SCOFFERS. MOCK on, mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau, Mock on, mock on; 'tis all in vain; You throw the sand against the wind, And the wind blows it back again. And every sand becomes a gem Reflected in the beams divine; Blown back, they blind the mocking eye, But still in Israel's paths they shine. The atoms of Democritus And Newton's particles of light Are sands upon the Red Sea shore Where Israel's tents do shine so bright. THE AGONY OF FAITH. 'I SEE, I see,' the mother said, 'My children will die for lack of bread! What more has the merciless tyrant said?' The monk sat him down on her stony bed. His eye was dry, no tear could flow, A hollow groan bespoke his woe; He trembled and shuddered upon the bed; At length with a feeble cry he said : 'When God commanded this hand to write 'My brother starved between two walls, Thy children's crying my soul appals; I mocked at the rack and the griding chain,My bent body mocks at their torturing pain. Thy father drew his sword in the north, With his thousands strong he is marched forth; Thy brother hath armed himself in steel, To revenge the wrongs thy children feel. 'But vain the sword, and vain the bow,- 'For a tear is an intellectual thing, And a sigh is the sword of an angel king; And the bitter groan of a martyr's woe Is an arrow from the Almighty's bow. The hand of vengeance found the bed DAYBREAK. To find the western path, With soft repentant moan I see the break of day. The war of swords and spears, Exhales on high; The sun is freed from fears, THAMES AND OHIO. WHY should I care for the men of Thames And the cheating waters of chartered streams; Or shrink at the little blasts of fear That the hireling blows into mine ear? Though born on the cheating banks of Thames- YOUNG LOVE. ARE not the joys of morning sweeter And are the vigorous joys of youth Let age and sickness silent rob The vineyard in the night; But those who burn with vigorous youth RICHES. SINCE all the riches of this world May be gifts from the devil and earthly kings, I should suspect that I worshipped the devil If I thanked my God for worldly things. The countless gold of a merry heart, The rubies and pearls of a loving eye, The idle man never can bring to the mart Nor the cunning hoard up in his treasury. |