'Mid the din
Two pilgrims, faring forward, saw the light
In a strong city, fortified, and moved
Patiently thither.
Two pilgrims, faring forward, saw the light
In a strong city, fortified, and moved
Patiently thither.
George Lathrop - Dreams and Days
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Thou shalt hide
them in the secret of Thy face, from the disturbance of men.
Thou shalt protect them in Thy tabernacle from the
contradiction of tongues.
Blessed be the Lord, for He hath shewn His wonderful
mercy to me in a fortified city. --_Psalm xxx. _
Beauty and splendor were on every hand:
Yet strangely crawled dark shadows down the lanes,
Twisting across the fields, like dragon-shapes
That smote the air with blackness, and devoured
The life of light, and choked the smiling world
Till it grew livid with a sudden age--
The death of hope.
O squandered happiness;
Vain dust of misery powdering life's fresh flower!
The sky was holy, but the earth was not.
Men ruled, but ruled in vain; since wretchedness
Of soul and body, for the mass of men,
Made them like dead leaves in an idle drift
Around the plough of progress as it drove
Sharp through the glebe of modern days, to plant
A civilized world. Ay; civilized--but not Christian!
Civilization is a clarion voice
Crying in the wilderness; a prophet-word
Still unfulfilled. And lo, along the ways
Crowded with nations, there arose a strife;
Disturbance of men; tongues contradicting tongues;
Madness of noise, that scattered multitudes;
A trample of blind feet, beneath whose tread
Truth's bloom shrank withered; while incessant mouths
Howled "Progress! Change! "--as though all moods of change
Were fiats of truth eternal.
'Mid the din
Two pilgrims, faring forward, saw the light
In a strong city, fortified, and moved
Patiently thither. "All your steps are vain,"
Cried scoffers. "There is mercy in the world;
But chiefly mercy of man to man. For we
Are good. We help our fellows, when we can.
Our charity is enormous. Look at these
Long rolls of rich subscriptions. We are good.
'T is true, God's mercy plays a part in things;
But most is left to us; and we judge well.
Stay with us in the field of endless war!
Here only is health. Yon city fortified
You dream of--why, its ramparts are as dust.
It gives no safety. One assaulting sweep
Of our huge cohorts would annul its power--
Crush it in atoms; make it meaningless. "
The pilgrims listened; but onward still they moved.
They passed the gates; they stood upon a hill
Enclosed, but in that strong enclosure free!
them in the secret of Thy face, from the disturbance of men.
Thou shalt protect them in Thy tabernacle from the
contradiction of tongues.
Blessed be the Lord, for He hath shewn His wonderful
mercy to me in a fortified city. --_Psalm xxx. _
Beauty and splendor were on every hand:
Yet strangely crawled dark shadows down the lanes,
Twisting across the fields, like dragon-shapes
That smote the air with blackness, and devoured
The life of light, and choked the smiling world
Till it grew livid with a sudden age--
The death of hope.
O squandered happiness;
Vain dust of misery powdering life's fresh flower!
The sky was holy, but the earth was not.
Men ruled, but ruled in vain; since wretchedness
Of soul and body, for the mass of men,
Made them like dead leaves in an idle drift
Around the plough of progress as it drove
Sharp through the glebe of modern days, to plant
A civilized world. Ay; civilized--but not Christian!
Civilization is a clarion voice
Crying in the wilderness; a prophet-word
Still unfulfilled. And lo, along the ways
Crowded with nations, there arose a strife;
Disturbance of men; tongues contradicting tongues;
Madness of noise, that scattered multitudes;
A trample of blind feet, beneath whose tread
Truth's bloom shrank withered; while incessant mouths
Howled "Progress! Change! "--as though all moods of change
Were fiats of truth eternal.
'Mid the din
Two pilgrims, faring forward, saw the light
In a strong city, fortified, and moved
Patiently thither. "All your steps are vain,"
Cried scoffers. "There is mercy in the world;
But chiefly mercy of man to man. For we
Are good. We help our fellows, when we can.
Our charity is enormous. Look at these
Long rolls of rich subscriptions. We are good.
'T is true, God's mercy plays a part in things;
But most is left to us; and we judge well.
Stay with us in the field of endless war!
Here only is health. Yon city fortified
You dream of--why, its ramparts are as dust.
It gives no safety. One assaulting sweep
Of our huge cohorts would annul its power--
Crush it in atoms; make it meaningless. "
The pilgrims listened; but onward still they moved.
They passed the gates; they stood upon a hill
Enclosed, but in that strong enclosure free!
