Self-poised, in serenity smiling, thou stand'st in the vista of ages
Of all fate's arrows defiant, singing thy thanksgiving hymn;
Offering thy wild bitter herb, that the hunger of living assuages,
Gathered on rocky peaks, whence the world looks barren and dim.
Of all fate's arrows defiant, singing thy thanksgiving hymn;
Offering thy wild bitter herb, that the hunger of living assuages,
Gathered on rocky peaks, whence the world looks barren and dim.
We who have listened the words of a Voice beyond man's that hath spoken,
We who dare gather the fulness of all the treasures of love,
Knowing the promise of One whose covenant cannot be broken,
We faint, and we question! oh pagan, how doth thy submission reprove!
We who dare gather the fulness of all the treasures of love,
Knowing the promise of One whose covenant cannot be broken,
We faint, and we question! oh pagan, how doth thy submission reprove!
How were this daily life illumed with a splendor supernal,
If a faith as staunch as was thine, were lit with a Christian glow!
No stoic refusal of joy, but a trust in "Our Father" eternal
Would transfigure the treadmill of earth to a heaven of love below.
If a faith as staunch as was thine, were lit with a Christian glow!
No stoic refusal of joy, but a trust in "Our Father" eternal
Would transfigure the treadmill of earth to a heaven of love below.
AN APPEAL
Oh! the innocent, happy life!
Embowered in blossoming apple trees!
Singing to cheer the small brown wife
Rocked in her nest by each merry breeze.
Embowered in blossoming apple trees!
Singing to cheer the small brown wife
Rocked in her nest by each merry breeze.
The grateful hymn at the dawn of day,
The busy hurry thro' buoyant air,
Where toil is pleasure, and business play,
And singing the while—singing everywhere.
The busy hurry thro' buoyant air,
Where toil is pleasure, and business play,
And singing the while—singing everywhere.
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