To me, who must be saved because I cling Well, it is earth with me; silence resumes with my mind her reign: To the same, same self, same love, I will be patient and proud, and soberly same God: ay, what was, shall be. acquiesce. 90 Give me the keys. I feel for the common Therefore to whom turn I. but to thee, chord again, the ineffable Name? 65 Sliding by semitones till I sink to the Builder and maker, thou, of houses not minor,-yes, made with hands! And I blunt it into a ninth, and I stand on What, have fear of change from thee who alien ground, art ever the same? Surveying awhile the heights I rolled Doubt that thy power can fill the heart from into the deep; that thy power expands? Which, hark, I have dared and done, for There shall never be one lost good! What my resting-place is found, 95 was, shall live as before; The C Major of this life: so, now I will The evil is null, is naught, is silence try to sleep. implying sound; 70 What was good shall be good, with, for evil, so much good more; On the earth the broken arcs; in the RABBI BEN EZRA heaven a perfect round. All we have willed or hoped or dreamed Grow old along with me! of good shall exist; The best is yet to be, Not its semblance, but itself; no beauty, The last of life, for which the first was made: nor good, nor power Whose voice has gone forth, but each sur Our times are in his hand vives for the melodist Who saith, “A whole I planned; 5 75 When eternity affirms the conception Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, of an hour. nor be afraid!” The high that proved too high, the heroic for earth too hard, Not that, amassing flowers, The passion that left the ground to lose Youth sighed, “Which rose make ours, itself in the sky, Which lily leave and then as best reAre music sent up to God by the lover and call?" the bard; Not that, admiring stars, Enough that he heard it once: we shall It yearned, “Nor Jove, nor Mars; hear it by and by. Mine be some figured flame which blends, 80 transcends them all!” And what is our failure here but a triumph's evidence Not for such hopes and fears For the fullness of the days? Have Annulling youth's brief years, we withered or agonized? Do I remonstrate: folly wide the mark! 15 Why else was the pause prolonged but Rather I prize the doubt that singing might issue thence? Low kinds exist without, Why rushed the discords in, but that Finished and finite clods, untroubled by a harmony should be prized? spark. Sorrow is hard to bear, and doubt is slow to clear, 85 Poor vaunt of life indeed, Each sufferer says his say, his scheme Were man but formed to feed of the weal and woe: On joy, to solely seek and find and feast; But God has a few of us whom he whispers Such feasting ended, then As sure an end to men; The rest may reason and welcome: 'tis Irks care the crop-full bird? Frets doubt we musicians know. the maw-crammed beast? IO 20 a in the ear; 35 in the germ. Rejoice we are allied 25 Would we some prize might hold To that which doth provide To match those manifold 65 And not partake, effect and not receive! Possessions of the brute,--gain most, as A spark disturbs our clod; we did best! Nearer we hold of God Who gives, than of his tribes that take, I Let us not always say, must believe. 30 “Spite of this flesh to-day I strove, made head, gained ground upon Then, welcome each rebuff the whole!” That turns earth's smoothness rough, As the bird wings and sings, 70 Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand but Let us cry, "All good things go! Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more, now, Be our joys three-parts pain! than flesh helps soul!” Strive, and hold cheap the strain; Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never Therefore I summon age grudge the throe! To grant youth's heritage, Life's struggle having so far reached its For thence,-a paradox term: 75 Which comforts while it mocks,- Thence shall I pass, approved! Shall life succeed in that it seems to fail: A man, for aye removed What I aspired to be, 40 From the developed brute; a God though And was not, comforts me: A brute I might have been, but would not sink i' the scale. And I shall thereupon 8o What is he but a brute Once more on my adventure brave and Whose flesh has soul to suit, new: Whose spirit works lest arms and legs Fearless and unperplexed, want play? When I wage battle next, To man, propose this test What weapons to select, what armor to Thy body at its best, indue. How far can that project thy soul on its lone way? Youth ended, I shall try My gain or loss thereby; Yet gifts should prove their use: Leave the fire ashes, what survives is gold: I own the Past profuse 50 And I shall weigh the same, Of power each side, perfection every turn: Give life its praise or blame: Eyes, ears took in their dole, Young, all lay in dispute; I shall know, Brain treasured up the whole; being old 90 Should not the heart beat once, “How good to live and learn?” For note, when evening shuts, A certain moment cuts Not once beat, “Praise be thine! 55 The deed off, calls the glory from the I see the whole design, gray: I, who saw power, see now Love perfect too; A whisper from the west Perfect I call thy plan: Shoots-—"Add this to the rest, Thanks that I was a man! Take it and try its worth: here dies Maker, remake, complete,- I trust what another day.” thou shalt do!” 60 So, still within this life, For pleasant is this flesh; Though lifted o'er its strife, Our soul, in its rose-mesh Let me discern, compare, pronounce at Pulled ever to the earth, still yearns for last, rest: proved. ? put on. 45 85 95 1 "This rage was right i’ the main, O'er which, from level stand, That acquiescence vain: The low world laid its hand, The Future I may face now I have proved Found straightway to its mind, could the Past.” value in a trice: For more is not reserved But all the world's coarse thumb To man, with soul just nerved And finger failed to plumb, 140 To act to-morrow what he learns to- So passed in making up the main account; day: 105 All instincts immature, Here, work enough to watch All purposes unsure, The Master work, and catch That weighed not as his work, yet swelled Hints of the proper craft, tricks of the the man's amount: tool's true play Thoughts hardly to be packed 145 As it was better, youth Into a narrow act, Should strive, through acts uncouth, Fancies that broke through language and Toward making, than repose on aught escaped; found made: All I could never be, So, better, age, exempt All, men ignored in me, From strife, should know, than tempt This I was worth to God, whose wheel the Further. Thou waitedst age: wait death pitcher shaped. 