Poems of Purpose Part 4

Yet on the Angel fared, until they stood Before the Master. (Even His holy place The hideous noises of the earth a.s.sailed.) Christ reached His arms out to the trembling brood, With G.o.d's vast sorrow in His listening face.

Come unto Me,' He said; 'I, too, have failed.'

LOVE

Dreaming of love, the ardent mind of youth Conceives it one with pa.s.sion's brief delights, With keen desire and rapture. But, in truth, These are but milestones to sublime heights After the highways, swept by strong emotions, Where wild winds blow and blazing sun rays beat, After the billows of tempestuous oceans, Fair mountain summits wait the lover's feet.

The path is narrow, but the view is wide, And beauteous the outlook towards the west Happy are they who walk there side by side, Leaving below the valleys of unrest, And on the radiant alt.i.tudes above Know the serene intensity of love.

THREE SOULS

Three Souls there were that reached the Heavenly Gate, And gained permission of the Guard to wait.

Barred from the bliss of Paradise by sin, They did not ask or hope to enter in.

'We loved one woman (thus their story ran); We lost her, for she chose another man.

So great our love, it brought us to this door; We only ask to see her face once more.

Then will we go to realms where we belong, And pay our penalty for doing wrong.'

'And wert thou friends on earth?' (The Guard spake thus.) 'Nay, we were foes; but Death made friends of us.

The dominating thought within each Soul Brought us together, comrades, to this goal, To see her face, and in its radiance bask For one great moment--that is all we ask.

And, having seen her, we must journey back The path we came--a hard and dangerous track.'

'Wait, then,' the Angel said, 'beside me here, But do not strive within G.o.d's Gate to peer Nor converse hold with Spirits clothed in light Who pa.s.s this way; thou hast not earned the right.'

They waited year on year. Then, like a flame, News of the woman's death from earth-land came.

The eager lovers scanned with hungry eyes Each Soul that pa.s.sed the Gates of Paradise.

The well-beloved face in vain they sought, Until one day the Guardian Angel brought A message to them. 'She has gone,' he said, 'Down to the lower regions of the dead; Her chosen mate went first; so great her love She has resigned the joys that wait above To dwell with him, until perchance some day, Absolved from sin, he seeks the Better Way.'

Silent, the lovers turned. The pitying Guard Said: 'Stay (the while his hand the door unbarred), There waits for thee no darker grief or woe; Enter the Gates, and all G.o.d's glories know.

But to be ready for so great a bliss, Pause for a moment and take heed of this: The dearest treasure by each mortal lost Lies yonder, when the Threshold has been crossed, And thou shalt find within that Sacred Place The shining wonder of her worshipped face.

All that is past is but a troubled dream; Go forward now and claim the Fact Supreme.'

Then clothed like Angels, fitting their estate, Three Souls went singing, singing through G.o.d's Gate.

WHEN LOVE IS LOST

When love is lost, the day sets towards the night, Albeit the morning sun may still be bright, And not one cloud-ship sails across the sky.

Yet from the places where it used to lie Gone is the l.u.s.trous glory of the light.

No splendour rests in any mountain height, No scene spreads fair and beauteous to the sight; All, all seems dull and dreary to the eye When love is lost.

Love lends to life its grandeur and its might; Love goes, and leaves behind it gloom and blight; Like ghosts of time the pallid hours drag by, And grief's one happy thought is that we die.

Ah, what can recompense us for its flight When love is lost?

OCCUPATION

There must in heaven be many industries And occupations, varied, infinite; Or heaven could not be heaven.

What gracious tasks The Mighty Maker of the universe Can offer souls that have prepared on earth By holding lovely thoughts and fair desires!

Art thou a poet to whom words come not?

A dumb composer of unuttered sounds, Ignored by fame and to the world unknown?

Thine may be, then, the mission to create Immortal lyrics and immortal strains, For stars to chant together as they swing About the holy centre where G.o.d dwells.

Hast thou the artist instinct with no skill To give it form or colour? Unto thee It may be given to paint upon the skies Astounding dawns and sunsets, framed by seas And mountains; or to fashion and adorn New faces for sweet pansies and new dyes To tint their velvet garments. Oftentimes Methinks behind a beauteous flower I see, Or in the tender glory of a dawn, The presence of some spirit who has gone Into the place of mystery, whose call, Imperious and compelling, sounds for all Or soon or late. So many have pa.s.sed on - So many with ambitions, hopes, and aims Unrealised, who could not be content As idle angels even in paradise.

The unknown Michelangelos who lived With thoughts on beauty bent while chained to toil That gave them only bread and burial - These must find waiting in the world of s.p.a.ce The shining timbers of their splendid dreams, Ready for shaping temples, shrines, and towers, Where radiant hosts may congregate to raise Their glad hosannas to the G.o.d Supreme.

And will there not be gardens glorious, And mansions all embosomed among blooms, Where heavenly children reach out loving arms To lonely women who have been denied On earth the longed-for boon of motherhood?

Surely G.o.d has provided work to do For souls like these, and for the weary, rest.

THE VALLEY OF FEAR

In the journey of life, as we travel along To the mystical goal that is hidden from sight, You may stumble at times into Roadways of Wrong, Not seeing the sign-board that points to the right.

Through caverns of sorrow your feet may be led, Where the noon of the day will like midnight appear.

But no matter whither you wander or tread, Keep out of the Valley of Fear.

The Roadways of Wrong will wind out into light If you sit in the silence and ask for a Guide; In the caverns of sorrow your soul gains its sight Of beautiful vistas, ascending and wide.

In by-paths of worry and trouble and strife Full many a bloom grows bedewed by a tear, But wretched and arid and void of all life Is the desolate Valley of Fear.

The Valley of Fear is a maddening maze Of paths that wind on without exit or end, From nowhere to nowhere lead all of its ways, And shadows with shadows in more shadows blend.

Each guide-post is lettered, 'This way to Despair,'

And the River of Death in the darkness flows near, But there is a beautiful Roadway of Prayer This side of the Valley of Fear.

This beautiful Roadway is narrow and steep, And it runs up the side of the Mountain of Faith.

You may not perceive it at first if you weep, But it rises high over the River of Death.

Though the Roadway is narrow and dark at the base, It widens ascending, and ever grows clear, Till it shines at the top with the Light of G.o.d's face, Far, far from the Valley of Fear.

When close to that Valley your footsteps shall fare, Turn, turn to the Roadway of Prayer - The beautiful Roadway of Prayer.

WHAT WOULD IT BE?