ON A PICTURE OF RUTH.
139
ON A PICTURE OF RUTH.
Fresh, through the mist of ages past,
Thou risest on our view,
As when from Judah’s waving fields,
Thy footsteps brushed the dew.
Thou risest on our view,
As when from Judah’s waving fields,
Thy footsteps brushed the dew.
Yet ’tis not for thy beauty’s sake
We thus remember thee;
Although a chieftain’s captive heart
Attests its potency;—
We thus remember thee;
Although a chieftain’s captive heart
Attests its potency;—
Not for the quiet interest
Thy simple story brings;
And not that from thy side there sprung
A line of prophet-kings.
Thy simple story brings;
And not that from thy side there sprung
A line of prophet-kings.
But for that changeless, deathless love,
The true soul only knows,
That still, as darker lowers the night,
Serener, brighter glows.
The true soul only knows,
That still, as darker lowers the night,
Serener, brighter glows.
