Still searching for true beauty, and true grace.
Give, cries the Spirit to thee, freely give !
Say not that thou art poor and hast no store ;
Give hope, and joy, and love, so shalt thou live,
And draw upon that sea of love whose tide
Shall fill thee, heart and soul, and mind beside,
Till giving shall enrich thee more and more.
44
ALICE FREEMAN PALMER
WE loved her for the loving thoughts which sped
Straight from her heart until they found their goal
In some perplexed or troubled human soul
And broke anew the ever-living bread.
We loved the mind courageous which no dread
Of failure ever daunted, whose control
Of gentleness all opposition stole;
We loved herself and all the joy she shed.
Oh, Leader of the Leaders ! Like a light
Thy life was set, to counsel, to befriend ;
Thy quick and eager insight seized the right
And shared the prize with bounteous hand, and
free.
Fed from the fountains of infinity
Thy life was service, having love to spend.
45
THE PROBLEM
NOT only days, but nights make up our years.
Without the blessing of the darksome night
Perpetual sunshine would but blind our sight ;
We prize our health because disease appears,
We rest in peace because we have known fears.
The bitter gives the sweet a keen delight ;
The power of wrong is but the strength of right,
And joy the possibility of tears.
If all the paths of life were smooth and plain,
What choice would be before the eager soul,
If high and low were one, and effort vain ?
But evil ever lurks beside the good,
While Life and Death unite in brotherhood,
And God Himself must comprehend the whole.
SLEEP
LORD, in the pride of perfect day I come
With consciousness and power of control,
With self-direction, and would bring the whole
Of being, good and bad, my spirit s sum,
To Thee, the Life, to seek a blessing from ;
To Thee, the Way, as well as being s goal,
And final end, the search of eager soul
Whose every effort is toward Thee, its home.
But in the night unconsciously I lie
Exhausted, flaccid, sunk in slumber deep,
And nightly prove what it may be to die.
Between the waking world and death a door
Stands open, souls can pass the threshold o er;
In darkness let me offer Thee my sleep.
47
THE DOOR
I AM the Door, our blessed Saviour said,
When He became the Shepherd of the sheep,
And told them that the fold would safely keep,
And in and out they should be surely led ;
Within, without, their table should be spread ;
A life for waking and for hours of sleep,
Of joy, and solace for all souls who weep,
To come and go, with blessings on each head.
Alas, how oft we make a door of Christ,
To enter when we seek for things divine,
And shut again when, easily sufficed,
We turn back to the world which has no share
In aught of aspiration or of prayer,
There to lament, and weary, and repine.
UNITY
LORD, keep me one in deed, and word, and thought ;
With such distractions all the world is rife,
And different aspects cleave as with a knife
In fragments small the good that must be sought.
Give the controlling motive, for untaught
By Thy divinity I am at strife,
And shreds and patches make my troubled life ;
From out my chaos order must be brought.
Oh, unify, direct, subdue, control,
These warring elements, diverse desires,
These conflicts of the timid flesh with soul ;
Hush Thou the voice that breathes the worldly word,
Attune these ears to hear Thee speak, O Lord ;
Quench with Thy Spirit all the earthly fires !
49
THE PURGE
FROM bitter herbs come best medicaments,
Without alarms who knows he is secure ?
The surgeon s sharp knife cuts that it may cure,
Joy is not joy without impediments,
The growing soul has noble discontents,
The false must perish, and the good endure,
Discords must end in harmony most pure,
And anguish brings about divine events.
So may it prove in this distressful day
Of fiercest war, and flaming deadly hate
When to the god they have created pray
Those ruthless Huns for victory. Oh Love
How canst Thou bear to look down from above
Where this small world is lying desolate !
THE MEADOW
HERE in my circle of greenness I sit ;
Under those giant oaks centuries old
Are lying the graves of chieftains bold ;
Three great flat stones, where no word is writ,
Are all that remains, memorial fit.
And yet the story most plainly is told
Of men that once lived and the manifold
Legend of life, and its grim opposite.
