Which Died before Baptism
“BE, rather than be called, a child of God,”
Death whispered!—with assenting nod,
Its head upon its mother’s breast,
The baby bowed, without demur—
Of the kingdom of the Blest
Possessor, not inheritor.
-
-
“Religion relates to life, and the life of religion is to do good.”—SWEDENBORG.
HE left a load of anthracite
In front of a poor woman’s door,
When the deep snow, frozen and white,
Wrapped street and square, mountain and moor.
That was his deed.
He did it well.
“What was his creed?”
I cannot tell... -
DOWN deep in the hollow, so damp and so cold,
Where oaks are by ivy o’ergrown,
The gray moss and lichen creep over the mould,
Lying loose on a ponderous stone.
Now within this huge stone, like a king on his throne,
A toad has been sitting more years than is known;
And, strange as it seems, yet he constantly deems
The... -
She stood before a chosen few,
With modest air and eyes of blue;
A gentle creature, in whose face
Were mingled tenderness and grace.“You wish to join our fold,” they said:
“Do you believe in all that’s read
From ritual and written creed,
Essential to our human need?”A troubled look was in her eyes;
She answered, as... -
I Hold that Christian grace abounds
Where charity is seen; that when
We climb to heaven, ’t is on the rounds
Of love to men.I hold all else, named piety,
A selfish scheme, a vain pretence;
Where centre is not—can there be
Circumference?This I moreover hold, and dare
Affirm where’er my rhyme may go,—... -
With echoing steps the worshippers
Departed one by one;
The organ’s pealing voice was stilled,
The vesper hymn was done;
The shadow fell from roof and arch,
Dim was the incensed air,
One lamp alone, with trembling ray,
Told of the Presence there!In the dark church she knelt alone;
Her tears were falling fast;... -
O, May I join the choir invisible
Of those immortal dead who live again
In minds made better by their presence; live
In pulses stirred to generosity,
In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn
Of miserable aims that end with self,
In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars,
And with their mild persistence urge men’s minds
To... -
From “In Memoriam,” LIII.
O YET we trust that somehow good
Will be the final goal of ill,
To pangs of nature, sins of will,
Defects of doubt, and taints of blood;That nothing walks with aimless feet;
That not one life shall be destroyed,
Or cast as rubbish to the void,
When God hath made the pile complete;That...
-
What dost thou see, lone watcher on the tower,
Is the day breaking? Comes the wished-for hour?
Tell us the signs, and stretch abroad thy hand,
If the bright morning dawns upon the land.“The stars are clear above me; scarcely one
Has dimmed its rays in reverence to the sun;
But I yet see on the horizon’s verge
Some fair, faint streaks,... -
A Thanksgiving to God for a House in the Green Parish of Devonshire
LORD, thou hast given me a cell
Wherein to dwell,
A little house, whose humble roof
Is weather proof;
Under the sparres of which I lie,
Both soft and drie;
Where thou, my chamber for to ward,
Hast set a guard
Of...