Bees in Amber | Page 4

released from prison?Is risen, is risen,--?Is risen to the glory of the Lord_."
SHADOWS
Shadows are but for the moment--?Quickly past;?And then the sun the brighter shines?That it was overcast.
For Light is Life!?Gracious and sweet,?The fair life-giving sun doth scatter blessings?With his light and heat,--?And shadows.?But the shadows that come of the life-giving sun?Crouch at his feet.
No mortal life but has its shadowed times--?Not one!?Life without shadow could not taste the full?Sweet glory of the sun.
No shadow falls, but there, behind it, stands?The Light?Behind the wrongs and sorrows of life's troublous ways?Stands RIGHT.
THE INN OF LIFE
_As It was in the Beginning,--?Is Now,--?And...?
Anno Domini I_.

"No room!?No room!?The Inn is full,?Yea--overfull.?No room have we?for such as ye--?Poor folk of Galilee,
Pass on! Pass on!"
"Nay then!--?Your charity?Will ne'er deny?Some corner mean,?Where she may lie unseen.?For see!--?Her time is nigh."
"Alack! And she?So young and fair!?Place have we none;?And yet--how bid ye gone??Stay then!--out there?Among the beasts?Ye may find room,?And eke a truss?To lie upon."
Anno Domini 1913, etc., etc.

"No room!?No room!?No room for Thee,?Thou Man of Galilee!?The house is full,?Yea, overfull.?There is no room for Thee,--
Pass on! Pass on!
Nay--see!?The place is packed.?"We scarce have room?For our own selves,?So how shall we?Find room for Thee,?Thou Man of Galilee,--
Pass on! Pass on!
But--if Thou shouldst?This way again,?And we can find?So much as one small corner?Free from guest,?Not then in vain?Thy quest.?But now--?The house is full.
Pass on!"
Christ passes?On His ceaseless quest,?Nor will He rest?With any,?Save as Chiefest Guest.
LIFE'S CHEQUER-BOARD
"'Tis all a Chequer-Board of Nights and Days,?Where Detiny with men for pieces plays,?Hither and thither moves, and mates and slays,?And one by one back in the Closet lays."
Omar Khayyam.
A Chequer-Board of mingled Light and Shade??And We the Pieces on it deftly laid??Moved and removed, without a word to say,?By the Same Hand that Board and Pieces made?
No Pieces we in any Fateful Game,?Nor free to shift on Destiny the blame;?Each Soul doth tend its own immortal flame,?Fans it to Heaven, or smothers it in shame.
CROSS-ROADS
Oft, as he jogs along the Winding-Way,?Occasion comes for Every Man to say,--?"This Road?--or That?" and as he chooses them,?So shall his journey end in Night or Day.
QUO VADIS?
Peter, outworn,?And menaced by the sword,?Shook off the dust of Rome;?And, as he fled,?Met one, with eager face,?Hastening cityward,?And, to his vast amaze,?It was The Lord.?"Lord, whither goest Thou?"?He cried, importunate,?And Christ replied,--?"_Peter, I suffer loss.?I go to take thy place,?To bear thy cross_."
Then Peter bowed his head,?Discomforted;?There, at the Master's feet,?Found grace complete,?And courage, and new faith,?And turned--with Him,?To Death.
So we,--?Whene'er we fail?Of our full duty,?Cast on Him our load,--
Who suffered sore for us,?Who frail flesh wore for us,?Who all things bore for us,--?On Christ, The Lord.
TAMATE
Great-Heart is dead, they say,--
Great-Heart the Teacher,?Great-Heart the Joyous,?Great-Heart the Fearless,?Great-Heart the Martyr,?Great-Heart of Sweet White Fire.
Great-Heart is dead, they say,--
Fighting the fight,?Holding the Light,?Into the night.?Great-Heart is dead, they say.--
But the Light shall burn the brighter.?And the night shall be the lighter,?For his going;?And a rich, rich harvest for his sowing.
Great-Heart is dead, they say!--?What is death to such an one as Great-Heart?
One sigh, perchance, for work unfinished here;--?Then a swift passing to a mightier sphere,?New joys, perfected powers, the vision clear,?And all the amplitude of heaven to work?The work he held so dear.
Great-Heart is dead, say they?
Nor dead nor sleeping! He lives on! His name?Shall kindle many a heart to equal flame.?The fire he lighted shall burn on and on,?Till all the darkness of the lands be gone,?And all the kingdoms of the earth be won,?And one.
_A soul so fiery sweet can never die,?But lives and loves and works through all eternity_.
BURDEN-BEARERS
Burden-bearers are we all,?Great and small.?Burden-sharers be ye all,?Great and small!?Where another shares the load,?Two draw nearer God.?Yet there are burdens we can share with none,?Save God;?And paths remote where we must walk alone,?With God;?For lonely burden and for path apart--?Thank God!?If these but serve to bring the burdened heart?To God.
THE IRON FLAIL
Time beats out all things with his iron flail,?Things great, things small.?With steady strokes that never fail,?With slow, sure strokes of his iron flail,?Time beats out all.
SARK
Pearl Iridescent! Pearl of the sea!?Shimmering, glimmering Pearl of the sea!
White in the sun-flecked Silver Sea,?White in the moon-decked Silver Sea,?White in the wrath of the Silver Sea,--?Pearl of the Silver Sea!
Lapped in the smile of the Silver Sea,?Ringed in the foam of the Silver Sea,?Glamoured in mists of the Silver Sea,--?Pearl of the Silver Sea!
Glancing and glimmering under the sun.?Jewel and casket all in one,?Joy supreme of the sun's day dream,?Soft in the gleam of the golden beam,--?Pearl of the Silver Sea!
Splendour of Hope in the rising sun,?Glory of Love in the noonday sun,?Wonder of Faith in the setting sun,--?Pearl of the Silver Sea!
Gaunt and grim to the outer world,?Jewel and casket all impearled?With the kiss of the Silver Sea!--?With the flying kiss of the Silver Sea,?With the long sweet kiss of