vain," The patience, and the pity, and the word In warning breathed 'mid passion's hurricane. Unheeded here — but God that whisper heard. The tender grief, o'er strangers' sorrow shed, The sacrifice that won no human praise. In faith upon the waters cast thy Bread, For "thou shalt find it — after many days." Anna Shipton. 105 IN ALL TIME OF OUR TRIBULATION, GOOD LORD DELIVER USJ' o AVIOUPi ! liy Tliy sweet compassion, So unmeasured, so Divine ; vj ]>y that bitter, bitter Passion; ^^ By that crimson Cross of Thine ; '^'^ V>y the woes Thy love once tasted ^^^ In this sin-marred world below, c5 Succour those in tribuhition, '^^^ Succour those in sorrow now. Thou VHio wast so sorely burdened, Ilil|i the weak that are oppressed ; Sanctify all earthly crosses, For the coming day of rest ; Give the meek a trustful spirit That will always lean on Thee, And in storms of deep ailliction Still Thy gracious Presence see. Lord, Thou hast a holy purpose In each suffering we bear ; 111 y river, golden hours, Of youth and licultli tli.' ihoiccst prime : How throve the unj kV ,o S ships, becalmed at eve, that Vaj With canvas drooping, side by side, Two towers of sail at daA\Ti of day Are scarce long leagues apart descried ; ^\^lc'n fell the night, \\\> sprung the bree/A', And all the darkling hours they plied ; Nor dreamt but each the selfsame seas By each was cleaving, side by side ; Even so — but why the fate reveal Of those, whom year by year unchanged, Brief absence joined anew to feel. Astounded, soul from soul estrangeil At dead of night their sails were filled, And onward each rejoicing steered, — Ah ! neither blame, for neither willed. Or wist, what first with dawn appeared To veer, how vain ! On, onward strain, ]*rave bark ! In light, in darkness too, nirough winds and tides one compass guides — To that, and your own selves, be true. 174 English Lyrics. Bnt, "blithe breeze ! and great seas ! Though, ne'er, that earliest parting past, On your wide plain they join again. Together lead them Home at last. One port, methought, alike they sought. One purpose hold, where'er they fare, — bounding breeze ! O rushing seas ! At last, at last, unite them there ! Arthur Hugh Clough, M.A. 17.') THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. rAIXTKD BY IIOT.M.VX IIUXT. I. T-^ " Behold, I stand at the door, and knock : if any man hear ^[y voice, and open the door, I Mill come in to him, and will sup with him, and ho with Me." j; — lli:v. iii. 20. :\ X the moonlight, wlien no murmur from the haunts of men is heard, .Vnd the river in its sleep flows onward, f>nward to the sea, .Vnd thou slecpest ■\vho art drawing nearer t(j Eternity, In the silence and the stillness comes the Word. And He knocketh at thy portal, hut thou drcaiiicst in the night Tliat tlie iiitting hat is cjnly striking softly 'gainst the door : Shall He knock so oft wlio coiiu'th from tin- llriiven's oternal Sliore 1 Sleeper in the darkness, rise, helioltl thy Light ! 176 English Lyrics. 'Tis tliy Priest and Prophet, clad in jewelled rote and wliite attire ; 'Tis tliy King, and on His brow He Avears tlie thorn}' coronal. Budding now with amaranthine leaves and flowers ani- hrosial. In His face is speaking pity, silent ire. Por His glowing lamp discloseth, choking up thy dwelling door, Deadly hemlock, barren darnel, prickly bramble, withered grasses. And the ivy knits it closely to its stanchions, and passes Through the cre"vices, and hinges, and the floor. Let Him in ! for He will sojourn with the lowest and the least, And forget that thou didst keep Him waiting in the dews and damp, And for guerdon in the valley He will light thee with His lamp To the happy Shore Eternal, and the Marriage Peast. B. A., Brasenose College, Oxfm-d. II. Lord, Thou hast sought this wayward heart in vain ; Choked by the world's vile weeds its portals stand, Closed to the touch of Thy redeeming hand. Which, knocking gently, wovdd an entrance gain : Oh, Love unspeakable ! that Thou shouldst be Patient amidst the night's chill falling dews, While I Thy proffered fellowship refuse, The Light of the World. 17 Slothful to rise and ope the door to Thee : Long have I tarried, dreading yet to bear The emblems of Thy suftering, thorns, and Cross ; Lost in idolatry of ^lanimon's dross. And lured by pleasure's transitory glare : Henceforth vouchsafe to shed Thy light Avithin, Illume my soul, and let these contrite tears Elot out all record of my mis-spent years, Dark ■with the sad remembrances of sin : Then, in this purified repentant breast. Enter ! and be for evermore my Guest ! "W. R. Neale. 178 A UTUMN MEMORIES. BY THE LAKE. -■■<( I n=-^^ -tw-'i EMjMED in "by mountains, girdled with dark pines, The lake lay sleeping ; not a ruffle stirred Its deep, calm waters, and the lengthening lines Of shadow kissed its breast : no sound was heard. Ahove, the clouds were coursing tlirough the sky, Save where there gleamed a deep of purest hlue ; And one star, lilce a signal lamp on high. Into a form of Avondrous beauty grew. It sjjarkled clear, like that strange star of old That led the wise men o'er their weary way, Till they had brought their frankincense and gold, And worshipped where the world's Ee- deemer lay. Autumn Memories. 