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THE FOURFOLD ASPECT.
Nuts lie in thy path for stones,
And thy feast-day macaroons
Turn to daily rations!
And thy feast-day macaroons
Turn to daily rations!
Mock I thee, in wishing weal?—
Tears are in my eyes to feel
Thou art made so straightly,
Blessing needs must straighten too,—
Little canst thou joy or do,
Thou who lovest greatly.
Tears are in my eyes to feel
Thou art made so straightly,
Blessing needs must straighten too,—
Little canst thou joy or do,
Thou who lovest greatly.
Yet be blessed to the height
Of all good and all delight
Pervious to thy nature,—
Only loved beyond that line,
With a love that answers thine,
Loving fellow-creature!
Of all good and all delight
Pervious to thy nature,—
Only loved beyond that line,
With a love that answers thine,
Loving fellow-creature!
The Fourfold Aspect.
When ye stood up in the house
With your little childish feet,
And, in touching Life's first shows,
First, the touch of Love, did meet,—
Love and Nearness seeming one,
By the hearthlight cast before,—
And, of all beloveds, none
Standing farther than the door—
Not a name being dear to thought,
With its owner beyond call,—
Nor a face, unless it brought
Its own shadow to the wall,—
When the worst recorded change
Was of cherry dropt from bough,—
When love's sorrow seemed more strange
Than love's treason can seem now,—
Then the Loving took you up
Soft, upon their elder knees,—
With your little childish feet,
And, in touching Life's first shows,
First, the touch of Love, did meet,—
Love and Nearness seeming one,
By the hearthlight cast before,—
And, of all beloveds, none
Standing farther than the door—
Not a name being dear to thought,
With its owner beyond call,—
Nor a face, unless it brought
Its own shadow to the wall,—
When the worst recorded change
Was of cherry dropt from bough,—
When love's sorrow seemed more strange
Than love's treason can seem now,—
Then the Loving took you up
Soft, upon their elder knees,—