The forest stretches kind, sheltering arms,
The meadowland smiles, flowers open to bees,
And here stands my house secure from alarms
Where sachems held council, and warriors
were born,
And Indian women once planted corn
Life rounding its cycle under the trees.
5 1
THE FISHERMEN
I
a I GO a-fishing," Simon Peter said.
The tragedy was over ; three long years
Of close companionship, of hopes and fears
For earthly kingdom, years full quickly sped,
Sustained on wonder of celestial bread,
Now they were ended. Peter s bitter tears
And that last cry of anguish in their ears,
These seared their souls ; all else was with the dead.
And so these seven men came drifting home,
Who thought so sadly that it had been He ;
That unto Israel a king had come ;
With troubled minds, and loving hearts oereft,
Worn and forlorn and yet their work was left.
"I go a-fishing." " We also go with thee."
5 2
THEFISHERMEN 53
II
The dear familiar toil, the rhythmic swing
Of supple body standing at the oar
Grasped in the brawny hands stretched out before,
Then weight thrown backward, sturdy strokes that
bring
Each muscle into play, with push and fling,
And start the clumsy boat from off the shore ;
And then the nets and tackle, fishers lore,
Familiar toil, hard, with a wholesome sting.
The sun had set, and night had settled down
Upon the mountains, and the silver sheet
Of lake that mirrors Hermon s alpine crown.
All night they labored, and made cast on cast,
All night in vain ; and with the dawn at last
A voice called, " Children, have ye any meat ? "
54 THE YOSEMITE AND OTHER VERSE
III
When as directed on the ship s right side
The net was cast and filled with fish, nor could
They draw ; and John who always understood,
Who leaned upon His breast the night He died,
Had whispered to the fishers wonder-eyed
u It is the Lord," Peter, the swimmer good,
Begirt himself, and plunged into the flood
To hasten to the Lord he had denied.
What agony of penitence and love,
What comprehension, and what grace divine,
What testing of the fibre he was of,
Alone with Jesus in the dawn at last,
Who may declare ? The perfect moment passed,
The boat touched shore. Said Jesus, " Come and dine."
THEFISHERMEN 55
IV
Then Simon Peter drew the net to land
Filled with great fish, a hundred and fifty-three.
There was a fire of coals beside the sea ;
And Jesus took the bread, from His dear hand
As once before this little chosen band
Was fed by Him and feasted bounteously.
And none of them durst ask Him who was He,
Knowing it was the Lord, who gave command.
And so He broke for them the living bread,
Those fisher folk, with labor worn and spent,
And scarce a word was ventured to be said,
The while they groped in silent dim amaze,
And clear, and stronger, love grew in their gaze
While they partook that early sacrament.
56 THE YOSEMITE AND OTHER VERSE
So after they had dined, the Scripture says,
When rested and refreshed and comforted
By His dear presence Who they thought was dead,
He turned on Peter His calm, steadfast gaze.
Ah, who can speak the power of that blaze
Of living love, triumphant, covenanted,
Knowing reply, but probing till heart bled !
" Lovest thou me ? " The thrice-repeated phrase.
Three times He asked, and three times came reply,
" Thou knowest that I love Thee," fervent, deep,
With added force and stress of urgency.
And love was shown the outlet love would need,
For love must work three times the mandate,
" Feed
*w 9
My lambs," reiterated, " Feed my sheep."
THEFJSHERMEN 57
VI
He gave them bread, who was the living Bread,
The literal bread, to nourish, and sustain
The tired body, worn by all-night strain.
u This is my body, broken for you," He said,
When in that upper room, before they fled,
He last ate with them ; and now here again,
Beyond the suffering and the deadly pain,
He broke the bread of life, and blessing shed.
For Simon Peter, he who had denied,
Received the special charge again to break
That living bread. Such task did Love confide,
To feed, to nourish, to sustain, to keep
His countless hosts, His tender lambs, His sheep;
To shepherd them, to fold for His dear sake.