170 I stood beside the margin ; 'twas a soa Of glass ; fiiint ripples dreamed along the shore : I wondered if more beautiful could be The Land where seas and stars shall be no more. And then I thought me of that lake of old "Where once the Master 'mid the darkness trod, Ai\d at His Avord the angry billows rolled Their foam into a calm, and owned their God. Tlien o'er me came faint glimpses of a stream "\Miose waves make glad the City up above ; Lit up for ever by the sunny gleam, liellecting only heavenly light and love. Oh, when the storms of life have ceased to beat. Safe to the haven where we all would be. Lord Jesu, bring our worn and wandering feet, Beside the margin of the Crystal Sea ! II. IX THE CLOISTERS. HARD by the lake, girt with its forest zone. The Abbey stands, — relic of days gone by : The ivy clambers o'er the crumbling stone, And mosses sleep where the dead calmly lie. Amiil the ruins, o'er the chancel floor, The dank weeds thicken, and tlie rains descend ; The choir of voices sweet is heard no more, Nor to the altar priests their footsteps weud. 180 English Lyrics. But memories cluster round the cliapel grey, And, lingering there, we live the past again. And seem to hear, adown the lonely way. The priestly footfall, and the solemn strain. Still falls the yew-tree's shadow on the aisle, Wearing its crown of life amid decay ; Catching in early morn the sun's warm smile, Watching the stars gleam till the hreak of day. Wait a few years, and that dark yew shall fade : But the true-hearted in their cloistered bed Shall wake to life immortal, and, arrayed In rohes of white, safe to their home be led. That home, the Temple time can never dim ; — No shadows frown, and no sad tears are there. Oh, at the last, to join that ceaseless hymn. The crown of all His perfected to wear ! III. AMONG THE EUINS. A QUIET Autumn eve. The sun was flinging Long deepening shadows on the purj)le hill ; And, save the Vespers happy birds were singing. Or the faint sheep-bell, all was hushed and still. The spot was sacred, — ruined arch and column. The traceried Avindow, and the altar-stair. Told of a worship. Catholic and solemn. That in the ages gone was offered there. Autumn Memories. 181 But now the jiorcli, o'ergrowu with weeds and grasses, Leads only to the crumbling aisle and nave ; .Vlong the gi"oin6d roof the stray bat passes, While tlu'ough the transepts winter tempests rave. IJut 'mid the ruins, all unmarred and stately, A large stone Cross lifted its solemn head ; The steps were worn, and the sight moved me greatly ; It seemed to speak of Life amongst the dead. Emblem and shadow of a truth still deeper, — He who in Clu'ist's dear Cross hath healing found, Shall safe be garnered by the Angel Reaper, And stand secure upon the Holy Ground. Clirist, the merciful High Priest and holy, Keep Thou tliese hearts from desolation free ; And from their inner shrine, made pure and lowly. Let worshi^j rise, like incense, up to Thee. Cleanse them from earthly dross. Thou true Refiner, Tliy living light upon their dimness pour ; Until we see Thee in the Land Diviner, And with the Angels tread the Gulden Floor. IV. AT SEA. ROIJED like a king, with coronet of gold, ( Jrandly the sun went down beneath the sea, Flu.sliing the waves with aml)er as they rolled, And fipeniiig up the deeps of Heaven to me. 182 English Lyrics. Around, — the waste of waters, the white foam. Gathering in snowy flakes, and glittering spray ; Above, — the clouds, like great Cathedral dome, All tinted with the hues of dying day. Yet this vast ocean, with its restless tides. He holdeth in the hollow of His hand ; The clouds, the chariot where His glory rides. And but His footstool all the peopled land ! Oh, Might and Majesty ! all thought above, How eloquent these billows are of Thee ! depth untold ! mystery of love. To know that outstretched Hand was pierced for me ! Eev. R H. Baynes, M.A. 183 « THESE three: % 'k< viewless angels by our side, "Witli wings, but women sweet and good ; " Tliese Three " indeed with us abide, True types of womanhood. Yea, I, in turn, have reached a hand To each one of the blessed Three : In one foir group I've seen them stand, — Faith, Hope, and Charity. My Faith hath misty hair, — and eyes. You cannot fix their changing hue ; But all the world within them lies. And all the soul looks tlirough : Ilcr voice doth make Divinely sweet Each song of sorrow which she sings ; Ami saildest wisdom fills re])lL'to With heavenly comfortings. My Hope is ruddy with the flusli Of morning joy, that keeps its i)lacc Though day ha.s darkened, and the rush < >t" rain is on lier face. ] 84? English Lyrics. Her clear eyes look afar, as bent On shining futures gathering in ; Nought seems too high for her intent, Too hard for her to win. My Love hath eyes as blue and clear As clefts between the clouds of June, A tender mouth, whose smiles are near To tears that gather soon. Her best and loveliest she takes To light dark places ; wastes of life She sows "with precious seed, that makes All richest blessings rife. -"o"- Faith, when my soul in darkness dwells. Shall sing her song throughout the night ; Por each new effort life compels, Hope's clasp shall nerve with might ; Love shall divide each grief of mine, Share every joy thus doubly given : With each in turn life grows Divine, "With all its tastes of Heaven. ISA C# 10. 