Sing thy song, thou tranced thrush, Frederick Locker-Lampson THE HIGHER PANTHEISM The sun, the moon, the stars, the seas, the hills, and the plains Are not these, O Soul, the Vision of Him who reigns? Is not the Vision He? tho' He be not that which He seems? Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams? Earth, these solid stars, this weight of body and limb, Dark is the world to thee: thyself art the reason why; Glory about thee, without thee; and thou fulfillest thy doom Making Him broken gleams, and a stifled splendour and gloom. Speak to Him thou for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can meet Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet. God is law, say the wise; O Soul, and let us rejoice, Law is God, say some: no God at all, says the fool; For all we have power to see is a straight staff bent in a pool; And the ear of man cannot hear, and the eye of man cannot see; But if we could see and hear, this Vision were it not He? Alfred Tennyson LOVE IN THE WINDS When I am standing on a mountain crest, Richard Hovey THE WIDOW'S MITE A widow she had only one! A puny and decrepit son; But, day and night, Though fretful oft, and weak and small, A loving child, he was her all The Widow's Mite. ay, so sustained, She battled onward, nor complained, Was music to her. I saw her then, and now I see Has sorrowed much: Sir Philip Sidney, Born 1554 Jonathan Swift, Born 1667 November the Thirtieth BREATHES THERE THE MAN Breathes there the man with soul so dead From wandering on a foreign strand! Sir Walter Scott WHEN I WAS ONE AND TWENTY When I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say, Give pearls away and rubies But I was one-and-twenty, When I was one-and-twenty A. E. Housman RULES AND LESSONS When first thy eyes unveil, give thy soul leave The spirit's duty. True hearts spread, and heave Give Him thy first thoughts then; so shalt thou keep Yet never sleep the sun up; - Prayer should Rise to prevent the sun; sleep doth sins glut, Walk with thy fellow creatures: note the hush To heighten thy devotions, and keep low All mutinous thoughts, what business e'er thou hast, Observe God in His works; here fountains flow, Birds sing, beasts feed, fish leap, and th' earth stands fast; Above are restless motions, running lights, Vast circling azure, giddy clouds, days, nights. When Seasons change, then lay before thine eyes |