UTTERANCE
OUT of what tears,
What furnace blasts of fiery fears,
What blind, dim gropings after light
In the chaos of black night,
Arose this song
With cadence pure and strong;
A tiny flower,
But with a dower
Of joy complete,
Surpassing sweet,
One could not guess
It grew from roots of bitterness.
58
"IF YE WILL INQUIRE, INQUIRE YE"
DOST thou ask what is the highest ? The answer is one,
It is God.
Dost thou ask what is the lowest, where all space is
done ?
It is God.
And where am I, who flutter between, a moth that He
has made ?
And where shall I look for shelter and screen what
time I am afraid ?
There was no sign nor any sound to answer the soul
as it prayed
And asked God.
59
THE ALTRUIST
IF one could dig deep enough
Into the mind
What would one find ?
Evil or good ? What is the stuff
That maketh the man,
What is the plan
On which he is built ?
It is good, I cry, good
My God, I have not understood.
That is my guilt.
60
"ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE"
I ASKED to see my way:
But Thou, who dost know me
And art of night the day,
Didst not show me.
Like the blind man I cry
Who would his sight receive.
A voice came in reply,
" Dost thou believe ? "
61
BROTHERHOOD
" SURELY He hath borne our grief"
The ancient prophet sung.
Did that thought bring to Him relief
What time upon the cross He hung,
His mortal frame with anguish wrung ?
But, oh, sad soul, since that great day
Thou canst not struggle all alone,
For thou must tread that ancient way
To carry sorrows not thine own
And suffer griefs thou hast not known.
62
LORD, RESTORE ME
LORD, restore me,
Not alone the aching body,
But the mind that loses control ;
In this mortal grip of sickness
Fortify the soul.
Lord, restore me,
Give me back the early courage
Of undaunted hopeful youth.
Now when years becloud the vision
Show to me Thy Truth.
THE SPHERE
THE circle of life grows wide
As it centres about the soul
With an ebb and flow of the tide
That stars in their courses guide
And the moon holds in control.
Beware, lest that circle grows less
As the swirl of life rushes by,
For it can narrow and press
Till, crushed and in sore distress,
Stands the importunate I.
Oh, trust that mighty flood,
Fare forth, a mariner free,
With scallop shell and Holy Rood,
To seek eternal founts of good,
To find the crystal sea.
THE STRUGGLE
THE Beast and the Angel together strove
In the deepest depths of the soul ;
And the Beast was subtle and masked as Love,
And with the crafty net that he wove
He pinioned the Angel s wings and drove
Him on to the deepest goal.
And the Angel went with pinioned wings;
But he saw and understood
That in the blackest of blackest things,
The sin that pretends, and the poisoned stings
Of ingrate folly, and sinister flings,
There lies a germ of good.
And when he had found it he seized it fast,
And the Beast lay felled with that blow ;
For good is eternal, supernal, vast,
66 THE YOSEMITE AND OTHER VERSE
And the net was broken the Beast had cast,
And the Angel rose with a trumpet blast,
For the good was bound to grow.
GRIEF
O SOUL bereft of joy,
Sit not in sorrow down
Upon thy bed of thorns,
For thorns can make a crown.
6?
THE FLAIL
THE Devil took hold of his flail of fear
And he smote the soul as it prayed,
And struck at all it held sacred and dear,
At the roots of faith with a horrible leer ;
And the soul was sore afraid.
Then in that smiting the scared soul saw
That fear and the Devil are one;
That courage is Godlike, that that is the law,
That man must stand upright, not crouch in awe j
And the work of the flail was done.
68
I CAME NOT TO SEND PEACE,
BUT A SWORD"
PEACE, peace, we cry, with anguished breath
And would forego all strife ;
And know not that such peace is death,
That man must fight for life.
Life is the cry, and life must live,
Emmanuel brings a sword;
No recreant or fugitive
Can battle for the Lord.
