PS 3505 
 .U95 S5 
 1920 
 Copy 1 
 
 Skadoxtf s in me Glass 
 
 Emma C. Cuskman 
 
 4 
 
SHADOWS IN THE 
 GLASS 
 
 BY 
 
 EMMA C. CUSHMAM 
 
 The Christopher Publishing House 
 Boston, Massachusetts 
 

 Copyright IQ20 
 By The Christopher Publishing House 
 
 ©CI.A5G5878 
 MAV -8 i920 
 
 . 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 An Offering 7 
 
 Easter Greeting 8 
 
 My Aeroplane 9 
 
 The Question 10 
 
 My Casket 11 
 
 A Testimony 12 
 
 A Birthday Wish 13 
 
 An Incident 14 
 
 A Look 15 
 
 An Answer 16 
 
 The Lesson 17 
 
 Lie Still and Deep 18 
 
 A Voice 19 
 
 How Did You Love? 20 
 
 My Dream 21 
 
 Giving 22 
 
 A Song 23 
 
 Christmas Morning 24 
 
 1920 25 
 
AN OFFERING 
 
 D/JEAR Father God, 
 In Who giveth to Thy children 
 3<*> The things they call their own, 
 As we give to our little ones 
 The toys with which they play, 
 And having drawn a picture 
 They run to us and say, 
 "Oh, look, what I have made for you, 
 It is a house! It shows what I can do!" 
 So, Father, I, Thy little child, 
 Take what Thou givest me, 
 And having scribbled verses 
 I run to Thee and say, 
 "These are poems! They are for Thee, 
 See what I've done, with what Thou givest 
 me!" 
 
EASTER GREETING 
 
 CVUDME Spring, come flowers, 
 J J Come life to every thing, 
 And to all hearts O bring 
 The Christ who lives within. 
 
 After the darkness, light, 
 After the cold the warm 
 For us who have waited long 
 For the quickening to come. 
 
 Rise in Thy perfect glory 
 
 Rise like the Rose of Sharon 
 
 Tell us again the story 
 
 Of Christ who comes in the Spring. 
 
 Love that goes on forever 
 Love that makes all things new 
 We hear thy voice proclaiming 
 I am preparing a place for you. 
 
MY AEROPLANE 
 
 ENEATH me is a stormy 
 
 waste, 
 The ocean of a troubled world, 
 Around me is a vast expanse 
 Which stretches where no eye can see; 
 Above me is Infinity, 
 Toward which I sail my fragile barque 
 Freighted with my ignorance, 
 And almost lost in mystery, 
 I cannot see, I cannot hear, 
 The outlook is too veiled for me, 
 And so, Oh Master, take the helm! 
 A trusting passenger I would be 
 Whose eyes are only fixed on Thee 
 What time I'm sailing, toward Eternity. 
 
THE QUESTION* 
 
 NttAO SHROUDED figure stood 
 \\ beside my bed 
 
 And asked me, "Are you sat- 
 isfied?" 
 But a smiling angel came to me and said, 
 "Is there no other thing that you desire?" 
 I, smiling also, quickly answered, 
 "What more can I desire since I have all?" 
 And then the angel looked at me 
 And said, "Is there no secret wish 
 Deep in your deepest soul, 
 No unextinguished longing in your past 
 Which comes sometimes and holds you fast, 
 Disturbing all your vaunted calm?" 
 
 I covered up my face 
 
 And saw the shrouded form. 
 
 *It is said just before Shelley died he saw a 
 shrouded figure who asked him, "Are you satis- 
 fied?" 
 
 10 
 
MY CASKET 
 
 HAD a little casket 
 To which there was no key 
 For He who sent it me 
 Had said you'll find a key within. 
 
 But when I tried to open it 
 Behold, the box was sealed, 
 And no amount of skill 
 Availed to force the fastening. 
 
 I tried innumerable keys, 
 
 I asked from many help; 
 
 But more and more, as years passed by 
 
 The mystery grew more deep. 
 
 I dreamed of it by night 
 I thought of it by day 
 My casket — to open it 
 O, how to find the way! 
 
 I questioned those who knew 
 Or said they thought they knew; 
 I tried their keys, but all these 
 Failed in furnishing a clue. 
 
