Golden Numbers Part 83

CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI.

_The Elixir_

Teach me, my G.o.d and King, In all things Thee to see, And what I do in anything, To do it as for Thee.

All may of Thee partake: Nothing can be so mean Which with this tincture (for Thy sake) Will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause Makes drudgery divine: Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws, Makes that and th' action fine.

This is the famous stone That turneth all to gold; For that which G.o.d doth touch and own Cannot for less be told.

GEORGE HERBERT.

_One by One_

One by one the sands are flowing, One by one the moments fall; Some are coming, some are going; Do not strive to grasp them all.

One by one thy duties wait thee-- Let thy whole strength go to each, Let no future dreams elate thee, Learn thou first what these can teach.

One by one (bright gifts from heaven) Joys are sent thee here below; Take them readily when given-- Ready, too, to let them go.

One by one thy griefs shall meet thee; Do not fear an armed band; One will fade as others greet thee-- Shadows pa.s.sing through the land.

Do not look at life's long sorrow; See how small each moment's pain; G.o.d will help thee for to-morrow, So each day begin again.

Every hour that fleets so slowly Has its task to do or bear; Luminous the crown, and holy, When each gem is set with care.

Do not linger with regretting, Or for pa.s.sing hours despond; Nor, thy daily toil forgetting, Look too eagerly beyond.

Hours are golden links, G.o.d's token, Reaching heaven; but, one by one, Take them, lest the chain be broken Ere the pilgrimage be done.

ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER.

_The Commonwealth of the Bees_

(Type of a Well-ordered State.)

For government, though high, and low, and lower, Put into parts, doth keep in one consent, Congreeing in a full and natural close, Like music.

Therefore doth heaven divide The state of man in divers functions, Setting endeavor in continual motion; To which is fixed, as an aim or b.u.t.t, Obedience; for so work the honey-bees, Creatures that, by a rule in nature, teach The art of order to a peopled kingdom: They have a king and officers of state, Where some, like magistrates, correct at home, Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad, Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings, Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds; Which pillage they with merry march bring home To the tent-royal of their emperor; Who, busied in his majesty, surveys The singing masons building roofs of gold, The civil citizens kneading up the honey, The poor mechanic porters crowding in Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate; The sad-eyed Justice, with his surly hum, Delivering o'er to executors pale The lazy, yawning drone.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.

_From "King Henry V."_

_The Pilgrim_

Who would true valor see Let him come hither!

One here will constant be, Come wind, come weather: There's no discouragement Shall make him once relent His first-avow'd intent To be a Pilgrim.

Whoso beset him round With dismal stories, Do but themselves confound; His strength the more is.

No lion can him fright; He'll with a giant fight; But he will have a right To be a Pilgrim.

Nor enemy, nor fiend, Can daunt his spirit; He knows he at the end Shall Life inherit:-- Then, fancies, fly away; He'll not fear what men say; He'll labor, night and day, To be a Pilgrim.

JOHN BUNYAN.

_Be Useful_

Be useful where thou livest, that they may Both want and wish thy pleasing presence still.

----Find out men's wants and will, And meet them there. All worldly joys go less To the one joy of doing kindnesses.

GEORGE HERBERT.

INTERLEAVES

_The Glad Evangel_

When the Child of Nazareth was born, the sun, according to the Bosnian legend, "leaped in the heavens, and the stars around it danced. A peace came over mountain and forest. Even the rotten stump stood straight and healthy on the green hill-side. The gra.s.s was beflowered with open blossoms, incense sweet as myrrh pervaded upland and forest, birds sang on the mountain top, and all gave thanks to the great G.o.d."

It is naught but an old folk-tale, but it has truth hidden at its heart, for a strange, subtle force, a spirit of genial good-will, a new-born kindness, seem to animate child and man alike when the world pays its tribute to the "heaven-sent youngling," as the poet Drummond calls the infant Christ.

When the Three Wise Men rode from the East into the West on that "first, best Christmas night," they bore on their saddle-bows three caskets filled with gold and frankincense and myrrh, to be laid at the feet of the manger-cradled babe of Bethlehem. Beginning with this old, old journey, the spirit of giving crept into the world's heart. As the Magi came bearing gifts, so do we also; gifts that relieve want, gifts that are sweet and fragrant with friendship, gifts that breathe love, gifts that mean service, gifts inspired still by the star that shone over the City of David nearly two thousand years ago.

Then hang the green coronet of the Christmas-tree with glittering baubles and jewels of flame; heap offerings on its emerald branches; bring the Yule log to the firing; deck the house with holly and mistletoe,

_"And all the bells on earth shall ring On Christmas day in the morning."_

XVII

THE GLAD EVANGEL

_A Christmas Carol_[24]

There's a song in the air!