ot St. John. Other Poems. w FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Section ) TO// * The Voice of St. John, AND Other Poems. BY \VM. WILBERFORCE NEWTON, Author of " Essays of To-day." NEW YORK: ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 900 Broadway, Cor. 20th Strekt. COPYRIGHT, l8Sl, BY Anson D. F. Randolph & Company. NEW YORK: EDWARD O. JENKINS, Printer and Stereotyfier, 20 North William St. ROBERT RUTTER, Binder, nGand 118 East 14th Street. CONTENTS. The Voice of St. John, 9 The Mirage, 33 W< 'X and Widowed, - 36 The Sphynx, ------- 40 The Island Life, - 43 Reassurance, -46 Creed and Hope, 48 Christmas Carol— I., 49 Christmas Carol— II., 51 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://archive.org/details/stjohnothOOnewt Scene : — St. John at Ephesus, on the last Easter- day of his life, gathers the members of the church together, by the riverside, and tells his converts once more, the story of the first Easter-day. "Little children .... it is the last time." i John ii. 18. PREFACE. a 'iX the convent of Drontheim, Alone in her chamber Knelt Astrid the Abbess, At midnight, adoring, Beseeching, entreating The Virgin and Mother. 11 She heard in the silence The voice of one speaking Without in the darkness, In gusts of the night-wind, Now louder, now nearer, Now lost in the distance. " The voice of a stranger It seemed as she listened, Of some one who answered, Beseeching, imploring, A cry from afar off She could not distinguish. 7 PREFACE. " The voice of Saint John, The beloved disciple, Who wandered and waited The Master's appearance, Alone in the darkness, Unsheltered and friendless." H. \V. Longfellow. THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. ATHER round me, little children, for my & days are ebbing fast, And your aged friend and father goeth to his home at last. Soon the oldest of Apostles, white-haired, worn, and craving rest, Called by God, must join his brethren, saints and martyrs, saved and blest. Here, beside the swift Meander, where our holy church has stood, Saints cf Ephesus, I bid you hold the faith and seek the good. On this happy Easter morning, you have sung your hymns of praise, And my soul is filled with memories of those far- off, wondrous days, 9 THE VOICE OF ST JOHN. When we hurried in the morning, hope befogged with clouds of gloom ; Hoping much, but fearing most — the silence of the sullen tomb. Little children ! sure, 1 feel it — 'tis the last time my poor breath Shall relate the Easter story — how our Lord has conquered death. Gather round me, then, and listen while I live the past once more, And recount the golden hours of that Easter-day of yore. II. Gray and cold was the dawn, and darkness hung long on the twilight, When Mary, the loved one forgiven, from whom had departed the devils, Limping and halt as she was, for the demons had troubled her sorely, Tapped at the lattice-door of the house of my mother, where Mary, 10 THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. The sister of Mary, the Virgin and wife of Clopas were waiting. These were the three who had stood by the blood- dripping cross of the Saviour, Theirs were the hands that received the body of Jesus, when Joseph Ascending the terrible cross, with Nicodemus, the ruler, Gently lowered the sheet, and folded the arms of the victim. Bearing the agonized mother away from the sight of the crosses, Giving my nrm to the sufferer, pierced with the sword of her sorrows, Surely fulfilling the word which Simeon spake in the temple, Back from this vision of death, away from the shouts of the soldiers, Wearied and stricken and worn, I was sleeping the sleep of the troubled, Guarding the home of our loved one, of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Hard by the narrow street, that led up to the for- tress of Herod. n THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. Little knew I of the plan of my mother, that early by daybreak The women should go to the tomb, to wait for the promised deliverance. 'Twas Salome, my mother, you know, Zebedee's wife of Gennesaret, Who came to the master of old, and asked for a place in the kingdom, For those who stood nearest her heart, as she gave up her all to the Master, Leaving her home in the north, and her husband, the fisherman sailor; 'Twas Salome, my mother, I say, who prepared for this early adventure, First at the tomb in the garden, last upon Calva- ry's hill-top. Busy were they in the work of preparing the spike- nard and ointment, Hoping and fearing by turns and ready for joy or for sorrow. Thus in the dark of the morning, before the first red of the sunrise, Wrapping their mantles about them, their hurrying feet sought the Garden. 