66 WHENCE AND WHITHER. And, for the hope of all, Reveal Himself in One; Himself the way that leads us thither, The All-in-all, the Whence and Whither. FRANCIS T. Palgrave. THE BLESSED LIFE. BLESSED Life! The heart at rest, That trusts a Higher Will, and deems That Higher Will, not hers, is best. O Blessed Life! The mind that sees, O Blessed Life! The soul that soars, 68 THE BLESSED LIFE. O Blessed Life! Heart, mind, and soul, From self-born aims and wishes free; And loyal to the Lord's control. O Life, how blessed, how divine! High life, the earnest of a higher! And let this blessed Life be mine! WILLIAM TIDD MATSON. THE OLD AND NEW CREATION. OLE Maker of the Worlds! They lay Beyond the ken of solar ray Or reach of archangelic thought. Thou spak'st; and they were made! Forth sprang From every region of the abyss, Whose deeps, fire-cloven, with anthems rang, Thou spak'st:-upon the winds were found And the strong forests upward rushed. 70 THE OLD AND NEW CREATION. Before the Vision angels fell, As though the face of God they saw; And all the panting miracle Found rest within the arms of Law. Perfect, O God! Thy primal plan, That scheme frost-bound by Adam's sin; Create, within the heart of Man, Worlds meet for Thee, and dwell therein. From Thy bright realm of Sense and Nature, Shape Thou Thy Church, the crownèd creature, SIR AUBREY DE VERE. |