Classic Poem

" Nay," I cried, " the Christ shall triumph!
After centuries of sorrow
Man at last shall gain his birthright
And arise, a living Soul!

" Proves not this that One above thee
Wrought in love from the beginning?
Creeds and systems come and vanish,
But the Law Divine abides!

" Out of endless tribulation
Springs the Human, casting from him
One by one the sins and sorrows
Worn in ignorance of godhead;

" All around him and within him
Lies his Kingdom, but he rules it
By the grace of One Supremer
Who created it and him!

" " Know thyself! " the Voice Eternal
Crieth; and himself he knoweth,
God incarnate, bowing meekly
To the Eternal Voice and Law.

" Even thus thy God hath conquer'd!
What thy spirit wrought against Him
Turneth ever to a witness
Of His glory everlasting!

" Kneel, then, rebel, and adore Him!
Kneel with Man and chant His praises,
Hallelujah to the Highest,
As 'twas sung in the beginning!"

Pallid in the moonlight, turning
Sad eyes upward to the Heavens,
Head erect, still proud in sorrow,
Stood that weary fallen Spirit!

" Fool," he answer'd, " what availeth
Praise or prayer or lamentation?
Blindly, pitilessly, surely,
Worketh the Eternal Law.

" Dust to dust, ashes to ashes;
Nought escapeth, nought abideth —
Man, the sand for ever shifting
In an hour-glass, cometh, goeth!

" Death alone is King and Master!
Death is mightiest here and yonder, —
Man, the drop within a fountain,
Riseth ever, ever falleth!

" Vain the Dream and the Endeavour!
Vain the quest of Love and Knowledge, —
Man, the dewdrop in the Rainbow,
Shineth, then is drunk for ever!

" Answerest thou, that nought can perish?
That the elements for ever
Disappearing, re-emerging,
Shape themselves to Life anew?

" Even so; but Death shall silence
All that forms thy human nature —
Memory, consciousness, self-knowledge,
Personality, and Love!

" Out of darkness God hath drawn thee,
Back to darkness thou returnest —
In that moment of thy making
Thou becam'st a conscious Soul!

" Loving, hoping, apprehending,
Yearning to the Souls around thee, —
Father, mother, wife and children,
Sharers of thy joy and sorrow;

" These are thou , and these must vanish
Leaving not a trace behind them —
With the Elemental godhead
Thou and these shall mix for ever!

" The Supreme, the Elemental,
Voiceless is, and all unconscious!
But the conscious type emerging
Shineth, and is trumpet-tongued!

" From the dark he cometh, standing
Beautiful and demigod-like,
Crying gladly, " Lo my kingdom,
Where I reign as God's anointed; "

" Knowing, feeling, apprehending,
Thus he cometh to his birthright —
Memory, consciousness, self-knowledge,
Personality, and Love!

" Fool, Death taps him on the shoulder,
Death, the wraith of the Almighty,
Saying, " Cease! The law of being
Meaneth endless retrogression!

" " Back into the Night! re-mingle
With the elemental Darkness!
Only for a little moment
God permits thee to abide! "

" Broken-hearted and despairing,
Into silence he returneth —
Dust to dust, ashes to ashes!
Crush'd he lies, a crumbling shell!

" Name me not the Prince of Evil, —
Call me still the Prince of Pity,
Since alone among immortals
I have wept for human woes!

" What remaineth? One thing only,
Since Death cometh soon or later:
Carpe diem! While it lasteth,
Stand erect, Ephemeron!

" Waste no thought on the Almighty;
Seek, with all thy soul's endeavour,
How to make thine earthly dwelling
Bright and fair, in God's despite!

" Only for a day thou livest!
Make that day, so quickly fleeting,
For thyself, for all thou lovest,
Beautiful with Light and Joy!

" Yet, the pity! ah, the pity!
Back, far back, along the ages,
Stretch the graves of countless creatures
Who have borne the Cross for thee!

" They , too, loved the light that lieth
On the seas and on the mountains!
They, too, by their God forsaken,
Died at last on Calvary!

" They , too, dreamed of Life Eternal!
They, too, knelt before the Father!
They, too, clung to one another,
Till He drave them back to dust!"