12 TH1 f CE OF ST. JOHN. III. But hark ! Was it thunder they heard Rumbling in darkness so still ? Stars in the sky seemed to fall, Soldiers affrighted, dismayed, Fled from the tomb, and like sheep Struck by the fiery bolts Of an eastern simoon in the sands Of the desert, were fleeing away, Trembling, the sisters advanced, Where a luminous cloud seemed to rest In the rocky recess of the tomb. Then came the vision of light ! Angels were guarding the place ! The stone on the pathway was rolled, The sepulchre empty and bright, Gave the first note of that joy Which to Easter must always belong, Telling them Christ was alive! Then in the triumph of bliss, Quick in her womanly thought, Mary, the Magdalene, fled, Leaving her comrades behind, 13 THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. To feast on the fulness of faith Changed to the richness of sight, While the red sun in the heavens Poured forth the splendors of day ! Never had sunrise till then Meant such a flood of bright hopes ; Never had light till this morn Been such a message from God : Never had darkness and fear Lurking within the cold tomb Been driven away, until now. It was then I heard hurrying feet, And the latch of the door opened wide, At the home of the mother of Christ, Where Simon had come from his tears, Humbled and saddened and wan. 'Twas the Magdalene. Ere she- could speak, In her face that was lighted with joy, The message of triumph I read, As she clasped her pale hands and exclaimed : 14 THE VOICE OE ST. JO JEW IV. The Master has surely arisen ! Come, visit the spot where He lay. The keepers have fled, and an angel has said, " Christ is risen, is risen to-day." We have been to the tomb very early, With ointment and spikenard, for fear Our hopes should deceive us, but, brothers, be- lieve us, The angels have dried every tear. It was dark when we came to the garden, And we felt for the latch, as the gray Seemed to lighten, our footsteps to brighten And herald this wonderful day. Vet, perchance it is only a vision, 1'crchance I am dreaming or mad, But they've taken away our dear Lord where He lay, Run quickly ! Behold, and be glad ! 15 THE VOICE OF ST JOHN. V. Starting away like ships that feel the breeze on the canvas, Simon and I in the zeal which is born in the moment of triumph ; Ran through the city's street, till we came to the gate of the Garden : First at the tomb was I, while Peter came panting behind me, Weary and worn as he was, from the tears of his bitter sorrow. Alone we stood at the grave which was silent and robbed of its inmate ; No vision to us was vouchsafed, and the women had gone to the city. The guard from the fortress had fled, to carry the story to Pilate. " Where were the angels," we asked, " and how should we know what the truth was ? " For the sun was climbing the heavens and mystery still was our portion. 'Tvvas then in our utter amaze, that the Magdalene following behind us, 16 THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. Came to the open tomb, and taking her resolute station, Said she would watch o'er the grave till she saw a new vision of angels : Firm in her faith was she, that Jesus was surely arisen, And trusting her future to God, she uttered this song, in her rapture : VI. I shall behold His face And triumph in His love, I yet shall see His love for me, God's loving care above. I may not see His ways, Or know His secret plan, Yet I can wait His kingly state And feel His love for man. I can not scan God's will. 1 linger here in faith. Yet I shall see His love to me. I'll trust Him unto death. 