 At length, the One who gave 
 The precious gift to me 
 Took pity on my suffering 
 And sent a key to me. 
 
 It was key which answered 
 To a combination lock; 
 And when at last I opened it 
 I found within was — God. 
 11 
 
A TESTIMONY 
 
 AM not what I was before you 
 came. 
 And all that in my being was 
 
 divine 
 Had leapt responsive to every word you 
 
 said. 
 Such impress does not pass, and once made 
 
 mine 
 On what will one day be complete 
 Will set its own immortal seal. 
 I am not what I was before you came 
 And by your voice and teaching brought 
 The larger vision covering the skies. 
 I see the color caught from worlds beyond, 
 I see the joy of service to mankind, 
 I make a new sweet claim to brotherhood 
 Both for myself and those I love the best, 
 A claim to work, to serve, and thus help 
 
 all the rest. 
 
 12 
 
A BIRTHDAY WISH 
 
 SEND thee, dear, a birthday 
 wish today, 
 This day that brought thee 
 
 smiling to our plane 
 What time I knew not all the joy for me 
 That waited till I heard thy voice again, 
 What matter Babylon or Persia, or Cathay 
 Adaia, Jeanie, daughter, sister, friend, 
 I hold your hand, I see your face today, 
 And all the past is one long loving memory. 
 So take my birthday wish I send you, sweet, 
 That all of love you ever felt or knew 
 And all the love I ever gave to you 
 May concentrate in blessings from your past 
 And fill your evening cup so full, so full, 
 That it will overflow o'er all the world at 
 
 last. 
 
 13 
 
AN INCIDENT 
 
 TANDING before a face one 
 day, 
 Standing before a consecrated 
 
 Not realizing all that meant perhaps, 
 I said, "Is there no place for me 
 Within the railing which is built around, 
 Or must I always stand and gaze 
 Between impenetrable bars?" 
 And then one said, "There is a gate, 
 But he who passes through 
 Must leave his outer self behind; 
 Within are no compartments, 
 Neither great nor small, 
 For all is open space 
 And God is all in all." 
 
 14 
 
A LOOK 
 
 F THE ultimate exchange of 
 human love, 
 The best expression of a real 
 friendship, 
 Could be a symbol of the divine, 
 I think the supreme one 
 Would be — a look. 
 To meet the eyes of one we loved 
 For one transcendent steadfast moment 
 In which all clouds were swept away 
 And soul looked straight into another soul, 
 As if a curtain suddenly were drawn, 
 The sense of all apartness disappeared — 
 And the solemn rapture of a perfect 
 Understanding took its place — all mystery 
 Solved, and only one instead of two endured. 
 
 15 
 
AN ANSWER 
 
 T^OU ask me, dear, what I have 
 \\ found 
 £21 Most beautiful in life, 
 I think a moment before I say, 
 "The sunsets we have watched together, 
 The heart of a rose which you have 
 
 gathered, 
 The smile of a child in the face of its 
 
 mother, 
 Eyes of friends as they meet one another; 
 But more beautiful still 
 Beyond words wonderful, 
 Not to be told to you, 
 Not to be uttered by me 
 Only to be knelt before 
 For God is in it, 
 Is the sight of a soul 
 As I have once seen it." 
 
 16 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 W//HAT have I learned from thee, 
 //) Thou teacher of men's souls? 
 Let me count the lessons first 
 And then say them o'er and o'er. 
 I have learned the lesson of sincerity, 
 The beautiful unconsciousness of self; 
 Fearlessness when truth is at the stake, 
 Forbearance when our brothers make mis- 
 take; 
 I have learned what absolute surrender 
 Means, have learned by seeing heaven and 
 
 hell, 
 But first and last and more than I can tell 
 I've listened and been satisfied when 
 You've taught the love of Christ to men. 
 
 17 
 
LIE STILL AND DEEP 
 
 HAT can I say to thee today, 
 
 Beloved ? 
 ,The shadows come and go across 
 my glass, 
 But through them all I catch a glimpse of 
 
 Joy, 
 A joy so deep it will not let me speak. 
 Lie still and deep, my Joy. 
 
