rename teseetotstses SEsipepepaae eae ia stat Dee groesuep pen Pep heie soe sae pasion! stienicuaporobinsoagey a ee ae ee VERSES BY CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI. Reprinted from “ Called to be Saints,” “ Time Flies,” “The Face of the Deep.” PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACT COMMITTEE. LONDON: SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C.; 43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C, BRIGHTON: 135, NorTH STREET. New Yor«: E. & J. B. YOUNG & CO. 1893. Oxford RACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY pre 4 3 cies sli CONTENTS: Our or tHE Deep HAVE I CALLED UNro Tur, O Lorp 5 di 3 é CuRISsT OUR ALL IN ALL 5 6 ' 5 Some Feasts AND Fasts : % 2 é GirTs AND GRACES c A . . Tue Worip. Sevr-Desrruction. 6 ( Divers Worips, Time AnD ETERNITY c New JERUSALEM AND Ivs CITIZENS ‘ , Sones FOR STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS fomaaes So he Si he (OUR OF Pare DEEP. TEAL FE LT CAELEDTOUNFO THBE OVE ORD? he Derses. a ees LOYOLA MOVE MAGNE JOVEI BIA NE OANS Re eal CALLED‘ UNTO THEE, O LORD” a YA LONE Lord God, in Whom our trust and peace, Our love and our desire, glow bright with hope ; Lift us above this transitory scope Of earth, these pleasures that begin and cease, This moon which wanes, these seasons which decrease : We turn to Thee; as on an eastern slope Wheat feels the dawn beneath night’s lingering cope, 3ending and stretching sunward ere it sees. Alone Lord God, we see not yet we know ; By love we dwell with patience and desire, And loving so and so desiring pray ; Thy Will be done in earth as heaven to-day ; As yesterday it was, tomorrow so; Love offering love on love’s self-feeding fire. “Out of the Deep bave F called @ EVEN vials hold Thy wrath: but what can hold ) Thy mercy save Thine own Infinitude Boundlessly overflowing with all good, All lovingkindness, all delights untold? Thy Love, of each created love the mould ; Thyself, of all the empty plenitude; Heard of at Ephrata, found in the Wood, For ever One, the Same, and Manifold. Lord, give us grace to tremble with that dove Which Ark-bound winged its solitary way And overpast the Deluge in a day, Whom Noah’s hand pulled in and comforted: For we who much more hang upon Thy Love Behold its shadow in the deed he did. % “bere neither rust nor moth dotb corrupt.” al SNERVE us with patience, Lord, to toil or rest, Toiling at rest on our allotted level; Unsnared, unscared by world or flesh or devil, Fulfilling the good Will of Thy behest: Not careful here to hoard, not here to revel; But waiting for our treasure and our zest Beyond the fading splendour of the west, Beyond this deathstruck life and deathlier evil. Not with the sparrow building here a house : But with the swallow tabernacling so As still to poise alert to rise and go On eager wings with wing-outspeeding wills Beyond earth’s gourds and past her almond boughs, Past utmost bound of the everlasting hills. unto Thee, O Lord.” “Ts the sparks fly upwards.” : eS : (Gorn, grant us wills to trust Thee with such aim a= Of hope and passionate craving of desire, That we may mount aspiring, and aspire Still while we mount; rejoicing in Thy Name Yesterday, this day, day by day the Same: So sparks fly upward scaling heaven by fire, Still mount and still attain not, yet draw nigher While they have being to their fountain flame. To saints who mount, the bottomless abyss Is as mere nothing, they have set their face | Onward and upward toward that blesséd place Where man rejoices with his God, and soul . With soul, in the unutterable kiss . Of peace for every victor at the goal. . | Seer PS eg a ae = ¢(2 ORD, make us all love all: that when we meet ta=> Even myriads of earth’s myriads at Thy Bar, We may be glad as all true lovers are Who having parted count reunion sweet. Safe gathered home around Thy blesséd Feet, Come home by different roads from near or far, Whether by whirlwind or by flaming car, From pangs or sleep, safe folded round Thy seat. | Oh, if our brother’s blood cry out at us, ti How shall we meet Thee Who hast loved us all, : Thee Whom we never loved, not loving him? The unloving cannot chant with Seraphim, Bear harp of gold or palm victorious, Or face the Vision Beatifical. + ar “Out of the Deep bave F called 3) LORD, on Whom we gaze and dare not gaze, tJ Increase our faith that gazing we may see, And seeing love, and loving worship Thee Thro’ all our days, our long and lengthening days. O Lord, accessible to prayer and praise, Kind Lord, Companion of the two or three, Good Lord, be gracious to all men and me, Lighten our darkness and amend our ways. Call up our hearts to Thee, that where Thou art Our treasure and our heart may dwell at one: Then let the pallid moon pursue her sun, So long as it shall please Thee, far apart,— Yet art Thou with us, Thou to Whom we run, We hand in hand with Thee and heart in heart. “S$ will come and beal bim.” 5) LORD God, hear the silence of each soul, td Its cry unutterable of ruth and shame, Its voicelessness of self-contempt and blame: Nor suffer harp and palm and aureole Of multitudes who praise Thee at the goal, To set aside Thy poor and blind and lame; Nor blazing Seraphs utterly to outflame The spark that flies up from each earthly coal. My price Thy priceless Blood; and therefore I Price of Thy priceless Blood am precious so That good things love me in their love of Thee: I comprehend not why Thou lovedst me With Thy so mighty Love; but this I know, No man hath greater love than thus to die. % Pee eee unto Thee, © Dord,” Ku Lord, Lord)-if my ‘heart were sight with Thine As Thine with mine, then should I rest resigned Awaiting knowledge with a quiet mind Because of heavenly wisdom’s anodyne. Then would Thy Love be more to me than wine, Then should I seek being sure at length to find, Then should I trust to Thee all humankind Because Thy Love of them is more than mine, Then should I stir up hope and comfort me Remembering Thy Cradle and Thy Cross; How Heaven to Thee without us had been loss, How