150 nor be afraid! Enough now, if the Right Ay, note that Potter's wheel, 115 And Good and Infinite That metaphor! and feel Be named here, as thou callest thy hand Why time spins fast, why passive lies our clay, Thou, to whom fools propound, With knowledge absolute, When the wine makes its round, 155 Subject to no dispute From fools that crowded youth, nor let "Since life fleets, all is change; the Past thee feel alone. gone, seize to-day!” thine own, I 20 Be there, for once and all, Fool! All that is, at all, Severed great minds from small, Lasts ever, past recall; Announced to each his station in the Earth changes, but thy soul and God Past! stand sure: Was I, the world arraigned, What entered into thee, 16о Were they, my soul disdained, That was, is, and shall be: 125 Right? Let age speak the truth and give Time's wheel runs back or stops: Potter us peace at last! and clay endure. Now, who shall arbitrate? He fixed thee 'mid this dance Ten men love what I hate, Of plastic circumstance, Shun what I follow, slight what I re- This Present, thou, forsooth, wouldst ceive; fain arrest: 165 Ten, who in ears and eyes 130 Machinery just meant Match me: we all surmise, To give thy soul its bent, They this thing, and I that: whom shall Try thee and turn thee forth, sufficiently my soul believe? impressed. Not on the vulgar mass What though the earlier grooves, Called “work,” must sentence pass, Which ran the laughing loves 170 Things done, that took the eye and had the Around thy base, no longer pause and price; 135 press? So, take and use thy work, past the aim! 190 Perfect the cup as planned! Let age approve of youth, and death com plete the same! I I thought once how Theocritus had sung Of the sweet years, the dear and wishedfor years, , Who each one in a gracious hand appears To bear a gift for mortals, old or young: And, as I mused it in his antique tongue, 5 I saw in gradual vision through my tears, The sweet, sad years, the melancholy years, Those of my own life, who by turns had flung A shadow across me. Straightway I was 'ware, So weeping, how a mystic Shape did move Behind me, and drew me backward by the hair; And a voice said in mastery while I strove, “Guess now who holds thee?”_" "_“Death!” I said. But there, The silver answer rang: “Not Death, but Love." VII The face of all the world is changed, I think, Since first I heard the footsteps of thy soul When you set your fancies free, Will they pass to whereby death, fools think, imprisonedLow he lies who once so loved you, whom you loved so, - Pity me? 5 a II the same, IO anear. IO Move still, oh, still, beside me as they stole Their vanishing eyes. Then Thou didst 5 fronts, Was caught up into love and taught the Their songs, their splendors (better, yet , whole Of life in a new rhythm. The сир of dole As river water, hallowed into fonts) God gave for baptism, I am fain to drink, Met in thee, and from out thee overcame And praise its sweetness, Sweet, with thee My soul with satisfaction of all wants Because God's gifts put man's best dreams The names of country, heaven, are to shame. changed away For where thou art or shalt be, there or XLIII here; How do I love thee? Let me count the And this—this lute and song-loved ways. yesterday, I love thee to the depth and breadth and (The singing angels know) are only dear height Because thy name moves right in what My soul can reach, when feeling out of they say. sight For the ends of Being and Ideal Grace. XIV I love thee to the level of everyday's 5 If thou must love me, let it be for nought Most quiet need, by sun and candleExcept for love's sake only. Do not say, light. “I love her for her smile-her look-her I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; way I love thee purely, as they turn from Of speaking gently,--for a trick of thought Praise. That falls in well with mine, and certes I love thee with the passion put to use brought 5 In my old griefs, and with my childhood's A sense of pleasant ease on such a day;" a faith. For these things in themselves, Beloved, I love thee with a love I seemed to lose may With my lost saints, I love thee with Be changed, or change for thee,-and love, the breath, so wrought, Smiles, tears, of all my life!-and, if God May be unwrought so. Neither love me choose, for I shall but love thee better after death. Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry: A creature might forget to weep, who bore Thy comfort long, and lose thy love THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN thereby. But love me for love's sake, that evermore Do ye hear the children weeping, O my Thou may'st love on through love's brothers, eternity. Ere the sorrow comes with years? They are leaning their young heads against XXVI their mothers, I lived with visions for my company, And that cannot stop their tears. Instead of men and women, years ago, The young lambs are bleating in the And found them gentle mates, nor thought meadows, to know The young birds are chirping in the A sweeter music than they played to me. nest, But soon their trailing purple was not free The young fawns are playing with the Of this world's dust—their lutes did silent shadows, grow, 6 The young flowers are blowing toAnd I myself grew faint and blind below ward the west IO IO 5 |