Summon thy sunshine bravery back, Oh, wretched sprite ! Let me hear thy voice through this deep and black Abysmal night. What hast thou wrought for Right and Truth, For God and Man, From the golden hours of bright-eyed youth Ah, soul of mine, thy tones I hear, Like far sad murmurs on my ear "I have wrestled stoutly with the Wrong, From beneath the footfall of the throng "Wherever Freedom shivered a chain, God speed, quoth I; To Error amidst her shouting train Ah, soul of mine! ah, soul of mine! Thy deeds are well: Were they wrought for Truth's sake or for thine? And where art thou going, soul of mine? And whither this troubled life of thine Evermore doth tend? What daunts thee now? what shakes thee so? My sad soul say. "I see a cloud like a curtain low Hang o'er my way. "Whither I go I cannot tell : High as the heaven and deep as hell, "I see its shadow coldly enwrap The souls before. Sadly they enter it, step by step, To return no more. "They shrink, they shudder, dear God! they kneel To thee in prayer. They shut their eyes on the cloud, but feel That it still is there. "In vain they turn from the dread Before For while gazing behind them evermore "Yet, at times, I see upon sweet pale faces A light begin To tremble, as if from holy places And shrines within. "And at times methinks their cold lips move With hymn and prayer, As if somewhat of awe, but more of love And hope were there. "I call on the souls who have left the light I bend mine ear to that wall of night, "But I hear around me sighs of pain And the cry of fear, And a sound like the slow sad dropping of rain, Each drop a tear! "Ah, the cloud is dark, and day by day, I am moving thither: I must pass beneath it on my way Ah soul of mine! so brave and wise Fronting so calmly all human eyes Now standing apart with God and me But never for this, never for this For the craven's fear is but selfishness, Folly and Fear are sisters twain: One closing her eyes, The other peopling the dark inane Know well, my soul, God's hand controls Round Him in calmest music rolls Whate'er thou hearest. What to thee is shadow, to Him is day, And not on a blind and aimless way The spirit goeth. Man sees no future a phantom show Is alone before him; Past Time is dead, and the grasses grow, Nothing before, nothing behind : Fall on the seeming void, and find The Present, the Present is all thou hast Like the patriarch's angel hold it fast Why fear the night? why shrink from Death, That phantom wan? There is nothing in Heaven or earth beneath Save God and man. Peopling the shadows we turn from Him All is spectral and vague and dim Like warp and woof all destinies Are woven fast, Linked in sympathy like the keys Of an organ vast. Pluck one thread, and the web ye mar; Break but one Of a thousand keys, and the paining jar Oh, restless spirit! wherefore strain Heaven and hell, with their joy and pain Back to thyself is measured well Thy neighbor's wrong is thy present hell, And in life, in death, in dark and light All are in God's care; Sound the black abyss, pierce the deep of night, All which is real now remaineth, And fadeth never: The hand which upholds it now, sustaineth The soul forever Leaning on Him, make with reverent meekness His own thy will, And with strength from Him shall thy utter weakness Life's task fulfill; And that cloud itself, which now before thee Lies dark in view, Shall with beams of light from the inner glory And like meadow mist through Autumn's dawn Its thickest folds when about thee drawn Let sun-light in. Then of what is to be, and of what is done The past and the time to be are one, And both are NOW! |