diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:33:56 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:33:56 -0700 |
| commit | 722fc2856b1a5fe19958ac7927d35df9e23da79c (patch) | |
| tree | 17fe371759ed000725e0603dab868a925c0fdc12 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 27126-8.txt | 3554 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 27126-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 44157 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 27126.txt | 3554 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 27126.zip | bin | 0 -> 44134 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
7 files changed, 7124 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/27126-8.txt b/27126-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c340034 --- /dev/null +++ b/27126-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3554 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of 'All's Well!', by John Oxenham + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 'All's Well!' + +Author: John Oxenham + +Release Date: November 6, 2008 [EBook #27126] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'ALL'S WELL!' *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +"ALL'S WELL!" + + +BY + +JOHN OXENHAM + + + +AUTHOR OF "BEES IN AMBER," ETC. + + + + +NEW YORK + +GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1916, + +BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY + + + + + TO + + MY SON HUGO + + 2nd LIEUT. ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS + + + TO + + ALL HIS COMRADES IN ARMS + ON LAND AND ON SEA + + AND TO + + ALL SORELY-TRIED HEARTS + AT HOME AND ELSEWHERE + + _THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED_ + + IN PROFOUNDEST ADMIRATION, + IN MOST LOVING SYMPATHY, + AND IN PERFECT ASSURANCE + THAT SINCE GOD IS, + RIGHT MUST WIN + AND THE FUTURE WILL BE + BETTER THAN THE PAST + + + + +FOREWORD + +For those who were chiefly in my heart when these verses came to me +from time to time--our men and boys at the Front, and those they leave +behind them in grievous sorrow and anxiety at home--my little message +is that, so far as they are concerned--"ALL'S WELL!" + +Those who have so nobly responded to the Call, and those who, with +quiet faces and breaking hearts, have so bravely bidden them "God +speed!"--with these, All is truly Well, for they are equally giving +their best to what, in this case, we most of us devoutly believe to be +the service of God and humanity. + +War is red horror. But, better war than the utter crushing-out of +liberty and civilisation under the heel of Prussian or _any other_ +militarism. + +Germany has avowedly outmarched Christianity and left it in the rear, +along with its outclassed guns and higher ideals of, say, 1870, its +honour, its humanity, and all the other lumber, useless to an +absolutely materialistic people whose only object is to win the world +even at the price of its soul. + +The world is witnessing with abhorrence the results, and, we may surely +hope, learning therefrom The Final Lesson for its own future guidance. + +The war-cloud still hangs over us--as I write, but, grim as it is, +there are not lacking gleams of its silver linings. If war brings out +the very worst in human nature it offers opportunity also for the +display of the very best. And, thank God, proofs of this are not +wanting among us, and it is better to let one's thought range the light +rather than the darkness. + +What the future holds for us no man may safely say. Mighty changes +without a doubt. May they all be for the better! But if that is to be +it must be the work of every one amongst us. In this, as in everything +else, each one of us helps or hinders, makes or mars. + +If, in some of these verses, I have endeavoured to strike a note of +warning, it is because the times, and the times that are coming, call +for it. May it be heeded! + +That the end of the present world-strife must and will mark also the +end of the most monstrous tyranny and the most hideous conception of +"Kultur" the world has ever seen, no man for one moment doubts. + +But that is not an end but a beginning. Unless on the ashes of the +past we build to nobler purpose, all our gallant dead will have been +thrown away, all this gigantic effort, with all its inevitable horror +and loss, will have been in vain. + +It rests with each one among us to say that that shall not be,--that +the future shall repair the past,--that out of this holocaust of death +shall come new life. + +It behoves every one of us, each in his and her own sphere, and each in +his and her own way, to strive with heart and soul for that mighty end. + +JOHN OXENHAM. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PART ONE: "ALL'S WELL!" + + GOD IS + WATCHMAN! WHAT OF THE NIGHT? + FOR THE MEN AT THE FRONT + IN TIME OF NEED + CHRISTS ALL! + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + WHERE ARE YOU SLEEPING TO-NIGHT, MY LAD? + BE QUIET! + TO YOU WHO HAVE LOST + LORD, SAVE THEIR SOULS ALIVE! + THE ALABASTER BOX + WHITE BROTHER + A LITTLE TE DEUM FOR THESE TIMES + THY WILL BE DONE! + DIES IRAE--DIES PACIS + JUDGMENT DAY + THE HIGH THINGS + THE EMPTY CHAIR + ROAD-MATES + ALPHA--OMEGA + HAIL!--AND FAREWELL! + A SILENT TE DEUM + THE NAMELESS GRAVES + BLINDED! + SAID THE WOUNDED ONE:---- + OUR SHARE + POLICEMAN X.--EPILOGUE, 1914 + THE MEETING-PLACE + VICTORY DAY + WHEN HE TRIES THE HEARTS OF MEN + POISON-SEEDS + THE WAR-MAKERS + IS LIFE WORTH LIVING? + GOD'S HANDWRITING + + +PART TWO: THE KING'S HIGH WAY + + THE KING'S HIGH WAY + THE WAYS + AD FINEM + EVENING BRINGS US HOME + THE REAPER + NO MAN GOETH ALONE. + ROSEMARY + EASTER SUNDAY, 1916 + THE CHILD OF THE MAID + WASTED? + SHORTENED LIVES + LAGGARD SPRING + LONELY BROTHER + COMFORT YE! + S. ELIZABETH'S LEPER + VOX CLAMANTIS + FLORA'S BIT + RED BREAST + OUR HEARTS FOR YOU + THE BURDENED ASS + WINNERS OR LOSERS? + CHRIST AT THE BAR + MY BROTHER'S KEEPER? + A TELEPHONE MESSAGE + THE STARS' ACCUSAL + NO PEACE BUT A RIGHT PEACE + IN CHURCH. 1916. + TE DEUM + THROUGH ME ONLY + PRINCE OF PEACE + THE WINNOWING + TO THIS END + + ALL'S WELL! + + + + + PART ONE: "ALL'S WELL!" + + + GOD IS + + God is; + God sees; + God loves; + God knows. + And Right is Right; + And Right is Might. + In the full ripeness of His Time, + All these His vast prepotencies + Shall round their grace-work to the prime + Of full accomplishment, + And we shall see the plan sublime + Of His beneficent intent. + Live on in hope! + Press on in faith! + Love conquers all things, + Even Death. + + + + + WATCHMAN! WHAT OF THE NIGHT? + + Watchman! What of the night? + No light we see,-- + Our souls are bruised and sickened with the sight + Of this foul crime against humanity. + The Ways are dark---- + "I SEE THE MORNING LIGHT!" + + --The Ways are dark; + Faith folds her wings; and Hope, in piteous plight, + Has dimmed her radiant lamp to feeblest spark. + Love bleeding lies---- + "I SEE THE MORNING LIGHT!" + + --Love bleeding lies, + Struck down by this grim fury of despight, + Which once again her Master crucifies. + He dies again---- + "I SEE THE MORNING LIGHT!" + + --He dies again, + By evil slain! Who died for man's respite + By man's insensate rage again is slain. + O woful sight!---- + "I SEE THE MORNING LIGHT! + + --Beyond the war-clouds and the reddened ways, + I see the Promise of the Coming Days! + I see His Sun arise, new-charged with grace + Earth's tears to dry and all her woes efface! + Christ lives! Christ loves! Christ rules! + No more shall Might, + Though leagued with all the Forces of the Night, + Ride over Right. No more shall Wrong + The world's gross agonies prolong. + Who waits His Time shall surely see + The triumph of His Constancy;-- + When, without let, or bar, or stay, + The coming of His Perfect Day + Shall sweep the Powers of Night away;-- + And Faith, replumed for nobler flight, + And Hope, aglow with radiance bright, + And Love, in loveliness bedight, + SHALL GREET THE MORNING LIGHT!" + + + + + + FOR THE MEN AT THE FRONT + + Lord God of Hosts, whose mighty hand + Dominion holds on sea and land, + In Peace and War Thy Will we see + Shaping the larger liberty. + Nations may rise and nations fall, + Thy Changeless Purpose rules them all. + + When Death flies swift on wave or field, + Be Thou a sure defence and shield! + Console and succour those who fall, + And help and hearten each and all! + O, hear a people's prayers for those + Who fearless face their country's foes! + + For those who weak and broken lie, + In weariness and agony-- + Great Healer, to their beds of pain + Come, touch, and make them whole again! + O, hear a people's prayers, and bless + Thy servants in their hour of stress! + +[Five million copies of this hymn have been sold and the profits given +to the various Funds for the Wounded. It is now being sung all round +the world.] + + For those to whom the call shall come + We pray Thy tender welcome home. + The toil, the bitterness, all past, + We trust them to Thy Love at last. + O, hear a people's prayers for all + Who, nobly striving, nobly fall! + + To every stricken heart and home, + O, come! In tenderest pity, come! + To anxious souls who wait in fear, + Be Thou most wonderfully near! + And hear a people's prayers, for faith + To quicken life and conquer death! + + For those who minister and heal, + And spend themselves, their skill, their zeal-- + Renew their hearts with Christ-like faith, + And guard them from disease and death. + And in Thine own good time, Lord, send + Thy Peace on earth till Time shall end! + + + + + IN TIME OF NEED + + Better than I, + Thou knowest, Lord, + All my necessity, + And with a word + Thou canst it all supply. + Help other is there none + Save Thee alone; + Without Thee I'm undone. + And so, to Thee I cry,-- + O, be Thou nigh! + For, better far than I, + Thou knowest, Lord, + All my necessity. + + + + + CHRIST'S ALL! + + _Our Boys Who Have Gone to the Front_ + + +(_"Be christs!"--was one of W. T. Stead's favourite sayings. Not "Be +like Christ!"--but--"Be christs!" And he used the word no doubt in its +original meaning,--anointed, ordained, chosen. As such we, whose boys +have gone to the Front, think of them. For they have gone, most of +them, from a simple, high sense of duty, and in many cases under direst +feeling of personal repulsion against the whole ghastly business. They +have sacrificed everything, knowing full well that many of them will +never return to us._) + + + Ye are all christs in this your self-surrender,-- + True sons of God in seeking not your own. + Yours now the hardships,--yours shall be the splendour + Of the Great Triumph and THE KING'S "Well done!" + + Yours these rough Calvaries of high endeavour,-- + Flame of the trench, and foam of wintry seas. + Nor Pain, nor Death, nor aught that is can sever + You from the Love that bears you on His knees. + + Yes, you are christs, if less at times your seeming.-- + Christ walks the earth in many a simple guise. + We know you christs, when, in your souls' redeeming, + The Christ-light blazes in your steadfast eyes. + + Here--or hereafter, you shall see it ended,-- + This mighty work to which your souls are set. + If from beyond--then, with the vision splendid, + You shall smile back and never know regret. + + Or soon, or late, for each--the Life Immortal! + And not for us to choose the How or When. + Or late, or soon,--what matter?--since the Portal + Leads but to glories passing mortal ken. + + O Lads! Dear Lads! Our christs of God's anointing! + Press on in hope! Your faith and courage prove! + Pass--by these High Ways of the Lord's appointing! + You cannot pass beyond our boundless love. + + + + +THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + +()"In the evening I went for a walk to a village lately shelled by +German heavy guns. Their effect was awful--ghastly. It was impossible +to imagine the amount of damage done until one really saw it. The +church was terrible too. The spire was sticking upside down in the +ground a short distance from the door. The church itself was a mass of +debris. Scarcely anything was left unhit. In the churchyard again the +destruction was terrific--tombstones thrown all over the place. But +the most noticeable thing of all was that the three Crucifixes--one +inside and two outside--were untouched! How they can have avoided the +shelling is quite beyond me. It was a wonderful sight though an awful +one. There were holes in the churchyard about fifteen feet +across."--From a letter from my boy at the Front._) + + The churchyard stones all blasted into shreds, + The dead re-slain within their lowly beds,-- + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + + His holy ground all cratered and crevassed, + All flailed to fragments by the fiery blast,-- + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + + His church a blackened ruin, scarce one stone + Left on another,--yet, untouched alone,-- + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + + His shrines o'erthrown, His altars desecrate, + His priests the victims of a pagan hate,-- + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + + 'Mid all the horrors of the reddened ways, + The thund'rous nights, the dark and dreadful days,-- + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + + * * * * * + + And, 'mid the chaos of the Deadlier Strife,-- + A Church at odds with its own self and life,-- + HIS CROSS STILL STANDS! + + Faith folds her wings, and Hope at times grows dim; + The world goes wandering away from Him;-- + HIS CROSS STILL STANDS! + + Love, with the lifted hands and thorn-crowned head, + Still conquers Death, though life itself be fled;-- + HIS CROSS STILL STANDS! + + Yes,--Love triumphant stands, and stands for more, + In our great need, than e'er it stood before! + HIS CROSS STILL STANDS! + + + + + WHERE ARE YOU SLEEPING TO-NIGHT, MY LAD? + + Where are you sleeping to-night, My Lad, + Above-ground--or below? + The last we heard you were up at the front, + Holding a trench and bearing the brunt;-- + But--that was a week ago. + + Ay!--that was a week ago, Dear Lad, + And a week is a long, long time, + When a second's enough, in the thick of the strife, + To sever the thread of the bravest life, + And end it in its prime. + + Oh, a week is long when so little's enough + To send a man below. + It may be that while we named your name + The bullet sped and the quick end came,-- + And the rest we shall never know. + + But this we know, Dear Lad,--all's well + With the man who has done his best. + And whether he live, or whether he die, + He is sacred high in our memory;-- + And to God we can leave the rest. + + So--wherever you're sleeping to-night, Dear Lad, + This one thing we do know,-- + When "Last Post" sounds, and He makes His rounds, + Not one of you all will be out of bounds, + Above ground or below. + + + + + BE QUIET! + + Soul, dost thou fear + For to-day or to-morrow? + 'Tis the part of a fool + To go seeking sorrow. + Of thine own doing + Thou canst not contrive them. + 'Tis He that shall give them; + Thou may'st not outlive them. + So why cloud to-day + With fear of the sorrow, + That may or may not + Come to-morrow? + + + + + TO YOU WHO HAVE LOST + + I know! I know!-- + The ceaseless ache, the emptiness, the woe,-- + The pang of loss,-- + The strength that sinks beneath so sore a cross. + "_--Heedless and careless, still the world wags on, + And leaves me broken ... Oh, my son! my son!_" + + Yet--think of this!-- + Yea, rather think on this!-- + He died as few men get the chance to die,-- + Fighting to save a world's morality. + He died the noblest death a man may die, + Fighting for God, and Right, and Liberty;-- + And such a death is Immortality. + + "_He died unnoticed in the muddy trench._" + Nay,--God was with him, and he did not blench; + Filled him with holy fires that nought could quench, + And when He saw his work below was done, + He gently called to him,--"_My son! My son! + I need thee for a greater work than this. + Thy faith, thy zeal, thy fine activities + Are worthy of My larger liberties;_"-- + --Then drew him with the hand of welcoming grace, + And, side by side, they climbed the heavenly ways. + + + + + LORD, SAVE THEIR SOULS ALIVE! + + Lord, save their souls alive! + And--for the rest,-- + We leave it all to Thee; + Thou knowest best. + + Whether they live or die, + Safely they'll rest, + Every true soul of them, + Thy Chosen Guest. + + Whether they live or die, + They chose the best, + They sprang to Duty's call, + They stood the test. + + If they come back to us-- + How grateful we! + If not,--we may not grieve; + They are with Thee. + + No soul of them shall fail, + Whate'er the past. + Who dies for Thee and Thine + Wins Thee at last. + + Who, through the fiery gates, + Enter Thy rest, + Greet them as conquerors,-- + Bravest and best! + + Every white soul of them, + Ransomed and blest,-- + Wear them as living gems, + Bear them as living flames, + High on Thy breast! + + + + + THE ALABASTER BOX + + The spikenard was not wasted;-- + All down the tale of years, + The fragrance of that broken alabaster + Still clings to Mary's memory, + As clung its perfume sweet unto her Master. + + Not less than Martha, + Mary served her Lord, + Although she but sat worshipping, + While Martha spread the board. + + They also minister to Christ, + And render noblest duty, + Whose sweet hands touch life's common rounds + To Fragrance and to Beauty. + + + + + WHITE BROTHER + + Midway between the flaming lines he lay, + A tumbled heap of blood, and sweat, and clay; + --God's son! + + And none could succour him. First this one tried, + Then that ... and then another ... and they died; + --God's sons! + + Those others saw his plight, and laughed and jeered, + And, at each helper's fall, laughed more, and cheered; + --God's sons? + + So, through the torture of an endless day, + In agonies that none could ease, he lay; + --God's son! + + Then, as he wrestled for each hard-won breath, + Bleeding his life out, craving only death;-- + --God's son! + + --Came One in white, athwart the fiery hail, + And in His hand, a shining cup--The Grail; + --God's Son! + + He knelt beside him on the reeking ground, + And with a touch soothed each hot-throbbing wound; + --God's Son! + + Gave him to drink, and in his failing ear + Whispered sweet words of comfort and good cheer; + --God's Son! + + The suffering one looked up into the face + Of Him whose death to sinners brought God's grace; + --God's Son! + + The tender brow with unhealed wounds was scarred, + The hand that held The Cup, the nails had marred; + --God's Son! + + "Brother, for thee I suffered greater woes; + As I forgave,--do thou forgive thy foes, + --God's son!" + + "Yea, Lord, as Thou forgavest, I forgive; + And now, my soul unto Thyself receive, + --God's Son!" + + Thick-clustered in the battered trench, amazed, + They gazed at that strange sight ... and gazed ... and gazed; + --God's sons! + + --The Christ of God, come down to succour one + Of their own number,--their own mate-- + --God's son! + + And none who saw that sight will e'er forget + How once, upon the field of death, they met + --God's Son. + + + + + A LITTLE TE DEUM FOR THESE TIMES + + We thank Thee, Lord, + For mercies manifold in these dark days;-- + For Heart of Grace that would not suffer wrong; + For all the stirrings in the dead dry bones; + For bold self-steeling to the times' dread needs; + For every sacrifice of self to Thee; + For ease and wealth and life so freely given; + For Thy deep sounding of the hearts of men; + For Thy great opening of the hearts of men; + For Thy close-knitting of the hearts of men; + For all who sprang to answer the great call; + For their high courage and self-sacrifice; + For their endurance under deadly stress; + For all the unknown heroes who have died + To keep the land inviolate and free; + For all who come back from the Gates of Death; + For all who pass to larger life with Thee, + And find in Thee the wider liberty; + For hope of Righteous and Enduring Peace; + For hope of cleaner earth and closer heaven; + With burdened hearts, but faith unquenchable,-- + We thank Thee, Lord! + + + + + THY WILL BE DONE! + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + Let all the worlds + Resound with that divinest prayer! + The joyous souls redeemed from ill + Know all the wonders of Thy Will; + Heaven's highest bliss is surely this,-- + "_Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + Tis not Thy Will + That Sin or Sorrow rule the world. + Thy Will is Joy, and Hope, and Light; + Thy Will is All-Triumphant Right. + And so, exultantly, we cry,-- + "_Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + It is Thy Will + That all Life's wrongs should be redressed; + That burdened souls their bonds should break; + That Earth of Heavenly Joys partake. + And so, right wistfully, we cry,-- + "_Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + 'Tis not Thy Will + That man should kiss a chastening rod; + But, heart abrim, and head to heaven, + Should praise his God for mercies given, + And ever cry right joyously,-- + "_Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + It is Thy Will + That Life should seek its golden prime,-- + That strife 'twixt man and man should cease,-- + That all Thy sons should build Thy peace. + And so, full longingly, we cry,-- + "_Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + Then Earth were Heaven, + If but Thy gracious Will prevailed; + If every will that worketh ill + Would bend to Thine, and Thine fulfil, + And with us pray,--"_Bring in Thy Day! + Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + + + + DIES IRAE--DIES PACIS + +(_As earnestly as any I crave the victory of Right over this madness of +Insensate Might against which we are contending. As certainly as any I +would, if that were conceivably possible, have adequate punishment +meted out to those who have brought this horror upon the world. But I +see, as all save the utterly earth-blinded must see--that when the Day +of Settlement comes, and we and our allies are in a position to impose +terms, unless we go into the Council-Chamber with hearts set inflexibly +on the Common Weal of the World--in a word, unless we invite Christ to +a seat at the Board--the end may be even worse than the +beginning;--this which we have hoped and prayed night be the final war +may prove but the beginning of strifes incredible._) + + + "Only through Me!" ... The clear, high call comes pealing, + Above the thunders of the battle-plain;-- + "Only through Me can Life's red wounds find healing; + Only through Me shall Earth have peace again. + + Only through Me! ... Love's Might, all might transcending, + Alone can draw the poison-fangs of Hate. + Yours the beginning!--Mine a nobler ending,-- + Peace upon Earth, and Man regenerate! + + Only through Me can come the great awaking; + Wrong cannot right the wrongs that Wrong hath done; + Only through Me, all other gods forsaking, + Can ye attain the heights that must be won. + + Only through Me shall Victory be sounded; + Only through Me can Right wield righteous sword; + Only through Me shall Peace be surely founded; + Only through Me! ... _Then bid Me to the Board!