Far away, amidst the regions Of the bright and balmy east, Guarded by angelic legions, Till death's slumber shall have ceased, (How should we its stillness stir?) Lies the Saviour's sepulchre. Far away;-yet thought would wander (Thought by faith's sure guidance led) Farther yet to weep, and ponder Over that sepulchral bed. Thither let us haste, and flee On the wings of phantasy. Haste, from every clime and nation, East and west, and south and north, Send your saintliest spirits forth. Mothers, ere the curtain closes Round your children's sleep to-night, Tell them how their Lord reposes, Waiting for to-morrow's light; Teach their dreams to Him toʻrove, Him who lov'd them, Him they love. Matron grave and blooming maiden, Come, and greet in death's dark hall, Men of God, devoutly toiling In the hearts of human kind; Ye who roam our seas and mountains, Men of labour, men of lore, Dwellers in the woods and valleys, From your halls of stately beauty, Haste, ye rich, and join the poor. Lo, His grave! the grey rock closes In whose boughs the small birds rest, And the morn with floods of splendour Ne'er was living thing, I wot, Which our Lord regarded not. Bird, and beast, and insect rover,— Heavenly thought to Him could yield. All that is, to Him did prove, Food for wisdom, food for love. But the hearts that bow'd before Him Then a brighter sun shall rise Than e'er kindled up the skies. All night long, with plaintive voicing, From to-morrow's harps shall flow. "Death and hell at length are slain, Christ hath triumph'd, Christ doth reign." XLVIJI 7. Moultrie THE RESURRECTION I got me flowers to strew Thy way; I got me boughs off many a tree : And brought'st Thy sweets along with Thee. The sun arising in the East, Though he give light, and the East perfume; If they should offer to contest With Thy arising, they presume. Can there be any day but this, Though many suns to shine endeavour? There is but One, and that One ever. XLIX George Herbert THE ASCENSION He is gone beyond the skies, He is gone and we return, With welcome shout, His coming feet; On Gennesareth's glist'ning shore, Never in that look, or voice, Shall Zion's walls again rejoice. He is gone and we remain We have still His work to do, He is gone-but we once more In the Heaven of Heavens, the same He is gone-but not in vain ; A. P. Stanley L CHRIST'S ASCENSION God is ascended up on high, With merry noise of trumpet-sound, And princely seated in the sky, Rules over all the world around. Sing praises then, sing praises loud He who ascended on a cloud, To Him all laud and praises sing. |