185 VISITATION OF THE SICK. " Peace be to this house and to all that dwell iu it ! " EACE to tliis house ! O Thou ^Vlioso ^vay "Wiis on the wa\es, AVIiose voice did stay The "vvild wind's rage, come, Lord, and say, Peace to this house ! Thou, "Who in pity for the weak Didst quit Thy heavenly Throne to seek And save the k>st, come, Lord, and speak Peace to this house ! Thou, Who dost all our sorrows know. And Avhen our tears of anguish flow Dost feel compassion, come, bestow Peace on this house ! Thou, A\lio in agony didst pray, " Take, Father, take this cuj) away," And then wast strengthened, couie and say. Peace to this house ! 'g! O Conqueror hy suirerin<. ( ) mighty Victor ! glorious King ! From out of pain and sorrow Ijiing Peace to this liouse ! 186 English Lyrics. Thou, 'Who triumphant from the dead Thine Hands didst o'er the Apostles spread, And say, " Peace to yoii," come, and shed Peace on this house ! Thou, Who didst on the clouds ascend, And then the Holy Spirit send, Send Him to comfort and defend All in this house ! Lord, in the Sacramental food Of Thine own Body and Thy Blood, Peace that is felt, not understood, Give to this house ! Save, save us sinking in the deep, Give ease from pain, and quiet sleep. And under Thy wing's shelter keep All in this house ! " Peace to this house," come. Lord, and say ; Come to us. Lord, and with us stay ; give, and never take away Peace from this house ! And when at last our fainting breath On trembling lips scarce quivereth, bring us through the gate of Death, Lord, to Thine House ! To Thine own House in Paradise, To Thine own House above the skies, To live the life that never dies, Lord, in Thine House ! Archdeacon Wordsworth, D.D. 187 ''HAVE MERCY ON ME, LORD, THOU SON OF DAVID." ITHIX the cool quadrangle's "welcome sliade, Beneath the linen awning, Jesus sought .V moment's quiet, while the fountain played • ',, . ^ Her pleasant interlude to weary thought. r\ \ Through the jiorch gleamed the rose-red y^^V^'^'^ sunset snows Of the wild crags of northern Galilee. ^y, "What awful life is in the God-repose >V That with the Past and Present welds Futurity ! Up the henched gateAvay thrills a woman's cry, As if the swollen torrent of deep care Had torn down silence in its agony. To fling Grief's secret on the trembling air. The loneliness of one unuttered woe, Tlie silent tears when every hope had fled, The sacred love, which mothers best may know, When sickness glooms around a firstborn's bed ; 188 English Lyrics. The weary hours "beside her httle child, The patient sadness of her darhng's eye, As Avith unselfish love she feehly smiled, — All, all came sobbing on that bitter cry. Lord, thou Son of David, pity me ! So 'mid the Avreck, bareheaded, 'gainst the spray A drowning man might shriek across the sea. When hope of human help had passed away. Lord, thou Son of David, pity me ! While ghastly doubt stung her sin-laden breast, If for the guilt, done by her secretly, God's curse had fallen on what she loved the best. He did not answer her one single word. Yet love was speaking in His every look : When earth is silent, then may Heaven be heard, In sorrow's gloom Faith best reads God's own Book. Think' st thou He hears not, when for many a day Thy knees are worn Avith fasting and with prayer ] Think'st thou He turns from any love away. Because thou seest no Angel on the au' ? *o^ Tempter, away ! each throb of pain He knows ; I will kneel on, and wait His blessed time : Ul? the steep staircase of Life's darksome woes I'll climb and sing, till overhead God's Chime Break with one roar of an eternal sea. And lo ! if I have prayed He givetli more ; I stagger down, half blind with victory. Whispering the Chant from out the opening Door. Eev. Alan Brodrick, M.A. 189 BY THE SHORE. HE sun had set in, glory ; clouds of gold VCnTG fringed "with "wondrous purple ; crimson bars Reddenod the foaming l)illo"\vs as they rolled, Till from heaven's blue gleamed out the silent stars. Then passed the !Moon up to her queenly throne, Tlie waters flashed with gems and glit- tering ore ; All earth was hushed to stillness, save the moan < >r the monotonous waves along the shore. I watched the strange clouds as they floated Some dark and murky, willi a tlireatening glare ; Some white ami llcccy mounting up the Like veiled angels on a shado\\'y stair. 