xt7xpn8x9z5x https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7xpn8x9z5x/data/mets.xml Johnston, William Preston. 1898  books b92-250-31802494 English J.P. Morton, : Louisville, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Seekers after God  : sonnets / by Wm. Preston Johnston. text Seekers after God  : sonnets / by Wm. Preston Johnston. 1898 2002 true xt7xpn8x9z5x section xt7xpn8x9z5x 



SEEKERS AFTER GOD




           sonnets



              BY
    WM. PRESTON JOHNSTON



   LOUISVILLE, KY.
JOHN P. MORTON & COMPANY
       1898

 





























  coprigbtez, 1898.

'Uam. tPreston lobnoton.

 



               CONTENTS.




                     IN rt first.

             Seekers After God. - Sonnets.


DEDICATION...................................

PROLOGUE -



Part I ...

Part I I...

Part III. .



THE WINDOWS OF

    Reason ......

    Obedience .. .

    Faith .......

    The Law....

    Inspiration. . .



H EAVE'4 -

.............  .

.......I...I....

..............

..............

...... ............



17

,8

:9

I0

2 I



AT THE BARRIERS -

    Pythagoras ................................. 22 5

    Socrates I ................................. . 26

    Socrates II ................................ 27

    Socrates III....                     ....... 28



PAGE

7



ItI

1 2

1 3



.............................. ...
.........I.......................

....... .........................



............... .
................

................

................

................

 


Contents.



AT THE BARRIERS - Continued.                     PAGE
    Scipio .....................................  29
    Julius Caesar..... . ........................ 30
    Cicero .............................3........ 3
    Seneca....                                    32
    Epictetus....                                 33
    Marcus Aurelius....                           34

THE EYES UNSEALED-DISCIPLES OF THE LORD-
    A Voice Crying in the Wilderness..       ..   37
    John the Baptist....                          38



    Simon Bar-Jona.
    Peter the Confessor.
    Peter the Denier .
    Peter After Pentecost.
    Saul of Tarsus I .
    Saul of Tarsus II .
    Paul ......................
    John the Seer..............
    The Apocalypse.

PILGRIMS OF THE CROSS -
    Telemachus ....   ......
    The Saint of the Desert.
    The Knight Errant.
    The Benedictine.



39
40
4I
42
43
44
45
46
47



5I
52
53
54



................
............ ' '. .
...............
................
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................
...... I .........
................
......... .... . .



. - I .....
......... .
......... .
......... .

 


                      Contents.



PILGRIMS OF THE CROSS-- Continued                PAGE
   The Franciscan ............................. 55
   ColumbusI ................................ 56



    Columbus II .
    Ignatius Loyola .
    Hugh Latimer ................
    John Wesley ..................
    James Martineau .............
    Stanley and Kingsley...........
    Bishop Pattison ...............
    Rev. B. M. Palmer, D). D .......
    To Sophie...................
    Dives and Lazarus.............
    Dives-Lazarus ................
    The Forgotten Saints ..........
    Saints of To-day ..............
    To a Saint on Earth ..........
    To a Saint in Heaven .........


                     Vpart Second.
THE ABSOLUTE - The Cry of Faith..



57
58
59
60
6i
62
63
54
65
66
67
68
69
70
7'



.............  75



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.............
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TO MISS HENRIETTA PRESTON JOHNSTON.

In this small book I seek the sonnet's aid,
Some pictures of the past in words to paint
And show how seekers after God essayed
To find him; patrizrch and martyred saint
And spotless sage free from all selfish taint
And Christian knight and missionary mild,
And how heaven answers to the heart's wild plaint,
And wisdom cometb to the little child.

But none qf those whom I on earth have known
Have sought God's will with a more strenuous quest,
With eager praver and thought of Him alone
And anxious wish to do his least behest
Than thou, my sister, earliest, dearest friend,
To whom these autumn leaves with love I send.



i dtfattlon.

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      part ltrut.

cchers 6fter Gob.
       Sonnets.

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          SEEKERS AFTER GOD.

                         4
                   PROLOGUE.

                        I.

T HE bard who would the storied past rehearse,
     What things the spirit wrought in word and deed,
Should strike a note unerring in his verse,
A cypher give that he who runs may read.
How answers then the sonnet to his need,
Its metre strained, its tangled sleave of rhyme,
The structural artifice true art must heed
Where stringent form and soaring thought should chime
Art hath its phases; now it stands sublime
In Milton's marvellous imaginings;
Dryden's sonorous line stales not with time;
In woodnotes wild the Ayrshire ploughman sings:
So none need scorn the pipe as small for fame
By Petrarch blown and Browning's gentle dame.



ir

 

Seefters utter bob.