17 THE VOICE OF ST JOHN. I shall behold His face, His loving form shall see. It must be nigh ; I can but sigh, Bring me, my Lord, to Thee! VII. It was then when we had departed, and wended our way to the city, Seeking the other apostles, to tell them these won- derful rumors, That Mary, alone in the Garden, beholding a form drawing near her, Said to the vineyard's watch (supposing the gar- dener was coming), " If thou hast borne Him hence, oh, tell me where thou hast laid Him, And I will take Him away, if death is the end of my vision. But if He is risen indeed — " Then beholding the face of the stranger, To the earth, as one dead, she fell; while Jesus said to her — " Mary ! " 18 THE VOICE OF ST. JOIIX. VIII. " Rabboni, my Master," she cried, 11 Thy feet, O my God, let me clasp ! Am I treading the pavement above Where freedom is given from doubt? Am I lifted to light that is bliss ? Has heaven come down upon earth Since Christ over death has the power?" Then Jesus to Mary replied; Her face in her mantle shut in, As though she were blinded with light : " Touch me not yet, O my child, Not yet to my Father in heaven Bearing the sheaves from the field, Bringing the first-fruits of life, Have I in triumph gone up. Buf go to my brethren and say, Back to our Father and God Soon I ascend ; that in joy In the kingdom that lieth beyond, We for all ages may be Brethren, united in life, Never by sorrow undone ! " 19 THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. IX. Gone in a moment was Christ,- and the whispering breath of the west wind Fanned the penitent's face en the spot where her Lord had been standing : Leaving the Garden again, she encountered Salome and Mary Just by the brook, in the way that leads up to the fish-pond of Herod : Warm was their loving embrace while the Magda- lene sang in her gladness : X. Hail to the brightness which heralds His glory ! Hail to the coming of Christ among men ! Back from the tomb He has come, and the story Is told us by angels again and again ! Death is uncrowned, since the Saviour of mortals The grave and destruction has robbed of their gloom : Victory shines out from heaven's opened portals, Jesus has conquered the power of the tomb. 20 THE VOICE OF ST. JOIIX. Christ is arisen ! sisters, with gladness, Bright shines this Easter morn, bringing Him near, Lovingly owning Him, banishing sadness, Hope springs eternal o'er darkness and fear. XL It was then in the court of the temple, the priests and the rulers were plotting, How they might silence the tale brought back by the terrified soldiers : 11 They have stolen His body away ; say this to the wondering people." Such was the word of the rulers, such was their meaning of Easter. Easter noon was it now, when a party of loving disciples, Women, with spices prepared, to lay at the tomb of the prophet, From Galilee came, and inquired the way to the garden of Joseph. Thus they drew near to the cavern, so fern-crowned and buried in mosses, 21 THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. Peering within at the place where they thought they should see the Lord's body. While they were earnestly gazing, amazed to find nothing but grave-clothes, A luminous flame seemed to shine, and lo, the bright forms of two angels Told them that Christ was alive, as they chanted this song in sweet music : XII. Awake ! Awake ! Glad voices make. Sing praise to Christ the Lord, The living Word, In earth and heaven Eternally adored ! For thankful songs From hearts and tongues To Christ our King is given From hearts of men Set free again And happy saints in heaven. 'Tis Easter morn, new faith is born, The day of days the best. 22 THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. Sing praise to God ! Sing out abroad, With joy and hope possessed ! For now the Prince Of Peace hath fought, And triumphed o'er the grave, With holy arm, And strong right hand, Omnipotent to save. No shadows now, our spirits bow, Our souls are raised on high, The Son of man In God's own plan Has come to earth to die. No doubts or fear Could hold Him here Detained by mortal breath. For now He lives And freely gives Redemption over death ! 