-o *.,,- .0" ^ > ^ I ^ V-*V V^*> V^V SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH ELLA WHEELER WILCOX SONNETS o/SORROW AND TRIUMPH BY ELLA WHEELER WILCOX AUTHOR OF "POEMS OF PASSION," ETC. NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY ^b%\*S COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEB 28 1918 ©CI.A481865 AaA) I IN MEMORIAM R.M.W. CONTENTS PAGE A MAN 11 Forecast ONE OF US TWO 15 THAT DAY 17 how will it be ? . 19 the land between 20 interlude 22 Sonnets of Sorrow i to xxii 25-46 Retrospection understanding 49 time and i 50 SEAS, SHIPS AND SHORES 52 A PRAYER 56 A THRENODY 57 DRAW ANCHOR 58 [vii] CONTENTS PAGE THE HILLS OF GOD 59 NEWS FROM THE FRONT 61 THE BURNING GHAT 63 "HE WHO DOETH ALL THINGS, DOETH ALL THINGS WELL" 64 TRIUMPHUS 68 [viii] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH A MAN, R. M. W. Methinks high forces were unloosed by God, At your conception; and from star to star The Unseen Helpers of the earth-race trod, Bringing new light from regions fair and far. So many human lives seem accident : They do not speak of any purposed plan, But yours — ah! yours was most divinely meant. The Lords of Karma called to earth — a Man. Not one to lead vast armies into war, Not one intent on any large reform, [ii] SONNETS OP SORROW AND TRIUMPH But one who makes each day worth living for To those who walk with him in sun or storm. Could this be said of all who come to birth, How peaceful and how wonderful were earth! [12] FORECAST SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH FORECAST ONE OF US TWO The day will dawn when one of us shall hearken In vain to hear a voice that has grown dumb. And morns will fade, noons pale, and shadows darken, While sad eyes watch for feet that never come. One of us two must sometime face existence Alone with memories that but sharpen pain. And these sweet days shall shine back in the distance, Like dreams of summer dawns, in nights of rain. One of us two, with tortured heart half broken, Shall read long-treasured letters through salt tears, Shall kiss with anguished lips each cherished token [15] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH That speaks of these love-crowned, delicious years. One of us two shall find all life, all beauty, All joy on earth, a tale forever done; Shall know henceforth that life means only duty, O God! O God! have pity on that one! May 12th, 1886. [16] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH THAT DAY O Heart of mine, through all these perfect days Whether of white Decembers or green Mays, There glides a dark thought like a creeping snake, Or like a black thread which by some mistake Life has strung through the pearls of happy years — A thought which borders all my joy with tears. Some day, some day or you or I, alone, Must look upon the scenes we two have known, Must tread the self -same paths we two have trod, And cry in vain to one who is with God, To lean down from the silent realms and say, "I love you," in the old familiar way. [H] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH Some day, and each day, beauteous though it be, Brings closer that dread hour to you or me. Fleet-footed joy who hurries time along Is yet a secret foe who does us wrong. Speeding us swiftly, though he well doth know Of yonder pathway where but one may go. Ay, one will go. To go is sweet, I wis, Yet God must needs invent some special bliss To make his Paradise seem very dear To one who goes, and leaves the other here. To sever souls so bound by love and time For any one but God, would be a crime. Yet death will entertain his own, I think. To one who stays, life gives the gall to drink. To one who stays, or be it you or me, There waits the Garden of Gethsemane. Oh, dark, inevitable and awful day, When one of us will go, and one must stay. October 13th, 1898. [18] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH HOW WILL IT BE? How will it be when one of us alone Goes on that strange, last journey of the soul, That voyage on which no comradeship is known? Will our dear sea sing in the old sweet tone, Though one sits stricken where its billows roll? Will whisperings of love be backward blown? When our united lives are wrenched apart, And day no more means sweet companion- ship; When fervent night, and lovely languorous dawn, Are only memories to one sad heart, And but in dreams fond kisses burn the lip, Dear God, how can this same fair world move on? February l&th, 1903. [19] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH THE LAND BETWEEN Between the little Here and larger Yonder, There is a realm (or so one day I read), Where faithful spirits, love-enchained, may wander, Till some remembering soul from earth has fled; Then reunited, they go forth afar From sphere to sphere, where wondrous angels