                       II.

I LEAVE the trumpet and full throated horn

     Of epic to the leaders of the choir,

The martial strain, the sigh of love forlorn,

To him who smites the loud resounding lyre

And chants with lips touched by the sacred fire

Imperial themes of patriot fervor born,

The joy of combat and the noble ire

That withers wrong with fierce consuming fire.


My task, to show the patriarchs of the eld

And seekers after God by nature's light

And saints who witnessed truth in suffering;

Small pictures of the past by faith beheld,

That grants dim eyes a sacred second sight;

These in the sonnet's narrow bounds I sing.



12

 
Crl[owue.



                        HII.

THE search of man for God, the mightiest theme
      That ever can his loftiest thought engage!
Is his clear vision but an idle dream,
The mind's mirage to lure the doubting sage
With phantoin waters that can not assuage
His thirst divine, or are the spires that gleam
Above Heaven's battlements from age to age
To eyes unsealed, as real as they seem


To him who sees them nct, they are not; clod
Of crudest clay by spirit uninformed,
His body, breath and reason have their day
And into nothingness would pass away,
But that, by grace regenerate and warmed
To a new being, he may grope toward God.



13

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Ubc  tInZ'ow.D of lbeaven.

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      THE WINDOW', OF HEAVEN.

                        4

                    REASON.

T   HE budding world was in its bloomstrewn prime,
      And from it Nature rose, a temple vast;
Its architects, twin Titans, Space and Time,
Rested, their handiwork complete, when last
Into the pageant a new Being passed,
The one appointed in the splendid shrine
High priest, o'er all his soverein sway to cast
And fill the void with energy divine.
For all the beams from stars, moon, sun, that shine
Could not from Nature lift the dreary pall
Till on man's brow was set the imperial sign
Of the self-conscious soul that saw it all
In the clear light of reason, which to men
Came through the window opened from Heaven then.



17

 

Seekers 3tter 00o.



                OBEDIENCE.


THE mighty temple of the human soul,
      Lit through one only casement by a ray
Of natural reason, saw long ages roll
NWhile mankind mouldered to a slow decay,
Because they yielded not to reason's sway,
But let false fiends crawl to the niches high
And foul forms squat in places where men pray;
So that 'twere best this race corrupt should die.
But no! man hath a loftier destiny;
Knowledge gives light, but from the sloughs of sense
In vain the struggling soul essays to fly
Unless obedience leads the spirit hence.
Another window's radiance through the gloom
To Noah showed man's path from death and doom.

 






                         FAITH.


FROM the broad plains where wandering herdsmen dwelt,
      A Prince of Ur - men call him now a sheikh -
Of the colossal type, severe, antique,
Led off his bands. The Lord had kindly dealt
With him and his; his grateful spirit felt
The trust a son unto his father feels
As in his boyhood at that knee he kneels,
While all his fervent love and passions melt
Into a faith, unquenchable, supreme.
In God he trusts; from Heaven's high battlement
A blaze of glory fills his horsehair tent
And rolling splendors o'er his, spirit stream;
His vision pierces Nature's lofty dome
And treads the fields where guardian angels roam.



Zbe Mtnbowo ot lReaven.

 

Seekersi after NoD.



                   THE LAW.


FROM Egypt's teeming fields the Hebrews fled,

      Passed the deep waters, tracked the desert sand,

Following his steps where'er the Seer led,
And to the Mountain came, an altar grand,

Reared in the waste by an Almighty hand,
That here Earth's self should smoke, and flames arise,

While royal Moses as High Priest should stand,
The tables twain to take, and sacrifice.
Then came the Law amid a nation's cries

Of fear and mad revolt from God's command
And lurid light that, issuing from the skies,
Made all the Earth, at last, a Holy Land;
Commandments forged to fetter men from wrong

But wrought by righteousness to weapons strong.



20

 


Cbe Witnbowa of Ineaven.



                INSPIRATION.


