The Ox he openeth wide the Doore
And from the Snowe he calls her inne,
And he hath seen her smile therefore,
Our Ladye without Sinne.
Now soone from Sleepe
A Starre shall leap,
And soone arrive both King and Hinde;
Amen, Amen:
But oh, the place co’d I but finde!
The Ox hath husht his voyce and...
A Ballad
THERE ’s a legend that ’s told of a gypsy who dwelt
In the lands where the pyramids be;
And her robe was embroidered with stars, and her belt
With devices right wondrous to see;
And she lived in the days when our Lord was a child
On his mother’s immaculate breast;
When he fled from his foes,—when to Egypt exiled,
...
Dear Friend! whose presence in the house,
Whose gracious word benign,
Could once, at Cana’s wedding feast,
Change water into wine;
Come, visit us! and when dull work
Grows weary, line on line,
Revive our souls, and let us see
Life’s water turned to wine.
Gay mirth shall deepen into joy,
Earth’s hopes grow...
(“The Ninety and Nine”)
THERE were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold;
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold,
Away on the mountain wild and bare,
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
“Lord, thou hast here thy ninety and nine:
Are they not enough for thee?”
But the...
De massa ob de sheepfol’,
Dat guards de sheepfol’ bin,
Look out in de gloomerin’ meadows,
Wha’r de long night rain begin—
So he call to de hirelin’ shepa’d,
“Is my sheep, is dey all come in?”
Oh den, says de hirelin’ shepa’d:
“Dey ’s some, dey ’s black and thin,
And some, dey ’s po’ ol’ wedda’s;
But de res’, dey ’s all...
He saves the sheep, the goats he doth not save.
So rang Tertullian’s sentence, on the side
Of that unpitying Phrygian Sect which cried:
“Him can no fount of fresh forgiveness lave,
Who sins, once washed by the baptismal wave.”—
So spake the fierce Tertullian. But she sighed,
The infant Church! of love she felt the tide
Stream on her...
Two sayings of the Holy Scriptures beat
Like pulses in the Church’s brow and breast;
And by them we find rest in our unrest,
And heart-deep in salt tears, do yet entreat
God’s fellowship, as if on heavenly seat.
The first is Jesus wept, whereon is prest
Full many a sobbing face that drops its best
And sweetest waters on the record sweet:...
Into the woods my Master went,
Clean forspent, forspent.
Into the woods my Master came,
Forspent with love and shame.
But the olives they were not blind to Him;
The little gray leaves were kind to Him;
The thorn-tree had a mind to Him
When into the woods He came.
Out of the woods my Master went,
And He was well content....
From the Latin by Abraham Coles
STOOD the afflicted mother weeping,
Near the cross her station keeping
Whereon hung her Son and Lord;
Through whose spirit sympathizing,
Sorrowing and agonizing,
Also passed the cruel sword.
Oh! how mournful and distressèd
Was that favored and most blessèd
Mother of the only Son,...
Three women crept at break of day
A-grope along the shadowy way
Where Joseph’s tomb and garden lay.
With blanch of woe each face was white,
As the gray Orient’s waxing light
Brought back upon their awe-struck sight
The sixth-day scene of anguish. Fast
The starkly standing cross they passed,
And, breathless, neared the gate at...