are. Not many spirits in that realm are waiting, Not many pause upon its shores to rest ; For only Love, intense and unabating, Can hold them from the longer higher quest. And after grief has wept itself to sleep, Few hearts on earth their vital memories keep. Should I pass on across the mystic border, Let thy love link me to that pallid land. [20] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH I would not seek the heavens of finer order Until thy barque had left the coarser strand. How desolate such journeyings would be Though straight to Him, were they not shared by thee! Wert thou first called (dear God, how could I bear it!) I should enchain thee with my love, I know. Not great enough am I, to free thy spirit From all these olden ties, and bid thee go. Nor would a soul unselfish as thine own Forget so soon, and speed to Heaven alone. On earth we find no joy in ways diverging; How could we find it in the worlds unseen ? I know old memories in my bosom surging Would keep thee waiting in that Land be- tween, Until, together, side by side we trod A path of stars, in our great search for God. July 5th, 1907. [21] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH INTERLUDE The days grow shorter, the nights grow longer, The headstones thicken along the way ; And life grows sadder but love grows stronger For those who walk with us, day by day. The tear comes quicker, the laugh comes slower, The courage is lesser to do and dare; And the tide of joy in the heart runs lower, And seldom covers the reefs of care. But all true things in the world seem truer, And the better things of the earth seem best ; And friends are dearer as friends are fewer, And love is all as our sun dips west. Then let us clasp hands as we walk together, And let us speak softly, in love's sweet tone ; For no man knows, on the morrow, whether We two pass by, or but one alone. November, 1909. [22] SONNETS OF SORROW SONNETS OF SOEllOW AND TRIUMPH SONNETS OF SORROW 1916 Praying for light, and praying all in vain, Since not one lamp was shining in God's tower ; Praying for strength to bear consuming pain Yet growing weaker with each passing hour; Praying for hope the while relentless Fate Marked out hope's grave, and dug it dark and deep, My trembling lips at last could formulate Only a prayer for sleep — forgetting sleep. That plea was answered. From her silent place Sleep came and touched me with oblivion : Yet was that touch robbed of all healing grace : For when she rose up in the awful dawn She left but this in answer to my prayer — New strength to suffer with renewed despair. [25] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH II I know my heart has always been devout, And faith burned in me like a clear white flame. There was no room among my thoughts for doubt. Though hopes were thwarted and though sor- rows came, God seemed a living Presence, kind and just, And ever near. Yea, even in great grief When parents, friends and offspring turned to dust He stood beside me, refuge and relief. But when one hideous night you went away Deaf to my cry and to my pleadings dumb, You took God with you. Now in vain I pray And beg Him to return: He does not come: Nor has He sent one Angel from his horde To comfort me with some convincing word. [26] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH in You were so wonderful with quiet faith; Only the Saints and martyrs of the earth Held such unalterable high thoughts of death, As those which filled you from your hour of birth. And when we were together, many a time, We felt the Presences of Unseen Guests: And you saw visions, mystical, sublime, When forth your spirit went on astral quests. Yet at the crucial hour when you were called To leave me here, there was no sign — no sign ! God surely saw me stricken and appalled — Surely He might have eased such woe as mine. Oh ! fling my failing faith some bit of fuel, Lest God shall seem or impotent, or cruel! [«] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH IV My earthly friends, however occupied, With their own joys or troubles, came or sent Some sympathetic message ! Each one tried To soothe the heart by sudden anguish rent. But from that Higher Realm where you have flown And from that God we worshipped well and long, There comes no signal that my need is known — No spirit whisper bidding me be strong. God has so many angels, realm on realm Of varying rank and knowledge and degree: Could He not lend just one to take the helm And guide through space a spirit-ship to me? A thousand human hearts my grief has stirred : My God, my Robert, why have you no word? [88]' SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH You understood the woman side of me ; My vanities you met with smiling lip ; The fabrics that I wore you first must see, And pass