_" + + * * * * * + + _Can we not rise to such great height of glory? + Shall this vast sorrow spend itself in vain? + Shall future ages tell the woful story,-- + "Christ by His own was crucified again"?_ + + + + + JUDGMENT DAY + + The nations are in the proving; + Each day is Judgment Day; + And the peoples He finds wanting + Shall pass--by the Shadowy Way. + + + + + THE HIGH THINGS + + The Greatest Day that ever dawned,-- + It was a Winter's Morn. + + The Finest Temple ever built + Was a Shed where a Babe was born. + + The Sweetest Robes by woman wrought + Were the Swaths by the Baby worn. + + And the Fairest Hair the world has seen, + --Those Locks that were never shorn. + + The Noblest Crown man ever wore,-- + It was the Plaited Thorn. + + The Grandest Death man ever died,-- + It was the Death of Scorn. + + The Sorest Grief by woman known + Was the Mother-Maid's forlorn. + + The Deepest Sorrows e'er endured + Were by The Outcast borne. + + The Truest Heart the world e'er broke + Was the Heart by man's sins torn. + + + + + THE EMPTY CHAIR + + Wherever is an empty chair-- + Lord, be Thou there! + And fill it--like an answered prayer-- + With grace of fragrant thought, and rare + Sweet memories of him whose place + Thou takest for a little space!-- + --With thought of that heroical + Great heart that sprang to Duty's call; + --With thought of all the best in him, + That Time shall have no power to dim; + --With thought of Duty nobly done, + And High Eternal Welfare won. + + Think! Would you wish that he had stayed, + When all the rest The Call obeyed? + --That thought of self had held in thrall + His soul, and shrunk it mean and small? + + Nay, rather thank the Lord that he + Rose to such height of chivalry; + --That, with the need, his loyal soul + Swung like a needle to its pole; + --That, setting duty first, he went + At once, as to a sacrament. + + So, Lord, we thank Thee for Thy Grace, + And pray Thee fill his vacant place! + + + + + ROAD-MATES + + From deepest depth, O Lord, I cry to Thee. + "_My Love runs quick to your necessity._" + + I am bereft; my soul is sick with loss. + "_Dear one, I know. My heart broke on the Cross._" + + What most I loved is gone. I walk alone. + "_My Love shall more than fill his place, my own._" + + The burden is too great for me to bear. + "_Not when I'm here to take an equal share._" + + The road is long, and very wearisome. + "_Just on in front I see the light of home._" + + The night is black; I fear to go astray. + "_Hold My hand fast. I'll lead you all the way._" + + My eyes are dim, with weeping all the night. + "_With one soft kiss I will restore your sight._" + + And Thou wilt do all this for me?--for me? + "_For this I came--to bear you company._" + + + + + ALPHA--OMEGA + + Curly head, and laughing eyes,-- + Mischief that all blame defies. + + Cricket,--footer,--Eton-jacket,-- + Everlasting din and racket. + + Tennis,--boating,--socks and ties,-- + Tragedies,--and comedies. + + Business,--sobered,--getting on,-- + One girl now,--The Only One. + + London Scottish,--sporran,--kilt,-- + Bonnet cocked at proper tilt. + + Dies Irae!--Off to France,-- + Lord,--a safe deliverance! + + Deadly work,--foul gases,--trenches; + Naught that radiant spirit quenches. + + Letters dated "Somewhere--France,"-- + Mud,--and grub,--and no romance. + + Hearts at home all on the quiver, + Telegrams make backbones shiver. + + Silence!--Feverish enquiry;-- + Dies Irae!--Dies Irae! + + His the joy,--and ours the pain, + But, ere long, we'll meet again. + + Not too much we'll sorrow--for + It's both "à Dieu!" and "au revoir!" + + + + + HAIL!--AND FAREWELL! + + They died that we might live,-- + _Hail!--And Farewell!_ + --All honour give + To those who, nobly striving, nobly fell, + That we might live! + + That we might live they died,-- + _Hail!--And Farewell!_ + --Their courage tried, + By every mean device of treacherous hate, + Like Kings they died. + + Eternal honour give,-- + _Hail!--And Farewell!--_ + --To those who died, + In that full splendour of heroic pride, + That we might live! + + + + + A SILENT TE DEUM + + We thank Thee, Lord, + For all Thy Golden Silences,-- + For every Sabbath from the world's turmoil; + For every respite from the stress of life;-- + Silence of moorlands rolling to the skies, + Heath-purpled, bracken-clad, aflame with gorse; + Silence of grey tors crouching in the mist; + Silence of deep woods' mystic cloistered calm; + Silence of wide seas basking in the sun; + Silence of white peaks soaring to the blue; + Silence of dawnings, when, their matins sung, + The little birds do fall asleep again; + For the deep silence of high golden noons; + Silence of gloamings and the setting sun; + Silence of moonlit nights and patterned glades; + Silence of stars, magnificently still, + Yet ever chanting their Creator's skill; + For that high silence of Thine Open House, + Dim-branching roof and lofty-pillared aisle, + Where burdened hearts find rest in Thee awhile; + Silence of friendship, telling more than words; + Silence of hearts, close-knitting heart to heart + Silence of joys too wonderful for words; + Silence of sorrows, when Thou drawest near; + Silence of soul, wherein we come to Thee, + And find ourselves in Thine Immensity; + For that great silence where Thou dwell'st alone-- + --Father, Spirit, Son, in One, + Keeping watch above Thine Own,-- + Deep unto deep, within us sound sweet chords + Of praise beyond the reach of human words; + In our souls' silence, feeling only Thee,-- + We thank Thee, thank Thee, + Thank Thee, Lord! + + + + + THE NAMELESS GRAVES + + Unnamed at times, at times unknown, + Our graves lie thick beyond the seas; + Unnamed, but not of Him unknown;-- + He knows!--He sees! + + And not one soul has fallen in vain. + Here was no useless sacrifice. + From this red sowing of white seed + New life shall rise. + + All that for which they fought lives on, + And flourishes triumphantly; + Watered with blood and hopeful tears, + It could not die. + + The world was sinking in a slough + Of sloth, and ease, and selfish greed; + God surely sent this scourge to mould + A nobler creed. + + Birth comes with travail; all these woes + Are birth-pangs of the days to be. + Life's noblest things are ever born + In agony. + + So--comfort to the stricken heart! + Take solace in the thought that he + You mourn was called by God to such + High dignity. + + + + + BLINDED! + + You that still have your sight, + Remember me!-- + I risked my life, I lost my eyes, + That you might see. + + Now in the dark I go, + That you have light. + Yours, all the joy of day, + I have but night. + + Yours still, the faces dear, + The fields, the sky. + For me--ah me!--there's nought + But this black misery! + + In this unending night, + I can but see + What once I saw, and fain + Would see again. + O, midnight of black pain! + Come, Comrade Death, + Come quick, and set me free, + And give me back my eyes again! + + * * * * * + + Nay then, Christ's vicar, + You who bear our pain, + Ours be it now to see + Your dark days lighted, + And your way made plain. + + + + + SAID THE WOUNDED ONE:-- + + Just see that we get full value + Of that for which we have paid. + The price has been a heavy one, + But the goods are there--and _we've paid-. + We've paid in our toil and our woundings; + We've paid in the blood we've shed; + We've paid in our bitter hardships; + We've paid with our many dead. + + It's not payment in kind we ask for, + Two wrongs don't make much of a right. + All we ask is--that, what we have paid for, + You secure for us, all right and tight. + + The Peace of the World's what we're after; + We've all had enough of King Cain, + And the Kaiser and all his bully-men, + With their World-Power big on the brain. + + No!--we fought with a definite object, + And it's this--and we want it made plain,-- + That it's God, and not any devil, + That's to rule in the world again, + + + + + OUR SHARE + + And we ourselves? Are our hands clean? + Are our souls free from blame + For this world-tragedy? + Nay then! Like all the rest, + We had relaxed our hold on higher things, + And satisfied ourselves with smaller. + Ease, pleasure, greed of gold,-- + Laxed morals even in these,-- + We suffered them, as unaware + Of their soul-cankerings. + We had slipped back along the sloping way, + No longer holding First Things First, + But throning gods emasculate,-- + Idols of our own fashioning, + Heads of sham gold and feet of crumbling clay. + If we would build anew, and build to stay, + We must find God again, + And go His way. + + + + + POLICEMAN X + + "Shall it be Peace? + A voice within me cried and would not cease,-- + 'One man could do it if he would but dare.'" + (_From "Policeman X" in "Bees in Amber."_) + + + + + EPILOGUE, 1914 + + He did not dare! + His swelling pride laid wait + On opportunity, then dropped the mask + And tempted Fate, cast loaded dice,--and lost; + Nor recked the cost of losing. + + "_Their souls are mine. + Their lives were in thy hand;-- + Of thee I do require them!_" + + The Voice, so stern and sad, thrilled my heart's core + And shook me where I stood. + Sharper than sharpest sword, it fell on him + Who stood defiant, muffle-cloaked and helmed, + With eyes that burned, impatient to be gone. + + "_The fetor of thy grim burnt offerings + Comes up to me in clouds of bitterness. + Thy fell undoings crucify afresh + Thy Lord--who died alike for these and thee. + Thy works are Death;--thy spear is in my side,-- + O man! O man!--was it for this I died?_ + + _Was it for this?-- + A valiant people harried, to the void,-- + Their fruitful fields a burnt-out wilderness,-- + Their prosperous country ravelled into waste,-- + Their smiling land a vast red sepulchre.-- + --Thy work!_ + + _For this?-- + --Black clouds of smoke that vail the sight of heaven; + Black piles of stones which yesterday were homes; + And raw black heaps which once were villages; + Fair towns in ashes, spoiled to suage thy spleen; + My temples desecrate, My priests out-cast;-- + Black ruin everywhere, and red,--a land + All swamped with blood, and savaged raw and bare; + All sickened with the reek and stench of war, + And flung a prey to pestilence and want; + --Thy work!_ + + _For this?-- + --Life's fair white flower of manhood in the dust; + Ten thousand thousand hearts made desolate; + My troubled world a seething pit of hate; + My helpless ones the victims of thy lust;-- + The broken maids lift hopeless eyes to Me, + The little ones lift handless arms to Me, + The tortured women lift white lips to Me, + The eyes of murdered white-haired sires and dames + Stare up at Me.--And the sad anguished eyes + Of My dumb beasts in agony. + --Thy work!_ + + _Outrage on outrage thunders to the sky + The tale of thy stupendous infamy,-- + Thy slaughterings,--thy treacheries,--thy thefts,-- + Thy broken pacts,--thy honour in the mire,-- + Thy poor humanity cast off to sate thy pride;-- + 'Twere better thou hadst never lived,--or died + Ere come to this. + Thou art the man! The scales were in thy hand. + For this vast wrong I hold thy soul in fee. + Seek not a scapegoat for thy righteous due, + Nor hope to void thy countability. + Until thou purge thy pride and turn to Me,-- + As thou hast done, so be it unto thee!_" + + The shining eyes, so stern, and sweet, and sad, + Searched the hard face for sign of hopeful grace. + But grace was none. Enarmoured in his pride, + With brusque salute the other turned, and strode + Adown the night of Death and fitful fires. + + Then, as the Master bowed him, sorrowing, + I heard a great Voice pealing through the heavens, + A Voice that dwarfed earth's thunders to a moan:-- + _Woe! Woe! Woe!--to him by whom this came. + His house shall unto him be desolate. + And, to the end of time, his name shall be + A byword and reproach in all the lands + He rapined ... And his own shall curse him + For the ruin that he brought. + Who without reason draws the sword-- + By sword shall perish! + The Lord hath said ... So be it, Lord!_" + + AND AFTER! ....... + ....................... WHAT? + + God grant the sacrifice be not in vain! + Those valiant souls who set themselves with pride + To hold the Ways ... and fought ... and fought ... and died,-- + They rest with Thee. + But, to the end of time, + The virtue of their valiance shall remain, + To pulse a nobler life through every vein + Of our humanity. + + No drop of hero-blood e'er runs to waste, + But springs eternal, Fountain pure and chaste, + For cleansing of men's souls from earthly grime. + Life knows no waste. The Reaper tolls in vain, + In vain piles high his grim red harvesting,-- + His dread, red harvest of the slain! + God's wondrous husbandry is oft obscure, + But, without halt or haste, its course is sure, + And His good grain must die to live again. + + From this dread sowing, grant us harvest, Lord, + Of Nobler Doing, and of Loftier Hope,-- + An All-Embracing and Enduring Peace,-- + A Bond of States, a Pact of Peoples, based + On no caprice of royal whim, but on + Foundation mightier than the mightiest throne-- + The Well-Considered Will of All the Lands. + Therewith,--a simpler, purer, larger life, + Unhampered by the dread of war's alarms, + A life attuned to closer touch with Thee, + And golden-threaded with Thy Charity;-- + A Sweeter Earth,--a Nearer Heaven,--a World + As emulous in Peace as once in War, + And striving ever upward towards The Goal. + + _So, once again, through Death shall come New Life, + And out of Darkness, Light._ + + +"POLICEMAN X," which appeared first in _Bees in Amber_, was written in +1898. The Epilogue was written in 1914. "Policeman X" is the Kaiser. +"Policeman"--because if he had so chosen he could have assisted in +policing Europe and preserving the peace of the world. "X"--because he +was then the unknown quantity. Now we know him only too well. + + + + + THE MEETING-PLACE + (A Warning) + + I saw my fellows + In Poverty Street,-- + Bitter and black with life's defeat, + Ill-fed, ill-housed, of ills complete. + And I said to myself,-- + "_Surely death were sweet + To the people who live in Poverty Street._" + + I saw my fellows + In Market Place,-- + Avid and anxious, and hard of face, + Sweating their souls in the Godless race. + And I said to myself,-- + "_How shall these find grace + Who tread Him to death in the Market Place?_" + + I saw my fellows + In Vanity Fair,-- + Revelling, rollicking, debonair, + Life all a Gaudy-Show, never a care. + And I said to myself,-- + "_Is there place for these + In my Lord's well-appointed policies?_" + + I saw my fellows + In Old Church Row,-- + Hot in discussion of things High and Low, + Cold to the seething volcano below. + And I said to myself,-- + "_The leaven is dead. + The salt has no savour. The Spirit is fled._" + + I saw my fellows + As men and men,-- + The Men of Pain, and the Men of Gain, + And the Men who lived in Gallanty-Lane. + And I said to myself,-- + "What if those should dare + To claim from these others their rightful share?" + + I saw them all + Where the Cross-Roads meet;-- + Vanity Fair, and Poverty Street, + And the Mart, and the Church,--when the Red Drums beat, + And summoned them all to The Great Court-Leet. + And I cried unto God,-- + "Now grant us Thy grace!" + + * * * * * + + For that was a terrible Meeting-Place. + + + + + VICTORY DAY + _An Anticipation_ + + As sure as God's in His Heaven, + As sure as He stands for Right, + As sure as the hun this wrong hath done, + So surely we win this fight! + + Then!-- + Then, the visioned eye shall see + The great and noble company, + That gathers there from land and sea, + From over-land and over-sea, + From under-land and under-sea, + To celebrate right royally + The Day of Victory. + + Not alone on that great day, + Will the war-worn victors come, + To meet our great glad "Welcome Home!" + And a whole world's deep "Well done!" + Not alone! Not alone will they come, + To the sound of the pipe and the drum; + They will come to their own + With the pipe and the drum, + With the merry merry tune + Of the pipe and the drum;-- + But--they--will--not--come--alone! + + In their unseen myriads there, + Unperceived, but no less there, + In the vast of God's own air, + They will come!-- + With never a pipe or a drum, + All the flower of Christendom, + In a silence more majestic,-- + They will come! They will come! + The unknown and the known, + To meet our deep "Well done!" + And the world-resounding thunders + Of our great glad "Welcome Home!" + + With their faces all alight, + And their brave eyes shining bright, + From their glorious martyrdom, + They will come! + They will once more all unite + With their comrades of the fight, + To share the world's delight + In the Victory of Right, + And the doom--the final doom-- + The final, full, and everlasting doom + Of brutal Might, + They will come! + + At the world-convulsing boom + Of the treacherous Austrian gun,-- + At the all-compelling "Come!" + Of that deadly signal-gun,-- + They gauged the peril, and they came. + --Of many a race, and many a name, + But all ablaze with one white flame, + They tarried not to count the cost, + But came. + They came from many a clime and coast,-- + The slim of limb, the dark of face, + They shouldered eager in the race + The sturdy giants of the frost, + And the stalwarts of the sun,-- + Britons, Britons, Britons are they! + Britons, every one! + It shall be their life-long boast, + That they counted not the cost, + But, at the Mother-Country's call, they came. + They came a wrong to right, + They came to end the blight + Of a vast ungodly might; + And by their gallant coming overcame. + Britons, Britons, Britons are they! + Britons, every one! + + It shall be their nobler boast,-- + It shall spell their endless fame,-- + That, regardless of the cost, + They won the world for Righteousness, + And cleansed it of its shame. + Britons, Britons, Britons are they! + Britons, every one! + + And now,--again they come, + With merry pipe and drum, + Amid the storming cheers, + And the grateful-streaming tears, + Of this our great, glad, sorrowing Welcome-Home. + They shall every one be there, + On the earth or in the air, + From the land and from the sea, + And from under-land and sea, + Not a man shall missing be + From the past and present fighting-strength + Of that great company. + Those who lived, and those who died, + They were one in noble pride + Of desperate endeavour and of duty nobly done; + For their lives they risked and gave + Very Soul of Life to save, + And by their own great valour, and the Grace of God, they won. + Britons, Britons, Britons are they!-- + Britons, every one! + + + + + WHEN HE TRIES THE HEARTS OF MEN + + As gold is tried in the furnace, + _So He tries the hearts of men;_ + And the dwale and the dross shall suffer loss, + _When He tries the hearts of men._ + And the wood, and the hay, and the stubble + Shall pass in the flame away, + For gain is loss, and loss is gain, + And treasure of earth is poor and vain, + _When He tries the hearts of men._ + + As gold is refined in the furnace, + _So He fines the hearts of men._ + The purge of the flame doth rid them of shame, + _When He tries the hearts of men._ + O, better than gold, yea, than much fine gold, + _When He tries the hearts of men,_ + Are Faith, and Hope, and Truth, and Love, + And the Wisdom that cometh from above, + _When He tries the hearts of men._ + + + + + POISON-SEEDS + + Is there, in you or me, + Seed of that poison-tree + Which, in its bitter fruiting, bore + Such vintage sore + Of red calamity-- + Black wine of horror and of Death, + And soul-catastrophe? + Search well and see! + + Yea--search and see! + And, if there be-- + Tear up its roots with zealous care, + With deep soul-probing and with prayer, + Lest, in the coming years, + Again it bear + This same dread fruit of blood and tears, + And ruth beyond compare. + + Each soul that strips it of one evil thing + Lifts all the world towards God's good purposing. + + + + + THE WAR-MAKERS + + _Who are the Makers of Wars?_ + The Kings of the earth. + + _And who are these Kings of the earth?_ + Only men--not always even men of worth, + But claiming rule by right of birth. + + _And Wisdom?--does that come by birth?_ + Nay then--too often the reverse. + Wise father oft has son perverse; + Solomon's son was Israel's curse. + + _Why suffer things to reason so averse?_ + It always has been so, + And only now does knowledge grow + To that high point where all men know-- + Who would be free must strike the blow. + + _And how long will man suffer so?_ + Until his soul of Freedom sings, + And, strengthened by his sufferings, + He breaks the worn-out leading-strings, + And calls to stricter reckonings + Those costliest things--unworthy Kings. + + Not all are worthless. Some, with sense of duty, + Strive to invest their lives with grace and beauty. + To such--high honour! But the rest--self-seekers, + Pride-puffed--out with them!--useless mischief-makers! + + The time is past when any man or nation + Will meekly bear unrighteous domination. + + The time is come when every burden-bearer + Must, in the fixing of his load, be sharer. + + + + + IS LIFE WORTH LIVING? + + Is life worth living? + It depends on your believing;-- + If it ends with this short span, + Then is man no better than + The beasts that perish. + But a Loftier Hope we cherish. + "Life out of Death" is written wide + Across Life's page on every side. + We cannot think as ended, our dear dead who died. + + What room is left us then for doubt or fear? + Love laughs at thought of ending--there, or here. + God would lack meaning if this world were all, + And this short life but one long funeral. + + God is! Christ loves! Christ lives! + And by His Own Returning gives + Sure pledge of Immortality. + The first-fruits--He; and we-- + The harvest of His victory. + The life beyond shall this life far transcend, + And Death is the Beginning--not the End! + + + + + GOD'S HANDWRITING + + He writes in characters too grand + For our short sight to understand; + We catch but broken strokes, and try + To fathom all the mystery + Of withered hopes, of death, of life, + The endless war, the useless strife,-- + But there, with larger, clearer sight, + We shall see this-- + + HIS WAY WAS RIGHT + + (From _Bees in Amber_.) + + + + + PART TWO: THE KING'S HIGH WAY + + + + THE KING'S HIGH WAY + + A wonderful Way is The King's High Way; + It runs through the Nightlands up to the Day; + From the wonderful WAS, by the wonderful IS, + To the still more wonderful IS TO BE,-- + Runs The King's High Way. + + Through the crooked by-ways of history, + Through the times that were dark with mystery, + From the cities of man's captivity, + By the shed of The Child's nativity, + And over the hill by the crosses three, + By the sign-post of God's paternity, + From Yesterday into Eternity,-- + Runs The King's High Way. + And wayfaring men, who have strayed, still say + It is good to travel The King's High Way. + + Through the dim, dark Valley of Death, at times, + To the peak of the Shining Mount it climbs, + While wonders, and glories, and joys untold + To the eyes of the visioned each step unfold,-- + On The King's High Way. + And everywhere there are sheltering bowers, + Plenished with fruits and radiant with flowers, + Where the weary of body and soul may rest, + As the steeps they breast to the beckoning crest,-- + On The King's High Way. + + And inns there are too, of comforting mien, + Where every guest is a King or a Queen, + And room never lacks in the inns on that road, + For the hosts are all gentle men, like unto God,-- + On The King's High Way. + + The comrades one finds are all bound the same way, + Their faces aglow in the light of the day; + And never a quarrel is heard, nor a brawl, + They're the best of good company, each one and all,-- + On The King's High Way. + + So, gallantly travel The King's High Way, + With hearts unperturbed and with souls high and gay, + There is many a road that is much more the mode, + But none that so surely leads straight up to God, + As The King's High Way. + + + + + THE WAYS + + To every man there openeth + A Way, and Ways, and a Way, + And the High Soul climbs the High Way, + And the Low Soul gropes the Low, + And in between, on the misty flats, + The rest drift to and fro. + But to every man there openeth + A High Way, and a Low. + And every man decideth + The Way his soul shall go. + + + + + AD FINEM + + Britain! Our Britain! uprisen in the splendour + Of your white wrath at treacheries so vile; + Roused from your sleep, become once more defender + Of those high things which make life worth life's while! + + Now, God be thanked for even such a wakening + From the soft dreams of peace in selfish ease, + If it but bring about the great heart-quickening, + Of which are born the larger liberties. + + Ay, better such a rousing up from slumber; + Better this fight for His High Empery; + Better--e'en though our fair sons without number + Pave with their lives the road to victory. + + But--Britain! Britain! What if it be written, + On the great scrolls of Him who holds the ways, + That to the dust the foe shall not be smitten + Till unto Him we pledge redeemèd days?