SPIRIT Divine that o'er creation broods,

      Filling with life the outer bounds of space

And thrilling further yet the amplitudes

Beyond the finite ken, Thou hast by grace

From Thy pure essence lent a spark, a trace,
Of Deity, in those benignant moods

Wherein the Infinite reveals His face

To holy men, but still their grasp eludes.


And thus to David's heaven-strung harp there came

Music that matched the worship of his song,

Remorse and penitence and words of flame;
And prophets spake with inspiration strong.

Before their eyes ages to come unroll.,
And fire-touched lips recite the seraphs' scroll.



21

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Et the 1i6arrier.

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            AT THE BARRIERS.

                        .i

                PYTHAGORAS.


 G    OING down throughi the valley of Hades,
        TThe immemorial Jim dusk of the eld,
 Of my daemon I ask whose grand shade is
 That presence majestic, that form unexcelled
 And then by emotions prepotent impelled,
 I say, as the hem of his raiment I touch,
"Dear Master, if thou hast in silence withheld

Some part of thy wisdom, of which thou hast much,
Teach me, I pray thee, in aid of mankind."
Pythagoras answered, " One thing is sure;
Man is deaf to the rhythm of nature, and blind
To its order. Physician, this thought is his cure;
That Kosmos is justly arid wisely designed,
And its harmony sounds in the ears of the pure.



2'

 


Seeiere a.fter Cob.



                 SOCRATES.

                       I.

I N early Hellas, clear as crystal wave
    In sky, in atmosphere, in minds of men,
Whether in frolic sport or discourse grave
Its thought ran riot, or beyond the ken
Of worshippers of idols of the den
Lifted its haughty head to probe the vault
And from Olympus force reply again,
The strong winged soul found in its flight no halt,
But to the empyreal sphere soared in assault.
So Socrates through myth and mystery saw,
And Plato strove the Idea to exalt
That veiled the Maker in unchanging Law;
Seekers for truth, in which for God they sought
And won the crown for which their souls had wrought.

 


Et the M3arriers.



                   SOCRATES.

                        II.

  W     HEN Socrates, he of the shabby robe,
          Had earned from Athens the unjust decree
 That sentenced him to death, because his probe
 Had touched its self love, Pity said, ''Go free,

 Thy prison gates to-night unbarred shall be;

 Walk forth, and in some happier clime thy fame
 Will blossom yet to imm ortality,
 Nor can detraction visit thee with blame.

"Nay, friends, have I not told you that there came
Unto mine inmost soul a potent voice

That bade me put all false conceit to shame
And place the common welfare first; no choice

Is left. For me the hemlock cup to take
Is better far than Athens' laws to break."



27

 






                 SOCRATES.

                      III.

A   THREADBARE cloak, alas, a tattered sleeve,
       A smile ironical, a biting tongue,
The honied sarcasm of a bee that stung,

The arguments that puzzle and deceive,

The snares his crafty questions interweave

And yet, 0 Socrates, how wise men hung

Upon thy words, those precious jewels flung

Unto a swinish multitude; it grieves

Our very souls that Plato's garnered sheaves

And worthy Xenophon's small talk is all

That from the buried past we can recall;

Small remnant of thy legacy it leaves.

One saying stays; that thou wouldst gladly die

To share with just men immortality.



8



Scefters Zifter 00.

 

Bt the Z3arrtero.



                    SCIPIO.


THESE ceremonial forms and ancient rites,
     These solemn auguries by seers made,

The sign that bodes, the portent that affrights,
The ghost of which the soldier is afraid,
The pomp of superstition's masquerade
Are passing dreams to Scipio, who delights
To climb with Plato the aerial grade
Of thought where calm Philosophy invites.
Conqueror of Carthage, there are loftier heights
To which thy soul shall rise; the captive maid
Free from all fear, the victory that excites
Nor wrath nor greed, these laurels shall not fade.
Thy clement soul in search of truth shall see
Three golden steps, to know, to do, to be.



29

 

Seehers Etier 0ob.



                 JULIUS CAESAR.


THE foremost man of all the world! Is't true

      His was a mind that grasped the whole of life,
That gazed with equal brow on calm and strife,
Gleaned what the past bequeathed, yet seized the new,
And saw the ages march in grand review.

The stern republic of an earlier day,
Rent into fragments, mouldering to decay,

Still felt the thirst to combat and subdue,
The instinct fierce the old paths to pursue

Which led to conquest and imperial sway.

This Cesar saw; and though his pathway lay
Across the muniments of time, he drew

Into his sovereign hand all that was old
And bade a new world from the germs unfold.



