And best of all, she will bring holy faith
To penetrate the shadowy world of death,
And show the road beyond it, bright and broad,
That leads straight up to God.
CERTITUDE
There was a time when I was confident
That God’s stupendous mystery of birth
Was mine to know. The wonder of it lent
New ecstasy and glory to the earth.
I heard no voice that uttered it aloud,
Nor was it written for me on a scroll;
Yet, if alone or in the common crowd,
I felt myself a consecrated soul.
My child leaped in its dark and silent room
And cried, ‘I am,’ though all unheard by men.
So leaps my spirit in the body’s gloom
And cries, ‘I live! I shall be born again.’
Elate with certitude towards death I go,
Nor doubt, nor argue, since I know, I know!
COMPASSION
He was a failure, and one day he died.
Across the border of the mapless land
He found himself among a sad-eyed band
Of disappointed souls; they, too, had tried
And missed their purpose. With one voice they cried
Unto the shining Angel in command:
‘Oh, lead us not before our Lord to stand,
For we are failures, failures! Let us hide.’
Yet on the Angel fared, until they stood
Before the Master. (Even His holy place
The hideous noises of the earth assailed.)
Christ reached His arms out to the trembling brood,
With God’s vast sorrow in His listening face.
Come unto Me,’ He said; ‘I, too, have failed.’
LOVE
Dreaming of love, the ardent mind of youth
Conceives it one with passion’s brief delights,
With keen desire and rapture. But, in truth,
These are but milestones to sublime heights
After the highways, swept by strong emotions,
Where wild winds blow and blazing sun rays beat,
After the billows of tempestuous oceans,
Fair mountain summits wait the lover’s feet.
The path is narrow, but the view is wide,
And beauteous the outlook towards the west
Happy are they who walk there side by side,
Leaving below the valleys of unrest,
And on the radiant altitudes above
Know the serene intensity of love.