-- + + Till unto Him we turn--in deep soul-sorrow, + For all the past that was so stained and dim, + For all the present ills--and for a morrow + Founded and built and consecrated to Him. + + Take it to heart! This ordeal has its meaning; + By no fell chance has such a horror come. + Take it to heart!--nor count indeed on winning, + Until the lesson has come surely home. + + Take it to heart!--nor hope to find assuagement + Of this vast woe, until, with souls subdued, + Stripped of all less things, in most high engagement, + We seek in Him the One and Only Good. + + Not of our own might shall this tribulation + Pass, and once more to earth be peace restored; + Not till we turn, in solemn consecration, + Wholly to Him, our One and Sovereign Lord. + + + + + EVENING BRINGS US HOME + + _Evening brings us home,-- + From our wanderings afar, + From our multifarious labours, + From the things that fret and jar; + From the highways and the byways, + From the hill-tops and the vales; + From the dust and heat of city street, + And the joys of lonesome trails,-- + Evening brings us home at last, + To Thee._ + + From plough and hoe and harrow, from the burden of the day, + From the long and lonely furrow in the stiff reluctant clay, + From the meads where streams are purling, + From the moors where mists are curling,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To rest, and warmth, and Thee._ + + From the pastures where the white lambs to their dams are ever crying, + From the byways where the Night lambs Thy + Love are crucifying, + From the labours of the lowlands, + From the glamour of the glowlands,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To the fold, and rest, and Thee._ + + From the Forests of Thy Wonder, where the mighty giants grow, + Where we cleave Thy works asunder, and lay the mighty low, + From the jungle and the prairie, + From the realms of fact and faerie,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To rest, and cheer, and Thee._ + + From our wrestlings with the spectres of the dim and dreary way, + From the vast heroic chances of the never-ending fray, + From the Mount of High Endeavour, + In the hope of Thy For Ever,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To trust and peace, and Thee._ + + From our toilings and our moilings, from the quest of daily bread, + From the worship of our idols, and the burying of our dead, + Like children, worn and weary + With the way so long and dreary,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To rest, and love, and Thee._ + + From our journeyings oft and many over strange and stormy seas, + From our search the wide world over for the larger liberties, + From our labours vast and various, + With our harvestings precarious,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To safety, rest, and Thee._ + + From the yet-untrodden No-Lands, where we sought Thy secrets out, + From the blizzards of the Nightlands, and the + blazing White-Lands' drought, + From the undiscovered country + Where our IS is yet to be,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To welcome cheer, and Thee._ + + From the temples of our living, all empurpled with Thy giving, + From the warp of life thick-threaded with the gold of Thine inweaving, + From the days so full of splendour, + From the visions rare and tender,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To quiet rest in Thee._ + + From the Dim-Lands, from the Grim-Lands, + from the Lands of High Emprise, + From the Lands of Disillusion to the Truth that never dies; + With rejoicing and with singing, + Each his rightful sheaves home-bringing,-- + _Evening brings us all at last, + To Harvest-Home with Thee._ + + From the fields of fiery trying, where our bravest and our best, + By their living and their dying their souls' high faith attest, + From these dread, red fields of sorrow, + From the fight for Thy To-morrow,-- + _Evening brings each one at last, + To GOD'S own Peace in Thee._ + + + + + THE REAPER + + All through the blood-red Autumn, + When the harvest came to the full; + When the days were sweet with sunshine, + And the nights were wonderful,-- + _The Reaper reaped without ceasing._ + + All through the roaring Winter, + When the skies were black with wrath, + When earth alone slept soundly, + And the seas were white with froth,-- + _The Reaper reaped without ceasing._ + + All through the quick of the Spring-time, + When the birds sang cheerily, + When the trees and the flowers were burgeoning, + And men went wearily,-- + _The Reaper reaped without ceasing._ + + All through the blazing Summer, + When the year was at its best, + When Earth, subserving God alone, + In her fairest robes was dressed,-- + _The Reaper reaped without ceasing._ + + So, through the Seasons' roundings, + While nature waxed and waned, + And only man by thrall of man + Was scarred and marred and stained,-- + _The Reaper reaped without ceasing._ + + How long, O Lord, shall the Reaper + Harry the growing field? + Stretch out Thy Hand and stay him, + Lest the future no fruit yield!-- + _And the Gleaner find nought for His gleaning._ + + Thy Might alone can end it,-- + This fratricidal strife. + Our souls are sick with the tale of death, + Redeem us back to life!-- + _That the Gleaner be glad in His gleaning._ + + + + + NO MAN GOETH ALONE + + Where one is, + There am I,-- + No man goeth alone! + + Though he fly to earth's remotest bound, + Though his soul in the depths of sin be drowned,-- + No man goeth alone! + + Though he take him the wings of fear, and flee + Past the outermost realms of light; + Though he weave him a garment of mystery, + And hide in the womb of night,-- + No man goeth alone! + + Though apart in the city's heart he dwell, + Though he wander beyond the stars, + Though he bury himself in his nethermost hell, + And vanish behind the bars,-- + No man goeth alone! + + For I, God, am the soul of man, + And none can Me dethrone. + Where one is, + There am I,-- + No man goeth alone! + + + + + ROSEMARY + + Singing, she washed + Her baby's clothes, + And, one by one, + As they were done, + She hung them in the sun to dry, + She hung them on a bush hard by, + Upon a waiting bush hard by, + A glad expectant bush hard by, + To dry in the sweet of the morning. + + The while, her son, + Her little son, + Lay kicking, gleeful, + In the sun,-- + Her little, naked, Virgin son. + + O wondrous sight! Amazing sight!-- + The Lord, who did the sun create, + Lay kicking with a babe's delight, + Regardless of His low estate, + In joy of nakedness elate, + In His own sun's fair light! + + And all the sweet, sweet, sweet of Him + Clave to the bush, and still doth cleave, + And doth forever-more outgive + The fragrant holy sweet of Him. + Where'er it thrives + That bush forthgives + The faint, rare, sacred sweet of Him. + + So--ever sweet, and ever green, + Shall Rosemary be queen. + + + + + EASTER SUNDAY, 1916 + + The sun shone white and fair, + This Eastertide, + Yet all its sweetness seemed but to deride + Our souls' despair; + For stricken hearts, and loss and pain, + Were everywhere. + We sang our Alleluias,-- + We said, "_The Christ is risen! + From this His earthly prison, + The Christ indeed is risen. + He is gone up on high, + To the perfect peace of heaven._" + + Then, with a sigh, + We wondered... + Our minds evolved grim hordes of huns, + Our bruised hearts sank beneath the guns, + On our very souls they thundered. + Can you wonder?--Can you wonder, + That _we_ wondered, + As we heard the huns' guns thunder? + That we looked in one another's eyes + And wondered,-- + + "_Is Christ indeed then risen from the dead? + Hath He not rather fled + For ever from a world where He + Meets such contumely?_" + + Our hearts were sick with pain, + As they beat the sad refrain,-- + "_How shall the Lord Christ come again? + How can the Lord Christ come again? + Nay,--will He come again? + Is He not surely fled + For ever from a world where He + Is still so buffeted?_" + + But the day's glory all forbade + Such depth of woe. Came to our aid + The sun, the birds, the springing things, + The winging things, the singing things; + And taught us this,-- + _After each Winter cometh Spring,-- + God's hand is still in everything,-- + His mighty purposes are sure,-- + His endless love doth still endure, + And will not cease, nor know remiss, + Despite man's forfeiture_. + + _The Lord is risen indeed! + In very truth and deed + The Lord is risen, is risen, is risen; + He will supply our need_. + + So we took heart again, + And built us refuges from pain + Within His coverture,-- + Strong towers of Love, and Hope, and Faith, + That shall maintain + Our souls' estate + Too high and great + For even Death to violate. + + + + + THE CHILD OF THE MAID + + On Christmas Day The Child was born, + On Christmas Day in the morning;-- + _--To tread the long way, lone and lorn, + --To wear the bitter crown of thorn, + --To break the heart by man's sins torn, + --To die at last the Death of Scorn_. + For this The Child of The Maid was born, + On Christmas Day in the morning. + + But that first day when He was born, + Among the cattle and the corn, + The sweet Maid-Mother wondering, + And sweetly, deeply, pondering + The words that in her heart did ring, + Unto her new-born king did sing,-- + + "My baby, my baby, + My own little son, + Whence come you, + Where go you, + My own little one? + Whence come you? + + Ah now, unto me all alone + That wonder of wonders is properly known. + Where go you? + Ah, that now, 'tis only He knows, + Who sweetly on us, dear, such favour bestows. + In us, dear, this day is some great work begun,-- + Ah me, little son dear, I would it were done! + I wonder ... I wonder ... + And--wish--it--were--done! + + "O little, little feet, dears. + So curly, curly sweet!-- + How will it be with you, dears, + When all your work's complete? + O little, little hands, dears, + That creep about my breast!-- + What great things you will do, dears, + Before you lie at rest! + O softest little head, dear, + It shall have crown of gold, + For it shall have great honour + Before the world grows old! + O sweet, white, soft round body, + It shall sit upon a throne! + My little one, my little one, + Thou art the Highest's son! + All this the angel told me, + And so I'm sure it's true, + For he told me who was coming,-- + And that sweet thing is _YOU_." + + On Christmas Day The Child was born, + On Christmas Day in the morning;-- + _--He trod the long way, lone and lorn, + --He wore the bitter crown of thorn, + --His hands and feet and heart were torn, + --He died at last the Death of Scorn_. + But through His coming Death was slain, + That you and I might live again. + + For this The Child of The Maid was born, + On Christmas Day in the morning. + + + + + WASTED? + + Think not of any one of them as wasted, + Or to the void like broken tools outcasted,-- + Unnoticed, unregretted, and unknown. + Not so is His care shown. + + Know this!-- + In God's economy there is no waste, + As in His Work no slackening, no haste; + But noiselessly, without a sign, + The measure of His vast design + Is all fulfilled, exact as He hath willed. + + And His good instruments He tends with care, + Lest aught their future usefulness impair,-- + As Master-craftsman his choice tools doth tend, + Respecting each one as a trusty friend, + Cleans them, and polishes, and puts away, + For his good usage at some future day;-- + So He unto Himself has taken these, + Not to their loss but to their vast increase. + To us,--the loss, the emptiness, the pain; + But unto them--all high eternal gain. + + + + + SHORTENED LIVES + + To us it seemed his life was too soon done, + Ended, indeed, while scarcely yet begun; + God, with His clearer vision, saw that he + Was ready for a larger ministry. + + Just so we thought of Him, whose life below + Was so full-charged with bitterness and woe, + Our clouded vision would have crowned Him King, + He chose the lowly way of suffering. + + Remember, too, how short His life on earth,-- + But three-and-thirty years 'twixt death and birth. + And of those years but three whereof we know, + Yet those three years immortal seed did sow. + + It is not tale of years that tells the whole + Of Man's success or failure, but the soul + He brings to them, the songs he sings to them, + The steadfast gaze he fixes on the goal. + + + + + LAGGARD SPRING + + Winter hung about the ways, + Very loth to go. + Little Spring could not get past him, + Try she never so. + + This side,--that side, everywhere, + Winter held the track. + Little Spring sat down and whimpered, + Winter humped his back. + + Summer called her,--"Come, dear, come! + Why do you delay?" + "Come and help me, Sister Summer, + Winter blocks my way." + + Little Spring tried everything, + Sighs and moans and tears, + Winter howled with mocking laughter, + Covered her with jeers. + + Winter, rough old surly beggar, + Practised every vice, + Pelted her with hail and snow storms, + Clogged her feet with ice. + + But, by chance at last they caught him + Unawares one day, + Tied his hands and feet, and dancing, + Sped upon their way. + + + + + LONELY BROTHER + + Art thou lonely, O my brother? + Share thy little with another! + Stretch a hand to one unfriended, + And thy loneliness is ended. + So both thou and he + Shall less lonely be. + And of thy one loneliness + Shall come two's great happiness. + + + + + COMFORT YE! + + "_Comfort ye, my people!_" + Saith your God,-- + "_And be ye comforted! + And--be--ye--comforted!_" + + Roughly my plough did plough you, + Sharp were my strokes, and sore, + But nothing less could bow you, + Nothing less could your souls restore + To the depths and the heights of my longing, + To the strength you had known before. + + For--you were falling, falling, + Even the best of you, + Falling from your high calling; + And this, My test of you, + Has been for your souls' redemption + From the little things of earth, + What seemed to you death's agony + Was but a greater birth. + + And now you shall have gladness + For the years you have seen ill; + Give up to Me your sadness, + And I your cup will fill. + + + + + S. ELIZABETH'S LEPER + + "My lord, there came unto the gate + One, in such pitiful estate, + So all forlorn and desolate, + Ill-fed, ill-clad, of ills compact; + A leper too,--his poor flesh wracked + And dead, his very bones infect; + Of all God's sons none so abject. + I could not, on the Lord's own day, + Turn such a stricken one away. + In pity him I took, and fed, + And happed him in our royal bed." + + "A leper!--in our bed!--Nay then, + My Queen, thy charities do pass + The bounds of sense at times! A bane + On such unwholesome tenderness! + Dost nothing owe to him who shares + Thy couch, and suffers by thy cares? + He could have slept upon the floor, + And left you still his creditor. + A leper!--in my bed!--God's truth! + Out upon such outrageous ruth!" + + He strode in anger towards the bed, + And lo!-- + The Christ, with thorn-crowned head, + Lay there in sweet sleep pillowed. + + + + + VOX CLAMANTIS + + (THE PLEA OF THE MUNITION-WORKER) + + "_Rattle and clatter and clank and whirr,"-- + And it's long and long the day is_. + From earliest morn to late at night, + And all night long, the selfsame song,--- + "_Rattle and clank and whirr._" + Day in, day out, all day, all night,-- + "_Rattle and clank and whirr;_" + With faces tight, with all our might,-- + "Rattle and clank and whirr;" + We may not stop and we dare not err; + Our men are risking their lives out there, + And we at home must do our share;-- + _But it's long and long the day is_. + We'll break if we must, but we cannot spare + A thought for ourselves, or the kids, or care, + For it's "_Rattle and clatter and clank and whirr;_" + Our men are giving their lives out there + And we'll give ours, we will do our share,-- + "_Rattle and clank and whirr_." + + Are our faces grave, and our eyes intent? + Is every ounce that is in us bent + On the uttermost pitch of accomplishment? + _Though it's long and long the day is_! + Ah--we know what it means if we fool or slack; + --A rifle jammed,--and one comes not back; + And we never forget,--it's for us they gave; + And so we will slave, and slave, and slave, + Lest the men at the front should rue it. + Their all they gave, and their lives we'll save, + If the hardest of work can do it;-- + _But it's long and long the day is_. + + Eight hours', ten hours', twelve hours' shift;-- + _Oh, it's long and long the day is_! + Up before light, and home in the night, + That is our share in the desperate fight;-- + _And it's long and long the day is_! + Backs and arms and heads that ache, + Eyes over-tired and legs that shake, + And hearts full nigh to burst and break;-- + _Oh, it's long and long the day is_! + Week in, week out, not a second to spare, + But though it should kill us we'll do our share, + For the sake of the lads, who have gone out there + For the sake of us others, to do and dare;-- + _But it's long and long the day is_! + + "_Rattle and clatter and clank and whirr,_" + And thousands of wheels a-spinning,-- + Spinning Death for the men of wrath, + Spinning Death for the broken troth, + --And Life, and a New Beginning. + Was there ever, since ever the world was made, + Such a horrible trade for a peace-loving maid, + And such wonderful, terrible spinning? + + Oh, it's dreary work and it's weary work, + But none of us all will fall or shirk. + + + + + FLORA'S BIT + + Flora, with wondrous feathers in her hat, + Rain-soaked, and limp, and feeling very flat, + With flowers of sorts in her full basket, sat, + Back to the railings, there by Charing Cross, + And cursed the weather and a blank day's loss. + + "Wevver!" she cried, to P. C. E. 09,-- + "Wevver, you calls it?--Your sort then, not mine! + I calls it blanky 'NO.' So there you are,-- + Bit of Old Nick's worstest particular. + Wevver indeed! Not much, my little son, + It's just old London's nastiest kind of fun. + + "_Vi'lets, narcissus, primroses and daffs,-- + See how they sits up in their beds an' laughs! + Buy, Pretty Ladies--for your next at 'ome! + Gents!--for the gells now--buy a pretty bloom!_ + + "Gosh!--but them 'buses is a fair disgrace, + Squirting their dirty mud into one's face, + Robert, my son, you a'n't half worth your salt, + Or you'd arrest 'em for a blank assault! + + "_Primroses, narcissus, daffs and violets,-- + First come is first served, and pick o' basket gets._ + + "Garn then and git! Ain't none o' you no good! + Cawn't spare a copper to'rds a pore gell's food. + Gives one the 'ump it does, to see you all go by, + An' me a-sittin' 'ere all day, + An' none o' you won't buy. + _Vi'lets, narcissus_,-- ... Blimy! Strike me dumb! + Garn! What's the good o' you?--lot o' dirty scum! + Silly blokes!--stony brokes!--I'm a-goin' 'ome!" + + And then, from out the "Corner-House," + Came two, and two, and two, + Three pretty maids, three little Subs, + Doing as young Subs do, + When four days' leave gives them the chance + Of a little bill and coo. + + "What ho!" they cried, as they espied + Flora's bright flower-pot. + "Hi!--you there with the last year's hat!-- + Let's see what you have got! + And if they're half as nice as you, + We'll buy the blooming lot." + + But, as they stood there chaffering, + Out from the station came + A string of cautious motor-cars, + Packed full of lean, brown men,-- + The halt, the maimed, the blind, the lame,-- + The wreckage of the wars,-- + Their faces pinched and full of pain, + Their eyes still dazed with stress and strain,-- + The nation's creditors. + + The Subs, the girls, and Flora stood, + There in the pouring rain, + And shouted hearty welcomes to + The broken, lean-faced men. + And when they'd passed, the little Subs + Turned to their fun again. + + But the biggest heart among them all + Beat under the feathered hat;-- + "Not me!" she cried, and up, and sped + After the boys who had fought and bled,-- + "Here's a game worth two o' that!" + + She caught the cars, and in she flung + Her wares with lavish hand. + "_Narcissus!--vi'lets!_--here, you chaps! + _Primroses! dafs!_--for your rumply caps! + My! Ain't you black-an'-tanned! + _Narcissus! vi'lets!_--all abloom,-- + We're glad to see you back. + _Primroses!--dafs!_ Thenk Gawd you laughs, + If it's on'y crooked smiles. + We're glad, my lads, to see you home, + If your faces are like files." + + They thanked her with their crooked smiles, + Their bandaged hands they waved, + Narcissus, vi'lets, prims, and daffs, + They welcomed them with twisted laughs, + Quite proper they behaved. + And one said, "You're a Daisy, dear, + And if you'd stop the 'bus + We'd every one give you a kiss, + And so say all of us. + A Daisy, dear, that's what you are." + And the rest,--"You are! You are!" + + Then Flora swung her basket high, + And tossed her feathered head; + To the boys she gave one final wave, + And to herself she said,-- + "What kind of a silly old fool am I, + Playin' the goat like that?-- + Chuckin' of all my stock awye, + And damaging me 'at? + But them poor lads did look so thin, + I couldn't ha' slept if I 'adn't a-bin + An' gone an' done this foolish thing. + An' it done them good, an' it done me good, + So what's the odds if I does go lean, + For a day or two, till the nibs comes in? + A gell like me can always live, + An' the bit I had I had to give. + An' he called me a Daisy!