Heaven with us is Thy one only Heaven, Heaven shared with us thro’ all eternity, With us long sought, long loved, and much forgiven. “The gold of that Iand fs good.” LONG for joy, O Lord, I long for gold, I long for all Thou profferest to me, I long for the unimagined manifold Abundance laid up in Thy treasury. I long for pearls, but not from mundane sea; I long for palms, but not from earthly mould; Yet in all else I long for, long for Thee, Thyself to hear and worship and behold. For Thee, beyond the splendour of that day Where all is day and is not any night; For Thee, beyond refreshment of that rest To which tired saints press on for its delight :— Or if not thus for Thee, yet Thee I pray To make me long so till Thou make me blest eee wr A joa alae AABN 869 merece coy Se “Out of the Deep bave F called v\ /EIGH all my faults and follies righteously, be Omissions and commissions, sin on sin; Make deep the scale, O Lord, to weigh them in; Yea, set the Accuser vulture-eyed to see All loads ingathered which belong to me: That so in life the judgement may begin, And Angels learn how hard it is to win One solitary sinful soul to Thee. I have no merits for a counterpoise: Oh vanity my work and hastening day, What can I answer to the accusing voice? Lord, drop Thou in the counterscale alone One Drop from Thine own Heart, and overweigh My guilt, my folly, even my heart of stone. 4 a a(S ORD, grant me grace to love Thee in my pain, “c= ‘Thro’ all my disappointment love Thee still, Thy love my strong foundation and my hill, Tho’ I be such as cometh not again, A fading leaf, a spark upon the wane: So evermore do Thou Thy perfect Will Beloved thro’ all my good, thro’ all mine ill, Beloved tho’ all my love beside be vain. If thus I love Thee, how wilt Thou love me, Thou Who art greater than my heart? (Amen!) Wilt Thou bestow a part, withhold a part? The longing of my heart cries out to Thee, The hungering thirsting longing of my heart: What I forewent wilt Thou not grant me then? % unto Thee, O Lord.” oo (ORD, make me one with Thine own faithful oz ones, Thy Saints who love Thee and are loved by Thee; Till the day break and till the shadows flee, At one with them in alms and orisons; At one with him who toils and him who runs, And him who yearns for union yet to be; At one with all who throng the crystal sea And wait the setting of our moons and suns. Ah, my beloved ones gone on before, Who looked not back with hand upon the plough! If beautiful to me while still in sight, How beautiful must be your aspects now; Your unknown, well-known aspects in that light Which clouds shall never cloud for evermore. % “Bight of Light.” CHRIST our Light, Whom even in darkness we (So we look up) discern and gaze upon, O Christ, Thou loveliest Light that ever shone, Thou Light of Light, Fount of all lights that be, Grant us clear vision of Thy Light to see, Tho’ other lights elude us, or begone Into the secret of oblivion, Or gleam in places higher than man’s degree. Who looks on Thee looks full on his desire, Who looks on Thee looks full on Very Love: Looking, he answers well, “What lack I yet?” His heat and cold wait not on earthly fire, His wealth is not of earth to lose or get; Earth reels, but he has stored his store above. oie 4 nN) Nr N = AY NY nN) X & ra) S) NY WY la} Qe = 1S) CHRIST OUR ALL IN ALL. “Tbe ransomed of the Lord.” Se HY lovely saints do bring Thee love, -€) Incense and joy and gold; Fair star with star, fair dove with dove, Beloved by Thee of old. J, Master, neither star nor dove, Have brought Thee sins and tears; Yet I too bring a little love Amid my flaws and fears. A trembling love that faints and fails Yet still is love of Thee, A wondering love that hopes and hails Thy boundless Love of me; Love kindling faith and pure desire, Love following on to bliss, A spark, O Jesu, from Thy fire, A drop from Thine abyss. ea B 2 Cbrist our Al fin all. q(gonn, we are rivers running to Thy sea, de Our waves and ripples all derived from Thee: A nothing we should have, a nothing be, Except for Thee. Sweet are the waters of Thy shoreless sea, Make sweet our waters that make haste to Thee; Pour in Thy sweetness, that ourselves may be Sweetness to Thee. othe “Fn exrcecding bitter cry.” 48QONTEMPT and pangs and haunting fears— Too late for hope, too late for ease, Too late for rising from the dead; Too late, too late to bend my nees: Or bow my head, Or weep, or ask for tears, Hark! . . . One J hear Who calls to me: “Give Me thy thorn and grief and scorn, Give Me thy ruin and regret. Press on thro’ darkness toward the morn: One loves thee yet: Have I forgotten thee?” Lord, Who art Thou? Lord, is it Thou My Lord and God Lord Jesus Christ? How said I that I sat alone And desolate and unsufficed? Surely a stone Would raise Thy praises now! %& Christ our Fl in all, ey @ LORD, when Thou didst call me, didst Thou know My heart disheartened thro’ and thro’, Still hankering after Egypt full in view Where cucumbers and melons grow? —‘‘ Yea, I knew.”’— But, Lord, when Thou didst choose me, didst Thou know How marred I was and withered too, Nor rose for sweetness nor for virtue rue, ‘Timid and rash, hasty and slow? —‘ Yea, I knew.” — My Lord, when Thou didst love me, didst Thou know How weak my efforts were, how few, Tepid to love and impotent to do, Envious to reap while slack to sow? —‘“ Yea, I knew.”— Good Lord, Who knowest what I cannot know And dare not know, my false, my true, My new, my old; Good Lord, arise and do If loving Thou hast known me so. —“ Yea, I knew.”— % Cbrist our Fl in all. “Thou, God, seest me.” H me, that I should be Exposed and open evermore to Thee !|— “Nay, shrink not from My licht, And I will make thee glorious in My sight With the overcoming Shulamite.’”— Yea, Lord, Thou moulding me. .-. Without a hiding-place To hide me from the terrors of Thy Face.— “Thy hiding-place is here In Mine own heart, wherefore the Roman spear For thy sake I accounted dear.’””