upon them with wise censorship. You loved things not too sombre or too bright, But tender toned with colours softly blent; Yet, when I leaned above you, draped like night, You were unmindful and indifferent. One sigh of mine, one tear upon my face Wrenched your dear heart with sympathetic grief. Yet, when I held you in that last embrace, Torn with a torture which found no relief, You lay and smiled with such a knowing air Of mighty peace as if you did not care. [29] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH VI My love, my love, how often in old days I cried, "Oh, I would die for you, dear heart !" But He who planned the parting of our ways Appointed unto me the harder part. He cares not greatly for my thanks, I wis, But in your converse with Him (which must be, Since that, and only that, accounts for this Astounding silence between you and me), Say that from out a life all bruised and broken In grief too deep for tears to do their share, My prayers of gratitude are hourly spoken Because He saved you from the cross I bear. Such grievous pain, such unrelenting woe — You never could have borne it, dear, I know. [30] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH VII This thought I welcome only, of the train That drove joy from its hive within my breast, Turned honey into gall, turned peace to pain And sent hope forth upon a bootless quest. This thought alone brings comfort to my mind, And so is bidden often to return, And ease the hurts that hour by hour I find In sounds that torture and in sights that burn. Old airs, old scenes, old anniversaries (Oh, life for us was Love's long carnival) And I repeat, "I saved you this and this," As on each sword of memory I fall. To save you sorrow was my prayer alway, But oh, the price, the price I have to pay ! rai] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH VIII At last a dream — at last a dream of you! Against the blank black curtain of the night I saw you stand. 'Twas but a dream, I knew, And yet my hungry eyes fed on the sight, My aching arms embraced you, and I cried, "How good, how good God is to let you come And bridge the chasm that has seemed so wide!" You listened smiling, but your lips were dumb. And then you vanished. All alone I stood (As evermore I stand, alone, apart,) Repeating softly, "God was good, so good, To let me dream of you." Oh, ravenous heart, How pitiful, how pitiful it seems To feed such hunger with but husks of dreams ! [32] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH IX From land to land, from coast to bloody coast, Our planet trembles with loud sounds of strife. The seas are ravaged by a warring host, The air is filled with menaces to life. Men talk of nothing but the news of war; And with the coming of each crimson dawn Come new calamities and horrors, for Events are shaped by what minds feed upon. As in a nightmare, we unheeding hear That which awake would fill us with affright. The woes of earth fall dully on mine ear, Nor am I moved by its appalling plight. For all these things seem trivial beside This monstrous fact — orte night in May you died. [33] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH X My sick and suffering heart is newly stricken When Night departs and Dawn adjusts its robe. As some poor wounded wretch might sink and sicken Seeing the surgeon bare his shining probe. The sun was loth this morning to awaken ; It held its radiance back and seemed to wait As if it knew my joy had all been taken And one long day would fain abbreviate. Then in that little pause as if from heaven This message flashed authoritative, brief: "What boundless wealth of love to you was given — How vast the joy whose loss could mean such grief !" All through the day with lifted brow I went A pauper now, who once was opulent ! [34] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH XI "What boundless wealth of love!" — the sen- tence stays And lends wan lustre to each leaden hour. I am as one who in bleak autumn days Recalls the beauty of his rose-wreathed bower. I am as one who in the desert sands Must slake his thirst on thoughts of running streams. Or 'mid the ruins of his palace stands And reconstructs it with the stuff of dreams. That boundless wealth of ours! My own, my own, It could not vanish into nothingness. God must have made a strong-box of His throne, And stored it there, our future lives to bless. Oh, my first words, when death has set me free, Will be this cry, "The key, dear God, the key !" [35] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH XII If, till we met, no Maker had existed, If life was finite and man but a clod, This flaming love of ours has so persisted Its very glory would have made a God. It was too vast for love of man and woman, Too high for earth, too mighty for the tomb; It grew