--aw--'_Daisy dear!_' + An' I--tell--you, it made me queer,-- + With a lump in me throat and a swell right here. + Fust time ever any one called me that, + An', I swear, it's better'n a bran new hat." + + + + + RED BREAST + + I saw one hanging on a tree, + And O his face was sad to see,-- + _Misery, misery me_! + + There were berries red upon his head, + And in his hands, and on his feet, + But when I tried to pick and eat, + They were his blood, and he was dead;-- + _Misery, misery me_! + + It broke my heart to see him there, + So lone and sad in his despair; + The nails of woe were through his hands, + And through his feet,--_ah, misery me_! + + With beak and claws I did my best + To loose the nails and set him free, + But they were all too strong for me;-- + _Misery, misery me_! + + I picked and pulled, and did my best, + And his red blood stained all my breast; + I bit the nails, I pecked the thorn, + O, never saw I thorn so worn; + But yet I could not get him free;-- + _Misery, misery me_! + + And never since have I feared man, + But ever I seek him when I can, + And let him see the wish in me + To ease him of his misery. + + + + + OUR HEARTS FOR YOU + + By the grace of God and the courage + Of the peoples far and wide, + By the toil and sweat of those who lived, + And the blood of those who died, + We have won the fight, we have saved the Right, + For the Lord was on our side. + + We have come through the valley of shadows, + We have won to the light again, + We have smitten to earth the evil thing, + And our sons have proved them men. + But not alone by our might have we won, + For the Lord fought in our van. + + When the night was at its darkest, + And never a light could we see,-- + When earth seemed like to be enslaved + In a monstrous tyranny;-- + Then the flaming sword of our Over-Lord + Struck home for liberty. + + All the words in the world cannot tell you + What brims in our hearts for you; + For the lives you gave our lives to save + We offer our hearts to you; + We can never repay, we can only pray,-- + God fulfil our hearts for you! + + + + + THE BURDENED ASS + + (AN ALLEGORY) + + One day, as I travelled the highway alone, + I heard, on in front, a most dolorous groan; + And there, round the corner, a weary old ass + Was nuzzling the hedge for a mouthful of grass. + The load that he carried was piled up so high + That it blocked half the road and threatened the sky. + Indeed, of himself I could see but a scrap, + And expected each minute to see that go snap; + For beneath all his load I could see but his legs, + And they were as thin as the thinnest clothes-pegs. + + I said, "O most gentle and innocent beast, + Say,--why is your burden so greatly increased? + Who loads you like this, beyond reason and right? + Is it done for a purpose, or just out of spite? + Is it all your own treasures you have in your pack, + That crumples your backbone and makes your ribs crack? + It is really too much for an old ass's back." + + "Treasures!"--he groaned, through a lump of chewed grass, + "_Are_ they treasures? I don't know. I'm only the ass + That carries whatever they all like to pack + On my load, without thought of my ribs or my back. + I know there are heaps of things there that I hate, + But it's always been so. I guess it's my fate." + And he flicked his long ears, and switched his thin tail, + And rasped his rough neck with a hinder-foot nail. + + "There are fighting-men somewhere up there, and some fools, + And talking-men--heaps--who have quitted their stools + To manage the state and direct its affairs, + And see, I suppose, that we all get our shares,-- + And ladies and lords, and their offspring and heirs, + And their flunkeys and toadies, and merchants and wares.-- + And parsons and lawyers,--O heaps,--in that box, + And big folk and small folk, and all kinds of crocks. + + "_That mighty big bale_?--Poison, that,--for the people; + Whatever else lacks they must still have their tipple. + That's The Trade, don't you know, that no one can shackle,-- + 'Vested Int'rests,' they call it, and that kind of cackle. + Why the Bishops themselves dare not tackle the tipple, + For it props up the church and at times builds a steeple." + + (A strangely ingenuous old ass, you perceive, + Whom any shrewd rascal could easily deceive.) + + "_That other big bale_?--What I said,--fighting things,-- + Ammunition and guns and these new things with wings, + O yes, they bulk big, but we need them,--for why?-- + If we hadn't as much as the others have--why, + They say we might just as well lie down and die. + + "_Yon big bale on top_?--Ah! that is a big weight. + And that's just the one of the lot I most hate. + That's Capital, that is,--and landlords and such; + And there seems to me sometimes a bit over-much + In that bale. But there,--I'm perhaps wrong again, + Such matters are outside an old ass's ken. + + "_My fodder_? Oh well, you see,--no room for that. + I pick as I go, and no chance to get fat. + That poison bulks large,--and the landlords, you see;-- + And that Capital's heavy as heavy can be. + Some one's bound to go short, and of course that one's ME." + + He kicked up one heel with a snort of disgust, + And--sudden as though by a giant hand thrust, + The top-heavy pack on his lean back revolved, + Came crashing to earth, and in fragments dissolved. + + Much surprised,--the old ass, thus set free from his load, + Picked out a soft spot in the nice dusty road, + And laid him down on it and rolled in high glee, + And, as he kicked this way and that, said to me,-- + + "Say, Man, I have never enjoyed such a roll + Since the day I was born, a silly young foal. + Seems to me, if I'd had half the sense of an ass, + I'd have long since got rid of that troublesome mass. + But now that it's down, why--down it shall stop. + All my life's been down under, but now I'm on top." + + Then he came right-side up, pranced about on his load, + And kicked it to pieces all over the road. + + And what all this means, I really can't say. + It may not mean much. But--again,--why, it may. + + + + + WINNERS OR LOSERS? + + Unless our Souls win back to Thee, + We shall have lost this fight. + Yes, though we win on field and sea, + Though mightier still our might may be, + We still shall lose if we win not Thee. + _Help us to climb, as in Thy sight, + The Great High Way of Thy Delight_. + + It is the world-old strife again,-- + The fight 'twixt good and ill. + Since first the curse broke out in Cain, + Each age has worn the grim red chain, + And ill fought good for sake of gain. + _Help us, through all life's conflict, still + To battle upwards to Thy Will_. + + Are we to be like all the rest, + Or climb we loftier height? + Can we our wayward steps arrest?-- + All life with nobler life invest?-- + And so fulfil our Lord's behest? + _Help us, through all the world's dark night, + To struggle upwards to the Light_. + + If not,--we too shall pass, as passed + The older peoples in their time. + God's pact is sure, His word stands fast,-- + Those who His sovereignty outcast + Outcast themselves shall be at last. + _So,--lest we pass in this our prime, + Lord, set us to the upward climb_! + + + + + CHRIST AT THE BAR + + Christ stands at the bar of the world to-day, + As He stood in the days of old. + And still, as then, we do betray + Our Lord for greed of gold. + + When our every deed and word and thought + Should our fealty proclaim, + Full oft we bring His name to nought + And cover Him with shame. + + Not alone did Judas his Master sell, + Nor Peter his Lord deny, + Each one who doth His love repel, + Or at His guidance doth rebel, + Doth the Lord Christ crucify. + + Like the men of old, we vote His death, + Lest His life should interfere + With the things we have, or the things we crave, + Or the things we hold more dear. + + Christ stands at the bar of the world to-day, + As He stood in the days of old. + Let each man tax his soul and say,-- + "Shall I again my Lord betray + For my greed, or my goods, or my gold?" + + + + + MY BROTHER'S KEEPER? + + (A WARNING) + + "_Am I my brother's keeper_?" + Yes, of a truth! + Thine asking is thine answer. + That self-condemning cry of Cain + Has been the plea of every selfish soul since then, + Which hath its brother slain. + God's word is plain, + And doth thy shrinking soul arraign. + + _Thy brother's keeper_? + Yea, of a truth thou art! + For if not--who? + Are ye not both,--both thou and he + Of God's great family? + How rid thee of thy soul's responsibility? + For every ill in all the world + Each soul is sponsor and account must bear. + And He, and he thy brother of despair, + Claim, of thy overmuch, their share. + + Thou hast had good, and he the strangled days; + But now,--the old things pass. + No longer of thy grace + Is he content to live in evil case + For the anointing of thy shining face. + The old things pass.--Beware lest ye pass with them, + And your place + Become an emptiness! + + Beware! Lest, when the "Have-nots" claim, + From those who have, their rightful share, + Thy borders be swept bare + As by the final flame. + Better to share before than after. + "_After?_" ... For thee may be no after! + Only the howl of mocking laughter + At thy belated care. Make no mistake!-- + "After" will be too late. + When once the "Have-nots" claim ... they take. + "After!" ... When that full claim is made, + You and your golden gods may all lie dead. + + Set _now_ your house in order, + Ere it be too late! + For, once the storm of hate + Be loosed, no man shall stay it till + Its thirst has slaked its fill, + And you, poor victims of this last "too late," + Shall in the shadows mourn your lost estate. + + + + + A TELEPHONE MESSAGE + (TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN) + + Hello! Hello! + Are you there? Are you there? + Ah! That you? Well,-- + This is just to tell you + That there's trouble in the air... + Trouble,-- + T-R-O-U-B-L-E--Trouble! + _Where?_ + In the air. + Trouble in the air! + Got that? ... Right! + Then--take a word of warning, + And ... Beware! + + _What trouble?_ + Every trouble,--everywhere, + Every wildest kind of nightmare + That has ridden you is there, + In the air. + And it's coming like a whirlwind, + Like a wild beast mad with hunger, + To rend and wrench and tear,-- + To tear the world in pieces maybe, + Unless it gets its share. + Can't you see the signs and portents? + Can't you feel them in the air? + Can't you see,--you unbeliever? + Can't you see?--or don't you care,-- + That the Past is gone for ever, + Past your uttermost endeavour,-- + That To-day is on the scrap-heap, + And the Future--anywhere? + + _Where?_ + Ah--that's beyond me!-- + But it lies with those who dare + To think of big To-morrows, + And intend to have their share. + + All the things you've held and trusted + Are played-out, decayed, and rusted; + Now, in fiery circumstance, + They will all be readjusted. + If you cling to those old things, + Hoping still to hold the strings, + And, for your ungodly gains, + Life to bind with golden chains;-- + Man! you're mightily mistaken! + From such dreams you'd best awaken + To the sense of what is coming, + When you hear the low, dull booming + Of the far-off tocsin drums. + --Such a day of vast upsettings, + Dire outcastings and downsettings!-- + You have held the reins too long,-- + Have you time to heal the wrong? + + _What's wrong? What's amiss?_ + Man alive! If you don't know that-- + There's nothing more to be said! + --You ask what's amiss when your destinies + Hang by a thread in the great abyss? + _What's amiss? What's amiss?_-- + Well, my friend, just this,-- + There's a bill to pay and it's due to-day, + And before it's paid you may all be dead. + Wake up! Wake up!--or, all too late, + You will find yourselves exterminate. + + _What's wrong?_ + Listen here!-- + Do you catch a sound like drumming?-- + Far-away and distant drumming? + You hear it? What? + _The wires humming?_ + No, my friend, it is _not_! + It's the tune the prentice-hands are thrumming,-- + The tune of the dire red time that's coming,-- + The far-away, pregnant, ghostly booming + Of the great red drums' dread drumming. + For they're coming, coming, coming,-- + With their dread and doomful drumming, + Unless you... + Br-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r--click--clack! + + + + + THE STARS' ACCUSAL + + _How can the makers of unrighteous wars + Stand the accusal of the watchful stars?_ + + To stand-- + A dust-speck, facing the infinitudes + Of Thine unfathomable dome, a night like this,-- + To stand full-face to Thy High Majesties, + Thy myriad worlds in solemn watchfulness,-- + _Watching, watching, watching all below, + And man in all his wilfulness for woe!_ + --Dear Lord, one wonders that Thou bearest still + With man on whom Thou didst such grace bestow, + And with his wilful faculty for woe! + + Those sleepless sentinels! They may be worlds + All peopled like our own. But, as I stand, + They are to me the myriad eyes of God,-- + _Watching, watching, watching all below, + And man in all his wilfulness for woe._ + And then--to think + What those same piercing eyes look down upon + Elsewhere on this fair earth that Thou hast made!-- + _Watching, watching, watching all below, + And man in all his wilfulness for woe._ + + --On all the desolations he hath wrought, + --On all the passioned hatreds he hath taught, + --On all Thy great hopes he hath brought to nought;-- + --Man rending man with ruthless bitterness, + --Blasting Thine image into nothingness, + --Hounding Thy innocents to awful deaths, + And worse than deaths! Happy the dead, who sped + Before the torturers their lust had fed! + --On Thy Christ crucified afresh each day, + --On all the horrors of War's grim red way. + And ever, in Thy solemn midnight skies, + Those myriad, sleepless, vast accusing eyes,-- + _Watching, watching, watching all below, + And man in all his wilfulness for woe._ + + Dear Lord!-- + When in our troubled hearts we ponder this, + We can but wonder at Thy wrath delayed,-- + We can but wonder that Thy hand is stayed,-- + We can but wonder at Thy sufferance + Of man, whom Thou in Thine own image made, + When he that image doth so sore degrade! + + If Thou shouldst blot us out without a word, + Our stricken souls must say we had incurred + Just punishment. + Warnings we lacked not, warnings oft and clear, + But in our arrogance we gave no ear + To Thine admonishment. + And yet,--and yet! O Lord, we humbly pray,-- + Put back again Thy righteous Judgment Day! + Have patience with us yet a while, until + Through these our sufferings we learn Thy Will. + + + + + NO PEACE BUT A RIGHT PEACE + + An inconclusive peace!-- + A peace that would be no peace-- + Naught but a treacherous truce for breeding + Of a later, greater, baser-still betrayal!-- + "No!" ... + The spirits of our myriad valiant dead, + Who died to make peace sure and life secure, + Thunder one mighty cry of righteous indignation,-- + One vast imperative, unanswerable "No!" ... + "Not for that, not for that, did we die!"-- + They cry;-- + "--To give fresh life to godless knavery! + --To forge again the chains of slavery + Such as humanity has never known! + We gave our lives to set Life free, + Loyally, willingly gave we, + Lest on our children, and on theirs, + Should come like misery. + And now, from our souls' heights and depths, + We cry to you,--"Beware, + Lest you defraud us of one smallest atom of the price + Of this our sacrifice! + One fraction less than that full liberty, + Which comes of righteous and enduring peace, + Will be betrayal of your trust,-- + Betrayal of your race, the world, and God." + + + + + IN CHURCH. 1916 + + Where are all the _young_ men? + There are only grey-heads here. + What has become of the _young_ men? + + * * * * * + + This is the young men's year! + They are gone, one and all, at duty's call, + To the camp, to the trench, to the sea. + They have left their homes, they have left their all, + And now, in ways heroical,-- + _They are making history._ + From bank and shop, from bench and mill, + From the schools, from the tail of the plough, + They hurried away at the call of the fray, + They could not linger a day, and now,-- + _They are making history,_ + And we miss them sorely, as we look + At the seats where they used to be, + And try to picture them as they are,-- + Then hastily drop the vail:--for, you see,-- + _They are making history._ + + * * * * * + + And history, in these dread days, + Is sore sore sad in the making; + We are building the future with our dead, + We are binding it sure with the brave blood shed, + Though our hearts are well-nigh breaking. + We can but pray that the coming day + Will reap, of our red sowing, + The harvest meet of a world complete + With the peace of God's bestowing. + So, with quiet heart, we do our part + In the travail of this mystery, + We give of our best, and we leave the rest + To Him Who maketh history. + + + + + Some Hymns of Thanksgiving, + Praise, and Petition for use at The + Coming Peace which, please God, + cannot now be long delayed. + + + + + TE DEUM + + We thank Thee, O our God, for this + Long fought-for, hoped-for, prayed-for peace; + Thou dost cast down, and Thou upraise, + Thy hand doth order all our ways. + + Lift all our hearts to nobler life, + For ever freed from fear of strife; + Let all men everywhere in Thee + Possess their souls in liberty. + + Safe in Thy Love we leave our dead; + Heal all the wounds that war has made. + And help us to uproot each wrong, + Which still among us waxeth strong. + + Break all the bars that hold apart + All men of nobler mind and heart; + Let all men find alone in Thee + Their one and only sovereignty! + + TUNE--_Old Hundredth_. + + + + + THROUGH ME ONLY + + Out of all the reek and turmoil + Of the dreadful battle-plain, + Came a voice insistent, calling, + Calling, calling, but in vain;-- + "_Through Me only + Shall the world have peace again._" + + But our hearts were too sore-burdened, + Fighting foes and fighting pain, + And we heeded not the clear voice, + Calling, calling all in vain;-- + "_Through Me only + Shall the world have peace again._" + + Now, at last, the warfare ended, + Dead the passion, loosed the strain, + Louder still that voice is calling; + Shall it call and call in vain? + "_Through Me only + Shall the world have peace again._" + + Now we hear it; now we hearken, + In the silence of our slain, + Broken hearts new homes would build them + Of the fragments that remain. + "_Through Me only + Shall the world have peace again._" + + Lord, we know it by our sorrows, + Might of man can ne'er attain + That Thou givest. Now we offer + Thee the Kingship. Come and reign! + Through Thee only + Shall our loss be turned to gain. + + Show us, Lord, all Thou would'st have us + Do to garner all Thy grain. + Thy deep ploughing, Thy sure sowing + Richest harvest shall obtain. + Only come Thou, + Come and dwell with us again! + + TUNE--_Abbeycombe_. + + + + + PRINCE OF PEACE + + O Thou who standest both for God and Man, + O King of Kings, who wore no earthly crown, + O Prince of Peace, unto Thy feet we come, + And lay our burden down. + + The weight had grown beyond our strength to bear, + Thy Love alone the woful thrall can break, + Thy Love, reborn into this world of care, + Alone can life remake. + + How shall we turn to good this weight of ill? + How of our sorrows build anew to Thee? + "Of your own selves ye cannot stand or build,-- + Only through _Me_,--through _Me_!" + + O, turn once more to Thee the hearts of men, + Work through the leaven of our grief and pain, + Let not these agonies be all in vain, + Come, dwell with us again! + + The world has nailed itself unto its cross; + O, tender to Thy hands its heart will prove, + For Thou alone canst heal its dreadful loss,-- + Come Thou and reign in love! + + Peace and the sword, Lord, Thou didst come to bring; + Too long the sword has drunk to Thy decrease. + Come now, by this high way of suffering, + And reign, O Prince of Peace! + + TUNE--_Artavia_. + "_And didst Thou love the race that loved not Thee?_" + + + + + THE WINNOWING + + Lord, Thou hast stricken us, smitten us sore, + Winnowed us fine on the dread threshing-floor. + "Had I not reason?--far you had strayed, + Vain was My calling, you would not be stayed." + + Low in the dust, Lord, our hearts now are bowed, + Roughly Thy share through our boasting has ploughed. + "So as My ploughing prepares for the seed, + So shall the harvest our best hopes exceed." + + Lord, we have lost of our dearest and best, + Flung to the void and cast out to the waste. + "Nay then, not one of them fell from My hand, + Here at My side in their glory they stand." + + How shall we start, Lord, to build life again, + Fairer and sweeter, and freed from its pain? + "Build ye in Me and your building shall be + Builded for Time and Eternity." + + TUNE--_Theodora_. + "_Rest of the weary, joy of the sad._" + + + + + TO THIS END + + And hast Thou help for such as me, + Sin-weary, stained, forlorn? + "_Yea then,--if not for such as thee + To what end was I born?_" + + But I have strayed so far away, + So oft forgotten Thee. + "_No smallest thing that thou hast done + But was all known to Me._" + + And I have followed other gods, + And brought Thy name to scorn. + "_It was to win thee back from them + I wore the crown of thorn._" + + And, spite of all, Thou canst forgive, + And still attend my cry? + "_Dear heart, for this end I did live, + To this end did I die._" + + And if I fall away again, + And bring Thy Love to shame? + "_I'll find thee out where'er thou art, + And still thy love will claim._" + + All this for me, whose constant lack + Doth cause Thee constant pain? + "_For this I lived, for this I died, + For this I live again._" + + + + + [Transcriber's note: The first two verses of this poem + were inside the book's front cover, and its last two + verses were inside its back cover.] + + + ALL'S WELL! + + Is the pathway dark and dreary? + God's in His heaven! + Are you broken, heart-sick, weary? + God's in His heaven! + Dreariest roads shall have an ending, + Broken hearts are for God's mending. + All's well! All's well! + All's ... well! + + Is the burden past your bearing? + God's in His heaven! + Hopeless?--Friendless?--No one caring? + God's in His heaven! + Burdens shared are light to carry, + Love shall come though long He tarry. + All's well! All's well! + All's ... well! + + Is the light fur ever failing? + God's in His heaven! + Is the faint heart ever quailing? + God's in His heaven! + God's strong arms are all around you, + In the dark He sought and found you. + All's well! All's well! + All's ... well! + + Is the future black with sorrow? + God's in His heaven! + Do you dread each dark to-morrow? + God's in His heaven! + Nought can come without His knowing, + Come what may 'tis His bestowing. + All's well! All's well! + All's ... well! + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of 'All's Well!', by John Oxenham + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'ALL'S WELL!' *** + +***** This file should be named 27126-8.txt or 27126-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/1/2/27126/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/27126-8.zip b/27126-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9fb0350 --- /dev/null +++ b/27126-8.zip diff --git a/27126.txt b/27126.