Classic Poem

I

I heard a knocking on The Outer Door
That stands betwixt man and the Infinite;
And every knock re-echoed in my heart,
And in the troubled heart-beats of the world.
The Door stood fast, with complex bolts and bars
That could be opened only from within,
And He who knocked stood patiently without,
And knocked ... and knocked ... and waited. . . . But
The bolts were rusted stiff with many a sin,
And no man rose to loosen them
And let Him in.

Within were noises multitudinous,
Confusions vast and endless, hopeless strife;
Earth's millions, swarming like an angry hive,
Fought for their lives but gave no thought to Life.
How should that knocking on the Outer Door
Be heard amid such murderous uproar?

Small thought indeed they gave, and still less heed
To Him who stood so patiently without
And knocked upon The Door, and on their hearts,
Bolted as surely lest He should come in.

And He without; —
His feet were bleeding from the road
That He so hopefully had trod
To lead men back to God.

His brow still bore the scurril thorn,
( — The noblest crown was ever worn — )
His fair white robe was stained and torn;
But yet no suppliant forlorn
Was He
Who waited there so patiently.

His face was sad yet full of loving hope —
The saddest face the world has ever seen.
Yet Love,
That conquered Death, still hopeful strove
With that sore challenge of the close-barred Door,

Nor would surrender smallest shred of hope,
But hoping, lived and loved and hoped the more.
For Love lives on though Hope may droop and die,
Since Christ Himself gave Love her crown
Of Immortality.

The gentle hands that ever wrought man's good
Still bore the wounds of man's ingratitude,
And as He waited there, so great the pain
Of that barred Door, the old wounds bled again.

And ... ever ... ever,
More and more
Impassioned, yet all patiently,
The Silent Watcher stood without
And knocked upon the close-barred Door,
Stood ever waiting ... waiting ... waiting,
Ever knocking on The Door,
And no man let Him in.

Has Life e'er known a sweeter, truer,
Nobler, more devoted wooer,
Or Love more loving a pursuer?
Yet — man would none of Him!
II

Earth's ills waxed more and more; and still The Door,
By which God's Mercy entrance sought, was barred.
The world in torment groaned unceasingly, —
One long unending cry of tortured souls, —
The panting sobs of men who fought for life,
Women in anguish, children's wailing cries,
Laughter of fools, and moans of dying men,
All blent in one hoarse dirge of agony.

For, even where no actual strife was waged,
Where, here and there, the lands at times had peace, —
Yet even there black hidden warfare raged,
Of fouler cast than where the hosts engaged.

— Warfare of commerce grinding men to nought,
Bodies and souls but chattels to be bought
And sold for profit —
Traffic of ghouls with endless evils fraught;

— Warfare of vast self-seeking enterprise,
Which grew distent on others' miseries,
Soul-less and thoughtless save for its own gain,
Its ledgers foul with many a grim red stain;

— Warfare of greed that stole the children's lives;
Warfare of lust that naught could satisfy,
Honour as dust, and women left to die;
— Warfare of class with class, and rancorous hate
That would all save itself annihilate.
. . . . . . . . . .

Earth was no longer earth as God designed;
Perverse and blind, the free-will of mankind
Had made it liker hell. And Faith and Hope
Their draggled wings had spread,
And, sorrowing, fled,
Since Love, that should have ruled the world,
Seemed dead.

And ... ever ... ever
More and more
Impassioned, yet all patiently,
The Silent Watcher stood without
And knocked upon the close-barred Door,
Stood ever waiting ... waiting ... waiting,
Ever knocking on the Door,
And no man let Him in.

Has Life e'er known a sweeter, truer,
Nobler, more devoted wooer,
Or Love more loving a pursuer?
Yet — man would none of Him!
. . . . . . . . . . .

Then heard they Him, — and heeded, for their woes
Had grown beyond their bearing, and their needs
Passed their desires.
Storms they had sown, and whirlwinds they had reaped,
Sands they had ploughed, and garnered only dust;
Their mouths were full of ashes — Dead-Sea fruit
That turned within to gall and bitterness.
Their building left a world with wreckage fraught,
Their vast self-strivings all had come to nought,
Their own devices their own ruin wrought.

" Unbar the Door! " — they cried, — " Unbar the Door,
And let the Lord Christ in!
All other ways have proved our own ways vain,
His power alone can cleanse the world of sin,
His love alone can give us peace again.
Unbar the Door, and let the Lord Christ in! "
. . . . . . . . . . .

The Door swung wide, and wider, wider grew,
Till like the dawn it spread across the sky;
Great seas of new life-giving light welled through,
And spread o'er all the earth a quickening flood, —
Healing and life for all earth's deadly woes,
That larger Life that Love alone bestows —
Life out of death for all the sons of men,
For in the Light Christ came to earth again.
. . . . . . . . . . .

No gladder face was ever seen than His,
So full of grace and all high sovereignties,
And all aglow with sweet benignities.
His love-lit eyes shone like the great twin stars,
And on His brow which once had worn,
With patient dignity, the thorn,
Was now a radiant crown of stars,
Which hid and healed the bitter scars
Made by the crown of scorn.

His robe was brighter than the noonday sun,
And in His hand He bore a holy grail,
Clear crystal, brimmed with blessings infinite, —
Pardon and grace for all who would,
And benedictions sweet. . . .
. . . . . . . . . .

Then was earth made anew where'er He went,
For all men's hearts were opened to the Light,
And Christ was King, and Lord Omnipotent.

And everywhere men's hearts turned unto Him
As to the very source and fount of Right,
As flowers turn to the sun, and everywhere
New Life sprang up to greet Him as He went
Dispensing grace to all men everywhere.
And His dispensed grace changed all men's hearts,
Made His will theirs, and their wills wholly His;
So that they strove no more each for himself,
But each for good of all, and all for Him;
Man's common aim was for the common good;
The age-old feuds were of the past,
And all mankind joined hands at last
In common brotherhood.
. . . . . . . . . .

And every man in all the whole wide world
Had room, and time, and wherewithal to live
His life at fullest full within the Law —
The Law that has no bounds or bonds for those
Who live it, for it is His Love, —
The great unchanged, unchanging, and unchangeable
Law whose beginning and whose end is — Love.