30

 

St tbe Marrter.



                   CICERO.


W     HEN martial Rome had stretched her

          conquering sword

Wide o'er the lands, Philosophy held sway

Where once ancestral g-ods had been adored.
Then rival sects made battle in word-play;

Stoic and Epicurean had his say,
And in the clash of tongues each felt assured

That he alone stood in the light of day.

Great Tully looked on, smiling, and endured

The babble till his patience was outworn,
Then, with full measure of his talents ten

And mental sinews trained in every school

And learning copious as rich Plenty's horn,

He grasped the problem old 'twixt gods and men,

To find in nature that one God must rule.



31

 


Seeftero Wfter Gob.



                  SENECA.


FAVORITE of fortune, Seneca the wise,
      Offspring of intellect and virtuous thought,
Possessing all things that men seek or prize,
Desiring most the things that good men ought,
And loving well the truths himself had taught;

Yet by the cruel irony of fate
Condemned to wear as chains what most men sought,

Rank, ease, power, wealth, the favor of the great,

He kept his steadfast eyes on virtue's gate,
But dared not enter it beyond retreat;
For, crouching near, envy and lynx-eyed hate

And murder foul watched his advancing feet.

His nerveless hand to cope with evil tried,
But lacking strength greatly to live,-he died.

 


Et tbe U3arrers.



                   EPICTETUS.


SLAVE of the slave of that still baser slave,

      Who, having all things, worshipped self alone,
Nero, in whose foul breast, as in a grave,

Festered all infamies born of a throne,

One Epictetus, a poor cripple shone
Upon a darkened world as shines a star

Through a dim, clouded dawn, and, to the moan
Of human pain that welled up near and far,
Pointed in silence to his scourge and scar,
Or spoke to fainting hearts, "Who would be strong, -

Balm for the sores of peace, the wounds of war-

Must learn to suffer and 1:o do no wrong.
His words, his life, to men a lesson gave

That made Aurelius pattern on the slave.



33

 

Seekers after Gob.



            MARCUS AURELIUS.


VICTORIOUS Rome had crystallized the world
       Into an empire, and her Genius stood
In one man lodged until his brain was whirled

WVith madness and untrammeled masterhood;
And evil sat enthroned, nor any 'could
Stem or withstand corruption's poisonous tide,
So that belief, that aught of true or good
On earth remained, in human hearts had died,
But that, imperial power, thus deified,
Came to a youth, self centred, truly great,
Who made a chaste philosophy the bride
Of his exalted reason, and the state
His only care, but yet in twilight groped,
While slaves attained what Marcus only hoped.



34

 















Ube leper UnTcaIeb.


  Viectptes of the XLorD.

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          THE EYES UNSEALED.



  A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS.


  A   VOICE! A Voice--and is it but a voice
       That from the wilderness sends up a cry
"God's Kingdom is at hand; your only choice,
O wretched ! is to turn from sin or die.
Bring forth good fruits; the poor man's needs supply;

Be just, be merciful. Behold the Lord,

Whose rule shall spread unto eternity!

A prophet I Nay, but a Voice! The Word
That Was and Is comes like a seraph's sword
To bend brute force to the free spirit's sway,
Where'er His tidings glad by men are heard;
But John's faint echoes shall soon die away."
Not so, 0 greater than a prophet, thou
From Herod's dungeon rose and livest now!



37

 


Seeekers utter (Bob.



           JOHN THE BAPTIST.


      HAT went ye to the wilderness to see
        Was it a reed shaken by the desert wind
But wherefore went ye Hoping what to find

A man clothed in soft raiment Nay, but he,
Who dares to beard the haughty Pharisee,

In camel's hair and leathern girdle clad,

Brings contrite hearts the gospel that makes glad,
And warns the wicked Heaven's wrath to flee;

For One will come whose fan is in His hand

To gather in His wheat and purge the floor.
John is His herald; none has gone before

Of woman born whose name shall greater stand;

But yet unto the very least in Heaven

A higher place than unto John is given.



38

 


Ube Ereo Vlnueatce.



             SIMON BAR-JONA.


 BARE-KNEED he waded in the reedy lake,
      Or pushed his scallop further from the shore,
Or hoisted sail where rougher waters break,
With stalwart arms that plied the bladed oar

And shoulders galled with the huge loads they bore.