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..438f613 --- /dev/null +++ b/27126.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3554 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of 'All's Well!', by John Oxenham + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 'All's Well!' + +Author: John Oxenham + +Release Date: November 6, 2008 [EBook #27126] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'ALL'S WELL!' *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +"ALL'S WELL!" + + +BY + +JOHN OXENHAM + + + +AUTHOR OF "BEES IN AMBER," ETC. + + + + +NEW YORK + +GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1916, + +BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY + + + + + TO + + MY SON HUGO + + 2nd LIEUT. ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS + + + TO + + ALL HIS COMRADES IN ARMS + ON LAND AND ON SEA + + AND TO + + ALL SORELY-TRIED HEARTS + AT HOME AND ELSEWHERE + + _THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED_ + + IN PROFOUNDEST ADMIRATION, + IN MOST LOVING SYMPATHY, + AND IN PERFECT ASSURANCE + THAT SINCE GOD IS, + RIGHT MUST WIN + AND THE FUTURE WILL BE + BETTER THAN THE PAST + + + + +FOREWORD + +For those who were chiefly in my heart when these verses came to me +from time to time--our men and boys at the Front, and those they leave +behind them in grievous sorrow and anxiety at home--my little message +is that, so far as they are concerned--"ALL'S WELL!" + +Those who have so nobly responded to the Call, and those who, with +quiet faces and breaking hearts, have so bravely bidden them "God +speed!"--with these, All is truly Well, for they are equally giving +their best to what, in this case, we most of us devoutly believe to be +the service of God and humanity. + +War is red horror. But, better war than the utter crushing-out of +liberty and civilisation under the heel of Prussian or _any other_ +militarism. + +Germany has avowedly outmarched Christianity and left it in the rear, +along with its outclassed guns and higher ideals of, say, 1870, its +honour, its humanity, and all the other lumber, useless to an +absolutely materialistic people whose only object is to win the world +even at the price of its soul. + +The world is witnessing with abhorrence the results, and, we may surely +hope, learning therefrom The Final Lesson for its own future guidance. + +The war-cloud still hangs over us--as I write, but, grim as it is, +there are not lacking gleams of its silver linings. If war brings out +the very worst in human nature it offers opportunity also for the +display of the very best. And, thank God, proofs of this are not +wanting among us, and it is better to let one's thought range the light +rather than the darkness. + +What the future holds for us no man may safely say. Mighty changes +without a doubt. May they all be for the better! But if that is to be +it must be the work of every one amongst us. In this, as in everything +else, each one of us helps or hinders, makes or mars. + +If, in some of these verses, I have endeavoured to strike a note of +warning, it is because the times, and the times that are coming, call +for it. May it be heeded! + +That the end of the present world-strife must and will mark also the +end of the most monstrous tyranny and the most hideous conception of +"Kultur" the world has ever seen, no man for one moment doubts. + +But that is not an end but a beginning. Unless on the ashes of the +past we build to nobler purpose, all our gallant dead will have been +thrown away, all this gigantic effort, with all its inevitable horror +and loss, will have been in vain. + +It rests with each one among us to say that that shall not be,--that +the future shall repair the past,--that out of this holocaust of death +shall come new life. + +It behoves every one of us, each in his and her own sphere, and each in +his and her own way, to strive with heart and soul for that mighty end. + +JOHN OXENHAM. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PART ONE: "ALL'S WELL!" + + GOD IS + WATCHMAN! WHAT OF THE NIGHT? + FOR THE MEN AT THE FRONT + IN TIME OF NEED + CHRISTS ALL! + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + WHERE ARE YOU SLEEPING TO-NIGHT, MY LAD? + BE QUIET! + TO YOU WHO HAVE LOST + LORD, SAVE THEIR SOULS ALIVE! + THE ALABASTER BOX + WHITE BROTHER + A LITTLE TE DEUM FOR THESE TIMES + THY WILL BE DONE! + DIES IRAE--DIES PACIS + JUDGMENT DAY + THE HIGH THINGS + THE EMPTY CHAIR + ROAD-MATES + ALPHA--OMEGA + HAIL!--AND FAREWELL! + A SILENT TE DEUM + THE NAMELESS GRAVES + BLINDED! + SAID THE WOUNDED ONE:---- + OUR SHARE + POLICEMAN X.--EPILOGUE, 1914 + THE MEETING-PLACE + VICTORY DAY + WHEN HE TRIES THE HEARTS OF MEN + POISON-SEEDS + THE WAR-MAKERS + IS LIFE WORTH LIVING? + GOD'S HANDWRITING + + +PART TWO: THE KING'S HIGH WAY + + THE KING'S HIGH WAY + THE WAYS + AD FINEM + EVENING BRINGS US HOME + THE REAPER + NO MAN GOETH ALONE. + ROSEMARY + EASTER SUNDAY, 1916 + THE CHILD OF THE MAID + WASTED? + SHORTENED LIVES + LAGGARD SPRING + LONELY BROTHER + COMFORT YE! + S. ELIZABETH'S LEPER + VOX CLAMANTIS + FLORA'S BIT + RED BREAST + OUR HEARTS FOR YOU + THE BURDENED ASS + WINNERS OR LOSERS? + CHRIST AT THE BAR + MY BROTHER'S KEEPER? + A TELEPHONE MESSAGE + THE STARS' ACCUSAL + NO PEACE BUT A RIGHT PEACE + IN CHURCH. 1916. + TE DEUM + THROUGH ME ONLY + PRINCE OF PEACE + THE WINNOWING + TO THIS END + + ALL'S WELL! + + + + + PART ONE: "ALL'S WELL!" + + + GOD IS + + God is; + God sees; + God loves; + God knows. + And Right is Right; + And Right is Might. + In the full ripeness of His Time, + All these His vast prepotencies + Shall round their grace-work to the prime + Of full accomplishment, + And we shall see the plan sublime + Of His beneficent intent. + Live on in hope! + Press on in faith! + Love conquers all things, + Even Death. + + + + + WATCHMAN! WHAT OF THE NIGHT? + + Watchman! What of the night? + No light we see,-- + Our souls are bruised and sickened with the sight + Of this foul crime against humanity. + The Ways are dark---- + "I SEE THE MORNING LIGHT!" + + --The Ways are dark; + Faith folds her wings; and Hope, in piteous plight, + Has dimmed her radiant lamp to feeblest spark. + Love bleeding lies---- + "I SEE THE MORNING LIGHT!" + + --Love bleeding lies, + Struck down by this grim fury of despight, + Which once again her Master crucifies. + He dies again---- + "I SEE THE MORNING LIGHT!" + + --He dies again, + By evil slain! Who died for man's respite + By man's insensate rage again is slain. + O woful sight!---- + "I SEE THE MORNING LIGHT! + + --Beyond the war-clouds and the reddened ways, + I see the Promise of the Coming Days! + I see His Sun arise, new-charged with grace + Earth's tears to dry and all her woes efface! + Christ lives! Christ loves! Christ rules! + No more shall Might, + Though leagued with all the Forces of the Night, + Ride over Right. No more shall Wrong + The world's gross agonies prolong. + Who waits His Time shall surely see + The triumph of His Constancy;-- + When, without let, or bar, or stay, + The coming of His Perfect Day + Shall sweep the Powers of Night away;-- + And Faith, replumed for nobler flight, + And Hope, aglow with radiance bright, + And Love, in loveliness bedight, + SHALL GREET THE MORNING LIGHT!" + + + + + + FOR THE MEN AT THE FRONT + + Lord God of Hosts, whose mighty hand + Dominion holds on sea and land, + In Peace and War Thy Will we see + Shaping the larger liberty. + Nations may rise and nations fall, + Thy Changeless Purpose rules them all. + + When Death flies swift on wave or field, + Be Thou a sure defence and shield! + Console and succour those who fall, + And help and hearten each and all! + O, hear a people's prayers for those + Who fearless face their country's foes! + + For those who weak and broken lie, + In weariness and agony-- + Great Healer, to their beds of pain + Come, touch, and make them whole again! + O, hear a people's prayers, and bless + Thy servants in their hour of stress! + +[Five million copies of this hymn have been sold and the profits given +to the various Funds for the Wounded. It is now being sung all round +the world.] + + For those to whom the call shall come + We pray Thy tender welcome home. + The toil, the bitterness, all past, + We trust them to Thy Love at last. + O, hear a people's prayers for all + Who, nobly striving, nobly fall! + + To every stricken heart and home, + O, come! In tenderest pity, come! + To anxious souls who wait in fear, + Be Thou most wonderfully near! + And hear a people's prayers, for faith + To quicken life and conquer death! + + For those who minister and heal, + And spend themselves, their skill, their zeal-- + Renew their hearts with Christ-like faith, + And guard them from disease and death. + And in Thine own good time, Lord, send + Thy Peace on earth till Time shall end! + + + + + IN TIME OF NEED + + Better than I, + Thou knowest, Lord, + All my necessity, + And with a word + Thou canst it all supply. + Help other is there none + Save Thee alone; + Without Thee I'm undone. + And so, to Thee I cry,-- + O, be Thou nigh! + For, better far than I, + Thou knowest, Lord, + All my necessity. + + + + + CHRIST'S ALL! + + _Our Boys Who Have Gone to the Front_ + + +(_"Be christs!"--was one of W. T. Stead's favourite sayings. Not "Be +like Christ!"--but--"Be christs!" And he used the word no doubt in its +original meaning,--anointed, ordained, chosen. As such we, whose boys +have gone to the Front, think of them. For they have gone, most of +them, from a simple, high sense of duty, and in many cases under direst +feeling of personal repulsion against the whole ghastly business. They +have sacrificed everything, knowing full well that many of them will +never return to us._) + + + Ye are all christs in this your self-surrender,-- + True sons of God in seeking not your own. + Yours now the hardships,--yours shall be the splendour + Of the Great Triumph and THE KING'S "Well done!" + + Yours these rough Calvaries of high endeavour,-- + Flame of the trench, and foam of wintry seas. + Nor Pain, nor Death, nor aught that is can sever + You from the Love that bears you on His knees. + + Yes, you are christs, if less at times your seeming.-- + Christ walks the earth in many a simple guise. + We know you christs, when, in your souls' redeeming, + The Christ-light blazes in your steadfast eyes. + + Here--or hereafter, you shall see it ended,-- + This mighty work to which your souls are set. + If from beyond--then, with the vision splendid, + You shall smile back and never know regret. + + Or soon, or late, for each--the Life Immortal! + And not for us to choose the How or When. + Or late, or soon,--what matter?--since the Portal + Leads but to glories passing mortal ken. + + O Lads! Dear Lads! Our christs of God's anointing! + Press on in hope! Your faith and courage prove! + Pass--by these High Ways of the Lord's appointing! + You cannot pass beyond our boundless love. + + + + +THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + +()"In the evening I went for a walk to a village lately shelled by +German heavy guns. Their effect was awful--ghastly. It was impossible +to imagine the amount of damage done until one really saw it. The +church was terrible too. The spire was sticking upside down in the +ground a short distance from the door. The church itself was a mass of +debris. Scarcely anything was left unhit. In the churchyard again the +destruction was terrific--tombstones thrown all over the place. But +the most noticeable thing of all was that the three Crucifixes--one +inside and two outside--were untouched! How they can have avoided the +shelling is quite beyond me. It was a wonderful sight though an awful +one. There were holes in the churchyard about fifteen feet +across."--From a letter from my boy at the Front._) + + The churchyard stones all blasted into shreds, + The dead re-slain within their lowly beds,-- + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + + His holy ground all cratered and crevassed, + All flailed to fragments by the fiery blast,-- + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + + His church a blackened ruin, scarce one stone + Left on another,--yet, untouched alone,-- + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + + His shrines o'erthrown, His altars desecrate, + His priests the victims of a pagan hate,-- + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + + 'Mid all the horrors of the reddened ways, + The thund'rous nights, the dark and dreadful days,-- + THE CROSS STILL STANDS! + + * * * * * + + And, 'mid the chaos of the Deadlier Strife,-- + A Church at odds with its own self and life,-- + HIS CROSS STILL STANDS! + + Faith folds her wings, and Hope at times grows dim; + The world goes wandering away from Him;-- + HIS CROSS STILL STANDS! + + Love, with the lifted hands and thorn-crowned head, + Still conquers Death, though life itself be fled;-- + HIS CROSS STILL STANDS! + + Yes,--Love triumphant stands, and stands for more, + In our great need, than e'er it stood before! + HIS CROSS STILL STANDS! + + + + + WHERE ARE YOU SLEEPING TO-NIGHT, MY LAD? + + Where are you sleeping to-night, My Lad, + Above-ground--or below? + The last we heard you were up at the front, + Holding a trench and bearing the brunt;-- + But--that was a week ago. + + Ay!--that was a week ago, Dear Lad, + And a week is a long, long time, + When a second's enough, in the thick of the strife, + To sever the thread of the bravest life, + And end it in its prime. + + Oh, a week is long when so little's enough + To send a man below. + It may be that while we named your name + The bullet sped and the quick end came,-- + And the rest we shall never know. + + But this we know, Dear Lad,--all's well + With the man who has done his best. + And whether he live, or whether he die, + He is sacred high in our memory;-- + And to God we can leave the rest. + + So--wherever you're sleeping to-night, Dear Lad, + This one thing we do know,-- + When "Last Post" sounds, and He makes His rounds, + Not one of you all will be out of bounds, + Above ground or below. + + + + + BE QUIET! + + Soul, dost thou fear + For to-day or to-morrow? + 'Tis the part of a fool + To go seeking sorrow. + Of thine own doing + Thou canst not contrive them. + 'Tis He that shall give them; + Thou may'st not outlive them. + So why cloud to-day + With fear of the sorrow, + That may or may not + Come to-morrow? + + + + + TO YOU WHO HAVE LOST + + I know! I know!-- + The ceaseless ache, the emptiness, the woe,-- + The pang of loss,-- + The strength that sinks beneath so sore a cross. + "_--Heedless and careless, still the world wags on, + And leaves me broken ... Oh, my son! my son!_" + + Yet--think of this!-- + Yea, rather think on this!-- + He died as few men get the chance to die,-- + Fighting to save a world's morality. + He died the noblest death a man may die, + Fighting for God, and Right, and Liberty;-- + And such a death is Immortality. + + "_He died unnoticed in the muddy trench._" + Nay,--God was with him, and he did not blench; + Filled him with holy fires that nought could quench, + And when He saw his work below was done, + He gently called to him,--"_My son! My son! + I need thee for a greater work than this. + Thy faith, thy zeal, thy fine activities + Are worthy of My larger liberties;_"-- + --Then drew him with the hand of welcoming grace, + And, side by side, they climbed the heavenly ways. + + + + + LORD, SAVE THEIR SOULS ALIVE! + + Lord, save their souls alive! + And--for the rest,-- + We leave it all to Thee; + Thou knowest best. + + Whether they live or die, + Safely they'll rest, + Every true soul of them, + Thy Chosen Guest. + + Whether they live or die, + They chose the best, + They sprang to Duty's call, + They stood the test. + + If they come back to us-- + How grateful we! + If not,--we may not grieve; + They are with Thee. + + No soul of them shall fail, + Whate'er the past. + Who dies for Thee and Thine + Wins Thee at last. + + Who, through the fiery gates, + Enter Thy rest, + Greet them as conquerors,-- + Bravest and best! + + Every white soul of them, + Ransomed and blest,-- + Wear them as living gems, + Bear them as living flames, + High on Thy breast! + + + + + THE ALABASTER BOX + + The spikenard was not wasted;-- + All down the tale of years, + The fragrance of that broken alabaster + Still clings to Mary's memory, + As clung its perfume sweet unto her Master. + + Not less than Martha, + Mary served her Lord, + Although she but sat worshipping, + While Martha spread the board. + + They also minister to Christ, + And render noblest duty, + Whose sweet hands touch life's common rounds + To Fragrance and to Beauty. + + + + + WHITE BROTHER + + Midway between the flaming lines he lay, + A tumbled heap of blood, and sweat, and clay; + --God's son! + + And none could succour him. First this one tried, + Then that ... and then another ... and they died; + --God's sons! + + Those others saw his plight, and laughed and jeered, + And, at each helper's fall, laughed more, and cheered; + --God's sons? + + So, through the torture of an endless day, + In agonies that none could ease, he lay; + --God's son! + + Then, as he wrestled for each hard-won breath, + Bleeding his life out, craving only death;-- + --God's son! + + --Came One in white, athwart the fiery hail, + And in His hand, a shining cup--The Grail; + --God's Son! + + He knelt beside him on the reeking ground, + And with a touch soothed each hot-throbbing wound; + --God's Son! + + Gave him to drink, and in his failing ear + Whispered sweet words of comfort and good cheer; + --God's Son! + + The suffering one looked up into the face + Of Him whose death to sinners brought God's grace; + --God's Son! + + The tender brow with unhealed wounds was scarred, + The hand that held The Cup, the nails had marred; + --God's Son! + + "Brother, for thee I suffered greater woes; + As I forgave,--do thou forgive thy foes, + --God's son!" + + "Yea, Lord, as Thou forgavest, I forgive; + And now, my soul unto Thyself receive, + --God's Son!" + + Thick-clustered in the battered trench, amazed, + They gazed at that strange sight ... and gazed ... and gazed; + --God's sons! + + --The Christ of God, come down to succour one + Of their own number,--their own mate-- + --God's son! + + And none who saw that sight will e'er forget + How once, upon the field of death, they met + --God's Son. + + + + + A LITTLE TE DEUM FOR THESE TIMES + + We thank Thee, Lord, + For mercies manifold in these dark days;-- + For Heart of Grace that would not suffer wrong; + For all the stirrings in the dead dry bones; + For bold self-steeling to the times' dread needs; + For every sacrifice of self to Thee; + For ease and wealth and life so freely given; + For Thy deep sounding of the hearts of men; + For Thy great opening of the hearts of men; + For Thy close-knitting of the hearts of men; + For all who sprang to answer the great call; + For their high courage and self-sacrifice; + For their endurance under deadly stress; + For all the unknown heroes who have died + To keep the land inviolate and free; + For all who come back from the Gates of Death; + For all who pass to larger life with Thee, + And find in Thee the wider liberty; + For hope of Righteous and Enduring Peace; + For hope of cleaner earth and closer heaven; + With burdened hearts, but faith unquenchable,-- + We thank Thee, Lord! + + + + + THY WILL BE DONE! + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + Let all the worlds + Resound with that divinest prayer! + The joyous souls redeemed from ill + Know all the wonders of Thy Will; + Heaven's highest bliss is surely this,-- + "_Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + Tis not Thy Will + That Sin or Sorrow rule the world. + Thy Will is Joy, and Hope, and Light; + Thy Will is All-Triumphant Right. + And so, exultantly, we cry,-- + "_Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + It is Thy Will + That all Life's wrongs should be redressed; + That burdened souls their bonds should break; + That Earth of Heavenly Joys partake. + And so, right wistfully, we cry,-- + "_Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + 'Tis not Thy Will + That man should kiss a chastening rod; + But, heart abrim, and head to heaven, + Should praise his God for mercies given, + And ever cry right joyously,-- + "_Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + It is Thy Will + That Life should seek its golden prime,-- + That strife 'twixt man and man should cease,-- + That all Thy sons should build Thy peace. + And so, full longingly, we cry,-- + "_Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + "_Thy Will be done!_" + Then Earth were Heaven, + If but Thy gracious Will prevailed; + If every will that worketh ill + Would bend to Thine, and Thine fulfil, + And with us pray,--"_Bring in Thy Day! + Thy Will be done! Thy Will be done!_" + + + + + DIES IRAE--DIES PACIS + +(_As earnestly as any I crave the victory of Right over this madness of +Insensate Might against which we are contending. As certainly as any I +would, if that were conceivably possible, have adequate punishment +meted out to those who have brought this horror upon the world. But I +see, as all save the utterly earth-blinded must see--that when the Day +of Settlement comes, and we and our allies are in a position to impose +terms, unless we go into the Council-Chamber with hearts set inflexibly +on the Common Weal of the World--in a word, unless we invite Christ to +a seat at the Board--the end may be even worse than the +beginning;--this which we have hoped and prayed night be the final war +may prove but the beginning of strifes incredible._) + + + "Only through Me!" ... The clear, high call comes pealing, + Above the thunders of the battle-plain;-- + "Only through Me can Life's red wounds find healing; + Only through Me shall Earth have peace again. + + Only through Me! ... Love's Might, all might transcending, + Alone can draw the poison-fangs of Hate. + Yours the beginning!--Mine a nobler ending,-- + Peace upon Earth, and Man regenerate! + + Only through Me can come the great awaking; + Wrong cannot right the wrongs that Wrong hath done; + Only through Me, all other gods forsaking, + Can ye attain the heights that must be won. + + Only through Me shall Victory be sounded; + Only through Me can Right wield righteous sword; + Only through Me shall Peace be surely founded; + Only through Me! ... _Then bid Me to the Board!_" + + * * * * * + + _Can we not rise to such great height of glory? + Shall this vast sorrow spend itself in vain? + Shall future ages tell the woful story,-- + "Christ by His own was crucified again"?