— My Jesus! King of Grace. ... Without a veil, to give Whiteness before Thy Face that I might live— “Am I too poor to dress Thee in My royal robe of righteousness? Challenge and prove My Love’s excess.” — Give, Lord, I will receive. ... Without a pool wherein To wash my piteous self and make me clean.— “My Blood hath washed away Thy guilt, and still I wash thee day by day: Only take heed to trust and pray.”— Lord, help me to begin. fe Cbrist our All in all, qigoxD Jesus, who would think that Iam Thine? =~ Ah, who would think Who sees me ready to turn back or sink, That Thou art mineP I cannot hold Thee fast tho’ Thou art mine: Hold Thou me fast, So earth shall know at last and heaven at last That I am Thine. “The Mame of Jesus.” SirEsus, Lord God from all eternity, Whom love of us brought down to shame, I plead Thy Life with Thee, I plead ‘Vhy Death, I plead Thy Name. Jesus, Lord God of every living soul, Thy Love exceeds its uttered fame, Thy Will can make us whole, I plead Thyself, I plead Thy Name. he el Cc @{BORD God of Hosts, most Holy and most High, sx What made Thee tell Thy Name of Love to me? What made Thee live our life? what made Thee die? “My love of thee.” SSS a ee | Christ our All in all. I pitched so low, Thou so exceeding high, What was it made Thee stoop to look at me While flawless sons of God stood wondering by? “ My love of thee.” What is there which can lift me up on high That we may dwell together, Thou with me, When sin and death and suffering are gone by? “My love of thee.” O Lord, what is that best thing hid on high Which makes heaven heaven as Thou hast pro- mised me, Yea, makes it Christ to live and gain to die? “My love of thee.” ie — @[BORD, what have I that I may offer Thee? a=" Look, Lord, I pray Thee, and see.— What is it thou hast got? Nay, child, what is it thou hast not? Thou hast all gifts that I have given to thee: Offer them all to Me, The great ones and the small, I will accept them one and all.— I have a will, good Lord, but it is marred; A heart both crushed and hard: Not such as these the gift Clean-handed lovely saints uplift— Nay, child, but wilt thou judge for Me? I crave not thine, but thee.— Ah, Lord, Who lovest me! Such as I have now give I Thee. Christ onr All in all. F I should say “my heart is in my home,” I turn away from that high halidom Where Jesus sits: for nowhere else But with its treasure dwells The heart: this Truth and this experience tells. If I should say “my heart is in a grave,” I turn away from Jesus risen to save: I slight that death He died for me; I, too, deny to see His beauty and desirability. O Lord, Whose Heart is deeper than my heart, Draw mine to Thine to worship where Thou art; For Thine own glory join the twain Never to part again, Nor to have lived nor to have died in vain. he qUGEAF from leaf Christ knows; Ie Himself the Lily and the Rose: Sheep from sheep Christ tells; Himself the Shepherd, no one else: ql g i! : Star and star He names, f { Himself outblazing all their flames; 4 Dove by dove, He calls a To set each on the golden walls: Drop by drop, He counts The flood of ocean as it mounts: Christ our All in all, Grain by grain, His hand Numbers the innumerable sand. Lord, I lift to Thee In peace what is and what shall be: Lord, in peace I trust To Thee all spirits and all dust. te ag ORD, carry me.—Nay, but I grant thee i strength To walk and work thy way to Heaven at length.— Lord, why then am I weak?—Because I give Power to the weak, and bid the dying live.-— Lord, I am tired—He hath not much desired The goal, who at the starting-point is tired.— Lord, dost Thou know?—I know what is in man; What the flesh can, and what the spirit can— Lord, dost Thou care ?—Yea, for thy gain or loss So much I cared, it brought Me to the Cross.— Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief. Good is the word; but rise, for life is brief. The follower is not greater than the Chief: Follow thou Me along My way of grief. th Christ ont All in all, ce @fBoRD, I am here.—But, child, I look for thee c= Elsewhere and nearer Me.— Lord, that way moans a wide insatiate sea; How can I come to Thee ?— Set foot upon the water, test and see If thou canst come to Me.— Couldst Thou not send a boat to carry me, Or dolphin swimming free ?— Nay, boat nor fish if thy will faileth thee: For My Will too is free.— O Lord, I am afraid—Take hold on Me: I am stronger than the sea,— Save, Lord, I perish.—I have hold of thee, I made and rule the sea, I bring thee to the haven where thou wouldst be. a oH x] EW creatures; the Creator still the Same S For ever and for ever: therefore we Win hope from God’s unsearchable decree And glorify His still unchanging Name. We too are still the same: and still our claim, Our trust, our stay, is Jesus, none but He: He still the Same regards us, and still we Mount toward Him in old love’s accustomed flame. We know Thy wounded Hands: and Thou dost know Our praying hands, our hands that clasp and cling To hold Thee fast and not to let Thee go. All else be new then, Lord, as Thou hast said: Since it is Thou, we dare not be afraid, Our King of old and still our Self-same King, Reg at ages Sees NR Sa BET rs ~ “= — - te ses teste = = tis; it a FET MOS a appa % _Cbrist our All in all, “Ring of kings and Lord of lords.” «ifs this that Name as ointment poured forth For which the virgins love Thee; King of kings And Lord of lords? All Seraphs clad in wings; All Cherubs and all Wheels which south and north, Which east and west turn not in going forth; All many-semblanced ordered Spirits, as rings Of rainbow in unwonted fashionings, Mighi answer, Yes. But we from south and north, From east and west, a feeble folk who came By desert ways in quest of land unseen, A promised land of pasture ever green And ever springing ever singing wave, Know best Thy Name of Jesus: Blessed Name, Man’s life and resurrection from the grave. ie HY Name, O Christ, as incense streaming forth Sweetens our names before God's Holy Face; Luring us from the south and from the north Unto the sacred place. In Thee God’s promise is Amen and Yea. What art Thou to us? Prize of every lot, Shepherd and Door, our Life and Truth and Way:— Nay, Lord, what art Thou not? Cbrist our All in all. “The Good Sbepberd.” Pa SHEPHERD with the bleeding Feet, sé Good Shepherd with the pleading Voice, What seekest Thou from hill to hill? Sweet were the valley pastures, sweet The sound of flocks that bleat their joys, And eat and drink at will. Is one worth seeking, when Thou hast of Thine Ninety and nine? — How should I stay my bleeding Feet, How should I hush my pleading Voice? I Who chose death and clomb a hill, Accounting gall and wormwood sweet, That hundredfold might bud My joys For love’s sake and good will. I seek My one, for all there bide of Mine Ninety and nine. + “Rejoice with ie.” i q(PITTLE Lamb, who lost thee ? — = I myself, none other.