All day the crowd had followed him;
And now the evening sky grew dim,
And tender was his heart;
One questioned him with anxious face;
And in that barren, desert place
He answered with a royal grace:
They need not now depart.
The hungering people heard him speak
And silent grew, and strangely meek,
At what they each did see—
A meager basket, fish, and bread,
A gratefully inclined head—
And heard the words so sweetly said:
Bring that ye have to me.
Sit down, he spake; and o'er the grass
The feet of his disciples pass
On gracious errand bent;
Till under the declining sun
The immemorial meal is done,
And Love has fed them every one,
With store that Love has lent.
That nothing may be lost, he cried,
Go, gather in from every side
The fragments at your feet;
See what abundance Truth has given!
By eager love their hearts were driven,
Till 'neath the starry vault of heaven
Twelve baskets stood replete.