190 English Lyrics. And while I gazed I wondered what might he The new, diviner Land for which we wait ; For earth itself, from stain of evil free, Would gleam with glory from the Golden Gate. But there no clouds shall gather, and no more The ocean rage — emblem of deep unrest ; ]^o storms shall sweep across that radiant shore, !No night shall shroud that City of the blest ! This earth is beautiful; o'er land and sea The mighty shadow of God's thought is cast ; But brighter far the Home that is to be, — Christ ! receive us to that Home at last ! Eev, R H. Baynes, M.A. 191 JACOB'S LADDER II ! many a time we look on starlit niglits V\) to the sky, as Jacob did of old, Look longing up to the eternal lights. To spell their lines of gold. But never more, as to the Hehrew boy, Each on his way the Angels Avalk a))ro;ul, And never more we hear, with awful joy. The audible voice of God, Yet, to pure eyes the ladder still is set. And Angel visitants still come and go ; Many bright messengers are moving yet From the dark world below. Thoughts, that are surely Faith's outspread- ing wmgs- I'rayers of the Chuich, aye keeping time and tryst — Heart-wishes, making bee-like muriiiurings, Their Uuwer the Eucharist — 192 English Lyrics. Spirits elect, througli suifering rendered meet For those higli mansions — from the nursery door Bright babes that seem to climb with clay-cokl feet, Up to the Golden Floor — These are the messengers, for ever wending From earth to Heaven, that faith alone may scan ; These are the Angels of our God, ascending Upon the Son of Man. W. Alexander, M.A. Dean of Emly. 193 MOMENTS. LIE in a heaAy trance, ^oiC With a Avorld of dream without me ; Shapes of shadow dance, In "wavering bands, about me ; But at times, some mystic things Appear in this phantom lair, That abnost seem to me visitings (">f Truth knoAvn elsewhere : The world is wide, — these tilings are small ; They may be nothing, but they are All. A prayer in an hour of pain, Begim in an under-tone. Then loAvered, as it would fain Be heard by the heart alone ; A tlirob when the soul is entered By a light that is lit above, Where the God of Nature has centered The Beauty of Love : The world is Avide, — these things are small ; They may be nothing, but they are All. A look tliat is telling a talc, Wliir;h looks alone dare tell, — When a cheek is no longer pale, Tliat has caught the glance, ad it fell ; 1 94 English Lyrics. A touch, which seems to unlock Treasures unknown as yet, And the bitter-sweet fii-st shock, One can never forget : The workl is wide, — these things are small ; They may be nothing, but they are All. A sense of an earnest will To help the lowly-living, And a terrible heart-thrill, If you have no power of giving ; An arm of aid to the weak, A friendly hand to the friendless, Kind words, so short to speak, But whose echo is endless : The world is wide, — these things are small ; They may be nothing, but they are All. The moment we think we have learnt The lore of the all-wise One, By which we could stand unburnt, On the ridge of the seething sun : The moment we grasp at the clue. Long-lost and strangely riven. Which guides our soul to the True, And the Poet to Heaven : The world is wide, — these things are small ; If they be nothing, what is there at all % Lord Houghton. I 195 VOICE OF THE SEA. ^ ir. -^i \ X^- II AT means this tale, O Sea ! Wliich thou hast toUl the earth since she was made 1 A long and patient hearing hast tliou had ; And even yet thou wilt not let her be. The bare liills edged the strand, "NMierein was never sound of human speech^ When thy first breaker, falling on the beach, Luirau the tale we cannot understand. r5 Thou hast seen tower, and hall. And city, rise since then with tumult loud, — And gather ivj round them for a shroud, — And sink into the silence waiting alL Trees have withstood thy breeze, "WHiich saw with thee how many a century passed ; Another ever rising o'er the last ; — Jiut thou liast seen the same befall the trees. The hilLs are scarred by man, Though years passed o'er them, and could leave uo trace ; Jiut thou, each moment varying thy face, Art now the same as when the world be^an. 196 English Lyrics. So long hath sounded here Thy voice, Sea ! repeating to the stones One changeless tale, though said in many tones ; — ]Srow half-suhdued, as if in bashful fear, At urging it once more : I^ow, when the Summer sunbeams on thee lie, Thou seemest to repose, and lazily Murmur thy waves their message to the shore ; — Now j)assionate again. They boom as if to storm Earth's reckless ear, — Now sorrowful, because she will not hear, Sob forth all wearily the long refrain. And is the tale not done ? Earth cannot comprehend ; her ear is chill. Why art thou doomed to moan it round her still, E'en when she lies