But still beneath their pent house gleamed dark eves

W\Vith lambent fire, and his stern visage wore

The signs of thought that spreads its wings and flies.


But why to him should coome the glad surprise

Wihy should he be Messiah's chosen friend,-

This fisherman of bleak Gennesaret-

Bidden henceforth for men to cast his net
The Lord whose kingdom comes and knows no end
Discerns His own through nature's thin disguise.

 

Seekers arter 0oo.



            PETER THE CONFESSOR.


THE Twelve, and The One, they were thirteen in all,

      Were wearily walking a summer's day

The road to the Roman city whose wall

Loomed by the coast. They were seeking the Way

To eternal life, and they halted to pray.

Then Jesus asked of the Twelve, by what name

The people spake of him; whom did they say

The Son of 'Man was. They answered, "His fame

\Was that of a prophet, Elijah or John."

"But whom say ye, that I am " said the Lord.

Simon answered, ''The Christ! Thou art the Son

Of the Living God." Then Jesus, "That Word
Is the rock I build on. Thou, Peter, art blest

That my Father hath shown thee what thou hast confessed.



40

 

Ube Eseo Mnsealeb.



             PETER THE DENIER.


THE King of Glory took the cup of shame

      And pressed it to his lips. By one betrayed,

All the Apostles, who had in His Name

Wrought miracles, fled from him sore afraid.

But Peter followed, though afar, and stayed

Outside the throng and yet within the court,

Dazed with tumultuous terrors, when a maid

Spied him, and cried, "Thou, too, make thy report,

Thou Nazarene!" He cursed, yea, he denied

With oaths that he was of them, or even knew

The Man of Sorrows shortly to be tried,

Thus thrice e'er dawn; and when the cock twice crew,

He was aware and wept. 0 human heart,

How strong, how weak, how wonderful thou art!



4V

 

Scefters Etter Gob.



          PETER AFTER PENTECOST.


W     HERE late ye fled a flock of fugitives,
        Scattered like sheep before a ravening beast,
Because your Christ was dead, now that He lives
And ye have seen Him, all your fears have ceased,
Nor Herod, Pilate, Sanhedrim or priest

Can awe you any more; for Pentecost

Hath signed your brows with flame, and so increased
Your zeal for Christ that each man is a host,
Eager to meet what other men fear most
And what the rest desire esteeming least

So Peter, who denied, again can boast

That death is welcome as a marriage feast.
Transformed by grace, no more his soul shall quail,

Nor 'gainst the Rock the gates of Hell prevail.



42

 


Zbe XEpeo tUnoealeb.



                 SAUL OF TARSUS.

                          I.

T   HE Chief Priest asked, "WNhat man shall have command
      And journey to Damascus to hale thence
The wretched Nazarenes who fret the land
With lies about their false Christ, an offense

Deserving death. We need intelligence,
Courage and fiery zeal that will withstand

Pity, prayer, argument; a man intense,
Fierce for the Law, and with an iron hand."
A scribe replied, "The man to lead your band
Is Saul of Tarsus, by all men confessed

Vehement in faith, without fear, and grand
In hate of error; he will cure the pest."
Saul, breathing slaughter, was for havock sent;
The Scourge of God came back a penitent.



43

 

Seekers 2fter 0o0.



              SAUL OF TARSUS.

                       II.

W     HAT haughty horseman rides the dusty road
         That to Damascus leads It is the Jew
Who at Gamaliel's feet so long abode
And all the learning of the ancients knew.
A Pharisee of Pharisees, he grew
'Wise in the law of Moses, Israel's code,
And inspiration from the prophets drew,
Bending his shoulders to the Talmud's load;
So that to him all streams of influence flowed,
To fill his soul with wrath against the crew
Of recreant Hebrews who sedition sowed,
And stir his zeal their schism to subdue.
To shield the Covenant with his stubborn will
Was Saul's large purpose; God's was larger still.



44

 








                       PAUL.


PROUD SAUL, on bigotry's harsh mission bound,

      With rancor filled, across the sultry plain

Toward green Damascus shook his bridle rein,

When lo, a sudden glory shone around,
And stricken with blindness, prostrate to the ground

He fell, with all his band. 0 Paul, in vain

Didst thou consent to witness Stephen slain;

Almighty power can human plans confound.

Thy learning, zeal and heart brave, clean and sound,

The Lord had need of; so that thou didst gain

Through blindness sight, the right to suffer pain,

And at the last with martyrdom be crowned.

