And fingered at the grass, and tried to cool The moods of nobler natures than thine own." A MYTH. I. A FLOATING, a floating Across the sleeping sea, All night I heard a singing bird II. "Oh came you from the isles of Greece Or from the banks of Seine; Or off some tree in forests free, Which fringe the western main ?" III. "I came not off the old world Nor yet from off the new But I am one of the birds of God Which sing the whole night through." IV. "Oh sing and wake the dawning Oh whistle for the wind; The night is long, the current strong, V. "The current sweeps the old world, The wind will blow, the dawn will glow, 1 THE ANGLER'S QUESTIONS. I CANNOT tell what you say, green leaves, But I know that there is a spirit in you, I cannot tell what you say, rosy rocks, But I know that there is a spirit in you, I cannot tell what you say, brown streams, But I know that in you too a spirit doth live, "OH THE WORD'S ANSWER. green is the colour of faith and truth, And rose the colour of love and youth, And brown of the fruitful clay. Sweet Earth is faithful, and fruitful, and young, And her bridal day shall come ere long, And you shall know what the rocks and the streams And the whispering woodlands say." THE DEAD CHURCH. I. WILD, wild wind, wilt thou never cease thy sighing? Cold, cold church, in thy death sleep lying, Thy Lent is past, thy Passion here, but not thine Easter day. II. Peace, faint heart, though the night be dark and sigh ing; Rest, fair corpse, where thy Lord himself hath lain. Weep, dear Lord, where thy bride is lying; Thy tears shall wake her frozen limbs to life and health again. A PARABLE FROM LIEBIG. I. THE church bells were ringing, the devil sat singing On the stump of a rotting old tree; “Oh faith, it grows cold, and the creeds they grow old, And the world is nigh ready for me." II. The bells went on ringing, a spirit came singing, And smiled as he crumbled the tree; "Yon wood does but perish new seedlings to cherish, And the world is too live yet for thee." |