_ + + + + + JUDGMENT DAY + + The nations are in the proving; + Each day is Judgment Day; + And the peoples He finds wanting + Shall pass--by the Shadowy Way. + + + + + THE HIGH THINGS + + The Greatest Day that ever dawned,-- + It was a Winter's Morn. + + The Finest Temple ever built + Was a Shed where a Babe was born. + + The Sweetest Robes by woman wrought + Were the Swaths by the Baby worn. + + And the Fairest Hair the world has seen, + --Those Locks that were never shorn. + + The Noblest Crown man ever wore,-- + It was the Plaited Thorn. + + The Grandest Death man ever died,-- + It was the Death of Scorn. + + The Sorest Grief by woman known + Was the Mother-Maid's forlorn. + + The Deepest Sorrows e'er endured + Were by The Outcast borne. + + The Truest Heart the world e'er broke + Was the Heart by man's sins torn. + + + + + THE EMPTY CHAIR + + Wherever is an empty chair-- + Lord, be Thou there! + And fill it--like an answered prayer-- + With grace of fragrant thought, and rare + Sweet memories of him whose place + Thou takest for a little space!-- + --With thought of that heroical + Great heart that sprang to Duty's call; + --With thought of all the best in him, + That Time shall have no power to dim; + --With thought of Duty nobly done, + And High Eternal Welfare won. + + Think! Would you wish that he had stayed, + When all the rest The Call obeyed? + --That thought of self had held in thrall + His soul, and shrunk it mean and small? + + Nay, rather thank the Lord that he + Rose to such height of chivalry; + --That, with the need, his loyal soul + Swung like a needle to its pole; + --That, setting duty first, he went + At once, as to a sacrament. + + So, Lord, we thank Thee for Thy Grace, + And pray Thee fill his vacant place! + + + + + ROAD-MATES + + From deepest depth, O Lord, I cry to Thee. + "_My Love runs quick to your necessity._" + + I am bereft; my soul is sick with loss. + "_Dear one, I know. My heart broke on the Cross._" + + What most I loved is gone. I walk alone. + "_My Love shall more than fill his place, my own._" + + The burden is too great for me to bear. + "_Not when I'm here to take an equal share._" + + The road is long, and very wearisome. + "_Just on in front I see the light of home._" + + The night is black; I fear to go astray. + "_Hold My hand fast. I'll lead you all the way._" + + My eyes are dim, with weeping all the night. + "_With one soft kiss I will restore your sight._" + + And Thou wilt do all this for me?--for me? + "_For this I came--to bear you company._" + + + + + ALPHA--OMEGA + + Curly head, and laughing eyes,-- + Mischief that all blame defies. + + Cricket,--footer,--Eton-jacket,-- + Everlasting din and racket. + + Tennis,--boating,--socks and ties,-- + Tragedies,--and comedies. + + Business,--sobered,--getting on,-- + One girl now,--The Only One. + + London Scottish,--sporran,--kilt,-- + Bonnet cocked at proper tilt. + + Dies Irae!--Off to France,-- + Lord,--a safe deliverance! + + Deadly work,--foul gases,--trenches; + Naught that radiant spirit quenches. + + Letters dated "Somewhere--France,"-- + Mud,--and grub,--and no romance. + + Hearts at home all on the quiver, + Telegrams make backbones shiver. + + Silence!--Feverish enquiry;-- + Dies Irae!--Dies Irae! + + His the joy,--and ours the pain, + But, ere long, we'll meet again. + + Not too much we'll sorrow--for + It's both "a Dieu!" and "au revoir!" + + + + + HAIL!--AND FAREWELL! + + They died that we might live,-- + _Hail!--And Farewell!_ + --All honour give + To those who, nobly striving, nobly fell, + That we might live! + + That we might live they died,-- + _Hail!--And Farewell!_ + --Their courage tried, + By every mean device of treacherous hate, + Like Kings they died. + + Eternal honour give,-- + _Hail!--And Farewell!--_ + --To those who died, + In that full splendour of heroic pride, + That we might live! + + + + + A SILENT TE DEUM + + We thank Thee, Lord, + For all Thy Golden Silences,-- + For every Sabbath from the world's turmoil; + For every respite from the stress of life;-- + Silence of moorlands rolling to the skies, + Heath-purpled, bracken-clad, aflame with gorse; + Silence of grey tors crouching in the mist; + Silence of deep woods' mystic cloistered calm; + Silence of wide seas basking in the sun; + Silence of white peaks soaring to the blue; + Silence of dawnings, when, their matins sung, + The little birds do fall asleep again; + For the deep silence of high golden noons; + Silence of gloamings and the setting sun; + Silence of moonlit nights and patterned glades; + Silence of stars, magnificently still, + Yet ever chanting their Creator's skill; + For that high silence of Thine Open House, + Dim-branching roof and lofty-pillared aisle, + Where burdened hearts find rest in Thee awhile; + Silence of friendship, telling more than words; + Silence of hearts, close-knitting heart to heart + Silence of joys too wonderful for words; + Silence of sorrows, when Thou drawest near; + Silence of soul, wherein we come to Thee, + And find ourselves in Thine Immensity; + For that great silence where Thou dwell'st alone-- + --Father, Spirit, Son, in One, + Keeping watch above Thine Own,-- + Deep unto deep, within us sound sweet chords + Of praise beyond the reach of human words; + In our souls' silence, feeling only Thee,-- + We thank Thee, thank Thee, + Thank Thee, Lord! + + + + + THE NAMELESS GRAVES + + Unnamed at times, at times unknown, + Our graves lie thick beyond the seas; + Unnamed, but not of Him unknown;-- + He knows!--He sees! + + And not one soul has fallen in vain. + Here was no useless sacrifice. + From this red sowing of white seed + New life shall rise. + + All that for which they fought lives on, + And flourishes triumphantly; + Watered with blood and hopeful tears, + It could not die. + + The world was sinking in a slough + Of sloth, and ease, and selfish greed; + God surely sent this scourge to mould + A nobler creed. + + Birth comes with travail; all these woes + Are birth-pangs of the days to be. + Life's noblest things are ever born + In agony. + + So--comfort to the stricken heart! + Take solace in the thought that he + You mourn was called by God to such + High dignity. + + + + + BLINDED! + + You that still have your sight, + Remember me!-- + I risked my life, I lost my eyes, + That you might see. + + Now in the dark I go, + That you have light. + Yours, all the joy of day, + I have but night. + + Yours still, the faces dear, + The fields, the sky. + For me--ah me!--there's nought + But this black misery! + + In this unending night, + I can but see + What once I saw, and fain + Would see again. + O, midnight of black pain! + Come, Comrade Death, + Come quick, and set me free, + And give me back my eyes again! + + * * * * * + + Nay then, Christ's vicar, + You who bear our pain, + Ours be it now to see + Your dark days lighted, + And your way made plain. + + + + + SAID THE WOUNDED ONE:-- + + Just see that we get full value + Of that for which we have paid. + The price has been a heavy one, + But the goods are there--and _we've paid-. + We've paid in our toil and our woundings; + We've paid in the blood we've shed; + We've paid in our bitter hardships; + We've paid with our many dead. + + It's not payment in kind we ask for, + Two wrongs don't make much of a right. + All we ask is--that, what we have paid for, + You secure for us, all right and tight. + + The Peace of the World's what we're after; + We've all had enough of King Cain, + And the Kaiser and all his bully-men, + With their World-Power big on the brain. + + No!--we fought with a definite object, + And it's this--and we want it made plain,-- + That it's God, and not any devil, + That's to rule in the world again, + + + + + OUR SHARE + + And we ourselves? Are our hands clean? + Are our souls free from blame + For this world-tragedy? + Nay then! Like all the rest, + We had relaxed our hold on higher things, + And satisfied ourselves with smaller. + Ease, pleasure, greed of gold,-- + Laxed morals even in these,-- + We suffered them, as unaware + Of their soul-cankerings. + We had slipped back along the sloping way, + No longer holding First Things First, + But throning gods emasculate,-- + Idols of our own fashioning, + Heads of sham gold and feet of crumbling clay. + If we would build anew, and build to stay, + We must find God again, + And go His way. + + + + + POLICEMAN X + + "Shall it be Peace? + A voice within me cried and would not cease,-- + 'One man could do it if he would but dare.'" + (_From "Policeman X" in "Bees in Amber."_) + + + + + EPILOGUE, 1914 + + He did not dare! + His swelling pride laid wait + On opportunity, then dropped the mask + And tempted Fate, cast loaded dice,--and lost; + Nor recked the cost of losing. + + "_Their souls are mine. + Their lives were in thy hand;-- + Of thee I do require them!_" + + The Voice, so stern and sad, thrilled my heart's core + And shook me where I stood. + Sharper than sharpest sword, it fell on him + Who stood defiant, muffle-cloaked and helmed, + With eyes that burned, impatient to be gone. + + "_The fetor of thy grim burnt offerings + Comes up to me in clouds of bitterness. + Thy fell undoings crucify afresh + Thy Lord--who died alike for these and thee. + Thy works are Death;--thy spear is in my side,-- + O man! O man!--was it for this I died?_ + + _Was it for this?-- + A valiant people harried, to the void,-- + Their fruitful fields a burnt-out wilderness,-- + Their prosperous country ravelled into waste,-- + Their smiling land a vast red sepulchre.-- + --Thy work!_ + + _For this?-- + --Black clouds of smoke that vail the sight of heaven; + Black piles of stones which yesterday were homes; + And raw black heaps which once were villages; + Fair towns in ashes, spoiled to suage thy spleen; + My temples desecrate, My priests out-cast;-- + Black ruin everywhere, and red,--a land + All swamped with blood, and savaged raw and bare; + All sickened with the reek and stench of war, + And flung a prey to pestilence and want; + --Thy work!_ + + _For this?-- + --Life's fair white flower of manhood in the dust; + Ten thousand thousand hearts made desolate; + My troubled world a seething pit of hate; + My helpless ones the victims of thy lust;-- + The broken maids lift hopeless eyes to Me, + The little ones lift handless arms to Me, + The tortured women lift white lips to Me, + The eyes of murdered white-haired sires and dames + Stare up at Me.--And the sad anguished eyes + Of My dumb beasts in agony. + --Thy work!_ + + _Outrage on outrage thunders to the sky + The tale of thy stupendous infamy,-- + Thy slaughterings,--thy treacheries,--thy thefts,-- + Thy broken pacts,--thy honour in the mire,-- + Thy poor humanity cast off to sate thy pride;-- + 'Twere better thou hadst never lived,--or died + Ere come to this. + Thou art the man! The scales were in thy hand. + For this vast wrong I hold thy soul in fee. + Seek not a scapegoat for thy righteous due, + Nor hope to void thy countability. + Until thou purge thy pride and turn to Me,-- + As thou hast done, so be it unto thee!_" + + The shining eyes, so stern, and sweet, and sad, + Searched the hard face for sign of hopeful grace. + But grace was none. Enarmoured in his pride, + With brusque salute the other turned, and strode + Adown the night of Death and fitful fires. + + Then, as the Master bowed him, sorrowing, + I heard a great Voice pealing through the heavens, + A Voice that dwarfed earth's thunders to a moan:-- + _Woe! Woe! Woe!--to him by whom this came. + His house shall unto him be desolate. + And, to the end of time, his name shall be + A byword and reproach in all the lands + He rapined ... And his own shall curse him + For the ruin that he brought. + Who without reason draws the sword-- + By sword shall perish! + The Lord hath said ... So be it, Lord!_" + + AND AFTER! ....... + ....................... WHAT? + + God grant the sacrifice be not in vain! + Those valiant souls who set themselves with pride + To hold the Ways ... and fought ... and fought ... and died,-- + They rest with Thee. + But, to the end of time, + The virtue of their valiance shall remain, + To pulse a nobler life through every vein + Of our humanity. + + No drop of hero-blood e'er runs to waste, + But springs eternal, Fountain pure and chaste, + For cleansing of men's souls from earthly grime. + Life knows no waste. The Reaper tolls in vain, + In vain piles high his grim red harvesting,-- + His dread, red harvest of the slain! + God's wondrous husbandry is oft obscure, + But, without halt or haste, its course is sure, + And His good grain must die to live again. + + From this dread sowing, grant us harvest, Lord, + Of Nobler Doing, and of Loftier Hope,-- + An All-Embracing and Enduring Peace,-- + A Bond of States, a Pact of Peoples, based + On no caprice of royal whim, but on + Foundation mightier than the mightiest throne-- + The Well-Considered Will of All the Lands. + Therewith,--a simpler, purer, larger life, + Unhampered by the dread of war's alarms, + A life attuned to closer touch with Thee, + And golden-threaded with Thy Charity;-- + A Sweeter Earth,--a Nearer Heaven,--a World + As emulous in Peace as once in War, + And striving ever upward towards The Goal. + + _So, once again, through Death shall come New Life, + And out of Darkness, Light._ + + +"POLICEMAN X," which appeared first in _Bees in Amber_, was written in +1898. The Epilogue was written in 1914. "Policeman X" is the Kaiser. +"Policeman"--because if he had so chosen he could have assisted in +policing Europe and preserving the peace of the world. "X"--because he +was then the unknown quantity. Now we know him only too well. + + + + + THE MEETING-PLACE + (A Warning) + + I saw my fellows + In Poverty Street,-- + Bitter and black with life's defeat, + Ill-fed, ill-housed, of ills complete. + And I said to myself,-- + "_Surely death were sweet + To the people who live in Poverty Street._" + + I saw my fellows + In Market Place,-- + Avid and anxious, and hard of face, + Sweating their souls in the Godless race. + And I said to myself,-- + "_How shall these find grace + Who tread Him to death in the Market Place?_" + + I saw my fellows + In Vanity Fair,-- + Revelling, rollicking, debonair, + Life all a Gaudy-Show, never a care. + And I said to myself,-- + "_Is there place for these + In my Lord's well-appointed policies?_" + + I saw my fellows + In Old Church Row,-- + Hot in discussion of things High and Low, + Cold to the seething volcano below. + And I said to myself,-- + "_The leaven is dead. + The salt has no savour. The Spirit is fled._" + + I saw my fellows + As men and men,-- + The Men of Pain, and the Men of Gain, + And the Men who lived in Gallanty-Lane. + And I said to myself,-- + "What if those should dare + To claim from these others their rightful share?" + + I saw them all + Where the Cross-Roads meet;-- + Vanity Fair, and Poverty Street, + And the Mart, and the Church,--when the Red Drums beat, + And summoned them all to The Great Court-Leet. + And I cried unto God,-- + "Now grant us Thy grace!" + + * * * * * + + For that was a terrible Meeting-Place. + + + + + VICTORY DAY + _An Anticipation_ + + As sure as God's in His Heaven, + As sure as He stands for Right, + As sure as the hun this wrong hath done, + So surely we win this fight! + + Then!-- + Then, the visioned eye shall see + The great and noble company, + That gathers there from land and sea, + From over-land and over-sea, + From under-land and under-sea, + To celebrate right royally + The Day of Victory. + + Not alone on that great day, + Will the war-worn victors come, + To meet our great glad "Welcome Home!" + And a whole world's deep "Well done!" + Not alone! Not alone will they come, + To the sound of the pipe and the drum; + They will come to their own + With the pipe and the drum, + With the merry merry tune + Of the pipe and the drum;-- + But--they--will--not--come--alone! + + In their unseen myriads there, + Unperceived, but no less there, + In the vast of God's own air, + They will come!-- + With never a pipe or a drum, + All the flower of Christendom, + In a silence more majestic,-- + They will come! They will come! + The unknown and the known, + To meet our deep "Well done!" + And the world-resounding thunders + Of our great glad "Welcome Home!" + + With their faces all alight, + And their brave eyes shining bright, + From their glorious martyrdom, + They will come! + They will once more all unite + With their comrades of the fight, + To share the world's delight + In the Victory of Right, + And the doom--the final doom-- + The final, full, and everlasting doom + Of brutal Might, + They will come! + + At the world-convulsing boom + Of the treacherous Austrian gun,-- + At the all-compelling "Come!" + Of that deadly signal-gun,-- + They gauged the peril, and they came. + --Of many a race, and many a name, + But all ablaze with one white flame, + They tarried not to count the cost, + But came. + They came from many a clime and coast,-- + The slim of limb, the dark of face, + They shouldered eager in the race + The sturdy giants of the frost, + And the stalwarts of the sun,-- + Britons, Britons, Britons are they! + Britons, every one! + It shall be their life-long boast, + That they counted not the cost, + But, at the Mother-Country's call, they came. + They came a wrong to right, + They came to end the blight + Of a vast ungodly might; + And by their gallant coming overcame. + Britons, Britons, Britons are they! + Britons, every one! + + It shall be their nobler boast,-- + It shall spell their endless fame,-- + That, regardless of the cost, + They won the world for Righteousness, + And cleansed it of its shame. + Britons, Britons, Britons are they! + Britons, every one! + + And now,--again they come, + With merry pipe and drum, + Amid the storming cheers, + And the grateful-streaming tears, + Of this our great, glad, sorrowing Welcome-Home. + They shall every one be there, + On the earth or in the air, + From the land and from the sea, + And from under-land and sea, + Not a man shall missing be + From the past and present fighting-strength + Of that great company. + Those who lived, and those who died, + They were one in noble pride + Of desperate endeavour and of duty nobly done; + For their lives they risked and gave + Very Soul of Life to save, + And by their own great valour, and the Grace of God, they won. + Britons, Britons, Britons are they!-- + Britons, every one! + + + + + WHEN HE TRIES THE HEARTS OF MEN + + As gold is tried in the furnace, + _So He tries the hearts of men;_ + And the dwale and the dross shall suffer loss, + _When He tries the hearts of men._ + And the wood, and the hay, and the stubble + Shall pass in the flame away, + For gain is loss, and loss is gain, + And treasure of earth is poor and vain, + _When He tries the hearts of men._ + + As gold is refined in the furnace, + _So He fines the hearts of men._ + The purge of the flame doth rid them of shame, + _When He tries the hearts of men._ + O, better than gold, yea, than much fine gold, + _When He tries the hearts of men,_ + Are Faith, and Hope, and Truth, and Love, + And the Wisdom that cometh from above, + _When He tries the hearts of men._ + + + + + POISON-SEEDS + + Is there, in you or me, + Seed of that poison-tree + Which, in its bitter fruiting, bore + Such vintage sore + Of red calamity-- + Black wine of horror and of Death, + And soul-catastrophe? + Search well and see! + + Yea--search and see! + And, if there be-- + Tear up its roots with zealous care, + With deep soul-probing and with prayer, + Lest, in the coming years, + Again it bear + This same dread fruit of blood and tears, + And ruth beyond compare. + + Each soul that strips it of one evil thing + Lifts all the world towards God's good purposing. + + + + + THE WAR-MAKERS + + _Who are the Makers of Wars?_ + The Kings of the earth. + + _And who are these Kings of the earth?_ + Only men--not always even men of worth, + But claiming rule by right of birth. + + _And Wisdom?--does that come by birth?_ + Nay then--too often the reverse. + Wise father oft has son perverse; + Solomon's son was Israel's curse. + + _Why suffer things to reason so averse?_ + It always has been so, + And only now does knowledge grow + To that high point where all men know-- + Who would be free must strike the blow. + + _And how long will man suffer so?_ + Until his soul of Freedom sings, + And, strengthened by his sufferings, + He breaks the worn-out leading-strings, + And calls to stricter reckonings + Those costliest things--unworthy Kings. + + Not all are worthless. Some, with sense of duty, + Strive to invest their lives with grace and beauty. + To such--high honour! But the rest--self-seekers, + Pride-puffed--out with them!--useless mischief-makers! + + The time is past when any man or nation + Will meekly bear unrighteous domination. + + The time is come when every burden-bearer + Must, in the fixing of his load, be sharer. + + + + + IS LIFE WORTH LIVING? + + Is life worth living? + It depends on your believing;-- + If it ends with this short span, + Then is man no better than + The beasts that perish. + But a Loftier Hope we cherish. + "Life out of Death" is written wide + Across Life's page on every side. + We cannot think as ended, our dear dead who died. + + What room is left us then for doubt or fear? + Love laughs at thought of ending--there, or here. + God would lack meaning if this world were all, + And this short life but one long funeral. + + God is! Christ loves! Christ lives! + And by His Own Returning gives + Sure pledge of Immortality. + The first-fruits--He; and we-- + The harvest of His victory. + The life beyond shall this life far transcend, + And Death is the Beginning--not the End! + + + + + GOD'S HANDWRITING + + He writes in characters too grand + For our short sight to understand; + We catch but broken strokes, and try + To fathom all the mystery + Of withered hopes, of death, of life, + The endless war, the useless strife,-- + But there, with larger, clearer sight, + We shall see this-- + + HIS WAY WAS RIGHT + + (From _Bees in Amber_.) + + + + + PART TWO: THE KING'S HIGH WAY + + + + THE KING'S HIGH WAY + + A wonderful Way is The King's High Way; + It runs through the Nightlands up to the Day; + From the wonderful WAS, by the wonderful IS, + To the still more wonderful IS TO BE,-- + Runs The King's High Way. + + Through the crooked by-ways of history, + Through the times that were dark with mystery, + From the cities of man's captivity, + By the shed of The Child's nativity, + And over the hill by the crosses three, + By the sign-post of God's paternity, + From Yesterday into Eternity,-- + Runs The King's High Way. + And wayfaring men, who have strayed, still say + It is good to travel The King's High Way. + + Through the dim, dark Valley of Death, at times, + To the peak of the Shining Mount it climbs, + While wonders, and glories, and joys untold + To the eyes of the visioned each step unfold,-- + On The King's High Way. + And everywhere there are sheltering bowers, + Plenished with fruits and radiant with flowers, + Where the weary of body and soul may rest, + As the steeps they breast to the beckoning crest,-- + On The King's High Way. + + And inns there are too, of comforting mien, + Where every guest is a King or a Queen, + And room never lacks in the inns on that road, + For the hosts are all gentle men, like unto God,-- + On The King's High Way. + + The comrades one finds are all bound the same way, + Their faces aglow in the light of the day; + And never a quarrel is heard, nor a brawl, + They're the best of good company, each one and all,-- + On The King's High Way. + + So, gallantly travel The King's High Way, + With hearts unperturbed and with souls high and gay, + There is many a road that is much more the mode, + But none that so surely leads straight up to God, + As The King's High Way. + + + + + THE WAYS + + To every man there openeth + A Way, and Ways, and a Way, + And the High Soul climbs the High Way, + And the Low Soul gropes the Low, + And in between, on the misty flats, + The rest drift to and fro. + But to every man there openeth + A High Way, and a Low. + And every man decideth + The Way his soul shall go. + + + + + AD FINEM + + Britain! Our Britain! uprisen in the splendour + Of your white wrath at treacheries so vile; + Roused from your sleep, become once more defender + Of those high things which make life worth life's while! + + Now, God be thanked for even such a wakening + From the soft dreams of peace in selfish ease, + If it but bring about the great heart-quickening, + Of which are born the larger liberties. + + Ay, better such a rousing up from slumber; + Better this fight for His High Empery; + Better--e'en though our fair sons without number + Pave with their lives the road to victory. + + But--Britain! Britain! What if it be written, + On the great scrolls of Him who holds the ways, + That to the dust the foe shall not be smitten + Till unto Him we pledge redeemed days?