Volume Ii Part 29 (1/2)

Vainly the fowler's eye Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong, As, darkly seen against the crimson sky, Thy figure floats along.

Seek'st thou the plashy brink Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide, Or where the rocking billows rise and sink On the chafed ocean side?

There is a Power whose care Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,-- The desert and illimitable air,-- Lone wandering, but not lost.

All day thy wings have fanned, At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere; Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land, Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end; Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest, And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend, Soon, o'er thy sheltered nest.

Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven Hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, And shall not soon depart.

He who, from zone to zone, Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way that I must tread alone, Will lead my steps aright.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.

JERUSALEM, THE GOLDEN.

Jerusalem, the golden!

With milk and honey blest; Beneath thy contemplation Sink heart and voice opprest.

I know not, O I know not What joys await us there; What radiancy of glory, What bliss beyond compare.

They stand, those halls of Zion, All jubilant with song, And bright with many an angel, And all the martyr throng.

The Prince is ever in them, The daylight is serene; The pastures of the blessed Are decked in glorious sheen.

There is the throne of David; And there, from care released, The shout of them that triumph, The song of them that feast.

And they, who with their Leader, Have conquered in the fight, Forever and forever Are clad in robes of white.

ST. BERNARD (translated by John M. Neale).

O MOTHER DEAR, JERUSALEM.

O Mother dear, Jerusalem!

When shall I come to thee?

When shall my sorrows have an end?

Thy joys when shall I see?

O happy harbor of G.o.d's saints!

O sweet and pleasant soil!

In thee no sorrow can be found, Nor grief, nor care, nor toil.