asleep beneath the moon ? Her lamps shine mutely down Along thy foam ; her children sleeping lie ; Above there bends the calm and silent sky ; "Why shouldst thou only palpitate and moan 1 The night will yet pass o'er. The century "Close, upon thy murmur low. Wliat is it, then, which thou wouldst have us know 'I The weight of treasiu'es on thy sunless floor, Where no eye comes in quest 1 The lonely vastness of thine azure realm, Where league-long waves each other overwhelm 1 Or lieth so uneasy in thy breast, Voice of the Sea. 1 97 All tliou from earth liust ta'en 1 Ah, Sea ! too rich, indeed, are thy deep caves ; For, of the bright forms sunk beneath thy waves. Sun, moon, and stars are all that rise again ! Yet — in that solemn chime. Some holier secret surely hideth still. l)oes yet thy voice with the rememl)rance thrill, Of that strange moment at the birth of time, "When, 'midst thy primal sleep, Th(>re came God's Spirit moving on thy breast. And shook thee, trembling, from thy glassy rest. In quivering waves, Avhich still pulsating keep I Ye two were all alone ; The embryo earth beneath lay dark and colil. "What wast thou in that Avondi'ous contact told ? "What Avhispers didst thou hear of things unknown. Which filled the heart of God, liefore the first world on its axis turned ? — An infinite but lonely Love that yearned 1 — A purpose under all things lying broad ? Ah, well thy tones may be ^rysterious ! charged with meaning too profound For thee to shape aright, or us to sound. Thou art but like the human soul, Sea ! "When, with great thoughts oppressed, "\Miich the same Spirit through its voice woidd teach, It can but hint them fortb in broken speech, And seems to utter but its own unrest. Althou or "AxGKi. Visits." 198 ON THE THRESHOLD. OLD me not back, my children ! Let me speed j<-^ Onward, and ever onward ; for the path Which the great Master hath for me decreed, Its lines of glory hath ! The shadoAvs fall behind me. See ye not That all is bright towards which my foot- steps tend ] Come onward with me, towards the ap- pointed spot, Wliich is my journey's end. Come onward with me, towards the setting sun, — Towards the new morning portalled by the night. When the allotted task of earth is done. And darkness merged in light. See, through the opening vistas of the west. Bright glimpses of the Land toward which I am bound ! The crystal- walled City of the Blest, With Angel-watchers round. Oil the Threshold. 199 Far mountain-ridges, gold and amethyst — Ascending spires of kingliest }»alaces ; And a calm ocean spread like sunlit mist, Dctwixt mvself and these. And all as in a light of God doth shine ; And on the margin of that sunlit shore I see the loved, the young that once Avere uiine, Xot dead, but gone before. And -with their hands they beckon unto me. And Avith a voice-like melody they say, " Here, beloved one, we wait for thee, Until thou pass aAvay ! " Until thou pass away from earth and time — Till the night-shadows flee, and thou emerge Into the fulness of the Day sublime. Of which thou seest the verge. " Little remains to do as day grows late ; Only to trust, to love with all thy heart, To Ijless, like Christ the Lord ; to stand and wait, And when lie calls, depart ! " Thus sjjeak the voices : accept, my God, Thy servant's feeble sacrifice of praise. For that Thy goodness has to me allowed The fulness of my days ! 200 English Lyrics. I praise and bless Thee ! bless Tliee for the gain Which, of Thy mercy, life has been to me — Bless Thee for joy — bless Thee for grief and pain, AVhich brought me nearer Thee ! Lord, when Thou wiliest, call Thy servant hence ; But, to the last, let love my being move ; Unto the last, like Thee, let me dispense From Thy great treasury. Love ! Mary Howitt. 201 *k ''SHE TS XOT DEAD, BUI' SLEEP Em." IIE rests in peace : beside her tomb The grasses wave, the low Avind sighs ; Her spirit, iu its "long, long Home," Chants the glad music of the skies. "What matter, friends, though her dust sleep ] ^r^T^^yA^ ' Her spirit lives; avc will not weep. Above her tomb the tall trees wave. The gentle shadows fall, and rest In sorrowing on her silent grave Who leaneth on lier Shepherd's breast. "What matter, friends, though Ik r dust sleep ] Heaven took its own ; we will not "weep. Amid tlie tears of our distress She passed to join the silent dead ; From sorrow and from weariness Her meek, Iniig-sulliring spirit fled. "What matter, friends, tliougli licr dust sleeji 1 Heaven took its own ; we will not weep. 202 English Lyrics. Beside the lowly house of prayer, Her tomlDstone, unto us forlorn, Cabning our grief- tells how from care She, in the solitary morn, " Looking to Jesus," fell asleep, God loves His own ; we will not weep. Edmund Sandars, B.A, 203 THE DYING SOLDIER'S WIFE. ][ ! well, the siui is sinking, — it will all be over soon ; '•• When the hungry jackals shriek to-night to the yellow moon, You will hear them, little