GADARENES
HE came, the light to lighten every man
Full of the grace divine ;
He came, the city to Him ran
For they had lost their swine.
He came, before Him conscious evil fled.
He could have touched each heart ;
And they, because their pigs were dead,
Besought Him to depart.
70
"WHAT YE HEAR IN THE EAR"
A WORD was spoken in my ear,
I sought to pass it by.
(It could not be for such as I.)
A word to banish every fear
And make all sorrow die.
That word was spoken long ago,
But still it came to me
(To me, the blind who could not see)
That all that is was made to show
That Love has made us free.
7
"WHAT I TELL YOU IN DARKNESS"
THE whisper that Thou gavest me
In hours of dark and pain
Becomes the whole eternity,
The one thing, clear and plain :
The great assurance that Thou Art,
And therefore I am I,
Because I am a minute part
Of Thy Infinity.
72
AFFLICTION
IF I "go softly all my days,"
Let me remember this,
As I walk solitary ways
Nor share in this world s bliss
41 Because thou didst it" David knew
That actolJde of pain,
And rose with spirit firm and true
To praise the Lord again.
73
SUPREMACY
IF I can trust Thee with my death,
Then why not too
With life?
With this recurring fainting breath,
This constant strife
Of body gainst the soul it would subdue,
And must not ; till at last I learn,
Brief victory won,
That Thou
Hast set the stars to fight in turn,
That suns must bow,
To keep the soul upon its throne.
74
QUERY
AM I my brother s keeper ?
Faint-Heart answers, No,
And wraps himself still deeper
In his own grief and woe
And paces on with footsteps proud and slow.
Am I my brother s keeper?
Great-Heart answers, Yes.
He is no drowsy sleeper
He succors all distress,
And children s hands touch his in shy caress,
75
THE REPLY
ASK, the Master said ;
And my soul asked of the Soul
That hovers over the whole
Of all the things that are,
And far above my head
He showed to me a star.
Seek, the Master said ;
And I looked and saw on the earth
Millions of seeds come to birth
As the days fled hour by hour ;
There for my feet to tread
He showed to me a flower.
Knock, the Master said ;
And I came to the door of Death
With fainting and failing breath,
THEREPLY 77
With anguish and keen strife,
And through that door of dread
He showed me eternal life.
HOLY GROUND
THIS Earth those blessed feet have trod,
For here once walked the Son of God.
The Son of Man He called His name
The Son of God, and yet the same.
Lo, blind Bartimaeus in the way,
He touched his eyes, and it was day.
And yet upon the mountain s crest
He stood transfigured, HeavVs brief guest.
Son of God, and Son of Man,
Whose life was but a single span,
1 come to Thee, to height sublime,
To consecrate to Thee my time
That I may live to Thee alone
So Earth and Heav n shall be made one.
78
SWEET-PEA BLOSSOMS FOR EASTER
REJOICE, ye blossoms of the soul ;
Spread to the breeze your wings ;
Back from the tomb the stone doth roll,
He lives, the king of kings !
He lives ! the cerements binding bands,
Are left within the grave ;
He lives, untouched by mortal hands
He lives to rule and save.
O happy morn, O joyful day,
Ye resurrection flowers
In perfume waft your sweetest lay
And lift your praise with ours.
79
THE CENTRE
THOU Sun and Centre of my longing soul,
Source of my life, my being s aim and end,
Thou art the mystic power of the pole
And I the needle that toward Thee must bend.
Not in cold dogma can I find repose,
No scheme of being is my spirit s quest;
I need a solace for all human woes
Come Thou Thyself to me, transcendent Guest,
T is love incarnate that I seek to find,
Love here and now to glorify this earth ;
Lord, touch my eyes, by selfish fears made blind,
And Immortality shall come to birth.
80
PLENITUDE
WITH Thy thoughts, oh, fill my mind,
Let me think them after Thee ;
In Thy plenitude to find
Calmness and serenity.
Thou dost still the boist rous wave,
Thou dost calm the raging sea ;
And Thine arm is stretched to save,
And Thy voice speaks peace to me.