23 THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. XIII. Frightened, and awe-struck, and still, the women from Galilee pondered What this strange vision should mean, ere it faded away into sunlight. Soon to their wondering souls there was joined the glad spirit of Mary, Who back from the vineyard returned when Jesus had vanished before her. u Come, let us seek the disciples, come, let us tell the glad tidings." Cheerfully thus to the group the Magdalene spoke, and then added : " Out of a garden man wandered, sin entering in by a woman : Back to an Eden restored let woman recover the doubting." Leading the way to the city, the strangers from Galilee followed, Close on the steps of their guide, as she knocked at the door-post of Simon — Simon the zealot, I mean, where, sitting within in the darkness, 24 4 THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. The scattered disciples were found engaged with these obstinate rumors. Gladly their story they told, but how could the brethren believe them ? How could it ever be true as Thomas exclaimed 'mid these doubtings : XIV. Now is done our work of faith, Can it be that Christ o'er death Triumphs with His human breath? Let them freely say What they hope or what they fear ! Binding law both far and near Rules supreme o'er grief and cheer, Night is never day ! When the human body dies, When the soul from matter flies, When the form beloved, lies In the silent tomb, Who can call us back once more, From the strange, mysterious shore, Where the gathered souls of yore Live beyond earth's gloom ? 25 THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. Nay, my brethren, do not grieve. I can ne'er this tale believe. Reason can not this receive, Can not understand ! In the Master's pierced side, Where the spear-thrust entered wide, In those palms once crucified, I must thrust my hand ! XV. Shades of the evening grew on, while forth to a neighboring village, T»wo of our company went, to seek for the absent Salome, And as in their talk by the way they communed with each other and wondered, A pilgrim they passed on the road, a wayfarer, mantled and hooded, Who, joining their steps toward the town, thus spoke with a tone of emotion : 26 THE VOICE OF ST. JOIIX. XVI. "Wherefore this saddened gaze, And why this gloom when all around is bright? Walks trouble a companion with you on life's ways, Silent and dark as night ? " Then Clopas quick replied, " Art thou a stranger in Jerusalem, And know'st thou not that Jesus Christ hath died ? Would' st thou our grief condemn M When we had trusted all Our hidden hopes to this, the Son of man, The last of all the prophets ; and the pall Grows thick o'er every plan? # " And certain women brave, Have thrilled our spirits by the news they bring From Joseph's garden, for they say the grave Contains not anything — *' And angels guard the place. Moreover, 'tis the third day, and we know 27 THE VOICE OF ST J OHM. He whom we trusted, told us face to face, Our faith to sight would grow. " And yet we see Him riot, And fears come in and rob our rising breath. On earth there does not seem one favored spot Untenanted by death." Then the wayfarer said : " O fools and slow of heart to take in hand All that the prophets and the seers of old Have told you : understand The purpose of the Lord." And then, with earnest look and kindling eye, The stranger, from the visions of God's Word, Showed them why Christ must die ! Then on the shady road Which skirts the entrance to Emmaus' slope, Reaching, by sunset's hour, their plain abode, Aroused with kindling hope, They pressed their guest to stay. " Abide with us, for it is drawing late, And shadows fall," they said, " across the way : Pass not our humble gate." 28 THE VOICE OF ST. JOIIX. Twas ere; and yet 'twas dawn ! Quick as a flash while we were breaking bread We saw the living face we thought was dead, And Christ was gone! XVII. 'Twas night and the city was still. The paschal moon had arisen, Silvering the turrets and walls of the castles and fortresses grim, Light on the temple shone and the shadows were growing tall ; In the evening watch could be heard the clatter of horses' hoofs, As down the pavement of stones some lordly Sen- ator, late To the feast of his Roman friends, in his lumbering chariot was driven. The cry of the owl so shrill, as he perched in the cedars old, Or the call of some vender of wares, lost in the driver's noise, 29 THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. As he hurried his mules along, broke in on the stillness of night. 