The Voice that spake to thee gave thee a voice
That bade the Gentile world in Christ rejoice.



45



Ube Xpeo Unocalea.

 

Seekero 21tter GO.



             JOHN THE SEER.


O    FOR the vision of glory that broke

        On the soul of the saint, apostle of love,

Who hung on the Master's lips when he spoke,

And beheld the Spirit in shape like a dove

Descend on his Lord, and heard from above

The voice that called Him His Son, and awoke

To the fact-the great fact-the centuries prove,

That matter serves Spirit as symbol and cloak !

His eyes were unsealed through love for the friend
Who had chastened his zeal and pointed the way

To the realm of the Lamb and bliss without end,

The splendors of Zion and perpetual day.
Love was the key to those portals of love

That opened to earth the mansions above.



46

 

Uhe fetpe tUneeale.



             THE APOCALYPSE.


VISION on vision of glory supernal
      Broke like wild billows on soul and on sight
Of the saint who, through time and aeons eternal
And realms beyond space, in spirit took flight.
Mountains delectable, streams of delight,
Oceans of crystal and islands elysian,
Cherubim, Seraphim, angels of might,
Bands of the blest beni on heavenly mission,

And Jesus Himself in glory resplendent,
The First and the Last, on jasper enthroned,
Star sceptered, supreme, with power transcendent,
In garments of pity, with righteousness zoned,
To John the Divine were on Patmos revealed
When the angel of God his eyes had unsealed.

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Ipilrime of the Croi.

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       PILGRIMS OF THE CROSS.

                        4

                TELEMACHUS.

          The Martyr of the Amphitheatre.

THE Rome of Diocletian, steeped in blood
      Of Christian martyrs, long had passed away,
And the new faith, like a great Alpine flood,
Above the empire's submerged levels lay,
And even the Casars owned Christ's gentle sway.
Yet in the Circus low browed thousands swarmed
To watch the gladiators' brutal fray
And cheered the onset and for victims stormed.


The games were set, the swordsmen stood arrayed.
When from the benches to the arena sprang
The monk Telemachus, beating down each blade:
Then the mob stoned him, while their fierce cries rang.
There the monk died, the sand stained with his gore;
Rome wept, and saw those bloody sports no more.



5'

 

seefters Etter Go.



        THE SAINT OF THE DESERT.


THE world is cruel, in the slough of sin,
      And bad brute force tramples on Adam's seed;
In the hot race of life the vilest win,
And power wrings tribute from the poor man's need
Then what is left is shared by craft and greed;
Heaven hath no ear to hear amid the din,
Though lust corrupts and human hearts must bleed.
When will the reign of righteousness begin


Eager am I my trembling soul to save;
O God, Thou knowest that I would be pure,
But man is cruel and I am not strong
To cope with savagery and combat wrong.
Still I can pray, shun sin and much endure,
Far from the world hid in some desert cave.



52

 

pil[rtms of tbe Cross.



          THE KNIGHT ERRANT.


T   HE world is full of sin - a cruel world-
      King Satan hath unbarred the gates of hell

And his foul cohorts of bad spirits hurled
To spread confusion and the discord swell.

These rave and ravin and strike the final knell

Of man on earth; miLennium now draws near

And imminent war with the foul fiends who fell;

So timid souls creep palsied with base fear.


But why stand I braced with this stalwart brawn

And with a heart robust as solid oak,
But to make battle with the infernal spawn

And stand betw3en them and G(od's common folk

Therefore to God and mran whate'er rny fate,

My sword, my strength, my life, I dedicate.



53

 


Seekers Etter Gob.



                THE BENEDICTINE.


THE great world seethes; men fight for gold or power,

      And bloodstains redden castle, court and cot;
Sin stalks abroad or shames the lady's bower;
In vain we look to find the happy spot
Where righteousness prevails and sin is not.
The cloister only is a rock built tower
Against the woe which is the common lot,

The wretchedness that is our earthly dower.


Here in its sheltered walls I quiet find,
As peacefully I pace the shaded walk,

And list our stately abbot's wise, sweet talk,
Or join in psalmody with joyous mind;

Or, that Christ's gospel sore poor souls may reach,

What things I know I humbly, gladly teach.



5A

 

PItlortme of the Croes.



                THE FRANCISCAN.