Thou Thyself art being s goal,
Thou art healing for all woes ;
Nothing less can stay my soul,
Nothing less can give repose.
Height nor depth my soul can move,
With Thy mighty power imbued ;
Filled with Thine unchanging love
Raise me to beatitude.
81
GRATITUDE
THE Ten were healed, yet only one
Swiftly returned
With thanks for what the Lord had done.
The others stayed not, he alone
With glad heart burned.
How oft we spread our wants in prayer;
Each one can plead
With urgent cry to claim his share
Of special grace, and special care
For special need.
When comes the blessing, let us raise
A thankful psalm
Of adoration and of praise
And bless the Lord in all His ways,
Both storm and calm.
82
A MINISTERING HYMN
And the twelve were with Him, and certain women . . . which minis
tered unto Him of their substance. Luke vm : i, 2, 3.
WHEN our great Master walked the earth,
In that far land which saw His birth,
A company of women trod
The footsteps of the Son of God;
And all His mighty words they heard,
And to His needs they ministered.
They followed Him from Galilee ;
They heard Him greeted royally.
Upon the cross they saw Him bound,
And undismayed they gathered round,
These women who had ministered
Who knew the voice that they had heard.
We see no more His gracious face,
But still there stand in His dear place
84 THE YOSEMITE AND OTHER VERSE
His brethren who may justly claim
Our loving service in His name.
Who to a brother s want gives heed,
Still ministers to Jesus need.
THE CHALICE
THOU Sun and Centre of all conscious life,
Source of all being, and its goal,
Spirit serene which can control all strife,
Speak peace unto my waiting soul.
I raise myself, and humbly dare
To claim Thee, Father, for mine own,
And spread my hands before Thy feet in prayer,
In worship kneeling at Thy Throne.
I bring the open chalice of my heart
To fill with Thy beatitude;
Make me to feel I have a living part
In Thy divine Infinitude.
85
FOR LIGHT AND LEADING
LEAD me, my God, oh, lead me,
I cannot see the way ;
The shadows of desire
Shut out the light of day.
Oh, cast out every longing
Bid anxious thought be still ;
Make strong one single purpose
To know, and do Thy will.
Oh, unify, control me,
The throbbing impulse curb
That follows every phantom
Which all the winds disturb.
Speak Thou the word decisive,
Teach me, my Lord, to hear,
And run at Thy commandment
With courage and good cheer.
86
HANDS AND FEET
THE feet- that walked beside the sea
Of Galilee,
Were nailed upon the shameful tree
For me.
The hands that broke the living bread
By Galilee,
In gracious blessing were outspread
For me.
O feet that walked from day to day
In Galilee,
In Thine own rough and stony way
Lead me.
O dear anointing hands to cure
By Galilee,
And make the leper whole and pure,
Touch me.
88 THE YOSEMITE AND OTHER VERSE
That I may walk as did thine own
By Galilee,
And joyful live my life alone
For Thee.
A PRESENT HOPE
LORD of my life, and God of my salvation,
Oh, wilt Thou save Thy servant here and now;
Not in some distant realm of expectation,
But as before Thee in strong prayer I bow,
Cool my parched lips, and ease my fevered brow.
The fever of this world, the culmination
Of fierce desires, begot of hope and fear,
Consumes my heart ; oh, send illumination
To give me light from the celestial sphere,
To make my spirit know that Thou art near.
Lord, speak the word ; in lowly adoration
The seraphs sing Thy praise before Thy Throne
In holy song this life s glad consummation
And here stand I, thy servant, all alone ;
Oh, speak the word, and count me with Thine own !
THE TIDE
THOU ocean fulness of pure love,
Unbar my being s guarded gates
And flood me from the realm above
With power which that love creates.
Sweep Thou the channels of my soul,
Obstructed by low thought, and sin ;
The wonder of Thy might unroll
And with Thy fulness enter in.
