Classic Poem

It was a glorious dream men had,
That God should come to earth some day,
And, re-creating all things new,
Should sweep the evil past away.

And beauteous they shaped their dream, —
The angel heralds in the sky,
The wondering shepherds, and the star
To lead them where the babe should lie.

The past was darkness. The old earth
Had travailed long in tears and pain;
But, when He comes , the light shall break,
And heaven shall dwell on earth again.

The world, so long accurst, shall bloom
A garden fair as paradise;
Thistles and thorns shall disappear,
And only wholesome plants arise.

The shivering figures of the poor
Shall crouch in cold and want no more;
Plenty shall smile on every home,
And joy look out at every door.

Fierce enmity and strife shall die,
The old-time curse of war shall cease,
The struggles of mankind shall be
The helpful rivalries of peace.

The age-long achings of the heart,
The scalding tears that blind the eye,
The blighted hopes, the boding fears, —
All sorrows shall be then passed by;

For death itself, the cruelest
Of all the ills that curse the race,
Shall be abolished, and sweet life,
The life immortal, take its place.

This was the dream, a vision sweet,
That lured the childhood of the earth,
As, toiling up the centuries,
It waited for the wondrous birth.

And as each morning's vision fled,
Still fading into common day,
Footsore and weeping, on they went,
Still looking for it far away.

And it shall be . It may not come
As pointed by the Bethlehem star,
Nor as the thought of any seer
Has shaped the vision seen afar.

But God, who hides the mighty oak
Close wrapped in tiny acorn-shell,
While the slow process of the suns
Unfolds the seed, and does it well, —

He holds, deep hidden in the heart
Of the unfolding universe,
A blessing that no stress of doubt
Shall e'er persuade us is a curse.

Let clouds of sorrow shade the seed,
Let it be watered long by tears,
Let rough winds rock it to and fro,
Let fall the dead leaves through the years;

Still God is in it, and it grows.
Some day, beneath a fairer sky,
" New earth " shall greet " new heavens, " and make
A new home for humanity.

Earth shall be fair as Eden lost,
Each night shall chase a gladder day,
Joy shall drive sorrow from the earth,
And evil shall have passed away.

This is the Christmas hope, howe'er
Men try to shape the dream they see,
Whether, as Grecian golden age
Or kingdom new in Galilee.

If we would have the vision true,
We must not rest in dreams; for, when
We all are Christlike, then will come
The " peace on earth, good-will to men. "