Bees in Amber | Page 8

loss to us and ours.
Our ways are not as Thine.

Thou lovest men, we--swine.
Oh, get you hence, Omnipotence,
And take this fool of
Thine!
His soul? What care we for his soul?
What good to us that Thou hast made
him whole,
Since we have lost our swine?
And Christ went sadly.
He had wrought for them a sign
Of Love, and Hope, and
Tenderness divine;
They wanted--swine.
Christ stands without your door and gently
knocks;
But if your gold, or swine, the entrance blocks,
He forces no man's hold--he
will depart,
And leave you to the treasures of your heart.
No cumbered chamber will the Master share,
But one swept bare
By cleansing fires,
then plenished fresh and fair
With meekness, and humility, and prayer.
There will He
come, yet, coming, even there
He stands and waits, and will no entrance win
Until the
latch be lifted from within.
THE BELLS OF STEPAN ILINE
(Cradle Song from "The Long Road.")
Whisht, Baby! Whisht!
Quick below the cover!
Down into your nest, my bird!

And--don't--you--dare--peep--over!
For the grey wolves they are prowling,
They are
prowling, they are prowling.
And the snow-wind it is howling,
It is howling, it is
howling.
Hark!--Hark!--
Out there in the dark--
Ow--ooh! Ow--ooh!

S-s-s-s-s-seee--oo--ooh!
The wolves they are lean,
So-o-o lean, so-o-o lean!
And
the wind it is keen,
So-o-o keen, so-o-o keen!
And they seek little babies who aren't

sleeping!
But lie you still, my Baby dear!
Lie still, lie still, and maybe you'll hear--

Hark!--Hark!--
Out there in the dark,--
The silver bells and the golden bells,
The
swinging bells and the singing bells,--
The bells that are heard but never are seen,
The
wind and the wolves, and the bells in between,--
The bells of Iline,
Good Stepan
Iline,--
The bells of good Stepan Iline!
BOLT THAT DOOR!
Each sin has its door of entrance.
Keep--that--door--closed!
Bolt it tight!
Just
outside, the wild beast crouches
In the night.
Pin the bolt with a prayer,
God will fix
it there.
GIANT CIRCUMSTANCE
Though every nerve be strained
To fine accomplishment,
Full oft the life fall spent

Before the prize is gained.
And, in our discontent
At waste so evident,
In doubt and
vast discouragement
We wonder what is meant.
But, tracing back, we find
A Power
that held the ways--
A Mighty Hand, a Master Mind,
That all the troubled course
defined
And overruled the days.
Some call it Fate; some--Chance;
Some--Giant
Circumstance;
And some, upreaching to the sense
Of God within the circumstance,

Do call it--Providence!
THE HUNGRY SEA
Down to the sea, the hungry sea,
O the sea is hungry ever!
Seeking food for the bairns and me,
Seeking food in the
hungry sea;
O the sea is hungry ever!
My man and my lad--their bones are white,
O the sea is hungry ever!
Into the maw of the grim black night,

Their hearts were
bold and their faces bright;
O the sea is hungry ever!
The sun was red and the clouds were black,
O the sea is hungry ever!
And the sky was heavy with flying wrack,
When forth they
fared,--and they came not back;
O the sea is hungry ever!
Forth they fared and they came not back,

O the sea is hungry ever!
O, I fear the sea, and I hate the sea,
That took my man and
my lad from me;
O the sea is hungry ever!
WE THANK THEE, LORD
We thank Thee, Lord,
That of Thy tender grace,
In our distress
Thou hast not left us
wholly comfortless.
We thank Thee, Lord,
That of Thy wondrous might,
Into our night
Thou hast sent
down the glory of the Light.
We thank Thee, Lord,
That all Thy wondrous ways,
Through all our days,
Are
Wisdom, Right, and Ceaseless Tenderness.
THE VAIL
He only sees both sides of that dark vail
That hangs before men's eyes--
He only. It is
well!
Hope ever stands unseen
Behind the screen,
For knowledge would bring Hope
to sudden death,
And cloud the present with the coming ill.
I would lie still, Dear
Lord,
I would lie still,
And stay my troubled heart on Thee,
Obedient to Thy will.
NO EAST OR WEST
In Christ there is no East or West,
In Him no South or North,
But one great
Fellowship of Love
Throughout the whole wide earth.
In Him shall true hearts everywhere
Their high communion find.
His service is the
golden cord
Close-binding all mankind.
Join hands then, Brothers of the Faith,
Whatever your race may be!--
Who serves my
Father as a son
Is surely kin to me.
In Christ now meet both East and West,
In Him meet South and North,
All Christly
souls are one in Him,
Throughout the whole wide earth.
THE DAY--THE WAY
Not for one single day
Can I discern my way,
But this I surely know,--
Who gives the day,
Will show the way,
So I securely go.
LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY

O God, within whose sight
All men have equal right
To worship Thee.
Break every bar that holds
Thy flock in diverse folds!
Thy Will
from none withholds
Full liberty.
Lord, set Thy Churches free
From foolish rivalry!
Lord, set us free!
Let all past bitterness
Now and for ever cease,
And all our souls
possess
Thy charity!
Lord, set the people free!
Let all men draw to Thee
In unity!
Thy temple courts are wide,
Therein let all abide
In peace, and side by
side,
Serve only Thee!
God, grant us now Thy peace!
Bid