'Twas then in a secret room the eleven disciples were found, With others to whom the reports had been brought from the empty grave, While wonder and doubt like the tide ruled their spirits by turns. Into this upper room suddenly entered the brothers Who from Emmaus had come, crowning their hopes with the tidings: ° Jesus is risen indeed ! Simon hath seen Him alive ! " 'Twas then, while with rapture we stood, scanning the faces of friends, To find that assurance of hope, hidden away in our breasts, Right in the midst of the group, ere we could know what it meant, Jesus with glory appeared : Jesus, the same and yet changed, Changed, yet our Jesus of old, breathing out bless- ings on each, 30 THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. "Peace to your spirits," He said Why need I tell you the rest ? Tis the food and the drink of the soul ! Soon I shall see Him again; Soon in His bosom recline, as once at the passover feast To me it was given to feel the heart-beats of Him who has gone ! XVIII. Thus I've told again the story Of the Resurrection morn, How, from out the clouds of darkness, Hope for man from God was born. Hold this faith, then, do not falter, Bear the trials of your life, Peace comes after struggle ; after Death, there comes eternal life. Little children, keep from idols; Heed my faltering words to-day. 3i THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN, This is God, the only true One. This is life, the only way. God is true, and all things show it. Let your lives your trueness prove Can you doubt on Easter morning, God is light and God is love? 32 THE MIRAGE. "IT DOTH NOT YET 4PPEAK WHAT WE SHALL BE." "Splendor! Immensity! Rapture! Grand words, great things: a little definite happiness would be more to the purpose." — Madame dg Gasparin. JN the mood of suspense I ask, can it be true, All this faith which we cling to and trust in With courage and joy? Shall I tremblingly rue In the future unknown, this strong certainty Steadying my hopes here on earth ? For I am so small, In the sweep of God's planets; so tired and lone, In the rush of the torrents of souls ! Amid all That I know not, nor care for, nor trust in, shall I, Still myself as I am, press in at the door That moves open at death and admits me to Splendor, immensity, rapture, — and more Than my mind can conceive of? But shall this Be I, this new, wonderful creature? Methinks I had rather 33 THE MIRAGE. Be less of the marvel, effulgent in rainbows of bliss, And more of the man, who in heaven could gather His human ones round Him and live without sin, as He was ! For how can I love these great powers and angels, And all the unknown ones who surge out and in From the worlds that I never have dreamed of? God, is it thus ? Shall I lose myself there In the soul-dust of lives which are numberless, depths Which I never can enter ? My Father, Oh ! where Shall I rest myself, wearjcjd and staggered With all this sublimity ? O God, is there not by Thy throne, in which center the lines of Creation's far-reaching expanse, the form and the eye Of the human one, tinging eternity's colorless blank With the blood drops of time, and making in space Unsubstantial and airy with cloud-fleece, a firm And unchanging reality, where I can place My poor wandering feet close by His feet ! Yea, my God, 1 shall see Thee through Christ ! I shall cling to that Hand 34 THE MIRAGE. Which was pierced for my sins, and though awed By the shining of infinite light, still my soul Shall be knit to the human in Tesus ! I shall stand Where the sinning men saved stand : the roll Of the worlds ever moving around me : the flight Of the thronging attendants of spirits, the life of Eternity dreaded, unknown, shall awake to my sight, As the feverish dreams turn to joy when the suf- ferer wakes to the light. 35 WON AND WIDOWED. [In a village in Switzerland, a young guide on his way back from his wedding, met a party of tourists who were looking for a guide to explore a glacier. The young bridegroom left his bride at the chalet door as they re- turned from the church, and went as he was in his gay, peasant wedding clothes, the bride promising to keep a light in his window until he should return. The guide fell through a ravine, upon a glacier bed, and was lost. The widowed wife true to her vows, having learned that in the course of fifty years, the glacier would emerge from the ravine, waited all these years, and after watching at the mouth of the ravine, at last discovered her lost hus- band frozen in the ice, fifty years after his wedding-day. She, an old woman, looked once again on the marble face of her youthful husband, and conducted his body to the village church, where the funeral service was held, fifty years after the wedding-day]. SAID Margaret : " At last he is mine, old on his glacier-bed — My