A young expectant mother’s gaze
Held earth and heaven within its scope:
My thoughts went back to holy days—
I said, ‘I, too, have known that hope.’
I saw a stricken mother swayed
By sorrow’s storm, like wind-blown grass:
I said, ‘I, too, dismayed
Have seen the little white hearse pass.’
I saw a matron rich with years
Walk radiantly beside her mate:
I blessed them, and said through my tears,
‘I, too, have known that high estate.’
I saw a woman swathed in black
So blind with grief she could not see:
I said, ‘Not far need I look back—
I, too, have known Gethsemane.’
I saw a face so full of light,
It seemed with all God’s truths to shine:
I said, ‘I, too, have found my sight,
I, too, have touched the Fact Divine.’
HE THAT HATH EARS
‘He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.’—St. John the Divine.
The Spirit says unto the churches,
‘Ere ever the churches began
I lived in the centre of Being—
The life of the Purpose and Plan;
I flowed from the mind of the Maker
Through nature to man.
‘I sleep in the glow of the jewel,
I wake in the sap of the tree,
I stir in the beast of the forest,
I reason in man, and am free
To turn on the path of Ascension
To the god yet to be.
‘I was, and I am, and I will be;
I live in each church and each faith
But yield to no bond and no fetter,
I animate all with my breath;
I speak through the voice of the living
And I speak after death.’