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Read Ebook: Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul by Mudge James Editor
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Ebook has 5723 lines and 153104 words, and 115 pages
OF PIETY
"Allah!" was all night long the cry of one oppressed with care, Till softened was his heart, and sweet became his lips with prayer. Then near the subtle tempter stole, and spake: "Fond babbler, cease! For not one 'Here am I' has God e'er sent to give thee peace." With sorrow sank the suppliant's soul and all his senses fled. But lo! at midnight, the good angel, Chiser, came, and said: "What ails thee now, my child, and why art thou afraid to pray? And why thy former love dost thou repent? declare and say." "Ah!" cries he, "never once spake God to me, 'Here am I, son.' Cast off methinks I am, and warned far from his gracious throne." To whom the angel answered, "Hear the word from God I bear: 'Go tell,' he said, 'yon mourner, sunk in sorrow and despair, Each "Lord, appear!" thy lips pronounce contains my "Here am I"; A special messenger I send beneath thine every sigh; Thy love is but a guerdon of the love I bear to thee. And sleeping in thy "Come, O Lord!" there lies "Here, son!" from me.'"
--Oriental, tr. by William Rounseville Alger.
He prayeth well who loveth well Both man and bird and beast. He prayeth best who loveth best All things, both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us He made and loveth all.
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
ADORATION
I love my God, but with no love of mine, For I have none to give; I love thee, Lord, but all the love is thine For by thy love I live. I am as nothing, and rejoice to be Emptied and lost and swallowed up in thee.
Thou, Lord, alone art all thy children need, And there is none beside; From thee the streams of blessedness proceed, In thee the blest abide-- Fountain of life and all-abounding grace, Our source, our center, and our dwelling place.
--Madame Guyon.
WALKING WITH GOD
O Master, let me walk with thee In lowly paths of service free; Tell me thy secret; help me bear The strain of toil, the fret of care.
Teach me thy patience! still with Thee In closer, dearer company: In work that keeps faith sweet and strong, In trust that triumphs over wrong.
In hope that sends a shining ray Far down the future's broadening way; In peace that only thou canst give, With thee, O Master, let me live.
--Washington Gladden.
There was a man who prayed For wisdom that he might Sway men from sinful ways And lead them into light. Each night he knelt and asked the Lord To let him guide the sinful horde. And every day he rose again, To idly drift along, One of the many common men Who form the common throng.
GRANTED OR DENIED
To long with all our longing powers, And have the wish denied; To urge and strain our force in vain Against the unresting tide Of fate and circumstance, which still Baffles and beats and thwarts our will;
To reach the goal toward which we strove All the long way and hard; To win the prize which, to our eyes, Seemed life's one best reward-- Love's rose, Fame's laurel, olived Peace, The gold-fruit of Hesperides--
And then to find the prize all vain, The joys all empty made-- To taste the sting in each sweet thing, To watch Love's roses fade, The fruit to ashes turn, the gold To worthless dross within our hold!
Now which has most of grief and pain, Which is the worse to bear: The joy we crave and never have, Or the curse of the granted prayer? The baffled wish or the bitter rue-- Could our hearts choose between the two?
O will of God, thou bless?d will! Which, like a balm?d air, The breath of souls about us rolls, Touching us everywhere, Imparting, like a soft caress, Healing, and help, and tenderness,
O will of God, be thou our will! Then, come or joy or pain, Made one with thee it cannot be That we shall wish in vain, And, whether granted or denied, Our hearts shall be all satisfied.
--Susan Coolidge.
OUT OF TOUCH
Only a smile, yes, only a smile That a woman o'erburdened with grief Expected from you; 'twould have given relief, For her heart ached sore the while; But weary and cheerless she went away, Because, as it happened, that very day You were "out of touch" with your Lord.
Only a word, yes, only a word, That the Spirit's small voice whispered "Speak"; But the worker passed onward unblessed and weak Whom you were meant to have stirred To courage, devotion, and love anew, Because when the message came to you You were "out of touch" with your Lord.
Only a note, yes, only a note To a friend in a distant land. The Spirit said "Write," but then you had planned Some different work, and you thought It mattered little. You did not know 'Twould have saved a soul from sin and woe; You were "out of touch" with your Lord.
Only a song, yes, only a song That the Spirit said "Sing to-night; Thy voice is thy Master's by purchased right"; But you thought, "'Mid this motley throng I care not to sing of the city of gold"-- And the heart that your words might have reached grew cold; You were "out of touch" with your Lord.
Only a day, yes, only a day! But oh, can you guess, my friend, Where the influence reaches, and where it will end Of the hours that you frittered away? The Master's command is "Abide in me" And fruitless and vain will your service be If "out of touch" with your Lord.
--Jean H. Watson.
Prayer is Innocence's friend; and willingly flieth incessant 'Twixt the earth and the sky, the carrier-pigeon of heaven.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
We may question with wand of science, Explain, decide, and discuss; But only in meditation The Mystery speaks to us.
--John Boyle O'Reilly.
THE VALLEY OF SILENCE
I walk down the Valley of Silence, Down the dim, voiceless valley alone! And I hear not the fall of a footstep Around me--save God's and my own! And the hush of my heart is as holy As hovers where angels have flown.
Long ago was I weary of voices Whose music my heart could not win; Long ago was I weary of noises That fretted my soul with their din; Long ago was I weary of places Where I met but the human and sin.
And I toiled on, heart-tired of the human, And I moaned 'mid the mazes of men, Till I knelt, long ago, at an altar, And heard a Voice call me. Since then I walk down the Valley of Silence That lies far beyond mortal ken.
Do you ask what I found in the Valley? 'Tis my trysting place with the Divine. When I fell at the feet of the Holy, And about me a voice said, "Be mine," There arose from the depths of my spirit An echo: "My heart shall be thine."
Do you ask how I live in the Valley? I weep, and I dream, and I pray; But my tears are as sweet as the dew-drops That fall on the roses in May; And my prayer, like a perfume from censer, Ascendeth to God night and day.
In the hush of the Valley of Silence, I dream all the songs that I sing; And the music floats down the dim valley Till each finds a word for a wing, That to men, like the doves of the deluge The message of peace they may bring.
But far out on the deep there are billows That never shall break on the beach; And I have heard songs in the silence That never shall float into speech; And I have had dreams in the valley Too lofty for language to reach.
And I have seen thoughts in the valley-- Ah, me! how my spirit was stirred! And they wear holy veils on their faces-- Their footsteps can scarcely be heard; They pass through the valley like virgins Too pure for the touch of a word.
Do you ask me the place of the Valley, Ye hearts that are harrowed by care? It lieth afar, between mountains, And God and his angels are there; And one is the dark Mount of Sorrow, The other, the bright Mount of Prayer.
--Abram Joseph Ryan.
HELP THOU MY UNBELIEF
Because I seek thee not O seek thou me! Because my lips are dumb O hear the cry I do not utter as thou passest by, And from my lifelong bondage set me free! Because, content, I perish far from thee, O seize me, snatch me from my fate and try My soul in thy consuming fire! Draw nigh And let me, blinded, thy salvation see.
PHARISEE AND PUBLICAN
Two went to pray? O, rather say One went to brag, the other to pray; One stands up close and treads on high, Where the other dares not lend his eye; One nearer to God's altar trod, The other to the altar's God.
--Richard Crashaw.
A MOMENT IN THE MORNING
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