husband has come to these arms, My Ernest has come to the light, 36 WON AND WIDOWED. Out from the robber ravine Which snatched my darling aw While I in this death-watch of years, ■ The flickering taper have burned In the chalet window each night, Waiting in vain for a step \ gain to be heard, )king in vain for a face Never again to be seen. Until now. Oh ! the strife of these years. He so young and so fair — Clad in his gay Tyrolese ; Silent and cold on his bed — I so haggard and old — Wrecked, and thwarted, and cursed In the throw of my chance for life, Maddened and torn from my love, Ere the breath of his kiss was cold, As he touched my trembling lips At the chancel-rail — while the priest, Hid by the incense smoke, Knelt at the altar step, Have met — at the jaws of this cave, Spanning a widowed life — Hiding a buried love ! 37 WON AND WIDOWED. " One more kiss on that marble face, One look more at the darling boy, He is mine; rob me not of my right : For this moment my heart has beat on The goal of my living — is this. While others have hated, and loved, Have squandered, and striven, and toiled, Have begotten, have buried, have wed, Noiselessly I have lived on — With the slowness of Fate I have moved, Towards this day, while the glacier-bed Has slowly moved onward to me ! u Oh ! loved soul, in what world Are hidden the thoughts of thy love, Those heart-throbs pent-up for thy wife Widowed and weary for thee ? By what stream, by what meadow of bliss Shall our love, rudely rent by the storm, The snowdrift has piled in our path, Be woven to oneness again — Be made to the pattern of yore ? " Lead on, up the rugged defile, Towards the church on the grassy slope, 33 WON AXD WIDOWED. Where man and wife we came down, When the call for a guide he heard. Gray-haired matron, alone Following the love of her youth, Mourner and dead we return ! - but yesterday seen in my dreams, 'Tis eternity lived by a child, Orphaned, and stricken, and sad, Ready to die any hour — But waiting to see once again 'I he face of my lover of old, To whom my young soul had been given ! 39 THE SPHYNX. ©H, Time ! How strange thou art ! Thou hoary-headed king, with ages gray ; How thou dost trifle with each hopeful heart In wanton play ! Oh, thou imperious lord ; Thy sway is boundless, and thy stern com- mand : Each gordian knot is cut as with a sword From thy great hand ! The cradle and the tomb By thee are joined in life — a year, a day ; 'Tis when the flowers of earth are in their bloom That they decay. Speak, wintry Time : — Oh ! why Should life be chained by iron links to death ; Why should the new-born child begin to die With his first breath ? 40 THE SPIIYXX. The pyramids declare The truth that life is short, and art is long ; Where are the hands that reared them, where, oh ! wh That countless throng? High o'er the buried dead, Tike mountain walls that echo with the strife; We hear the solemn, never-ending tread Of death and life ! The Roman hero's arch, The ruined domes and columns, so sublime, Point, like the fabled causeway, to the march Of giant Time ! Oh ! what a mockery this ! There was an Eden once, but at the gate Despair stood waiting side by side with bliss; And still they wait ! Tell me, ye sentinels — why Must man with his proud hopes be crushed for- ever ? Why from unfinished matter do ye try The mind to sever ? 41 THE SPHYNX. The answer comes not now : The silent stars above — the eddying sand, Move round some law — to which all creatures bow And nature shows her hand — Remorseless, ruling all, A Sphynx upon her lasting granite throne Yet voices speak within — and spirits call Souls whom the spirits own. 42 THE ISLAND LIFE. M He that kecpeth thee will not slumber." Vw^ island in the sea of space, We walk upon the shifting shore; We hear the ocean's ceaseless roar, And see its waves our steps deface. We hurry on — we soon are gone; We scan the undiscovered main — That ocean all unknown — in vain, While still the tide is hurrying on ! We are but in our school-days here, With faculties all dwarfed and blunted ; Our highest growth of reason stunted? When midway in its proud career. A half a century is man's, A thousand years is Nature's time ; Which in this strange, uneven clime Is needed to complete their plans! 