 Erstwhile I would not let my soul 
 Dwell on this wondrous sunlight 
 Which has dawned with dazzling gleam 
 On one who dreamed it but a dream, 
 Lie still and deep, my Light. 
 
 Henceforth I only ask to understand 
 And not to shut the windows of my soul, 
 I only ask since love can filter through 
 That it may always shine on me and you. 
 Lie still and deep, my Love. 
 
 18 
 
A VOICE 
 
 HAVE listened to a voice 
 which 
 
 Has borne me far away, 
 But with the voice there came 
 A Personality, and then 
 My spirit cried aloud and said 
 "What art thou unto me, 
 Who have vowed my soul 
 And life to only one Finality?" 
 
 After long struggle and passionate pain 
 In deep silence I heard a voice again, 
 It was one no other sound could smother, 
 It said, "You shall love one another 
 As I have loved thee, and thus learn 
 The whole lesson of Humanity." 
 
 19 
 
HOW DID YOU LOVE? 
 
 HyVOW DID You love, Oh, Mas- 
 y? ter of all Truth?" 
 yfc I waited for an answer 
 And this is what I heard, 
 It was the Voice of Voices 
 Only heard through deepest pain, 
 The pain which bore Him to the cross 
 To prove His love to men. 
 But before that final sacrifice 
 He spoke as I to you, and looked 
 On His disciples as I have looked on you 
 And loved them in their human form 
 As I love you, because He knew 
 While they listened to His promises 
 They loved His presence too. 
 
 20 
 
MY DREAM 
 
 WALKED through fields of 
 deathless asphodel 
 With one who said she knew 
 them well; 
 The perfume of the flowers 
 The color of the atmosphere 
 Were like celestial music 
 Which is rather felt than heard, 
 While the singing of a bird 
 Seemed the fragrance of the flowers. 
 
 I said, this must be heaven; 
 She said, — it is what will be 
 When all your dreams are ended 
 And all your work is done, 
 You shall hear the Master's voice 
 Whispering softly to you — Come. 
 
 21 
 
GIVING 
 
 A in LL I can give I am giving 
 yM I only ask power to give more, 
 )0 ^q But always the spirit lingers 
 Too near to this earthly shore. 
 
 All is too little to give 
 Compared to Thy love for me, 
 Whatever there is that holds me 
 I surrender that wholly to Thee. 
 
 I who have nothing but love 
 Now offer that gladly to Thee, 
 I who have longed for return of it 
 Will wait for that blessing to be. 
 
 22 
 
A SONG 
 
 ONLY breathed thy name 
 Unto my Christmas roses, 
 Their petals trembled with 
 mute sympathy 
 I spoke thy name aloud 
 And suddenly a sound of music came. 
 
 I spoke it in the early dawn 
 And right away out shone the sun, 
 I prayed for thee at night 
 Until the stars came, one by one. 
 
 Before I slept I murmured low, 
 
 "If at the gate of Heaven I could not 
 
 enter in 
 I think if I should speak thy name 
 The doors would open straight and let me 
 
 in. 
 
 23 
 
CHRISTMAS MORNING 
 
 WAS wakened by strains of 
 music 
 As they brought me a mass 
 of roses 
 But before my eyes had opened 
 It seemed I heard my name. 
 I knew it was the Christ child 
 Who was calling out to me 
 As He called out to Mary 
 In the days of Galilee. 
 
 As He calls on all who hear 
 In the still and quiet hours 
 When the heart is full of music 
 And no other sound is near 
 And the perfume of the roses 
 Praises God with you and me. 
 
 24 
 
920 
 
 O^H, THOU who makest all 
 J) things new 
 £>*^ We gladly give the old year 
 
 "P. 
 The old year with its joy and pain, 
 Its broken pledges, its loss and gain. 
 Some things we have carried over, 
 Hope for our world, love for our brother, 
 And we lay upon Thy altar now 
 The same old love, the same old vow, 
 No new vow, but a vow renewed. 
 To keep the promises we have made, 
 In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. 
 Oh, Thou who makest all things new, 
 Make new our hearts so we may say 
 It is a Happy New Year's Day. 
 
 25 
 
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