— Little Lamb, who found thee? — Jesus, Shepherd, Brother. Ah, Lord, what I cost Thee! Canst Thou still desire ? — Still Mine arms surround thee, Still I lift thee higher, Draw thee nigher. % Cbrist our All in all. SHALL not the Judge of all the earth do = right? Yea, Lord, altho’ Thou say me nay: Shall not His Will be to me life and light? Yea, Lord, altho’ Thou slay. Yet, Lord, remembering turn and sift and see, Remember tho’ Thou sift me thro’, Remember my desire, remember me, Remember, Lord, and do. ae uyhytE and my gift: kind Lord, behold, x Be not extreme to test or sift; Thy Love can turn to fire and gold Me and my gift. Myself and mine to Thee I lift: Gather us to Thee from the cold Dead outer world where dead things drift. If much were mine, then manifold Should be the offering of my thrift: I am but poor, yet love makes bold Me and my gift. “he cannot deny himself.” Cc ZOVE still is Love, and doeth all things well, a= Whether He show me heaven or hell Or earth in her decay Passing away On a day. Christ our All in all, Love still is Love, tho’ He should say, “ Depart,” And break my incorrigible heart, And set me out of sight Widowed of light In the night. Love still is Love, is Love, if He should say, “Come,” on that uttermost dread day ; “Come,” unto very me, **Come where I be, Come and see.” Love still is Love, whatever comes to pass: O Only Love, make me Thy glass, Thy pleasure to fulfil By loving still Come what will. “lain from the foundation of the world.” S LAIN for man, slain for me, O Lamb of = God, look down; Loving to the end look down, behold and see: Turn Thine Eyes of pity, turn not on us Thy frown, O Lamb of God, slain for man, slain for me. Mark the wrestling, mark the race for indeed a crown; Mark our chariots how we drive them heavily ; Mark the foe upon our track blasting thundering down, O Lamb of God, slain for man, slain for me. Cbrist our All in all. Set as a Cloudy Pillar against them Thy frown, Thy Face of Light toward us gracious utterly ; Help granting, hope granting, until Thou grant a crown, O Lamb of God, slain for man, slain for me. SS @[@ORD Jesu, Thou art sweetness to my soul: = I to myself am bitterness: Regard my fainting struggle toward the goal, Regard my manifold distress, O Sweet Jesu. Thou art Thyself my goal, O Lord my King: Stretch forth Thy hand to save my soul: What matters more or less of journeying? While I touch Thee I touch my goal, O Sweet Jesu. * HRIST’S Heart was wrung for me, if mine sore ; And if my feet are weary, His have bled; He had no place wherein to lay His Head; If I am burdened, He was burdened more. The cup I drink, He drank of long before; He felt the unuttered anguish which I dread; He hungered Who the hungry thousands fed, And thirsted Who the world’s refreshment bore. EHOLD, the Bridegroom cometh: go ye out ©@= With lighted lamps and garlands round about To meet Him in a rapture with a shout. It may be at the midnight, black as pitch, Earth shall cast up her poor, cast up her rich. It may be at the crowing of the cock Earth shall upheave her depth, uproot her rock. For lo, the Bridegroom fetcheth home the Bride: His Hands are Hands she knows, she knows His Side. Like pure Rebekah at the appointed place, Veiled, she unveils her face to meet His Face. Like great Queen Esther in her triumphing, She triumphs in the Presence of her King. His Eyes are as a Dove's, and she’s Dove-eyed; He knows His lovely mirror, sister, Bride. D2 Some Feasts and Fasts. He speaks with Dove-voice of exceeding love, And she with love-voice of an answering Dove. Behold, the Bridegroom cometh: go we out With lamps ablaze and garlands round about To meet Him in a rapture with a shout, % ADVENT. ) a= } eee grown old, yet still so green, Deep beneath her crust of cold Nurses fire unfelt, unseen: Earth grown old. We who live are quickly told: Millions more lie hid between Inner swathings of her fold. When will fire break up her screen? When will life burst thro’ her mould? Earth, earth, earth, thy cold is keen, Earth grown old. oie SOONER or later: yet at last The Jordan must be past; It may be he will overflow His banks the day we go; It may be that his cloven deep Will stand up on a heap. Some Feasts and Fasts, Sooner or later: yet one day We all must pass that way; Each man, each woman, humbled, pale, Pass veiled within the veil; Child, parent, bride, companion, Alone, alone, alone. For none a ransom can be paid, A suretyship be made: I, bent by mine own burden, must Enter my house of dust; I, rated to the full amount, Must render mine account. When earth and sea shall empty all Their graves of great and small; When earth wrapped in a fiery flood Shall no more hide her blood; When mysteries shall be revealed; All secrets be unsealed ; When things of night, when things of Shall find at last a name, Pealed for a hissing and a curse Throughout the universe: Then Awful Judge, most Awful God, Then cause to bud Thy rod, To bloom with blossoms, and to give Almonds; yea, bid us live. shame, | Some Feasts and Fasts, I plead Thyself with Thee, I plead Thee in our utter need: Jesus, most Merciful of Men, Show mercy on us then; Lord God of Mercy and of men, Show mercy on us then. % CHRISTMAS EVE. 4‘ HRISTMAS hath a darkness Brighter than the blazing noon, Christmas hath a