up over and beyond ways human, And sought a garden of perpetual bloom. Long, long ago, we sensed that garden's beauty, And talked together of its pure delight. How is it now you feel no urge of duty, To help my straining vision gain its sight? How is it that, although I gaze and hark, I find but deathly silence — and the dark? [36] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH XIII We scaled all heights, we probed all depths of passion ; Soul spoke to soul and flesh thrilled unto flesh. Our love rose from the senses, lotus fashion, And bloomed in sun-kissed air and waters fresh. We sailed our ship through many a stormy ocean, But came to anchor in a Bay Serene Where in an exaltation of devotion We grasped the fullness of what love may mean. Oh ! Was it that we two, again united Debt free, throughout eternity might go, That my crushed heart by separation blighted Was forced the final sacrifice to know? God needs must make new ecstasies in heaven To pay for this last anguish He has given ! [37] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH XIV Full many a roadway that we trod was rough, And we met foul as well as sunny weather ; Yet not one day did we find long enough Though three decades we journeyed on together. Even when shadows on our path were cast And when with care or grief we were sad- hearted, Too soon each sunset came, time fled too fast, And the dear nights of sleep too soon departed. Now all the moments move with leaden feet, The hours are weighted with their load of sor- row; And the once tender nights that were so fleet Stare through the dark> and dread the coming morrow. And at each laggard sunset now I say, "Nearer Death's gate, thank God, by one more day!" [38] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH XV Loving you so I loved the world entire, Your friends, your kin, yea, all created life, My heart seemed glowing with a holy fire And every thought with tenderness was rife. I sought to lighten sorrows and to teach The ecstasy of life to every being; And prayed for greater usefulness to reach And share my insight with each soul unseeing. But since you went away from earth with Death I seem to have no feeling left to give, Save sharp surprise toward all things that have breath Which cries in wonderment, "You live! You live!" Ignoble satisfaction adds this cry, "To all, to all shall Death come by and by." [39] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH XVI Oh, to wake once again with that old joy, That consciousness of angels hovering near! Oh, for a shaft of light that would destroy This dark despondency, this nameless fear! My radiant thoughts had never given form Or substance to those two unbidden things; Yet in that night of devastating storm, Bat-like they came on black and brooding wings. My mind has lost its optimistic course And sunk in quicksands of despair and gloom, Nor have my wildest prayers the drawing force To lift me back to sunlight and to bloom. Oh, Everlasting Arms, reach out, reach out, Before I sink in madness, or in doubt ! [40T SONNETS OP SORROW AND TRIUMPH XVII I who have sung so loud of God's great power, I who have loved Him with unswerving love, Cry vainly now, hour after torturing hour, And no response comes from those planes above. I deemed myself a joyous instrument Finite in form but infinite in scope; In life's grand orchestra my tones were blent Ever in strains of gratitude and hope. Now as a harp all broken and unstrung Of which the Heavenly Players have grown weary And carelessly upon the highway flung Where vagrant winds may sing a miserere, I lie with all the music in me dumb, . . . Oh, great Repairer and Attuner, come ! [41] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH XVIII The wise ones tell me that my heart's wild clamour Must change to calm before J feel you near. While Pain beats on it with its hob-nailed hammer, How can I find the way to quiet, dear? I sit down in the silence praying, praying, "God's Will be done, but give me help at length." I wait, but Pain, that mighty hammer swaying, Deprives the silence of all healing strength. Then when I turn to action, swift and cruel Leaps Memory in my path and bids me stand, And challenges my bleeding heart to duel, Knowing how I must suffer at its hand. Oh, my Beloved, let this conflict cease And show me how to find the path to peace. [42] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH XIX Full sixteen thousand million souls are here Upon the earth, and yet not one or all Can rouse my old-time pleasure in this sphere Or from my shrouded heart remove the pall. But could I see your face or hear your voice For one brief moment, dear, or touch your hand Then would I wake to rapture and rejoice Though death and devastation filled the land. I knew I loved you; but life made