daughter, and shudder in your bed, But I shall be gone, my darling, beyond those bars of red. For the sun is burning crimson, drnvn on the date-trees' crown, And the hills in the distance rising show »- — 1^* purple, and blue, and broAvii ; Eising up height over height, sheer into ^ A\ > V ^^\ the hot thin air, V -^ ' «; I can see them where I lie, like a tinted f marble stair, Inlaid with green and amber, wrapt in a violet glow, "While the wliite pagodas shine, and the i)alm-trees shake lx;low : But I would give all this glory for one pale northern morn, For the grey light in its heaven, and the gleam of its golden corn. 204; English Lyrics. It's far away in the "West, and it's long ago, my dear, But the shadows grow sharp and long, as evening draweth near ; And all the long day I have heard, across this sultry heat, A patter of rain in the leaves, and the salt wave's tremu- lous heat. It was early Autumn weather ; the flax was in the pool, And just this time of evening, hut a night so calm and cool. The curlew came up and cried in the shingle along the shore. And the blue hills turned to hlack, as I stood at my father's door. Ah ! why should all this come back to-night on my dying brain % — I heard their footsteps coming, and their voices in the lane. Mother was in the byre ; I, too, should have been there. But I knew they were talking of me, and I shpped out unaware. " IS'eighbour," my father was saying, "forty pounds has the lass. And if you will not have her, you can even let her pass." Washing, Avashing, washing, came the tide on the black rocks by. But my heart beat louder and faster for fear of the man's reply. He was the wealthiest farmer in all our country wide, — But he was not to my mind, Jane, had he been an earl beside. The Dylncj Soldiers Wife. 20.-) Angry and sharp came the answer, — "Forty is little," he said ; " You shoukl give your eldest daughter a trifle more to wed." Spake out then your soldier father, — he stood the next to nie ; I knew it before he said a word, although I could not see : " I reckon," said he, " there's that can never be bought or sold, And if you give me ^lary, I ask nor silver nor gold." "Washing, Avashing, wasliing, came the tide up over the stones, Was it that or my own heart-beating that changed my Father's tones 1 " Forty pounds is her dower, and you shall have her," said he. — It's long ago, my darling, and it's far, far over the sea. Ah! why .should all this come luu-k to-night, when my brain is weak ] — The rush of the wild south-wester, and the soft spray on my cheek, — I'-ve forgotten so many things, l)ut tliis lives in my breast. Like the blaze of a crimson dawji burnt into a gloomy west. I've forgotten so many tilings, or tliey pass me by in a maze, — The Sepoys' murderous battle, and Lucknow's weary days ; 206 English Lyrics. The dropping sliot on the rampart, the sight of your Father's "blood ; And the wail, and the fear, and the hunger, behind those walls of mud. They pass me hy like spectres, as I go down to the grave, But a music tender and strange comes to me over the wave ; The church stands under the wood, Avhere the hill dips to the loch. She sings as a mother sings, when she makes the cradle rock. Solemnly moves the pastor's lip, and as he prays and reads. The words of love and of promise drop down like goldeii heads ; — Oh ! it's well that strain has lingered within me to this day, For it's little I've heard of Christ in this land where Christians sway. Is it well, land of glory ! to send thy brave sons forth From thy sunny southland meadows, thy grey clili- guarded North ] You give them bread in the barracks, and weapons for the strife. But not a Sword to fight the fiend, and not the Bread of Life. From your valleys croAvned with Churches, a dry Cross on their brow, You send them out, with never a one to bid them keep their vow. The Dying Soldiers Wife. 207 They fight your battles bravely ; thoy die for you, swov J in haml, And leii\'e their fair-faced orphans behind in a heathen land, — Behind, with never a Church-bell rung, never a chanted psalm. But hellish rite, and song impure, and the idol 'neath the palm. They may grow up in that darkness; there's none to care or know — rich men over in England ! mothers ! should this be so? There's never a heart among you, up to the Queen on her throne, But thrills when the terrible tale of this Indian War is known : Never an eye but weeps, where her soldiers' arms are piled — You give him tears and honour, give gold for his perishing child. Hush I hush ! they are passing away, the long wash of the sea ; And the singing down in the Church makes music no more for me : 1 am drifting slowly homeward, and though there be clouds afar, They touch but the sails of the ship that crosses the harbour bar. For it's not the dying sun that shines in my dying eyes, But a trail of the glory of Heaven over the moiuitain lies ; 208 English Lyrics. So lift me