CXCVII

PRAYER AT MIDNIGHT

THE

HE stars shine bright while earth is dark!
While all the woods are dumb,

How clear those far-off silver chimes
From tower and turret come.

Chilly but sweet, the midnight air:
And lo! with every sound,
Down from the ivy-leaf a drop

Falls glittering on the ground.

'T was night when Christ was born on earth; Night heard his first, faint cry;

While angels carolled round the star
Of the Epiphany.

Alas! and is our love too weak

To meet him on his way?
To pray for nations in their sleep?
For Love then let us pray.

Pray for the millions slumbering now;
The sick who cannot sleep;

O may those sweet sounds waft them thoughts
As peaceful, and as deep.

Pray for th' unholy, and the vain :

O, may that pure-toned bell Disperse the demon powers of air, And evil dreams dispel !

And ever let us wing our prayer

With praise and ever say,
Glory to God who makes the night
Benignant as the day!

A. D. Vere

CXCVIII

THE UNBELIEVER

EHOLD yon wretch, by impious passion driven,

BE

Believes and trembles while he scoffs at Heaven; By weakness strong, and bold through fear alone, He dreads the sneer by shallow coxcombs thrown; Dauntless pursues the path Spinoza trod;

To man a coward, and a brave to God.

A. Pope

G

CXCIX

SEEDS OF LIGHT

OD scatters love on every side,
Freely among his children all,

And always hearts are lying open wide
Wherein some grains may fall.

There is no wind but soweth seeds

Of a more true and open life,

Which burst, unlooked for, into high-souled deeds, With wayside beauty rife.

We find within these souls of ours

Some wild germs of a higher birth,

Which in the poet's tropic heart bear flowers Whose fragrance fills the earth.

Within the hearts of all men lie
Those promises of wider bliss,

Which blossom into hopes that cannot die,
In sunny hours like this.

7. R. Lowell

DEE

CC

ST. AGNES' EVE

EEP on the convent-roof the snows
Are sparkling to the moon :

My breath to heaven like vapor goes:
May my soul follow soon!

The shadows of the convent-towers
Slant down the snowy sward,

Still creeping with the creeping hours
That lead me to my Lord :
Make Thou my spirit pure and clear

As are the frosty skies,

Or this first snowdrop of the year
That in my bosom lies.

As these white robes are soiled and dark,

To yonder shining ground;

As this pale taper's earthly spark,

To yonder argent round;

So shows my soul before the Lamb,

My spirit before Thee,

So in mine earthly house I am

To that I hope to be.

Break up the heavens, O Lord! and far,
Through all yon starlight keen,
Draw me, Thy bride, a glittering star
In raiment white and clean.

He lifts me to the golden doors;
The flashes come and go;
All heaven bursts her starry floors,
And strows her lights below,
And deepens on and up; the gates
Roll back, and far within

For me the Heavenly Bridegroom waits,
To make me pure of sin.
The sabbaths of Eternity,

One sabbath deep and wide,
A light upon the shining sea,-
The Bridegroom with his bride.

THE

VII

NATURE

CCI

PSALM XIX

HE spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,

And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.

The unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's power display,

And publishes to every land
The work of an Almighty hand.

Soon as the evening shades prevail
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the listening earth

Repeats the story of her birth;

Whilst all the stars that round her burn, And all the planets in their turn,

Confirm the tidings as they roll,

And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What, though in solemn silence all
Move round the dark terrestrial ball;
What, though no real voice or sound
Amidst their radiant orbs be found,
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing as they shine,

66

The hand that made us is Divine."

Joseph Addison