Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul Part 48

'Tis loving and serving The Highest and Best!

'Tis onwards, unswerving, And that is true rest.

--John Sullivan Dwight.

There is peace in power; the men who speak With the loudest tongues do least; And the surest sign of a mind that is weak Is its want of the power to rest.

--John Boyle O'Reilly.

EQUANIMITY

Tost on a sea of troubles, Soul, my Soul, Thyself do thou control; And to the weapons of advancing foes A stubborn breast oppose: Undaunted 'mid the hostile might Of squadrons burning for the fight Thine be no boasting when the victor's crown Wins thee deserved renown; Thine no dejected sorrow, when defeat Would urge a base retreat; Rejoice in joyous things--nor overmuch Let grief thy bosom touch 'Midst evil, and still bear in mind How changeful are the ways of humankind.

--Archilochos, tr. by William Hay.

G.o.d'S PEACE

Grant us Thy peace, down from thy presence falling, As on the thirsty earth cool night-dews sweet; Grant us thy peace, to thy pure paths recalling, From devious ways, our worn and wandering feet.

Grant us Thy peace, through winning and through losing, Through gloom and gladness of our pilgrim way; Grant us thy peace, safe in thy love's enclosing, Thou who all things in heaven and earth dost sway.

Give us Thy peace, not as the world has given, In momentary rays that fitful gleamed, But calm, deep, sure, the peace of spirits shriven, Of hearts surrendered and of souls redeemed.

Grant us thy peace, that like a deepening river Swells ever outward to the sea of praise.

O thou of peace the only Lord and Giver, Grant us thy peace, O Saviour, all our days.

--Eliza Scudder.

THE INNER CALM

Calm me, my G.o.d, and keep me calm, While these hot breezes blow; Be like the night-dew's cooling balm Upon earth's fevered brow.

Calm me, my G.o.d, and keep me calm, Soft resting on thy breast; Soothe me with holy hymn and psalm And bid my spirit rest.

Yes, keep me calm, though loud and rude The sounds my ear that greet; Calm in the closet's solitude, Calm in the bustling street;

Calm in the hour of buoyant health, Calm in my hour of pain, Calm in my poverty or wealth, Calm in my loss or gain;

Calm when the great world's news with power My listening spirit stir; Let not the tidings of the hour E'er find too fond an ear;

Calm as the ray of sun or star Which storms a.s.sail in vain; Moving unruffled through earth's war, The eternal calm to gain.

--Horatius Bonar.

Father, take not away The burden of the day, But help me that I bear it As Christ his burden bore When cross and thorn he wore And none with him could share it; In his name help I pray!

I only ask for grace To see that patient face And my impatient one; Ask that mine grow like His-- Sign of an inward peace From trust in thee alone, Unchanged by time or place.

And they who do their souls no wrong, But keep at eve the faith of morn, Shall daily hear the angel-song, To-day the Prince of Peace is born.

--James Russell Lowell.

Drop thy still dews of quietness, Till all our strivings cease; Take from our souls the strain and stress, And let our ordered lives confess The beauty of thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire Thy coolness and thy balm; Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire; Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire, O still, small voice of calm!

--John Greenleaf Whittier.

As flows the river calm and deep.

In silence toward the sea, So floweth ever, and ceaseth never, The love of G.o.d to me.

What peace He bringeth to my heart, Deep as the soundless sea; How sweetly singeth the soul that clingeth, My loving Lord, to thee.

He fails never.

If He cannot work by us He will work through us.

Let our souls be calm.

We should be ashamed to sit beneath those stars, Impatient that we're nothing.

Get work, get work; be sure 'tis better Than what you work to get.

--Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Calm Soul of all things, make it mine To feel amid the city's jar, That there abides a peace of thine Man did not make and cannot mar.

The will to neither strive nor cry, The power to feel with others give; Calm, calm me more, nor let me die Before I have begun to live.

--Matthew Arnold.

What secret trouble stirs thy heart?

Why all this fret and flurry?

Dost thou not know that what is best In this too restless world is rest From over-work and hurry?

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

We bless thee for thy peace, O G.o.d, Deep as the boundless sea, It falls like suns.h.i.+ne on the road, Of those who trust in thee; That peace which suffers and is strong, Trusts where it cannot see: Deems not the trial way too long, But leaves the end with thee.

Be calm in arguing: for fierceness makes Error a fault, and truth discourtesy.

Why should I feel another man's mistakes More than his sicknesses or poverty?

In love I should; but anger is not love, Nor wisdom, neither; therefore gently move.