The Mountain Spring And Other Poems | Page 2

earth, and
be forgiven!"
THE SLEET
Regal the earth seems with diamonds today,
Gemming all nature in
blazing array;
A picture more fairy-like never could be
Than this
wonderful icicle filigree.
A crystallized world! What a marvelous sight,
Gorgeous and grand in
the March sunlight!
The frost-king magician has changed the spring
showers
To turquois and topaz and sapphire bowers.

And what is the lesson we learn from the sleet,
As toiling life's road
with wearying feet,
Upward we strive, but failing so oft
In the
struggles that bear us aright and aloft?
'Tis this--that the hard breath of winter's chill blast Alone can this
mantle of loveliness cast;
And thus our sharp winds of trial may
prove
Angels to weave us bright garments of love.
ANSWERED
Ye realms of beauty from afar,
What speak ye to the saddened soul?

What is the message of each star
As ever ceaselessly ye roll?

Thus do ye answer: "We declare
God's glory; and to you 'tis given

To cast on him your every care,
For he hath wound the clock of
heaven."
Ye hoary hills which have looked down
On all the centuries of time,

Have felt their touch without a frown,
And with indifference
sublime,
What would ye speak, if understood,
Of life with all its
woes and ills?
'Tis this: to all they work for good
Who love the
maker of the hills.
ALONE
Genesis 28:10-22.
The sun had set. He was alone;
Mid twilight shadows he would rest.

He laid his head upon a stone
To woo sweet slumber for his guest.
Perhaps within those midnight hours
His rugged bed was cold and
chill,
But wrapped in Dreamland's mystic powers,
He knew no
danger, felt no ill.
A vision in his dreams appeared!
Angels were stepping to and fro

Upon a ladder which, upreared,
Aided their ministry below.

And then God spake in words which said
What future ages would
unfold,
The soil on which he made his bed
Was his, by prophecy
foretold.
He further heard that holy voice
Predict that through his tribe would
be
Blessings in which all should rejoice,
Blessings which all the
world should see.
Through Jacob would the gift be given
Of Jesus to this sinful earth;

God signified within this vision
Glad news of our Redeemer's birth;
The star of Bethlehem would shine,
That star of joy and peace and
love,
Our bleeding sacrifice divine
To cleanse our hearts, our guilt
remove.
If faith and praise in us abound
Toward Israel's God, angels are near;

His word declares they camp around
All those who look to him in
fear.
When Jacob woke, the ground he trod
Seemed holy; and he named
his stone
"Bethel," which means "the house of God."
With heaven
so near, was he alone?
NO OTHER
_Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved._--Acts
4:12.
Swiftly we float upon time's tide
Adown the stream of years.

Sometimes past hills of joy we glide,
Sometimes through vales of
tears.
Age follows youth, which, ere we know,
Has vanished like a dream,

And takes its glamour from the glow
Of mem'ry's silvery gleam.

There is no halt; and more and more
There seems an open sea

Reaching us with its ceaseless roar--
It is eternity.
There is one Pilot that we need,
One who can safely steer,
One who
at heaven's court can plead,
And all our journey cheer.
'Tis Jesus Christ; and all who see
In him the truth, the way,
Are in
possession of the key
To heaven's eternal day.
WEALTH
He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them.--Psalm
39:6.
O soul, it is not thine,
But lent to thee in trust
That thou may'st
make God's glory shine,
Secured from moth and rust.
Thou can'st not take one mite
Except as thou dost give
And waft it
in the golden light
Where heaven's glories live.
Go look for those in need--
The hungry and the cold.
Kind words
and actions are the seed
Which yield their fruits of gold.
Give to the heathen world
Knowledge of Christ our Lord;
Pray that
his banner be unfurled;
Send forth, his priceless word.
He lived for us and died,
And intercedes above.
His blood, a
sacrificial tide,
Redeems us by his love.
"Barbarian, bond and free,
The wise and the unwise"--
'Tis ours to
give and theirs to see
Salvation's blood-bought prize.
We know not 'neath the sky
Who'll gather of our store,
But if we
lay it up on high,
'Tis ours forevermore.
THE CAPTIVES

Psalm 137.
Captives by Babel's limpid streams,
We hung our harps on willows
there;
Wept over Zion; and our dreams,
Waking or sleeping, she did
share.
Our victors, with their battle arms,
Derided, jeered, and scorned our
tears;
Required mirth, diversion's charms,
To thus allay their guilty
fears.
"Sing us a song" is their demand,
"Yea, sing us one of Zion's songs!"

How can our voices thus expand
To what to us and God belongs?
How can we on this heathen shore,
Surrounded by idolatry,
Sing
songs that unto us are more
Than all their glittering pageantry?
Jerusalem, should we forget,
We pray our hearts and tongues be still!

Jerusalem! Oh, may we yet
Worship upon thy holy hill.
Babylon, thou art to be destroyed!
Thy doom's foretold in prophecy;

And happy be the means employed
To