-- + + Till unto Him we turn--in deep soul-sorrow, + For all the past that was so stained and dim, + For all the present ills--and for a morrow + Founded and built and consecrated to Him. + + Take it to heart! This ordeal has its meaning; + By no fell chance has such a horror come. + Take it to heart!--nor count indeed on winning, + Until the lesson has come surely home. + + Take it to heart!--nor hope to find assuagement + Of this vast woe, until, with souls subdued, + Stripped of all less things, in most high engagement, + We seek in Him the One and Only Good. + + Not of our own might shall this tribulation + Pass, and once more to earth be peace restored; + Not till we turn, in solemn consecration, + Wholly to Him, our One and Sovereign Lord. + + + + + EVENING BRINGS US HOME + + _Evening brings us home,-- + From our wanderings afar, + From our multifarious labours, + From the things that fret and jar; + From the highways and the byways, + From the hill-tops and the vales; + From the dust and heat of city street, + And the joys of lonesome trails,-- + Evening brings us home at last, + To Thee._ + + From plough and hoe and harrow, from the burden of the day, + From the long and lonely furrow in the stiff reluctant clay, + From the meads where streams are purling, + From the moors where mists are curling,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To rest, and warmth, and Thee._ + + From the pastures where the white lambs to their dams are ever crying, + From the byways where the Night lambs Thy + Love are crucifying, + From the labours of the lowlands, + From the glamour of the glowlands,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To the fold, and rest, and Thee._ + + From the Forests of Thy Wonder, where the mighty giants grow, + Where we cleave Thy works asunder, and lay the mighty low, + From the jungle and the prairie, + From the realms of fact and faerie,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To rest, and cheer, and Thee._ + + From our wrestlings with the spectres of the dim and dreary way, + From the vast heroic chances of the never-ending fray, + From the Mount of High Endeavour, + In the hope of Thy For Ever,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To trust and peace, and Thee._ + + From our toilings and our moilings, from the quest of daily bread, + From the worship of our idols, and the burying of our dead, + Like children, worn and weary + With the way so long and dreary,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To rest, and love, and Thee._ + + From our journeyings oft and many over strange and stormy seas, + From our search the wide world over for the larger liberties, + From our labours vast and various, + With our harvestings precarious,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To safety, rest, and Thee._ + + From the yet-untrodden No-Lands, where we sought Thy secrets out, + From the blizzards of the Nightlands, and the + blazing White-Lands' drought, + From the undiscovered country + Where our IS is yet to be,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To welcome cheer, and Thee._ + + From the temples of our living, all empurpled with Thy giving, + From the warp of life thick-threaded with the gold of Thine inweaving, + From the days so full of splendour, + From the visions rare and tender,-- + _Evening brings us home at last, + To quiet rest in Thee._ + + From the Dim-Lands, from the Grim-Lands, + from the Lands of High Emprise, + From the Lands of Disillusion to the Truth that never dies; + With rejoicing and with singing, + Each his rightful sheaves home-bringing,-- + _Evening brings us all at last, + To Harvest-Home with Thee._ + + From the fields of fiery trying, where our bravest and our best, + By their living and their dying their souls' high faith attest, + From these dread, red fields of sorrow, + From the fight for Thy To-morrow,-- + _Evening brings each one at last, + To GOD'S own Peace in Thee._ + + + + + THE REAPER + + All through the blood-red Autumn, + When the harvest came to the full; + When the days were sweet with sunshine, + And the nights were wonderful,-- + _The Reaper reaped without ceasing._ + + All through the roaring Winter, + When the skies were black with wrath, + When earth alone slept soundly, + And the seas were white with froth,-- + _The Reaper reaped without ceasing._ + + All through the quick of the Spring-time, + When the birds sang cheerily, + When the trees and the flowers were burgeoning, + And men went wearily,-- + _The Reaper reaped without ceasing._ + + All through the blazing Summer, + When the year was at its best, + When Earth, subserving God alone, + In her fairest robes was dressed,-- + _The Reaper reaped without ceasing._ + + So, through the Seasons' roundings, + While nature waxed and waned, + And only man by thrall of man + Was scarred and marred and stained,-- + _The Reaper reaped without ceasing._ + + How long, O Lord, shall the Reaper + Harry the growing field? + Stretch out Thy Hand and stay him, + Lest the future no fruit yield!-- + _And the Gleaner find nought for His gleaning._ + + Thy Might alone can end it,-- + This fratricidal strife. + Our souls are sick with the tale of death, + Redeem us back to life!-- + _That the Gleaner be glad in His gleaning._ + + + + + NO MAN GOETH ALONE + + Where one is, + There am I,-- + No man goeth alone! + + Though he fly to earth's remotest bound, + Though his soul in the depths of sin be drowned,-- + No man goeth alone! + + Though he take him the wings of fear, and flee + Past the outermost realms of light; + Though he weave him a garment of mystery, + And hide in the womb of night,-- + No man goeth alone! + + Though apart in the city's heart he dwell, + Though he wander beyond the stars, + Though he bury himself in his nethermost hell, + And vanish behind the bars,-- + No man goeth alone! + + For I, God, am the soul of man, + And none can Me dethrone. + Where one is, + There am I,-- + No man goeth alone! + + + + + ROSEMARY + + Singing, she washed + Her baby's clothes, + And, one by one, + As they were done, + She hung them in the sun to dry, + She hung them on a bush hard by, + Upon a waiting bush hard by, + A glad expectant bush hard by, + To dry in the sweet of the morning. + + The while, her son, + Her little son, + Lay kicking, gleeful, + In the sun,-- + Her little, naked, Virgin son. + + O wondrous sight! Amazing sight!-- + The Lord, who did the sun create, + Lay kicking with a babe's delight, + Regardless of His low estate, + In joy of nakedness elate, + In His own sun's fair light! + + And all the sweet, sweet, sweet of Him + Clave to the bush, and still doth cleave, + And doth forever-more outgive + The fragrant holy sweet of Him. + Where'er it thrives + That bush forthgives + The faint, rare, sacred sweet of Him. + + So--ever sweet, and ever green, + Shall Rosemary be queen. + + + + + EASTER SUNDAY, 1916 + + The sun shone white and fair, + This Eastertide, + Yet all its sweetness seemed but to deride + Our souls' despair; + For stricken hearts, and loss and pain, + Were everywhere. + We sang our Alleluias,-- + We said, "_The Christ is risen! + From this His earthly prison, + The Christ indeed is risen. + He is gone up on high, + To the perfect peace of heaven._" + + Then, with a sigh, + We wondered... + Our minds evolved grim hordes of huns, + Our bruised hearts sank beneath the guns, + On our very souls they thundered. + Can you wonder?--Can you wonder, + That _we_ wondered, + As we heard the huns' guns thunder? + That we looked in one another's eyes + And wondered,-- + + "_Is Christ indeed then risen from the dead? + Hath He not rather fled + For ever from a world where He + Meets such contumely?_" + + Our hearts were sick with pain, + As they beat the sad refrain,-- + "_How shall the Lord Christ come again? + How can the Lord Christ come again? + Nay,--will He come again? + Is He not surely fled + For ever from a world where He + Is still so buffeted?_" + + But the day's glory all forbade + Such depth of woe. Came to our aid + The sun, the birds, the springing things, + The winging things, the singing things; + And taught us this,-- + _After each Winter cometh Spring,-- + God's hand is still in everything,-- + His mighty purposes are sure,-- + His endless love doth still endure, + And will not cease, nor know remiss, + Despite man's forfeiture_. + + _The Lord is risen indeed! + In very truth and deed + The Lord is risen, is risen, is risen; + He will supply our need_. + + So we took heart again, + And built us refuges from pain + Within His coverture,-- + Strong towers of Love, and Hope, and Faith, + That shall maintain + Our souls' estate + Too high and great + For even Death to violate. + + + + + THE CHILD OF THE MAID + + On Christmas Day The Child was born, + On Christmas Day in the morning;-- + _--To tread the long way, lone and lorn, + --To wear the bitter crown of thorn, + --To break the heart by man's sins torn, + --To die at last the Death of Scorn_. + For this The Child of The Maid was born, + On Christmas Day in the morning. + + But that first day when He was born, + Among the cattle and the corn, + The sweet Maid-Mother wondering, + And sweetly, deeply, pondering + The words that in her heart did ring, + Unto her new-born king did sing,-- + + "My baby, my baby, + My own little son, + Whence come you, + Where go you, + My own little one? + Whence come you? + + Ah now, unto me all alone + That wonder of wonders is properly known. + Where go you? + Ah, that now, 'tis only He knows, + Who sweetly on us, dear, such favour bestows. + In us, dear, this day is some great work begun,-- + Ah me, little son dear, I would it were done! + I wonder ... I wonder ... + And--wish--it--were--done! + + "O little, little feet, dears. + So curly, curly sweet!-- + How will it be with you, dears, + When all your work's complete? + O little, little hands, dears, + That creep about my breast!-- + What great things you will do, dears, + Before you lie at rest! + O softest little head, dear, + It shall have crown of gold, + For it shall have great honour + Before the world grows old! + O sweet, white, soft round body, + It shall sit upon a throne! + My little one, my little one, + Thou art the Highest's son! + All this the angel told me, + And so I'm sure it's true, + For he told me who was coming,-- + And that sweet thing is _YOU_." + + On Christmas Day The Child was born, + On Christmas Day in the morning;-- + _--He trod the long way, lone and lorn, + --He wore the bitter crown of thorn, + --His hands and feet and heart were torn, + --He died at last the Death of Scorn_. + But through His coming Death was slain, + That you and I might live again. + + For this The Child of The Maid was born, + On Christmas Day in the morning. + + + + + WASTED? + + Think not of any one of them as wasted, + Or to the void like broken tools outcasted,-- + Unnoticed, unregretted, and unknown. + Not so is His care shown. + + Know this!-- + In God's economy there is no waste, + As in His Work no slackening, no haste; + But noiselessly, without a sign, + The measure of His vast design + Is all fulfilled, exact as He hath willed. + + And His good instruments He tends with care, + Lest aught their future usefulness impair,-- + As Master-craftsman his choice tools doth tend, + Respecting each one as a trusty friend, + Cleans them, and polishes, and puts away, + For his good usage at some future day;-- + So He unto Himself has taken these, + Not to their loss but to their vast increase. + To us,--the loss, the emptiness, the pain; + But unto them--all high eternal gain. + + + + + SHORTENED LIVES + + To us it seemed his life was too soon done, + Ended, indeed, while scarcely yet begun; + God, with His clearer vision, saw that he + Was ready for a larger ministry. + + Just so we thought of Him, whose life below + Was so full-charged with bitterness and woe, + Our clouded vision would have crowned Him King, + He chose the lowly way of suffering. + + Remember, too, how short His life on earth,-- + But three-and-thirty years 'twixt death and birth. + And of those years but three whereof we know, + Yet those three years immortal seed did sow. + + It is not tale of years that tells the whole + Of Man's success or failure, but the soul + He brings to them, the songs he sings to them, + The steadfast gaze he fixes on the goal. + + + + + LAGGARD SPRING + + Winter hung about the ways, + Very loth to go. + Little Spring could not get past him, + Try she never so. + + This side,--that side, everywhere, + Winter held the track. + Little Spring sat down and whimpered, + Winter humped his back. + + Summer called her,--"Come, dear, come! + Why do you delay?" + "Come and help me, Sister Summer, + Winter blocks my way." + + Little Spring tried everything, + Sighs and moans and tears, + Winter howled with mocking laughter, + Covered her with jeers. + + Winter, rough old surly beggar, + Practised every vice, + Pelted her with hail and snow storms, + Clogged her feet with ice. + + But, by chance at last they caught him + Unawares one day, + Tied his hands and feet, and dancing, + Sped upon their way. + + + + + LONELY BROTHER + + Art thou lonely, O my brother? + Share thy little with another! + Stretch a hand to one unfriended, + And thy loneliness is ended. + So both thou and he + Shall less lonely be. + And of thy one loneliness + Shall come two's great happiness. + + + + + COMFORT YE! + + "_Comfort ye, my people!_" + Saith your God,-- + "_And be ye comforted! + And--be--ye--comforted!_" + + Roughly my plough did plough you, + Sharp were my strokes, and sore, + But nothing less could bow you, + Nothing less could your souls restore + To the depths and the heights of my longing, + To the strength you had known before. + + For--you were falling, falling, + Even the best of you, + Falling from your high calling; + And this, My test of you, + Has been for your souls' redemption + From the little things of earth, + What seemed to you death's agony + Was but a greater birth. + + And now you shall have gladness + For the years you have seen ill; + Give up to Me your sadness, + And I your cup will fill. + + + + + S. ELIZABETH'S LEPER + + "My lord, there came unto the gate + One, in such pitiful estate, + So all forlorn and desolate, + Ill-fed, ill-clad, of ills compact; + A leper too,--his poor flesh wracked + And dead, his very bones infect; + Of all God's sons none so abject. + I could not, on the Lord's own day, + Turn such a stricken one away. + In pity him I took, and fed, + And happed him in our royal bed." + + "A leper!--in our bed!--Nay then, + My Queen, thy charities do pass + The bounds of sense at times! A bane + On such unwholesome tenderness! + Dost nothing owe to him who shares + Thy couch, and suffers by thy cares? + He could have slept upon the floor, + And left you still his creditor. + A leper!--in my bed!--God's truth! + Out upon such outrageous ruth!" + + He strode in anger towards the bed, + And lo!-- + The Christ, with thorn-crowned head, + Lay there in sweet sleep pillowed. + + + + + VOX CLAMANTIS + + (THE PLEA OF THE MUNITION-WORKER) + + "_Rattle and clatter and clank and whirr,"-- + And it's long and long the day is_. + From earliest morn to late at night, + And all night long, the selfsame song,--- + "_Rattle and clank and whirr._" + Day in, day out, all day, all night,-- + "_Rattle and clank and whirr;_" + With faces tight, with all our might,-- + "Rattle and clank and whirr;" + We may not stop and we dare not err; + Our men are risking their lives out there, + And we at home must do our share;-- + _But it's long and long the day is_. + We'll break if we must, but we cannot spare + A thought for ourselves, or the kids, or care, + For it's "_Rattle and clatter and clank and whirr;_" + Our men are giving their lives out there + And we'll give ours, we will do our share,-- + "_Rattle and clank and whirr_." + + Are our faces grave, and our eyes intent? + Is every ounce that is in us bent + On the uttermost pitch of accomplishment? + _Though it's long and long the day is_! + Ah--we know what it means if we fool or slack; + --A rifle jammed,--and one comes not back; + And we never forget,--it's for us they gave; + And so we will slave, and slave, and slave, + Lest the men at the front should rue it. + Their all they gave, and their lives we'll save, + If the hardest of work can do it;-- + _But it's long and long the day is_. + + Eight hours', ten hours', twelve hours' shift;-- + _Oh, it's long and long the day is_! + Up before light, and home in the night, + That is our share in the desperate fight;-- + _And it's long and long the day is_! + Backs and arms and heads that ache, + Eyes over-tired and legs that shake, + And hearts full nigh to burst and break;-- + _Oh, it's long and long the day is_! + Week in, week out, not a second to spare, + But though it should kill us we'll do our share, + For the sake of the lads, who have gone out there + For the sake of us others, to do and dare;-- + _But it's long and long the day is_! + + "_Rattle and clatter and clank and whirr,_" + And thousands of wheels a-spinning,-- + Spinning Death for the men of wrath, + Spinning Death for the broken troth, + --And Life, and a New Beginning. + Was there ever, since ever the world was made, + Such a horrible trade for a peace-loving maid, + And such wonderful, terrible spinning? + + Oh, it's dreary work and it's weary work, + But none of us all will fall or shirk. + + + + + FLORA'S BIT + + Flora, with wondrous feathers in her hat, + Rain-soaked, and limp, and feeling very flat, + With flowers of sorts in her full basket, sat, + Back to the railings, there by Charing Cross, + And cursed the weather and a blank day's loss. + + "Wevver!" she cried, to P. C. E. 09,-- + "Wevver, you calls it?--Your sort then, not mine! + I calls it blanky 'NO.' So there you are,-- + Bit of Old Nick's worstest particular. + Wevver indeed! Not much, my little son, + It's just old London's nastiest kind of fun. + + "_Vi'lets, narcissus, primroses and daffs,-- + See how they sits up in their beds an' laughs! + Buy, Pretty Ladies--for your next at 'ome! + Gents!--for the gells now--buy a pretty bloom!_ + + "Gosh!--but them 'buses is a fair disgrace, + Squirting their dirty mud into one's face, + Robert, my son, you a'n't half worth your salt, + Or you'd arrest 'em for a blank assault! + + "_Primroses, narcissus, daffs and violets,-- + First come is first served, and pick o' basket gets._ + + "Garn then and git! Ain't none o' you no good! + Cawn't spare a copper to'rds a pore gell's food. + Gives one the 'ump it does, to see you all go by, + An' me a-sittin' 'ere all day, + An' none o' you won't buy. + _Vi'lets, narcissus_,-- ... Blimy! Strike me dumb! + Garn! What's the good o' you?--lot o' dirty scum! + Silly blokes!--stony brokes!--I'm a-goin' 'ome!" + + And then, from out the "Corner-House," + Came two, and two, and two, + Three pretty maids, three little Subs, + Doing as young Subs do, + When four days' leave gives them the chance + Of a little bill and coo. + + "What ho!" they cried, as they espied + Flora's bright flower-pot. + "Hi!--you there with the last year's hat!-- + Let's see what you have got! + And if they're half as nice as you, + We'll buy the blooming lot." + + But, as they stood there chaffering, + Out from the station came + A string of cautious motor-cars, + Packed full of lean, brown men,-- + The halt, the maimed, the blind, the lame,-- + The wreckage of the wars,-- + Their faces pinched and full of pain, + Their eyes still dazed with stress and strain,-- + The nation's creditors. + + The Subs, the girls, and Flora stood, + There in the pouring rain, + And shouted hearty welcomes to + The broken, lean-faced men. + And when they'd passed, the little Subs + Turned to their fun again. + + But the biggest heart among them all + Beat under the feathered hat;-- + "Not me!" she cried, and up, and sped + After the boys who had fought and bled,-- + "Here's a game worth two o' that!" + + She caught the cars, and in she flung + Her wares with lavish hand. + "_Narcissus!--vi'lets!_--here, you chaps! + _Primroses! dafs!_--for your rumply caps! + My! Ain't you black-an'-tanned! + _Narcissus! vi'lets!_--all abloom,-- + We're glad to see you back. + _Primroses!--dafs!_ Thenk Gawd you laughs, + If it's on'y crooked smiles. + We're glad, my lads, to see you home, + If your faces are like files." + + They thanked her with their crooked smiles, + Their bandaged hands they waved, + Narcissus, vi'lets, prims, and daffs, + They welcomed them with twisted laughs, + Quite proper they behaved. + And one said, "You're a Daisy, dear, + And if you'd stop the 'bus + We'd every one give you a kiss, + And so say all of us. + A Daisy, dear, that's what you are." + And the rest,--"You are! You are!" + + Then Flora swung her basket high, + And tossed her feathered head; + To the boys she gave one final wave, + And to herself she said,-- + "What kind of a silly old fool am I, + Playin' the goat like that?-- + Chuckin' of all my stock awye, + And damaging me 'at? + But them poor lads did look so thin, + I couldn't ha' slept if I 'adn't a-bin + An' gone an' done this foolish thing. + An' it done them good, an' it done me good, + So what's the odds if I does go lean, + For a day or two, till the nibs comes in? + A gell like me can always live, + An' the bit I had I had to give. + An' he called me a Daisy!--aw--'_Daisy dear!