not plain How utterly you were my world entire Until I stood alone and tried in vain To find diversion, interest, or desire. Bereft of you, I am of all bereft, While sixteen thousand million souls are left. [43] SONNETS OP SORROW AND TRIUMPH XX There always was a longing in your heart For some large labour that should aid man- kind. Dear, listen to me, let me do my part And help you now that wondrous work to find. There is but one great need for all the race — The need of knowledge to uphold its faith. Then come, or send some message on through space That shall convince the world there is no death. In all God's universe there could not be A holier task, methinks, for any soul. Oh, not alone to ease the heart of me, But to give consolation to the whole Sick, suffering hordes of earth, stand not aloof But cleave the silence with the proof — the proof ! [44] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH XXI So many mansions in our Father's house, So many paths that lead out onward There, Perchance when first from slumber we arouse We must for longer journeyings prepare. I do recall a time you went before To build a home on earth for me one day ; And when you passed out through the open door I did not try to hinder or delay. But I remember how your messages Sped over space and made the dull hours glow. Is there no way to solace me in this Increasing loneliness that hurts me so — This silence utter, awful, and profound Which bruises more than any crash of sound? [45] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH xxn Wild sorrow in my bosom has been raging — Wild war has torn the earth and stained the water. From homes of peace have men gone forth en- gaging In bitter conflict and in bloody slaughter. Women have sent their loved ones out, believing The way was shown them by God's pointing finger ; They smiled farewell and hid all signs of griev- ing, And sped the footsteps that were fain to linger. For you, beloved, to whom God has beckoned, What have I done to help you find the road? With my own anguish only have I reckoned — On your dear spirit have I placed my load. Now will I lift and bear it to the end — Unto your Father's place ascend, ascend. [46] RETROSPECTION SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH RETROSPECTION UNDERSTANDING 1917 The snowdrops and the crocuses Bloomed in the olden way : The stately tulips followed on — The pansies had their day; The roses came — and yet the year Brought neither June nor May. And now the tiger lilies lift Their freckled faces high; And now the sun is blazing down From out a cloudless sky — And yet it is not Summertime, Though Summer days drag by. His dog looks up the lonely lane"' He knows the reason why. [49] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH TIME AND I Time and I were friends long gone; Though he was my master I would say to him each dawn "Faster, faster, faster! Somewhere farther down the road We will find fair love's abode: He is waiting me, I know — Let us swifter go!" Love was waiting there ahead In his open door. Once with him, to Time I said "Slower, slower, slower! Love and I would be content If most leisurely you went." But Time ever hastened so He became my foe. [50] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH Now I hold Time dear once more And his favour curry. And I cry out as of yore, "Hurry, hurry, hurry ! Love has made a new abode — I would join him down the road." But Time has grown old and slow And the days lag so. [51] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH SEAS, SHIPS AND SHORES The Inlands of the Middle West Are far from sounding seas ; And where my early years were spent Not even running rivers lent Their music to the breeze. But there were billowing fields of grain That ofttimes mocked the green-hued main When summer decked the leas. Yet alway in those early years I felt a sweet unrest; And deep within the heart of me There was a longing for the sea: The reindeer in my breast Seemed ever eager to set forth, As reindeers in the snowbound north Make once their briny quest. [52] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH It must have been the voice of Love That this strange longing stirred: For when I found the sea one day It was dear Love that led the way, And they became one word. Love was the sea, the sea was Love, And all life's joy was made thereof, When once that voice I heard. Now oceans, islands, sounds and seas And ports where vessels lie, And harbours where they sail away And surging billows decked in spray Where wide-winged sea-gulls fly, And beaches where the bathers rove All, all are properties of Love With their blue-arching sky. The glaciers and majestic Alps, The mountains filled with ore, The cities with their mighty throngs Are yours — but unto me belongs [53] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH To Love and me, each shore; Where all the billows of the world By God's tremendous hand are hurled And ours is all their store. We sailed and sailed and sailed again Our wonder seas of earth : We sailed to every port and clime, We laughed at danger and at time, And life was full of mirth; And joy was in our sea-girt home And when we roamed, joy, too, would roam And bunk beside our berth. But one May night Love sailed away Across a Mystic Sea : I know not why he went alone To some far harbour all unknown, Nor how this thing could be That suddenly he should embark On that strange vessel in the dark Without one call to me. [54] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH Love left me all the seas of earth And all their cargoed ships; And memories within each hold More precious than a mine of gold. But joy is in eclipse, And must be, till I too enroll On that same ship, and my freed soul From out the Harbour slips. And though all seas and ships are mine By right of Love made so, Yet when that Craft that came at night Shall come again for my delight Is not for me to know. I only know I cannot fail To see at last its splendid sail, And leap on board, and go. [55] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH A PRAYER I Know it cannot be irreverence, This feeling that I have anent that time When with my life work finished, I go hence, Leaving this low plane for the upward climb. My father God, and Christ my beauteous Brother Have ever owned the deepest heart of me. Yet when I journey on, there is one other I first would meet, and clasp, and hear, and see. God and His holy Son have host on host To welcome, and to comfort, and to cheer; I think They would not mind it, if the most Beloved soul They took from me, drew near To show the way. ... Lord ! Up the golden street Let my love lead me to Thy shining feet. [56] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH A THRENODY Love in the sweet, sweet morning Of life's long radiant June; And two hearts beating together In time with the robin's tune. Love in the splendid noontide Of glorious Summer days ; And two hearts growing together In all life's tenderest ways. Love as the sun slants westward While the Autumn woods flame red: And two hearts bound together By a passion mixed with dread. Love in the early evening As the Winter time draws near: And one heart breaking, breaking, Alone in the shadows drear. Thank God that only twelve month* Are in the longest year! [57] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH DRAW ANCHOR So much of beauty have I seen on earth, So much to marvel over and admire; Yet each new sight but bred a new desire To stray still farther from the quiet hearth. My hand in yours, we spanned our planet's girth; From Alpine summits, looked on summits higher ; Saw fierce Stromboli set the night on fire; In fair Ceylon, saw dawn's exquisite birth. Now am I stirred with mightier unrest For longer journeys than of old I knew. I would set forth upon that final quest — That Large Adventure which has come to you. Somewhere you wait to show new worlds to me. Pilot! draw anchor! let my soul go free! [58] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH THE HILLS OF GOD Always your aims for me were large and high : Your love was generous as the love of heaven. The best things life could hold you wanted given Into my keeping. So sweet years went by, While watchful angels seemed to hover nigh, And all the blessings for which you had striven Were showered on me. Then the link was riven. Was it your own great soul that bade joy die? Ever you sought perfection for me, dear, And all that makes for ultimate true gain. Perchance because your vision was so clear You understood that only those attain The Heights Beyond, who walk through valleys here. Was it for this you left me to such pain? [59] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH II But oh, you did not, could not comprehend How dark the valley and how long the road, (Since days are years in sorrow's drear abode) Or else you had gone nearer to the end Before you left me. Pain, to be our friend, Must use a chastening hand but not a goad, Nor wound us so we cannot lift our load Up the hard winding pathways that ascend. I think you must be startled and amazed, Seeing the blooddrops where my feet have trod. But I think, too, your opened eyes have gazed Upon celestial summits, beauteous, broad, And that you know the trail my soul has blazed Leads somehow, sometime, to those Hills of God. [60] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH NEWS FROM THE FRONT Detached from life, the women overseas, Wait only for one thing — news from the front. The olden joys, and worries, hopes and cares, Aims and ambitions, which made up