chillness Warmer than the heat of June, Christmas hath a beauty Lovelier than the world can show: For Christmas bringeth Jesus, Brought for us so low. Earth, strike up your music, Birds that sing and bells that ring; Heaven hath answering music For all Angels soon to sing: Earth, put on your whitest Bridal robe of spotless snow: For Christmas bringeth Jesus, Brought for us so low. ? Some Feasts and fasts, CHRISTMAS DAY. BABY is a harmless thing e And wins our hearts with one accord, And Flower of Babies was their King, Jesus Christ our Lord: Lily of lilies He Upon His Mother’s knee; Rose of roses, soon to be Crowned with thorns on leafless tree. A lamb is innocent and mild And merry on the soft green sod; And Jesus Christ, the Undefiled, Is the Lamb of God: Only spotless He Upon His Mother’s knee; White and ruddy, soon to be Sacrificed for you and me. Nay, lamb is not so sweet a word, Nor lily half so pure a name; Another name our hearts hath stirred, Kindling them to flame: “Jesus” certainly Is music and melody: Heart with heart in harmony Carol we and worship we. he Some Feasts and Fasts, CHRISTMASTIDE. oa (GOVE came down at Christmas, ‘ox Love all lovely, Love Divine; Love was born at Christmas, Star and Angels gave the sign. Worship we the Godhead, Love Incarnate, Love Divine ; Worship we our Jesus: But wherewith for sacred sign? Love shall be our token, Love be yours and love be mine, Love to God and all men, Love for plea and gift and sign. % ST. JOHN, APOSTLE. sEARTH cannot bar flame from ascending, Hell cannot bind light from descending, Death cannot finish life never ending. Eagle and sun gaze at each other, Eagle at sun, brother at Brother, Loving in peace and joy one another. O St. John, with chains for thy wages, Strong thy rock where the storm-blast rages, Rock of refuge, the Rock of Ages. Rome hath passed with her awful voice, Earth is passing with all her joys, Heaven shall pass away with a noise. Some Feasts and Fasts, So from us all follies that please us, So from us all falsehoods that ease us,— Only all saints abide with their Jesus, Jesus, in love looking down hither, Jesus, by love draw us up thither, That we in Thee may abide together, 2 BELOVED, let us love one another,” says Fe St. John, Eagle of eagles calling from above: Words of strong nourishment for life to feed upon, “Beloved, let us love.” Voice of an eagle, yea, Voice of the Dove: If we may love, winter is past and gone; Publish we, praise we, for lo! it is enough. More sunny than sunshine that ever yet shone, Sweetener of the bitter, smoother of the rough, Highest lesson of all lessons for all to con, “Beloved, let us love.” HOLY INNOCENTS. We HEY scarcely waked before they slept, a yi They scarcely wept before they laughed; They drank indeed death’s bitter draught, But all its bitterest dregs were kept And drained by Mothers while they wept. Some Feasts and Fasts, From Heaven the speechless Infants speak : Weep not (they say), our Mothers dear, For swords nor sorrows come not here. Now we are strong who were so weak, And all is ours we could not seek. We bloom among the blooming flowers, We sing among the singing birds; Wisdom we have who wanted words: Here morning knows not evening hours, All’s rainbow here without the showers. And softer than our Mother's breast, And closer than our Mother’s arm, Is here the Love that keeps us warm And broods above our happy nest. Dear Mothers, come: for Heaven is best, ne {Uj NSPOTTED lambs to follow the one Lamb, =~ Unspotted doves to wait on the one Dove; To whom Love saith, “Be with Me where I am,” And lo! their answer unto Love is love. For tho’ I know not any note they know, Nor know one word of all their song above, I know Love speaks to them, and even so I know the answer unto Love is love. Some Feasts and Fasts. EPIPHANY. cS g/@ORD Babe, if Thou art He “o= We sought for patiently, Where is Thy court? Hither may prophecy and star resort ; Men heed not their report.”— “Bow down and worship, righteous man: This Infant of a span Is He man sought for since the world began !”— “Then, Lord, accept my gold, too base a thing For Thee, of all kings King.’”— ‘‘Lord Babe, despite Thy youth I hold Thee of a truth Both Good and Great: But wherefore dost Thou keep so mean a state, Low-lying desolate? ”— “Bow down and worship, righteous seer: The Lord our God is here Approachable, Who bids us all draw near.’— “Wherefore to Thee I offer frankincense, Thou Sole Omnipotence.’— “But I have only brought Myrrh; no wise afterthought Instructed me To gather pearls or gems, or choice to see Coral or ivory.’— “Not least thine offering proves thee wise: For myrrh means sacrifice, And He that lives, this Same is He that dies.” — “Then here is myrrh: alas! yea, woe is me That myrrh befitteth Thee.”— Some Feasts and Fasts, Myrrh, frankincense, and gold: And lo! from wintry fold Good-will doth bring A Lamb, the innocent likeness of this King Whom stars and seraphs sing: And lo! the bird of love, a Dove Flutters and coos above: And Dove and Lamb and Babe agree in love: — Come all mankind, come all creation hither, Come, worship Christ together, % EPIPHANY TIDE. SfREMBLING before Thee we fall down to adore Thee, Shamefaced and trembling we lift our eyes to Thee: O First and with the last! annul our ruined past, Rebuild us to Thy glory, set us free From sin and from sorrow to fall down and worship Thee. Tull of pity view us, stretch Thy sceptre to us, Bid us live that we may give ourselves to Thee: O faithful Lord and True! stand up for us and do, Make us lovely, make us new, set us free— Heart and soul and spirit—to bring all and worship Thee. Some Feasts and Fasts, SEPTUAGESIMA. “So run that pe may obtain.” A | (2)NE step more, and the race is ended; One word more, and the lesson’s done 3 One toil more, and a long rest follows At set of sun. Who would fail, for one step withholden? Who would fail, for one word unsaid ? Who would fail, for a pause too early? Sound sleep the dead. One step more, and the goal receives us; One word more, and life’s task