up, my darling, 'tis a gleam of the Golden Floor, Tlirougli tlie Gate that is all one pearl, where Christ has passed hefore. I have served Him badly, my child, weakly, below my desire, Fearing, and falling, and rising, yet evermore coming nigher ; But as the sunbeam draws all other lights into its ray, As the hand takes tenderly in the bird that wandered away, — So the love of that Heart Divine absorbs my poor weak love. So the Hand of my Saviour in Heaven takes in His weary dove; And I could go so gladly, but ever there rises a mist — 'Tis you and your little sister — betwixt my soul and Christ. Cecil Frances Alexander. :2()!) GOING OUT AND CuMlXG IX. - X that home were joy and sorrow, ^Vliere an infant lirst drew hreatli, ^\1iile an aged sire was waiting Xear unto the givte of deatL His feeble pulse was foiling, And his eye was growing dim ; He was standing on the threshold AVlu'u they brought the babe to him ; "N^Tiile to murmur fortli a blessing On the little one he tried, V In his trembling arms he raised it — Pressed it to his lips, and died. An awful darkness resteth < >n the path they both begin. Who thus meet upon the threshold, (jroing out and coming in. f loing out unto the triumph, Coming in unto tlu; tight, — Coming in unto the darkness, ^loing out unto the Light — .\lth(iugh the shadow deepened In the moment of eclipse, When 111- ]i;i-,si(l through tlu; dread jjortal With a blessing on his lips. •:vo English Lyrics. And to him who bravely conquers As he conquered in the strife, Life is but the way of dying — Death is but the gate of Life ; Yet awful darkness resteth On the path we all begin, Where we meet upon the threshold, Going out and coming in. 211 DTIXG AMONG THE PINES. ^^Xi' YIXG among the pines, tlie living pines, That hold their heads gi'een aU the Win- ter througli, And from their dark trunks, seamed with silver lines, Drop downi all day then- healing balm like dew, ] Wliere the soft beat of the low pulsing sea [r Scarce ruffles on the level silver strand, So well the pine woods, hanging on her lea. Filter the rough winds ere they touch the sand. ^ 1;^ laying, still dying, — far out in the wood. Over the sand, there lies a sacred ground, ^g^*^^ Where quaint wliitu wreath and roughly cai'S'en rood Tell that the toil-worn fishers rest have found, Out in the wood, beyond the sandy reach Of the white domes. Ah me ! 'tis far to lie I There are no northern daisies by this beach ; She had not need to come so far to die. 212 English Lyrics. As "vvlien from some great ship in mid seas wrecked, A haty corpse is washed on some green isle ; For the short sleep that was so long bedecked In purest lawn, and wearing still a smile ; "Which finding, the dark natives, with white teeth And plumed heads, lay covered in a cave, — So leave the EngUsh lady underneath The southern pines, beside the fisher's grave. Through the green boughs aslant the warm sunbeams Shall wrap her feet as in a white lace shroud, — Surely this wealth of natural life beseems Her better than the raindrop or the cloud. "VMiat dim, faint gleams that symbol life unrols Of the great Life whereof the door is Death ! And that sweet love of Christ, that to our souls Is sun, and light, and shade, and balmy breath I Dying among the pines : ah, lightly lie, "White sand, that bearest nor violet, nor moss ; This earth is hallowed under every sky, A wreath of glory hangs on every cross. Cecil Frances Alexander. 213 / JIAVE THE KEYS OF HELL AND DEATW LORD ! Thine other names are sweet As music to tlie listening ear, But this thrills all our awe-struck heart "With iitful })ulse of gloomiest fear ; Thou Lord of Heaven ! ami dost Tliou dwell The holder of the keys of Hell I Light of Love ! Fount of Life ! ^ Clear spring of joy for all on earth, Still quickening all to higher mood. Thou worker of the second birth ; From Thee we draw each moment's breath, And art Thou, then, the Lord of Death \ Yea, Lord ! through all that drear abyss. Where spirits wail their evil past, Thy love and pity still look on, Long-suffering, conquering at the last : From Thee flow menty, pardon, peace, From 'I'liee the woe that shall not cease. 214 English Lyrics. Clirist, eternal Light of Love ! Judge, eternal Fire of "Wrath ! Guide Thou our steps the narrow way ; Oh, lead us on the upward path : Our darkness let Thy light illume. Thy fire our baser dross consume. We need not turn, for help or grace, To saints' or martyrs' pitying ruth. For Thou art still the "Way, the Life, In Thee all mercy meets all truth ; Oh, leave us not, Thou Lord of all. Through pains of death from Thee to fixll. Oh, plunge us in Thy priceless blood ! Oh, purge us in Thy cleansing fire ! "Wash out each stain of sinful birth. Burn out each taint of low desire ; Tlirough fire and water lead Thine own To rest before Thy Father's throne. Eev. E. H. PluIviptre, M.A. •215 THE SONG OF THE BPxIDE. ALL all who love Tliee, Lord, to Thee ; Thou knowest