Dedication: Ad Matrem
I.
One deathless flame, one holy name,
One light that shines where'er I move,
Are thine, out of whose life I came,
Through whom I live and love.
Dearest, I knew thee ere I knew
Myself, and, stirring to thy breath,
From fountains of thy soul I drew
This soul discerning Death.
The light of sun and stars, the clear
Still air of yonder azure space,
The seas and sands of this green sphere,
That is my dwelling-place.
All form, all motion, all delight,
Fused in thy frame flash'd on to mine,
Grew quick, and woke to sense and sight,
And last, to Love divine!
A thousand gifts the green earth gives
Out of the fulness of her breast,
But she by whom one loves and lives
Is God's gift, and the best.
Fair type of tenderness and power,
Of Love whence all things sweetly flow,
Constant as God through every hour
Of happiness or woe, —
My Mother, take the book I bring,
Sure of thy blessing on my brow!
This life of mine, these songs I sing,
Are thine, — for they are thou!
Yea, they are thine, as they are his,
That other part of thee and me,
Who greeted with a father's kiss
The child upon thy knee,
He is not lost (or all were lost);
His voice ere long shall call us hence:
Unchanged he stands, though he has crost
The borderland of sense.
For God were as a drop of dew,
If individual love could fall
Back from the conscious type, whereto
It floweth, crowning all!
When yonder sun has ceased to shine
This earth subsist, those waters roll,
God shall preserve each breathing sign
Of Love's eternal soul! . . . .
One deathless flame, one holy name,
One light that shines where'er I move,
Are thine, out of whose life I came,
Through whom I live and love!
II .
Even as I utter'd in such wise
Thy praises, kneeling on my knee,
The Spirit with the pitiless eyes
Came up and gazed on thee!
He lingered long beside thy bed,
But hour by hour his face grew fair:
The greater Spirit overhead
Was list'ning to my prayer!
Ah yes! He smiled on thee and me,
Our Father who is in the skies:
I felt His mercy — I could see
His strange, still, tearless eyes!
I clasped thee to my aching heart,
I prayed till the dread Shape passed on:
God heard my cry — He did not part
The mother and the son!
And all my pains and lonely fears
Trembled to rapturous hope, and lo!
In passionate prayer that broke to tears
I watch'd the Shadow go!
III.
I asked for bread — a stone was given;
I asked for Fame — men mock'd at me;
I asked for Love — my heart was riven
By man's worst cruelty,
I wander'd haunted and alone,
I sank in doubts from day to day;
The snake Detraction crawl'd upon
The roof 'neath which I lay.
I rush'd into the world, and smote
The first proud foe that pass'd along;
Then treachery fasten'd on my throat
And drained my soul of song.
Yet, dearest, thou wast one of three
Who watch'd beside me, white as snow:
More rich than any king could be
Was I, yet did not know!
Fool, to be clamouring for gold,
When I possess'd a wealth divine!
Fool, to ask praises from the cold
World, when the worlds were mine!
Fool, to go arm'd in hate and fear,
When Heaven itself broke blue above;
Yea, thrice a fool, too deaf to hear
The still small voice of Love!
Three angels to my hearth were given —
Margaret, Mary, Harriett —
One watching waits in yonder heaven,
But two are with me yet.
Margaret with the mother's eyes,
The sad grey hair, the holy mien,
Walks by my side, while Mary lies
Under the kirkyard green.
[For darkness wrapt me like a cloud,
While the pale spirit men name Death
Came, with white lilies and a shroud,
And hush'd an angel's breath.]
And she, Love's youngest child divine,
Cloth'd on with radiance heavenly sweet,
Places her little hand in mine
And guides my faltering feet!
The earthly tumult fades away,
The waters sigh, the stars keep chime,
Rose-red the great celestial Day
Walks the waste waves of Time,
And so one thing at least is sure —
Love, and the fountain whence it flows!
God keep me passionately pure
To drink its deep repose!
Bring me no laurel wreaths to deck
My brow, no gold in large increase;
Twine loving arms around my neck,
And chain my soul to peace!
