All that I loved has passed, Fold up the tent! Above the mountain's crest, I hear a clear voice calling, calling clear, "To rest! To rest!" And I am glad to go, For the sweet oil is low, THE PRUNER God is a zealous pruner, For He knows Who, falsely tender, spares the knife THE WAYS To every man there openeth A Way, and Ways, and a Way. And in between, on the misty flats, SEEDS What shall we be like when We cast this earthly body and attain To immortality? What shall we be like then? Ah, who shall say What vast expansions shall be ours that day? What transformations of this house of clay, To fit the heavenly mansions and the light of day? Ah, who shall say? But this we know, We drop a seed into the ground, A tiny, shapeless thing, shrivelled and dry, And, in the fulness of its time, is seen A form of peerless beauty, robed and crowned Beyond the pride of any earthly queen, Instinct with loveliness, and sweet and rare, The perfect emblem of its Maker's care. This from a shrivelled seed? -Then may man hope indeed! For man is but the seed of what he shall be, When, in the fulness of his perfecting, He drops the husk and cleaves his upward way, Through earth's retardings and the clinging clay, Into the sunshine of God's perfect day. Set wide the door, and passed Himself before As He had promised-to prepare a place. Yea, we may hope! For we are seeds, Dropped into earth for heavenly blossoming. Perchance, when comes the time of harvesting, His loving care May find some use for even a humble tare. We know not what we shall be-only thisThat we shall be made like Him-as He is. WHIRRING WHEELS Lord, when on my bed I lie, Just a quiet thought of Thee, THE BELLS OF YS When the Bells of Ys rang softly,-softly, Not a sound was heard in the old gray town, The Silver Bells and the Golden Bells,- And still those Bells ring softly-softly, Though full twelve hundred years have gone, When the Bells below sing softly-softly, The Silver Bells and the Golden Bells,- O the Mystical Bells, they still ring softly, For the sound of their singing shall never die Hearts still beat high as they beat of yore, When the Bells sing softly-softlysoftly, Soft-and sweet-and low, The Silver Bells and the Golden Bells,- For, first, his thoughts of his own self are full; Until another comes his heart to rule. For them, life's best is centred round their love; Till younger lives come all their love to prove. CUP OF MIXTURE For every Guest who comes with him to sup, The Host compounds a strangely mingled cup; Red Wine of Life and Dregs of Bitterness, |