is done; One toil more, and the Cross is carried And sets the sun. he Ni SEXAGESIMA, \ | “ Cursed is the ground for thy sake.” a i Ser earth was very good in days of old, And earth is lovely still: i049 Still for the sacred flock she spreads the fold, NG pi For Sion rears the hill. ‘ Mother she is, and cradle of our race, A depth where treasures lie, The broad foundation of a noly place, Man’s step to scale the sky. Some Feasts and Fasts. | She spreads the harvest-field which Angels reap, And lo! the crop is white; | She spreads God’s Acre where the happy sleep All night that is not night. Earth may not pass till heaven shall pass away, Nor heaven may be renewed Except with earth: and once more in that day Earth shall be very good. % SHAT Eden of earth’s sunrise cannot vie With Paradise beyond her sunset sky Hidden on high, Four rivers watered Eden in her bliss, But Paradise hath One which perfect is In sweetnesses. Eden had gold, but Paradise hath gold Like unto glass of splendours manifold Tongue hath not told. Eden had sun and moon to make her bright; But Paradise hath God and Lamb for light, And hath no night. Unspotted innocence was Eden’s best; Great Paradise shows God’s fulfilled behest, Triumph and rest. Some Feasts and Fasts. Hail, Eve and Adam, source of death and shame! New life has sprung from death, and Jesu’s Name Clothes you with fame. Hail Adam, and hail Eve! your children rise And call you blessed, in their glad surmise Of Paradise. te QUINQUAGESIMA, cc (BOVE is alone the worthy law of love: == All other laws have presupposed a taint: Love is the law from kindled saint to saint, From lamb to lamb, from dove to answering dove. Love is the motive of all things that move Harmonious by free will without constraint: Love learns and teaches: love shall man acquaint With all he Jacks, which all his Jack is love. Because Love is the fountain, I discern The stream as love: for what but love should flow From fountain Love? not bitter from sweet ! I ignorant, have I laid claim to know? the Oh, teach me, Love, such knowledge as is meet For one to know who is fain to love and learn. a Some Feasts and Fasts, P1TEOUs my rhyme is * What while I muse of love and pain, Of love misspent, of love in vain, Of love that is not loved again: And is this all then? As long as time is, Love loveth. Time is but a span, The dalliance space of dying man: And is this all immortals can? The gain were small then. Love loves for ever, And finds a, sort of joy in pain, And gives with nought to take again, And loves too well to end in vain: Is the gain small then? Love laughs at “never,” Outlives our life, exceeds the span Appointed to mere mortal man: All which love is and does and can Ts all in all then. atte ts ASH WEDNESDAY. UW Y God, my God, have mercy on my sin, For it is great; and if I should begin To tell it all, the day would be too small To tell it in. My God, Thou wilt have mercy on my sin For Thy Love’s sake: yea, if I should begin To tell This all, the day would be too small To tell it in. Some Feasts and Fasts. GA00D Lord, to-day I scarce find breath to say: * Scourge, but receive me. For stripes are hard to bear, but worse Thy intolerable curse ; So do not leave me. Good Lord, lean down In pity, tho’ Thou frown; Smite, but retrieve me: For so Thou hold me up to stand And kiss Thy smiting hand, It less will grieve me. a LENT. T is good to be last not first, Pending the present distress; i It is good to hunger and thirst, i So it be for righteousness. It is good to spend and be spent, | | It is good to watch and to pray: Wa | Life and Death make a goodly Lent Kj | So it leads us to Easter Day. a Some Feasts and Fasts, EMBERTIDE. “§ SAW a Saint.—How canst thou tell that he Thou sawest was a Saint >p— I saw one like to Christ so luminously By patient deeds of love, his mortal taint Seemed made his groundwork for humility. And when he marked me downcast utterly Where foul I sat and faint, Then more than ever Christ-like kindled he; And welcomed me as I had been a saint, Tenderly stooping low to comfort me, Christ bade him, “Do thou likewise.” Wherefore he Waxed zealous to acquaint His soul with sin and sorrow, if so be He might retrieve some latent saint :— “Lo, I, with the child God hath given to me!” es MID-LENT. = Jesus Christ, show mercy on Thine own: Jesus Christ, show mercy and atone Not for other sake except Thine own. Thou Who thirsting on the Cross didst see All mankind and all I love and me, Still from Heaven look down in love and see All mankind and all I love and me. % WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK. UNYLAN’S life is death, Yet Christ endured x to live, Preaching and teaching, toiling to and fro, Few men accepting what He yearned to give, Few men with eyes to know His Face, that Face of Love He stooped to show. Man’s death is life. For Christ endured to die In slow unuttered weariness of pain, A curse and an astonishment, passed by, Pointed at, mocked again By men for whom He shed His Blood—in vain? % Some Feasts and Fasts, MAUNDY THURSDAY, “And the Wine said... Should F leave mp wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?” of HE great Vine left its glory to reign as Forest “é King. “Nay,” quoth the lofty forest trees, “we will not have this thing; We will not have this supple one enring us with its ring. Lo, from immemorial time our might towers shadowing: Not we were born to curve and droop, not we to climb and cling: We buffet back the buffeting wind, tough to its buffeting: We screen great beasts, the wild fowl build in our heads and sing, Every bird of every feather from off our tops takes wing : Ia king, and thou a king, and what king shall be our king?” Nevertheless the great Vine stooped to be the Forest King, While the forest swayed and murmured like seas that are tempesting: Stooped and drooped with thousand tendrils in thirsty languishing ; Some Feasts and Fasts, Bowed to earth and lay on earth for earth’s re- plenishing ; Put off sweetness, tasted bitterness, endured time’s fashioning ; Put off life and put on death: and lo! it was all to bring All its fellows down to a death which hath lost the sting, All its fellows up to a life in endless triumphing,— I a king, and thou a king, and this King to be our King. 4 GOOD FRIDAY MORNING. | . “Searing ibis Cross.” TOTP Thy Hill of Sorrows = Thou all alone, | Jesus, man’s Redeemer, Climbing to a Throne: Thro’ the world triumphant, Thro’ the Church in pain, | Which think to look upon Thee No more again. 