Course through and through my inmost heart,
Fill me with power far from hence;
Make me to know I am a part
Of Thy divine Omnipotence.
90
COMPREHENSION
LORD, Thou dost know ;
The fears, the self-distrusts perplex me so
I bring them all to Thee, and as the snow
Melts in the golden sun, they go.
Lord, Thou dost know ;
I bring Thee longing love, that knows no name,
I bring my peace, my joy, my toil, my shame,
My trembling hope, my mortal frame.
Lord, Thou dost know ;
See, I am halt and blind, and deaf and dumb,
Yet Thou who art of heaven and earth the sum
Dost bid me to Thee, so I come.
9 1
THE STAR
OH, shining star in yon far sky,
What radiance dimmed thy light
What time the glory from on high
Broke on the shepherds sight.
And thou didst see the heavens ope,
With sons of morn didst sing
When there appeared that star of hope
And earth received her king.
Thou hast thy secret ; since that night
A radiance new is thine,
For peace on earth proclaimed its might
O erruled by love divine.
92
HYMNS AND ANTHEMS SUNG AT
WELLESLEY COLLEGE
I
MOUNT CARMEL
WHERE art Thou, O my Lord ?
Mount Carmel saw the throng
Of priests and heard the song ;
To Baal was their call
From morn till night did fall.
Where art Thou, O my Lord ?
Again Mount Carmel heard
Not in the spoken word,
Not in the earthquake s shock,
Not in the rending rock.
Where art Thou, O my Lord ?
The still voice softly speaks ;
Each soul it swiftly seeks
Not in the thunder roll,
But in the inmost soul.
94 THE YOSEMITE AND OTHER VERSE
II
VESPER HYMN
SEND peaceful sleep, O Lord, this night,
To keep us till the morning light ;
And let no vision of alarm
Come near to do Thy children harm.
Within Thy circling arms we lie,
O God, in Thine infinity ;
Our souls in quiet shall abide
Beset with love on every side.
Ill
THIS IS THAT BREAD
This is that Bread that came down from Heaven ; hf
that eateth of this Bread shall live forever.
BREAD on which angels feed,
Bread for the spirit s need
By faith receiving,
WELLESLEY COLLEGE HYMNS 95
New life do Thou impart,
New strength to every heart,
Pure love of God Thou art
To us believing.
IV
O SLOW OF HEART
O slow of heart to believe ! Ought Christ not to have
suffered these things and to enter into His glory ?
QUICKEN, Lord, my fainting heart,
Touch my eyes that they may see,
Let me know Thee as Thou art,
Life and Immortality.
V
ALL HAIL TO THEE, CHILD JESUS !
ALL hail to Thee, Child Jesus !
As the brooding darkness flies
At the swift approach of day,
Sun of righteousness, arise,
96 THE YOSEMITE AND OTHER VERSE
Chase the gloom of night away.
Great Prince of Peace, come to thine own,
And build in every heart Thy throne.
Come to shed Thy healing balm
On all nations of the earth,
Child Jesus, come with holy calm,
How we hail Thy wondrous birth.
Great Prince of Peace, come to Thine own,
And build in every heart Thy throne.
All hail to Thee, Child Jesus !
VI
THE WINE-PRESS
WHO is this that comes from Edom
In such glorious array,
With his festal garments gleaming,
Travelling on his royal way
With a face majestic, calm and grave ?
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
WELLESLEY COLLEGE HYMNS 97
Why is thy apparel crimson,
Why is all thy garments pride
Stained as in the time of vintage
And with blood-red color dyed ?
Because of helpers I had none
I have trodden the wine-press alone.
VII
WAKEN, SHEPHERDS
(Angels] HOSANNA! Hosanna! Hosanna!
(Shepherds) Waken, Shepherds, waken ;
Whence this glowing light ?
Ere the dawn of morning,
Solemn signs of warning
Portent of affright !
(Angels) Courage, Shepherds, courage !
Banish your dismay,
For ye all are saved,
98 THE YOSEMITE AND OTHER VERSE