how they long To leave these broken lays, ami aid Til Heaven's \inceasing song ; HdW they long. Lord, to go to Thee, And hail Thee Avith their eyes, — Thee in Thy blessedness, and all The nations of the skies. All who have loved Thee and done wcl Of every age, creed, clime ; The host of saved ones from the ends And all the worlds of time : The Avise in matter and in mind, The soldier, sage, and priest. King, prophet, hero, saint, and bard, The greatest soul and least ; The old, and young, and very babe. The maiden and the youth, All re-born Angels of our age, — The age of Heaven and Irulli ; The rich, the poor, the good, the })ad, Kedeemed alike from sin ; — Lord ! close the book (if time, and lit Eternity begin. I'lllI.II' .Ia.mks r.Aii.v 216 AT THE ALTAR. At the administration of the Lord's Supper on Whit- Sunday, my attention was attracted by the cries of a little child who had been left by his mother at her seat, while she waited with others at the altar. The boy struggled with those who tried to pacify him, and at last broke away from them and ran towards his parent, who was now kneeling at the rail. The child seemed to be awed by the solemnity of the scene, became unconsciously silent, and then knelt down by his mother's side. When I approached them with the consecrated bread and wine, he reached out his hand, as though supplicating for the spiritual food which I was offering to his mother. This little incident suggested the following lines : — ^f^ AY, little child, what wouldst thou at this place ? For kneelmg at this sacred Fountain's i^^~^g^f- Thou gazest silently, but must not drink. ^^! 1?^ What spell enthralls thee 1 Wouldst thou ^i^^M^Qt Clirist embrace, Ere yet thine infant feet have learnt to trace The thorny path which Christ's disciples tread 1 Or dost thou early feel thy spirit's need. Thou youthful suppliant at the Source of Grace 1 I know not. But I hail thy presence here. In token that thou wilt His servant be Hereafter, whom thou honourest now unkno\^■n, And tearfully to Him I make my prayer. That He in mercy may remember thee. Thou little child, and mark thee for His own. Ykn. Archdeacon Bickersteth, D.D, :217 THE DEATH OF DAVID. [iXSEKTEI) ItY Sl'ECIAL PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHEKS, MESSRS. J. MASTERS AND CO.] " So David slept with his fathers." — 1 Kings ii. 10. TX(r David sleepeth in his fathors' grave — ( ) for one echo of that deep dirge-strain, Mourning so well the beautiful and brave, f That rang erewhile o'er Gilboa's royal slain ! for a murmur as of liis own Psalms, Toucliing all hearts, like a great wind at That sports with Xature in long ocean calms, And green earth valley.s, all a .Summer's day! From his calm face the shadows sharj) and strong Of olil(-n days liavc jyasscil, and li-ft it still; From liis closed lip the last low lingering song, Like the last echo Hung liack from a hill. 218 English Lyrics. Has died away ; and never, never more, So bold a hand shall sweep the silver lyre, So true a tone shall teach to kneel and soar, So sweet a voice shall lead the saintly choir. Warrior, and king, and minstrel more renowned Than ever touched fair fancy's noblest chord ; Saint with a wondrous weight of glory crowned, At once the type and prophet of his liOrd ; He hath gone down into the shadowy vale — What though his face with many tears Avas wet, Though sin's remorseful cry, though sorrow's wail. Swelled from that harp to heavenly music set ; Still in that grief we read a deeper sorrow, The awful mystery of a suffering God ; Still from that sharp, sin-laden cry we borroAV A voice that mourns where our own feet have trod. AVhat though his warrior eye might ne'er behold On green Moriah's side the white stone flower, For Avhich his red right hand had piled the gold. Planning God's temple in his happier hour; Still like a dream before his eye it slept, Its chambers flooded with a golden glow, A strange bright place where faintest odours crei)t. From cedar-flowers eternally in blow. And he had heard a grander music thrilling, Where needs no temple's marble wall to rise ; id seen liis glorious ritual's fulfilling, And known the One sufficient Sacrifice. The Death of David. 21i) As a great mountain on a stormy eve, After a stormy day, stands dimly sIiomti, — How many times we saw tlie grey mist weave A murky mantle for his crest of stone ! — Now a "brief sxinset splendour -wTaps his brow, A crimson glory on a field of gold, Yet the wild tide is breaking dark below, Xor from its shaggy side the cloud has rolled — So dim, so beautiful we see thy form. Conqueror and saint, man sinning and forgiven. Around thee "\\Tapt earth's shadows and its storm, ^^'ith here and there a glimpse of purest Heaven. But the mom breaks — a morning without clouds, A clear calm shining when the rain is o'er ; He lieth where no mist of earth enshrouds, In God's great Sunlight AVTapped for evermore. r.- ' I 1,^ ^l ^'/•: M-