1g ea Upon my hill of sorrows et | I, Lord, with Thee, 2 Cheered, upheld, yea, carried, If a need should be: Cheered, upheld, yea, carried, j Never left alone, Carried in Thy heart of hearts To a throne. Some Feasts and Fasts, GOOD FRIDAY. BORD Jesus Christ, grown faint upon the Cross, = A sorrow beyond sorrow in Thy look, The unutterable craving for my soul; Thy love of me sufficed To load upon Thee and make good my loss In face of darkened heaven and earth that shook :— In face of earth and heaven, take Thou my whole Heart, O Lord Jesus Christ. % GOOD FRIDAY EVENING. “ring forth the Spear.” WN O Cherub’s heart or hand for us might ache, “ No Seraph’s heart of fire had half sufficed: Thine own were pierced and broken for our sake, O Jesus Christ. Therefore we love Thee with our faint good-will, We crave to love Thee not as heretofore, To love Thee much, to love Thee more, and still More and yet more, % Some Feasts and Fasts. “A bundle of myrrh fs my Wlell=beloved unto me,” HY Cross cruciferous doth flower in all And every cross, dear Lord, assigned to us: Ours lowly-statured crosses; Thine how tall, Thy Cross cruciferous. Thy Cross alone life-giving, glorious: For love of Thine, souls love their own when small, Easy and light, or great and ponderous. Since deep calls deep, Lord, hearken when we call; When cross calls Cross racking and emulous :— Remember us with him who shared Thy gall, Thy Cross cruciferous, cs EASTER EVEN. HE tempest over and gone, the calm begun, Lo, “it is finished” and the Strong Man sleeps : All stars keep vigil watching for the sun, The moon her vigil keeps, A garden full of silence and of dew Beside a virgin cave and entrance stone: Surely a garden full of Angels too, Wondering, on watch, alone. Some Feasts and Fasts, They who cry “Holy, Holy, Holy,” still Veiling their faces round God’s Throne above, May well keep vigil on this heavenly hill And cry their cry of love, Adoring God in His new mystery Of Love more deep than hell, more strong than death; Until the day break and the shadows flee, The Shaking and the Breath. ie Our Church Palms are budding willow twigs, JFHILE Christ lay dead the widowed world She bore the Rose and felt its thorn. All Loveliness new-born Took on her bosom its repose, And slept and woke there night and morn. Lily herself, she bore the one Fair Lily; sweeter, whiter, far Than she or others are: The Sun of Righteousness her Son, She was His morning star. She gracious, He essential Grace, He was the Fountain, she the rill: Her goodness to fulfil And gladness, with proportioned pace He led her steps thro’ good and ill. Christ’s mirror she of grace and love, ‘ Of beauty and of life and death: 4 By hope and love and faith Transfigured to His Likeness, “Dove, Spouse, Sister, Mother,’ Jesus saith. W Some Feasts and Fasts. ST. MARK. 3 NCE like a broken bow Mark sprang aside: Yet grace recalled him to a worthier course, To feeble hands and knees increasing force, Till God was magnified. And now a strong Evangelist, St. Mark Hath for his sign a Lion in his strength; And thro’ the stormy water's breadth and | length He helps to steer God’s Ark. Thus calls he sinners to be penitents, He kindles penitents to high desire, He mounts before them to the sphere of saints, And bids them come up higher, ? ie 4 ST. BARNABAS. “Pow when we bad discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left band.”—Acts xxi. 3. “We sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary,” —Adcis xxyil. 4. << T. Barnabas, with John his sister’s son, Set sail for Cyprus; leaving in their wake That chosen Vessel, who for Jesus’ sake Proclaimed the Gentiles and the Jews at one. Divided while united, each must run His mighty course not hell should overtake ; And pressing toward the mark must own the ache Of love, and sigh for heaven not yet begun. Some Feasts and Fasts, For saints in life-long exile yearn to touch Warm human hands, and commune face to face ; But these we know not ever met again: Yet once St. Paul at distance overmuch Just sighted Cyprus; and once more in vain Neared it and passed ;—not there his landing- place. % VIGIL OF ST. PETER. &) JESU, gone so far apart Only my heart can follow Thee, That look which pierced St. Peter’s heart Turn now on me. Thou who dost search me thro’ and thro’ And mark the crooked ways I went, Look on me, Lord, and make me too Thy penitent. ST. PETER. fo oo : @(GAUNCH out into the deep,” Christ spake c= of old To Peter: and he launched into the deep; Strengthened should tempest wake which lay asleep, Strengthened to suffer heat or suffer cold. Thus, in Christ’s Prescience: patient to behold A fall, a rise, a scaling Heaven’s high steep; Prescience of Love, which deigned to overleap The mire of human errors manifold. Some Feasts and fasts. Lord, Lover of Thy Peter, and of him Beloved with craving of a humbled heart Which eighteen hundred years have satisfied ; ath he his throne among Thy Seraphim Who love? or sits he on a throne apart, Unique, near Thee, to love Thee human-eyed? | “ST. Peter once: “Lord, dost Thou wash my feet ?”’