Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul Part 121

"The darkness gathers overhead, The morn will never come."

Did we but raise our downcast eyes, In the white-flus.h.i.+ng eastern skies Appears the glowing sun.

In all our daily joys and griefs In daily work and rest, To those who seek him Christ is near, Our bliss to calm, to soothe our care, In leaning on his breast.

Open our eyes, O Lord, we pray, To see our way, our Guide; That by the path that here we tread, We, following on, may still be led In thy light to abide.

MAN

My G.o.d, I heard this day That none doth build a stately habitation But he that means to dwell therein.

What house more stately hath there been, Or can be, than is man? to whose creation All things are in decay.

More servants wait on man Than he'll take notice of: in every path He treads down that which doth befriend him, When sickness makes him pale and wan.

O mighty love! man is one world, and hath Another to attend him.

For us the winds do blow, The earth doth rest, heaven move, and fountains flow; Nothing we see but means our good, As our delight or as our treasure; The whole is either cupboard of our food, Or cabinet of pleasure.

The stars have us to bed; Night draws the curtain, which the sun withdraws; Music and light attend our head; All things unto our flesh are kind In their descent and being; to our mind, In their ascent and cause.

Since then, my G.o.d, thou hast So brave a palace built, O dwell in it That it may dwell with thee at last.

Till then, afford us so much wit That, as the world serves us, we may serve thee, And both thy servants be.

--George Herbert.

EVER WITH THEE

I am with thee, my G.o.d-- Where I desire to be: By day, by night, at home, abroad, I always am with thee.

With thee when dawn comes on And calls me back to care, Each day returning to begin With thee, my G.o.d, in prayer.

With thee amid the crowd That throngs the busy mart; I hear thy voice, when time's is loud, Speak softly to my heart.

With thee when day is done And evening calms the mind; The setting as the rising sun With thee my heart shall find.

With thee when darkness brings The signal of repose; Calm in the shadow of thy wings Mine eyelids gently close.

With thee, in thee, by faith Abiding I shall be; By day, by night, in life, in death, I always am with thee.

--James D. Burns, altered by J. M.

SELF-EXAMINATION

By all means use sometime to be alone.

Salute thyself: see what thy soul doth wear.

Dare to look in thy chest; for 'tis thine own; And tumble up and down what thou findst there.

Who cannot rest till he good fellows find, He breaks up homes, turns out of doors his mind.

Sum up by night what thou hast done by day; And in the morning, what thou hast to do.

Dress and undress thy soul; mark the decay And growth of it; if, with thy watch, that too Be down, then wind up both; since we shall be Most surely judged, make thy accounts agree.

--George Herbert.

"SHOW ME THY FACE"

Show me thy face-- One transient gleam Of loveliness divine And I shall never think or dream Of other love save thine.

All lesser light will darken quite, All lower glories wane; The beautiful of earth will scarce Seem beautiful again!

Show me thy face-- My faith and love Shall henceforth fixed be, And nothing here have power to move My soul's serenity.

My life shall seem a trance, a dream, And all I feel and see Illusive, visionary--thou The one reality.

Show me thy face-- I shall forget The weary days of yore; The fretting ghosts of vain regret Shall haunt my soul no more; All doubts and fears for future years In quiet rest subside, And naught but blest content and calm Within my breast reside.

Show me thy face-- The heaviest cross Will then seem light to bear; There will be gain in every loss, And peace with every care.

With such light feet The years will fleet, Life seem as brief as blest, Till I have laid my burden down And entered into rest.

Show me thy face-- And I shall be In heart and mind renewed; With wisdom, grace, and energy To work thy work endued.

s.h.i.+ne clear, though pale, Behind the veil Until, the veil removed, In perfect glory I behold The Face that I have loved!

I stand in the great Forever, All things to me are divine; I eat of the heavenly manna, I drink of the heavenly wine.

LISTENING FOR G.o.d

I hear it often in the dark, I hear it in the light: Where _is_ the voice that calls to me With such a quiet might?

It seems but echo to my thought, And yet beyond the stars; It seems a heart-beat in a hush, And yet the planet jars.

O may it be that, far within My inmost soul, there lies A spirit-sky that opens with Those voices of surprise?

And can it be, by night and day, That firmament serene Is just the heaven where G.o.d himself, The Father, dwells unseen?

O G.o.d within, so close to me That every thought is plain, Be judge, be friend, be Father still, And in thy heaven reign!

Thy heaven is mine, my very soul!

Thy words are sweet and strong; They fill my inward silences With music and with song.

They send me challenges to right, And loud rebuke my ill; They ring my bells of victory, They breathe my "Peace, be still!"

They even seem to say: "My child, Why seek me so all day?

Now journey inward to thyself, And listen by the way."

--William C. Gannett.

ALLAH'S HOUSE

Nanac the faithful, pausing once to pray, From holy Mecca turned his face away; A Moslem priest who chanced to see him there, Forgetful of the att.i.tude in prayer, Cried "Infidel, how durst thou turn thy feet Toward Allah's house--the sacred temple seat?"

To whom the pious Nanac thus replied: "Knowest thou G.o.d's house is, as the world is, wide?