_' + An' I--tell--you, it made me queer,-- + With a lump in me throat and a swell right here. + Fust time ever any one called me that, + An', I swear, it's better'n a bran new hat." + + + + + RED BREAST + + I saw one hanging on a tree, + And O his face was sad to see,-- + _Misery, misery me_! + + There were berries red upon his head, + And in his hands, and on his feet, + But when I tried to pick and eat, + They were his blood, and he was dead;-- + _Misery, misery me_! + + It broke my heart to see him there, + So lone and sad in his despair; + The nails of woe were through his hands, + And through his feet,--_ah, misery me_! + + With beak and claws I did my best + To loose the nails and set him free, + But they were all too strong for me;-- + _Misery, misery me_! + + I picked and pulled, and did my best, + And his red blood stained all my breast; + I bit the nails, I pecked the thorn, + O, never saw I thorn so worn; + But yet I could not get him free;-- + _Misery, misery me_! + + And never since have I feared man, + But ever I seek him when I can, + And let him see the wish in me + To ease him of his misery. + + + + + OUR HEARTS FOR YOU + + By the grace of God and the courage + Of the peoples far and wide, + By the toil and sweat of those who lived, + And the blood of those who died, + We have won the fight, we have saved the Right, + For the Lord was on our side. + + We have come through the valley of shadows, + We have won to the light again, + We have smitten to earth the evil thing, + And our sons have proved them men. + But not alone by our might have we won, + For the Lord fought in our van. + + When the night was at its darkest, + And never a light could we see,-- + When earth seemed like to be enslaved + In a monstrous tyranny;-- + Then the flaming sword of our Over-Lord + Struck home for liberty. + + All the words in the world cannot tell you + What brims in our hearts for you; + For the lives you gave our lives to save + We offer our hearts to you; + We can never repay, we can only pray,-- + God fulfil our hearts for you! + + + + + THE BURDENED ASS + + (AN ALLEGORY) + + One day, as I travelled the highway alone, + I heard, on in front, a most dolorous groan; + And there, round the corner, a weary old ass + Was nuzzling the hedge for a mouthful of grass. + The load that he carried was piled up so high + That it blocked half the road and threatened the sky. + Indeed, of himself I could see but a scrap, + And expected each minute to see that go snap; + For beneath all his load I could see but his legs, + And they were as thin as the thinnest clothes-pegs. + + I said, "O most gentle and innocent beast, + Say,--why is your burden so greatly increased? + Who loads you like this, beyond reason and right? + Is it done for a purpose, or just out of spite? + Is it all your own treasures you have in your pack, + That crumples your backbone and makes your ribs crack? + It is really too much for an old ass's back." + + "Treasures!"--he groaned, through a lump of chewed grass, + "_Are_ they treasures? I don't know. I'm only the ass + That carries whatever they all like to pack + On my load, without thought of my ribs or my back. + I know there are heaps of things there that I hate, + But it's always been so. I guess it's my fate." + And he flicked his long ears, and switched his thin tail, + And rasped his rough neck with a hinder-foot nail. + + "There are fighting-men somewhere up there, and some fools, + And talking-men--heaps--who have quitted their stools + To manage the state and direct its affairs, + And see, I suppose, that we all get our shares,-- + And ladies and lords, and their offspring and heirs, + And their flunkeys and toadies, and merchants and wares.-- + And parsons and lawyers,--O heaps,--in that box, + And big folk and small folk, and all kinds of crocks. + + "_That mighty big bale_?--Poison, that,--for the people; + Whatever else lacks they must still have their tipple. + That's The Trade, don't you know, that no one can shackle,-- + 'Vested Int'rests,' they call it, and that kind of cackle. + Why the Bishops themselves dare not tackle the tipple, + For it props up the church and at times builds a steeple." + + (A strangely ingenuous old ass, you perceive, + Whom any shrewd rascal could easily deceive.) + + "_That other big bale_?--What I said,--fighting things,-- + Ammunition and guns and these new things with wings, + O yes, they bulk big, but we need them,--for why?-- + If we hadn't as much as the others have--why, + They say we might just as well lie down and die. + + "_Yon big bale on top_?--Ah! that is a big weight. + And that's just the one of the lot I most hate. + That's Capital, that is,--and landlords and such; + And there seems to me sometimes a bit over-much + In that bale. But there,--I'm perhaps wrong again, + Such matters are outside an old ass's ken. + + "_My fodder_? Oh well, you see,--no room for that. + I pick as I go, and no chance to get fat. + That poison bulks large,--and the landlords, you see;-- + And that Capital's heavy as heavy can be. + Some one's bound to go short, and of course that one's ME." + + He kicked up one heel with a snort of disgust, + And--sudden as though by a giant hand thrust, + The top-heavy pack on his lean back revolved, + Came crashing to earth, and in fragments dissolved. + + Much surprised,--the old ass, thus set free from his load, + Picked out a soft spot in the nice dusty road, + And laid him down on it and rolled in high glee, + And, as he kicked this way and that, said to me,-- + + "Say, Man, I have never enjoyed such a roll + Since the day I was born, a silly young foal. + Seems to me, if I'd had half the sense of an ass, + I'd have long since got rid of that troublesome mass. + But now that it's down, why--down it shall stop. + All my life's been down under, but now I'm on top." + + Then he came right-side up, pranced about on his load, + And kicked it to pieces all over the road. + + And what all this means, I really can't say. + It may not mean much. But--again,--why, it may. + + + + + WINNERS OR LOSERS? + + Unless our Souls win back to Thee, + We shall have lost this fight. + Yes, though we win on field and sea, + Though mightier still our might may be, + We still shall lose if we win not Thee. + _Help us to climb, as in Thy sight, + The Great High Way of Thy Delight_. + + It is the world-old strife again,-- + The fight 'twixt good and ill. + Since first the curse broke out in Cain, + Each age has worn the grim red chain, + And ill fought good for sake of gain. + _Help us, through all life's conflict, still + To battle upwards to Thy Will_. + + Are we to be like all the rest, + Or climb we loftier height? + Can we our wayward steps arrest?-- + All life with nobler life invest?-- + And so fulfil our Lord's behest? + _Help us, through all the world's dark night, + To struggle upwards to the Light_. + + If not,--we too shall pass, as passed + The older peoples in their time. + God's pact is sure, His word stands fast,-- + Those who His sovereignty outcast + Outcast themselves shall be at last. + _So,--lest we pass in this our prime, + Lord, set us to the upward climb_! + + + + + CHRIST AT THE BAR + + Christ stands at the bar of the world to-day, + As He stood in the days of old. + And still, as then, we do betray + Our Lord for greed of gold. + + When our every deed and word and thought + Should our fealty proclaim, + Full oft we bring His name to nought + And cover Him with shame. + + Not alone did Judas his Master sell, + Nor Peter his Lord deny, + Each one who doth His love repel, + Or at His guidance doth rebel, + Doth the Lord Christ crucify. + + Like the men of old, we vote His death, + Lest His life should interfere + With the things we have, or the things we crave, + Or the things we hold more dear. + + Christ stands at the bar of the world to-day, + As He stood in the days of old. + Let each man tax his soul and say,-- + "Shall I again my Lord betray + For my greed, or my goods, or my gold?" + + + + + MY BROTHER'S KEEPER? + + (A WARNING) + + "_Am I my brother's keeper_?" + Yes, of a truth! + Thine asking is thine answer. + That self-condemning cry of Cain + Has been the plea of every selfish soul since then, + Which hath its brother slain. + God's word is plain, + And doth thy shrinking soul arraign. + + _Thy brother's keeper_? + Yea, of a truth thou art! + For if not--who? + Are ye not both,--both thou and he + Of God's great family? + How rid thee of thy soul's responsibility? + For every ill in all the world + Each soul is sponsor and account must bear. + And He, and he thy brother of despair, + Claim, of thy overmuch, their share. + + Thou hast had good, and he the strangled days; + But now,--the old things pass. + No longer of thy grace + Is he content to live in evil case + For the anointing of thy shining face. + The old things pass.--Beware lest ye pass with them, + And your place + Become an emptiness! + + Beware! Lest, when the "Have-nots" claim, + From those who have, their rightful share, + Thy borders be swept bare + As by the final flame. + Better to share before than after. + "_After?_" ... For thee may be no after! + Only the howl of mocking laughter + At thy belated care. Make no mistake!-- + "After" will be too late. + When once the "Have-nots" claim ... they take. + "After!" ... When that full claim is made, + You and your golden gods may all lie dead. + + Set _now_ your house in order, + Ere it be too late! + For, once the storm of hate + Be loosed, no man shall stay it till + Its thirst has slaked its fill, + And you, poor victims of this last "too late," + Shall in the shadows mourn your lost estate. + + + + + A TELEPHONE MESSAGE + (TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN) + + Hello! Hello! + Are you there? Are you there? + Ah! That you? Well,-- + This is just to tell you + That there's trouble in the air... + Trouble,-- + T-R-O-U-B-L-E--Trouble! + _Where?_ + In the air. + Trouble in the air! + Got that? ... Right! + Then--take a word of warning, + And ... Beware! + + _What trouble?_ + Every trouble,--everywhere, + Every wildest kind of nightmare + That has ridden you is there, + In the air. + And it's coming like a whirlwind, + Like a wild beast mad with hunger, + To rend and wrench and tear,-- + To tear the world in pieces maybe, + Unless it gets its share. + Can't you see the signs and portents? + Can't you feel them in the air? + Can't you see,--you unbeliever? + Can't you see?--or don't you care,-- + That the Past is gone for ever, + Past your uttermost endeavour,-- + That To-day is on the scrap-heap, + And the Future--anywhere? + + _Where?_ + Ah--that's beyond me!-- + But it lies with those who dare + To think of big To-morrows, + And intend to have their share. + + All the things you've held and trusted + Are played-out, decayed, and rusted; + Now, in fiery circumstance, + They will all be readjusted. + If you cling to those old things, + Hoping still to hold the strings, + And, for your ungodly gains, + Life to bind with golden chains;-- + Man! you're mightily mistaken! + From such dreams you'd best awaken + To the sense of what is coming, + When you hear the low, dull booming + Of the far-off tocsin drums. + --Such a day of vast upsettings, + Dire outcastings and downsettings!-- + You have held the reins too long,-- + Have you time to heal the wrong? + + _What's wrong? What's amiss?_ + Man alive! If you don't know that-- + There's nothing more to be said! + --You ask what's amiss when your destinies + Hang by a thread in the great abyss? + _What's amiss? What's amiss?_-- + Well, my friend, just this,-- + There's a bill to pay and it's due to-day, + And before it's paid you may all be dead. + Wake up! Wake up!--or, all too late, + You will find yourselves exterminate. + + _What's wrong?_ + Listen here!-- + Do you catch a sound like drumming?-- + Far-away and distant drumming? + You hear it? What? + _The wires humming?_ + No, my friend, it is _not_! + It's the tune the prentice-hands are thrumming,-- + The tune of the dire red time that's coming,-- + The far-away, pregnant, ghostly booming + Of the great red drums' dread drumming. + For they're coming, coming, coming,-- + With their dread and doomful drumming, + Unless you... + Br-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r--click--clack! + + + + + THE STARS' ACCUSAL + + _How can the makers of unrighteous wars + Stand the accusal of the watchful stars?_ + + To stand-- + A dust-speck, facing the infinitudes + Of Thine unfathomable dome, a night like this,-- + To stand full-face to Thy High Majesties, + Thy myriad worlds in solemn watchfulness,-- + _Watching, watching, watching all below, + And man in all his wilfulness for woe!_ + --Dear Lord, one wonders that Thou bearest still + With man on whom Thou didst such grace bestow, + And with his wilful faculty for woe! + + Those sleepless sentinels! They may be worlds + All peopled like our own. But, as I stand, + They are to me the myriad eyes of God,-- + _Watching, watching, watching all below, + And man in all his wilfulness for woe._ + And then--to think + What those same piercing eyes look down upon + Elsewhere on this fair earth that Thou hast made!-- + _Watching, watching, watching all below, + And man in all his wilfulness for woe._ + + --On all the desolations he hath wrought, + --On all the passioned hatreds he hath taught, + --On all Thy great hopes he hath brought to nought;-- + --Man rending man with ruthless bitterness, + --Blasting Thine image into nothingness, + --Hounding Thy innocents to awful deaths, + And worse than deaths! Happy the dead, who sped + Before the torturers their lust had fed! + --On Thy Christ crucified afresh each day, + --On all the horrors of War's grim red way. + And ever, in Thy solemn midnight skies, + Those myriad, sleepless, vast accusing eyes,-- + _Watching, watching, watching all below, + And man in all his wilfulness for woe._ + + Dear Lord!-- + When in our troubled hearts we ponder this, + We can but wonder at Thy wrath delayed,-- + We can but wonder that Thy hand is stayed,-- + We can but wonder at Thy sufferance + Of man, whom Thou in Thine own image made, + When he that image doth so sore degrade! + + If Thou shouldst blot us out without a word, + Our stricken souls must say we had incurred + Just punishment. + Warnings we lacked not, warnings oft and clear, + But in our arrogance we gave no ear + To Thine admonishment. + And yet,--and yet! O Lord, we humbly pray,-- + Put back again Thy righteous Judgment Day! + Have patience with us yet a while, until + Through these our sufferings we learn Thy Will. + + + + + NO PEACE BUT A RIGHT PEACE + + An inconclusive peace!-- + A peace that would be no peace-- + Naught but a treacherous truce for breeding + Of a later, greater, baser-still betrayal!-- + "No!" ... + The spirits of our myriad valiant dead, + Who died to make peace sure and life secure, + Thunder one mighty cry of righteous indignation,-- + One vast imperative, unanswerable "No!" ... + "Not for that, not for that, did we die!"-- + They cry;-- + "--To give fresh life to godless knavery! + --To forge again the chains of slavery + Such as humanity has never known! + We gave our lives to set Life free, + Loyally, willingly gave we, + Lest on our children, and on theirs, + Should come like misery. + And now, from our souls' heights and depths, + We cry to you,--"Beware, + Lest you defraud us of one smallest atom of the price + Of this our sacrifice! + One fraction less than that full liberty, + Which comes of righteous and enduring peace, + Will be betrayal of your trust,-- + Betrayal of your race, the world, and God." + + + + + IN CHURCH. 1916 + + Where are all the _young_ men? + There are only grey-heads here. + What has become of the _young_ men? + + * * * * * + + This is the young men's year! + They are gone, one and all, at duty's call, + To the camp, to the trench, to the sea. + They have left their homes, they have left their all, + And now, in ways heroical,-- + _They are making history._ + From bank and shop, from bench and mill, + From the schools, from the tail of the plough, + They hurried away at the call of the fray, + They could not linger a day, and now,-- + _They are making history,_ + And we miss them sorely, as we look + At the seats where they used to be, + And try to picture them as they are,-- + Then hastily drop the vail:--for, you see,-- + _They are making history._ + + * * * * * + + And history, in these dread days, + Is sore sore sad in the making; + We are building the future with our dead, + We are binding it sure with the brave blood shed, + Though our hearts are well-nigh breaking. + We can but pray that the coming day + Will reap, of our red sowing, + The harvest meet of a world complete + With the peace of God's bestowing. + So, with quiet heart, we do our part + In the travail of this mystery, + We give of our best, and we leave the rest + To Him Who maketh history. + + + + + Some Hymns of Thanksgiving, + Praise, and Petition for use at The + Coming Peace which, please God, + cannot now be long delayed. + + + + + TE DEUM + + We thank Thee, O our God, for this + Long fought-for, hoped-for, prayed-for peace; + Thou dost cast down, and Thou upraise, + Thy hand doth order all our ways. + + Lift all our hearts to nobler life, + For ever freed from fear of strife; + Let all men everywhere in Thee + Possess their souls in liberty. + + Safe in Thy Love we leave our dead; + Heal all the wounds that war has made. + And help us to uproot each wrong, + Which still among us waxeth strong. + + Break all the bars that hold apart + All men of nobler mind and heart; + Let all men find alone in Thee + Their one and only sovereignty! + + TUNE--_Old Hundredth_. + + + + + THROUGH ME ONLY + + Out of all the reek and turmoil + Of the dreadful battle-plain, + Came a voice insistent, calling, + Calling, calling, but in vain;-- + "_Through Me only + Shall the world have peace again._" + + But our hearts were too sore-burdened, + Fighting foes and fighting pain, + And we heeded not the clear voice, + Calling, calling all in vain;-- + "_Through Me only + Shall the world have peace again._" + + Now, at last, the warfare ended, + Dead the passion, loosed the strain, + Louder still that voice is calling; + Shall it call and call in vain? + "_Through Me only + Shall the world have peace again._" + + Now we hear it; now we hearken, + In the silence of our slain, + Broken hearts new homes would build them + Of the fragments that remain. + "_Through Me only + Shall the world have peace again._" + + Lord, we know it by our sorrows, + Might of man can ne'er attain + That Thou givest. Now we offer + Thee the Kingship. Come and reign! + Through Thee only + Shall our loss be turned to gain. + + Show us, Lord, all Thou would'st have us + Do to garner all Thy grain. + Thy deep ploughing, Thy sure sowing + Richest harvest shall obtain. + Only come Thou, + Come and dwell with us again! + + TUNE--_Abbeycombe_. + + + + + PRINCE OF PEACE + + O Thou who standest both for God and Man, + O King of Kings, who wore no earthly crown, + O Prince of Peace, unto Thy feet we come, + And lay our burden down. + + The weight had grown beyond our strength to bear, + Thy Love alone the woful thrall can break, + Thy Love, reborn into this world of care, + Alone can life remake. + + How shall we turn to good this weight of ill? + How of our sorrows build anew to Thee? + "Of your own selves ye cannot stand or build,-- + Only through _Me_,--through _Me_!" + + O, turn once more to Thee the hearts of men, + Work through the leaven of our grief and pain, + Let not these agonies be all in vain, + Come, dwell with us again! + + The world has nailed itself unto its cross; + O, tender to Thy hands its heart will prove, + For Thou alone canst heal its dreadful loss,-- + Come Thou and reign in love! + + Peace and the sword, Lord, Thou didst come to bring; + Too long the sword has drunk to Thy decrease. + Come now, by this high way of suffering, + And reign, O Prince of Peace! + + TUNE--_Artavia_. + "_And didst Thou love the race that loved not Thee?_" + + + + + THE WINNOWING + + Lord, Thou hast stricken us, smitten us sore, + Winnowed us fine on the dread threshing-floor. + "Had I not reason?--far you had strayed, + Vain was My calling, you would not be stayed." + + Low in the dust, Lord, our hearts now are bowed, + Roughly Thy share through our boasting has ploughed. + "So as My ploughing prepares for the seed, + So shall the harvest our best hopes exceed." + + Lord, we have lost of our dearest and best, + Flung to the void and cast out to the waste. + "Nay then, not one of them fell from My hand, + Here at My side in their glory they stand." + + How shall we start, Lord, to build life again, + Fairer and sweeter, and freed from its pain? + "Build ye in Me and your building shall be + Builded for Time and Eternity." + + TUNE--_Theodora_. + "_Rest of the weary, joy of the sad._" + + + + + TO THIS END + + And hast Thou help for such as me, + Sin-weary, stained, forlorn? + "_Yea then,--if not for such as thee + To what end was I born?_" + + But I have strayed so far away, + So oft forgotten Thee. + "_No smallest thing that thou hast done + But was all known to Me._" + + And I have followed other gods, + And brought Thy name to scorn. + "_It was to win thee back from them + I wore the crown of thorn._" + + And, spite of all, Thou canst forgive, + And still attend my cry? + "_Dear heart, for this end I did live, + To this end did I die._" + + And if I fall away again, + And bring Thy Love to shame? + "_I'll find thee out where'er thou art, + And still thy love will claim._" + + All this for me, whose constant lack + Doth cause Thee constant pain? + "_For this I lived, for this I died, + For this I live again._" + + + + + [Transcriber's note: The first two verses of this poem + were inside the book's front cover, and its last two + verses were inside its back cover.] + + + ALL'S WELL! + + Is the pathway dark and dreary? + God's in His heaven! + Are you broken, heart-sick, weary? + God's in His heaven! + Dreariest roads shall have an ending, + Broken hearts are for God's mending. + All's well! All's well! + All's ... well! + + Is the burden past your bearing? + God's in His heaven! + Hopeless?--Friendless?--No one caring? + God's in His heaven! + Burdens shared are light to carry, + Love shall come though long He tarry. + All's well! All's well! + All's ... well! + + Is the light fur ever failing? + God's in His heaven! + Is the faint heart ever quailing? + God's in His heaven! + God's strong arms are all around you, + In the dark He sought and found you. + All's well! All's well! + All's ... well! + + Is the future black with sorrow? + God's in His heaven! + Do you dread each dark to-morrow? + God's in His heaven! + Nought can come without His knowing, + Come what may 'tis His bestowing. + All's well! All's well! + All's ... well! + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of 'All's Well!', by John Oxenham + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'ALL'S WELL!' *** + +***** This file should be named 27126.txt or 27126.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/1/2/27126/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/27126.zip b/27126.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..971179a --- /dev/null +++ b/27126.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..69812d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #27126 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27126) |