— Much more I say: Lord, dost Thou stand and knock At my closed heart more rugged than a rock, Bolted and barred, for Thy soft touch unmeet, Nor garnished nor in any wise made sweet? Owls roost within and dancing satyrs mock. Lord, I have heard the crowing of the cock And have not wept: ah, Lord, Thou knowest it. Yet still I hear Thee knocking, still I hear: “Open to Me, look on Me eye to eye, That I may wring thy heart and makeitwhole; | And teach thee love because I hold thee dear, i And sup with thee in gladness soul with soul, And sup with thee in glory by and by.” te ef FOLLOWED Thee, my God, I followed Thee To see the end: ; I turned back flying from Gethsemane, | Tumed back on flying steps to see Thy Face, my God, my Friend. Some Feasts and Fasts. Even fleeing from Thee my heart clave to Thee: I turned perforce Constrained, yea chained by love which maketh free ; I turned perforce, and silently Followed along Thy course. Lord, didst Thou know that I was following Thee? I weak and small Yet Thy true lover, mean tho’ I must be, Sinning and sorrowing—didst Thou see? O Lord, Thou sawest all. I thought I had been strong to die for Thee; I disbelieved Thy word of warning spoken patiently : My heart cried, “ That be far from me,” Till Thy bruised heart I grieved. Once I had urged: “Lord, this be far from Thee :”’— Rebel to light, It needed first that Thou shouldst die for me Or ever I could plumb and see Love’s lovely depth and height. Alas that I should trust myself, not Thee; Not trust Thy word: I faithless slumberer in Gethsemane, Blinded and rash; who instantly Put trust, but in a sword. Some Feasts and Fasts, Ah Lord, if even at the last in Thee I had put faith, I might even at the last have counselled me, And not have heaped up cruelty To sting Thee in Thy death. Alas for me, who bore to think on Thee And yet to lie: While Thou, O Lord, didst bear to look on me Goaded by fear to blasphemy, And break my heart and die. No balm I find in Gilead, yet in Thee Nailed to Thy palm I find a balm that wrings and comforts me: Balm wrung from Thee by agony, My balm, mine only balm. Oh blessed John who standeth close to Thee, With Magdalene, And Thine own Mother praying silently, Yea, blessed above women she, Now blessed even as then. And blessed the scorned thief who hangs by Thee, Whose thirsting mouth Thirsts for Thee more than water, whose eyes see, Whose lips confess in ecstasy Nor feel their parching drouth. Like as the hart the water-brooks I Thee Desire, my hands I stretch to Thee; O kind Lord, pity me: Lord, I have wept, wept bitterly, I driest of dry lands. Some Feasts and Fasts, Lord, I am standing far far off from Thee; Yet is my heart Hanging with Thee upon the accursed tree; The nails, the thorns, pierce Thee and me: My God, I claim my part Scarce in Thy throne and kingdom; yet with Thee In shame, in loss, In Thy forsaking, in Thine agony: Love crucified, behold even me, Me also bear Thy cross. % VIGIL OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. Cc @fGORD, to Thine own grant watchful hearts c= and eyes; Hearts strung to prayer, awake while eyelids sleep ; Eyes patient till the end to watch and weep. So will sleep nourish power to wake and rise With Virgins who keep vigil and are wise, To sow among all sowers who shall reap, From out man’s deep to call Thy vaster deep, And tread the uphill track to Paradise. Sweet souls! so patient that they make no moan, So calm on journey that they seem at rest, So rapt in prayer that half they dwell in heaven Thankful for all withheld and all things given; So lit by Jove that Christ shines manifest Transfiguring their aspects:to His own. Some Feasts and Fasts, ST. BARTHOLOMEW. VRE bore an agony whereof the name aS Hath turned his fellows pale: But what if God should call us to the same, | Should call, and we should fail ? Nor earth nor sea could swallow up our shame, Nor darkness draw a veil: For he endured that agony whose name Hath made his fellows quail. | % | ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS. “We that ercel in strengtb.” | SERVICE and strength, God’s Angels and = Archangels ; His Seraphs fires, and lamps His Cherubim: Glory to God from highest and from lowest, Glory to God in everlasting hymn From all His creatures. | Princes that serve, and Powers that work His pleasure, Heights that soar to’ard Him, Depths that sink j to’ard Him; | Flames fire out-flaming, chill beside His Essence} Insight all-probing, save where scant and dim To’ard its Creator. Se ISTE Some Feasts and Fasts. Sacred and free exultant in God’s pleasure, His Will their solace, thus they wait on Him; And shout their shout of ecstasy eternal, And trim their splendours that they burn not dim To’ard their Creator. Wherefore with Angels, wherefore with Archangels, With lofty Cherubs, loftier Seraphim, We laud and magnify our God Almighty, And veil our faces rendering love to Him With all His creatures. + | VIGIL OF ALL SAINTS. UWP. my drowsing eyes! z= Up, my sinking heart! Up to Jesus Christ arise! Claim your part In all raptures of the skies. Yet a little while, Yet a little way, Saints shall reap and rest and smile All the day. Up! let’s trudge another mile. a ALL SAINTS. Ks grains of sand, as stars, as drops of dew, *3= Numbered and treasured by the Almighty Hand, The Saints triumphant throng that holy land Where all things and Jerusalem are new. Some Feasts and Fasts. We know not half they sing or half they do, But this we know, they rest and understand; While like a conflagration freshly fanned Their love glows upward, outward, thro’ and thro’ Lo! like a stream of incense launched on flame Fresh Saints stream up from death to life above, To shine among those others and rejoice: What matters tribulation whence they came? All love and only love can find a voice Where God makes glad His Saints, for God is Love. ALL SAINTS: MARTYRS. “2)NCE slain for Him who first was slain for them, Now made alive in Him for evermore, All luminous and lovely in their gore With no more buffeting winds or tides to stem The Martyrs look for New Jerusalem; And cry “How long?” remembering all they bore, “How long?” with heart and eyes sent on before Toward consummated throne and diadem. “How long?” White robes are given to their desire ; “How long ?” deep rest that is and is to be; With a great promise of the oncoming host, Loves to their love and fires to flank their fire: So rest they, worshipping incessantly One God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Some Feasts and Fasts. “SF gave a sweet sincil.”