 H   AVE pity, dear Christ, on the sons of men,
        Who grovel and starve in alleys and docks;
 The wolf hath his lair, the bear hath his den

 And conies hide in the holes of the rocks;
 But the shelter of home is denied thy flocks
 Who huddle and slink in the filth and mire
 Of the sewers called cities, where misery mocks,
 Whose sons pass to Moloch through torture and fire!
 But I! What can I do Jesu! I can cry,

.Dear Brother, come forth from the cesspool of sin,

The help of my hand, the throb of my heart

Are thine if thou wilt, rise up, do thy part.
Thou canst not Thou shalt! One soul I will win

For the Lord who is deaf to no penitent's sigh."



55

 

seetere Rfter   0ob.



                     COLUMBUS.

                           I.

W       HAT seer can tell where mighty thoughts are born,
        Or whence they come to men The humble cot,
By which the proud pass with a glance of scorn,
In after days becomes a hallowed spot
Where pilgrim feet resort. The Fates allot
Unto Porphyrogene oblivion's pall;
Imperial grandeur is right soon forgot;
The grave's black bondage makes of wealth its thrall.


Columbus nurtured near the weaver's beam,
Where a sad sire the frequent shuttle threw,
Saw floods of light upon his spirit stream
And from Heaven's fountains living waters drew.
Through work and zeal the vision large unfurled

That gave mankind and him a second world.



56

 





                  COLUMBUS.

                        II.

T   HOU art not yet a saint, or canonized,
      In calendar of church, or men's esteem,
Grand Christopher! The things thy soul most prized,
The two worlds that made up thy life long dream
Are commonplace and trite, as men now deem
The young world that thy caravels explored
Beyond the ocean's verge and earth's extreme,
But most the sphere unseen wherein thy spirit soared.


But who among the sons of mortal men
Showed stouter heart in want, or storm, or fray,
Or fortitude the stings of fate to bear
At each rebuff thine essay, made again
Through mirk and misdoubt, found at last a way,
And heaven made answer to thy toil and prayer!



57



IDilgrime of the Crooo.

 


Seekers atter G0b.



             IGNATIUS LOYOLA.


XYJHEN     Pampeluna's walls in dust were laid,
         Some stout defenders, still on fight intent,
Back to the citadel their footsteps bent;

And there Loyola, tranquil, undismayed,

Still held the breach with his ensanguined blade,

Until he sank, with grievous wounds forspent.
Then on the couch of pain, with anguish rent,

To king and country his full debt was paid.


There to a higher life he felt the call,

And found the pattern of a perfect man
In Jesus; and conceived the mighty plan
Of service in His Name that holds in thrall

The masterful and wise, and bends the will
Of thousands in its forceful bondage still.



58

 

lOttrtme of tbe Cross.



                  HUGH LATIMER.


 B LUFF Latimer, brave, honest and robust,
      Who cared not what the Court or courtiers thought,
But had a charge to keep, a sacred trust,

A mission and a work that must be wrought.

A battle with the Arch-fiend to be fought,
And met unblenched great Harry's awful frown-

Those bended brows with deadly purpose fraught-
Looking beyond to a thorn-twisted crown,

When at the stake the cruel flame's mad flight
Wreathed to an aureole round his reverend head,
To Ridley said, "'Brother, this candle's light
Will over all the realm of England spread."
Thus persecution's baleful pyre became
Truth's dayspring and a Pentecostal flame.



59

 


seeTkerx utteer Doo.



                   JOHN WESLEY.


C     ENTURIES of form and dogma had o'erpast

       Since Christ had shown men how to live and die,
And saints had come and gone, and now at last
Religion cloaked conventionality.
The world was sunk in sense-a living lie-

And England's easy ethics, futile thought,

Cast in a mould of smug gentility,

Deemed poor humanity a thing of naught.
But underneath that rotten thin veneer

Surged fires volcanic, born of human hate,

That wrecked the order and the idea old;

So all seemed lost, but that Ithuriel's spear,

In Wesley's hand, unmasked the potentate
Of Hell, and warmed to life men's hearts grown cold.



60

 

Vtlgrimi of tbe Crose.



              JAMES MARTINEAU.


O)MIGHTY       preacher, heretic and saint,
        Who liftest high thy soul above the fog
Of creed and ritual and the Cimmerian bog
Of dogma in whose quicksands strong men faint,
How hast thy soaring spirit 'sca