43 THE ISLAND LIFE. But when immortal we shall rise, To study from the Master's hand, And with the angels understand What now is hidden from our eyes — 'Twill be an ever-growing bliss To watch the planets on their way, With suns and systems, and to say : " Far back on earth I knew of this ! ' The tablets of our memory Will shine like plates of burnished steel ; What now is lost, they will reveal, And what we know not, we shall see ! Yes, we on earth can fit the mind For higher pleasures yet to come — When through the worlds of space we roam, And ever-hidden wonders find. Thus God has said, " Let there be light" ; And what in earth's dark caves was made The sooty carbon, has obeyed His voice, and is the diamond bright. 44 THE ISLAND LIFE. Light — light is breaking out, and lo ! The problem now is solved ; for death, That darkened cloud, as with one breath, Is scattered ! — and the rest, we know ! Then, courage for the field of strife ! The trumpet's call to arms we hear; Arouse ! awake ! oh, never fear The conflict and the din of life ! 45 REASSURANCE. "And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." — i John v. 4. 4 S there a victory then 3 Over our doubts and our fears ? Is there a passage for men Out of this valley of tears? For men who are weary and worn, Broken, desponding, and sad ? Is there Christ's smile for earth's scorn, Making the sorrowful glad ? Is there a joy for our trust, A hope and assurance of peace ? Is there a time when our doubts And temptations forever shall cease ? Is there a morning of light ? A Sabbath of quiet and rest ? When the end of the journey is reached, And the crown of rejoicing possessed? *6 ' REASSURANCE. Yes ! For at last we shall find The Way, and the Truth, and the Life, In our Lord, as the end of our search, In Christ, as the goal of the strife. Doubt, and temptation, and sin, And the struggles we wage while we roam ; Will be hushed, in the past, and life's din Be forgotten when resting at home. So there's a victory then Over our doubts and our fears; Faith shall forever give way To the knowledge which cometh with years ! A knowledge of hope changed to sight, Of trust to fruition made plain ; A life where the will and the power To love as Christ loveth shall reign. 47 CREED AND HOPE. 1 ORD, when, oh when shall we begin to see ■^ Each particle of jangled, warring truth Forever lost and reconciled in Thee ? Is not the other life perpetual youth With mind unfolding, always sunned upon By Him who lighted every sense even here ? Oh ! wilt Thou not shine ever on, and on, Till in our littleness we're brought so near Thy free life-giving self, that every shell Shall burst its bands and cerements and fly out Into Thy infinite sea-room where no spell Palsied with death shall seize upon the doubt Of him who would believe and know ! Oh, free Our wearied minds, dear Lord, at last in Thee. 48 CHRISTMAS CAROL. IONG ago, in solemn midnight, ■^ Shepherds watched upon the plain, When a band of holy angels Sang the earliest Christmas strain. Chorus. Hallelujah ! Hallelujah ! Glory be to God on high ! Gently flowed the silent waters In the stillness of the night, And the glittering stars in heaven Shone with pure and silvery light. Chorus. Heaven is opened, all its glory Bursts across the eastern sky, For the harmony of seraphs Tells that Christ, the Lord, is nigh. Chorus. 49 CHRISTMAS CAROL. Now the golden gates are open, Enter ye, who love the Lord ; For the Saviour's love hath triumphed, As He promised in His Word. Chorus. Join the angels in their chorus, Praise the Lord, who came to die; Praises, in the highest, praises; Glory be to God on high ! Chorus. CHRISTMAS CAROL. w HO is this in Bethlehem's town, Brings the holy angels down — Shepherds too, and wise men bow, Son of God, 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou ! In the temple, who is He, Aged Simeon longs to see? Happy saint, he pays his vow, Son of God, 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou ! Who is He in yonder cot, Bending to His toilesome lot, Veiled in flesh we know Thee now, Son of man, 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou ! Sing we then with heart and voice, While the sons of men rejoice, While heaven's glory crowns Thy brow. Son of God, 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou ! 5i CHRISTMAS CAROL. Hail the Saviour, praise Him then, Heaven's own richest gift to men, Son of God — of man, 'tis Thou We would ever praise as now. 52