One deathless flame, one holy name,
One light that shines where'er I move,
Are thine, out of whose life I came,
Through whom I live and love.
Dearest, I knew thee ere I knew
Myself, and, stirring to thy breath,
From fountains of thy soul I drew
This soul discerning Death.
The light of sun and stars, the clear
Still air of yonder azure space,
The seas and sands of this green sphere,
That is my dwelling-place.
All form, all motion, all delight,
Fused in thy frame flash'd on to mine,
Grew quick, and woke to sense and sight,
And last, to Love divine!
A thousand gifts the green earth gives
Out of the fulness of her breast,
But she by whom one loves and lives
Is God's gift, and the best.
Fair type of tenderness and power,
Of Love whence all things sweetly flow,
Constant as God through every hour
Of happiness or woe, —
My Mother, take the book I bring,
Sure of thy blessing on my brow!
This life of mine, these songs I sing,
Are thine, — for they are thou!
Yea, they are thine, as they are his,
That other part of thee and me,
Who greeted with a father's kiss
The child upon thy knee,
He is not lost (or all were lost);
His voice ere long shall call us hence:
Unchanged he stands, though he has crost
The borderland of sense.
For God were as a drop of dew,
If individual love could fall
Back from the conscious type, whereto
It floweth, crowning all!
When yonder sun has ceased to shine
This earth subsist, those waters roll,
God shall preserve each breathing sign
Of Love's eternal soul! . . . .
One deathless flame, one holy name,
One light that shines where'er I move,
Are thine, out of whose life I came,
Through whom I live and love!
II .
Even as I utter'd in such wise
Thy praises, kneeling on my knee,
The Spirit with the pitiless eyes
Came up and gazed on thee!
He lingered long beside thy bed,
But hour by hour his face grew fair:
The greater Spirit overhead
Was list'ning to my prayer!
Ah yes! He smiled on thee and me,
Our Father who is in the skies:
I felt His mercy — I could see
His strange, still, tearless eyes!
I clasped thee to my aching heart,
I prayed till the dread Shape passed on:
God heard my cry — He did not part
The mother and the son!
And all my pains and lonely fears
Trembled to rapturous hope, and lo!
In passionate prayer that broke to tears
I watch'd the Shadow go!
III.
I asked for bread — a stone was given;
I asked for Fame — men mock'd at me;
I asked for Love — my heart was riven
By man's worst cruelty,
I wander'd haunted and alone,
I sank in doubts from day to day;
The snake Detraction crawl'd upon
The roof 'neath which I lay.
I rush'd into the world, and smote
The first proud foe that pass'd along;
Then treachery fasten'd on my throat
And drained my soul of song.
Yet, dearest, thou wast one of three
Who watch'd beside me, white as snow:
More rich than any king could be
Was I, yet did not know!
Fool, to be clamouring for gold,
When I possess'd a wealth divine!
Fool, to ask praises from the cold
World, when the worlds were mine!
Fool, to go arm'd in hate and fear,
When Heaven itself broke blue above;
Yea, thrice a fool, too deaf to hear
The still small voice of Love!
Three angels to my hearth were given —
Margaret, Mary, Harriett —
One watching waits in yonder heaven,
But two are with me yet.
Margaret with the mother's eyes,
The sad grey hair, the holy mien,
Walks by my side, while Mary lies
Under the kirkyard green.
[For darkness wrapt me like a cloud,
While the pale spirit men name Death
Came, with white lilies and a shroud,
And hush'd an angel's breath.]
And she, Love's youngest child divine,
Cloth'd on with radiance heavenly sweet,
Places her little hand in mine
And guides my faltering feet!
The earthly tumult fades away,
The waters sigh, the stars keep chime,
Rose-red the great celestial Day
Walks the waste waves of Time,
And so one thing at least is sure —
Love, and the fountain whence it flows!
God keep me passionately pure
To drink its deep repose!
Bring me no laurel wreaths to deck
My brow, no gold in large increase;
Twine loving arms around my neck,
And chain my soul to peace!
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