their days Are meaningless and empty. Nothing seems Of any import but the waited word From dear ones who have heard the country's call And answered it, and left vast loneliness And hunger of the heart in silent homes. Bravely they do the things that must be done, And make no protest; but, one wish alone Fills all their thoughts bv day, their dreams by night — News from the front ! I, too, detached from all that life once meant, Perform my duties and pursue my tasks [61] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH As cheerfully and as bravely as I can: While like dead leaves on bleak November winds Old aims, ambitions, interests and desires, Blow by me. One who heard the call of God And answered it, left such vast loneliness And hunger in my heart, that now my life Has room for only one compelling wish Which fills my thoughts by day, my dreams by night — News from the Front ! [62] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH THE BURNING GHAT Adown the Ganges, at your side I sat And floated, musing on each scene and spot: We heard the grim tale of the Burning Ghat, We saw the place where widows once were brought And living, cast upon the funeral pyre. We shuddered at the story. But, today I think it was a kind and friendly fire That took the mourners from their grief away A little time of terror, and despair, A few brief tortured moments, then release From suffering and loneliness and tears. Oh, my Beloved ! Life gives me to bear Perpetual pyres, and flames that never cease; A Burning Ghat of slowly dying years. [63] SONNETS OP SORROW AND TRIUMPH "HE WHO DOETH ALL THINGS, DOETH ALL THINGS WELL" These the words I chanced upon While my heart seemed breaking With its loneliness, and loss of the days agone — Down upon the open wound, aching, aching, aching, One by one like balm they dropped with a soothing spell — "He who doeth all things, doeth all things well." He who fashioned worlds from space, He who set in motion All the planets, systems, suns, giving each its place, He whose thought conceived and flung forth continent and ocean — [64] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH Gave the fragrance to the rose, shaped the tiniest shell — "He who doeth all things, doeth all things well." He who gave me form and breath — Gave me all my pleasure — Lord of every Universe, Lord of life and death, Though he gives me gall to drink now in fullest measure, Yet the bitter like the sweet from his fountain fell— "He who doeth all things, doeth all things well." He who let his spirit flow, Into stone and jewel, Unto all things gave Himself (as above, be- low,) Nothing in that Cosmic Mind could be wrong or cruel: [65] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH Through earth's discord sounds a voice like a silver bell, "He who doeth all things, doeth all things well." From the mineral to the man Out from primal sources, Gathering knowledge all the way to complete the Plan, Down from God, and back to Him move the spirit Forces — Shedding light along the path every doubt to quell — "He who doeth all things, doeth all things well." Grief and joy are one to God Who beholds tomorrow: We shall see it with his eyes when the Way is trod — We shall understand the scheme of this life of sorrow ; [66] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH Every voice that now complains yet this truth shall tell, "He who doeth all things, doeth all things well." [67] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH TRIUMPHUS At last, at last, the message! definite As dawn, that tells the night has gone away. The Silence has grown eloquent with it — The Silence that, late filled me with dismay, So dumb it was. Triumphant now I sit So near to God and you I need not pray For only prayers of thankfulness were fit For this estate wherein I dwell to-day. You live, you love me ! You have heard my call And answered it in your own way. The proof So satisfies the soul of me, were all The hosts of earth henceforth to stand aloof Till I recanted — my reply were this — "One men call dead has sent me messages" [68] SONNETS OF SORROW AND TRIUMPH II Oh, my Beloved! Through these months like years I know you might have reached me sooner here, Had I not blurred the trail by storms of tears ; And yet, how could, how could I help it, dear? Now you have found a way to make God's spheres Seem very intimate and very near. And radiant — my lonely path appears, The light you cast upon it is so clear. I stand victorious at the longed-for goal With open vision where I once was blind, And cry aloud to every suffering soul "Pray without ceasing — seek, and ye shall find. Though Science sneer and school and church condemn — Your dead dwell near — you may commune with them." THE END [69] H28 75 o_ ^.' Q U ^ rife"'- ^ - ; ## V :| o « o