Questions & Answers
Where the purple cliffs reach upward from the lonely restless deep. Till in peace their crown of hemlocks may a tryst with heaven keep, Whence there comes a benediction that no kingly crown may reap; Where the rocky crest lies hidden in the brown and wind- sown grass, I, 'twixt half-closed eyelids resting, saw life as in a glass; And a oneness with all being through my spirit seemed to pass, While upon the breeze came voices, out from all the ages dim, As the formless dark was banished by the wings of sera phim, And the world alit with gladness caught the love that shone from Him.
Why should I grieve, though seeing thee no more? Why beat the restless pinions of desire, Till flames consume my self-constructed pyre And phenixlike I perish? Still to soar, As doth the lark, above this twilight shore, With dauntless wing and vision ever higher; My steadfast heart aglow with vestal fire— Thus would I grieve and thus would I adore. Why should I mourn? The joyous-hearted day Whereon we met as wanderers long astray, Though but a fledgling's vision, wild and brief, Holds promise, as earth's blinding vapor yields A glimpse of empyrean,—fire-purged fields,— Of halcyon years, undimmed by brooding grief.
The while my feet have seemed all time to plod In weariness, my joyous thoughts outrun The driven chariot of the morning sun; And swift, my soul would dare heights yet untrod (What time my feet are chained to this sod) . And while my days slip backward, one by one.
The air is heavy with the breath of prayer; The still earth listens for the unspoken thought; My heart beats wildly, and each throb is fraught With joy and anguish for the longing there. Ah, patient Christ, thine arms are open wide! I press—I hasten, lest earth's seething tide Should bear me backward, and with Love deposed Fear meet me halting and—I find them closed.
Out of the shuddering night To Thee I cry in all my sin's despite, Father of mercy! from Thine holy hill Heed my complaint, and bid my woes be still! There is no pain, there is no scalding tear Where Love is king; and Love alone is here: To do Thy will the winds and waters sweep Along the eternal hills and on the moaning deep. I feel Thy presence here— A chord of peace upon the enchanted ear Breathing the tones of heaven: my dark distress Touched a white garment in the throng and press.
"My peace I leave with you. " How true the Master's word! The threat'ning storms of life, By human passions stirred, May rage for one brief day— May rage and cease to be, As when the Christ-mind stilled The waves of Galilee.
I folded away my garments of care, I folded away my pain; And forth I fared from the Inn of Despair, Alone in the beat of the rain. I was tired of the world and its tawdry gifts, Tired of revel and fret; And I longed for the comforting calm that uplifts Wherein to rest and forget.
When , sore beset by doubts and fears, thou farest forth alone. Bereft by thine own hand of all that thou hast called thine own, When by the river thou dost pause, ere thou its flood essay, God's angel there with thee shall strive until the break of day.
Back of wild clouds that spill their brew of shadow On wave and hill and vale. The faithful sun and faithful stars we trace; Rack of the thunder and the hurtling hail, Rack of the wailing clamor of the tempest, Blue lies the rhythmic hush of boundless space.
" Woman , why weepest thou?" "Why weep not whilst my darkness hath no star, And I from love and joy am so afar In maze of misery? Tell me, I pray, Why weep not when so burdened all the day, Whilst fear and anguish seem on me outpoured, And, tho' I yearn, I cannot see my Lord?" "Woman, awake! 'tis not indifference That saith, 'Why sorrow,' to thy suff'ring sense; Thy Saviour knows 'tis but a mortal dream. E'en tho' thou dreamest, good is still supreme; Love still is loving; all God hath is thine.