"I changed the cruel prayer I made,
And bowed my meekened face, and prayed
That God would do His will; and thus
He did it, nurse!
And bowed my meekened face, and prayed
That God would do His will; and thus
He did it, nurse!
Elizabeth Browning
--the Eye divine
Turned upon it, makes it shine;
And when I touch it, poems sweet
Like separate souls shall fly from it,
Each to the immortal fytte.
We shall all be poets there,
Gazing on the chiefest Fair.
XXXII.
"Love! earth's love! and _can_ we love
Fixedly where all things move?
Can the sinning love each other?
Mother, mother,
I tremble in thy close embrace,
I feel thy tears adown my face,
Thy prayers do keep me out of bliss--
O dreary earthly love!
Loose thy prayer and let me go
To the place which loving is
Yet not sad; and when is given
Escape to _thee_ from this below,
Thou shalt behold me that I wait
For thee beside the happy Gate,
And silence shall be up in heaven
To hear our greeting kiss. "
XXXIII.
The nurse awakes in the morning sun,
And starts to see beside her bed
The lady with a grandeur spread
Like pathos o'er her face, as one
God-satisfied and earth-undone;
The babe upon her arm was dead:
And the nurse could utter forth no cry,--
She was awed by the calm in the mother's eye.
XXXIV.
"Wake, nurse! " the lady said;
"_We_ are waking--he and I--
I, on earth, and he, in sky:
And thou must help me to o'erlay
With garment white this little clay
Which needs no more our lullaby.
XXXV.
"I changed the cruel prayer I made,
And bowed my meekened face, and prayed
That God would do His will; and thus
He did it, nurse! He parted us:
And His sun shows victorious
The dead calm face,--and _I_ am calm,
And Heaven is hearkening a new psalm.
XXXVI.
"This earthly noise is too anear,
Too loud, and will not let me hear
The little harp. My death will soon
Make silence. "
And a sense of tune,
A satisfied love meanwhile
Which nothing earthly could despoil,
Sang on within her soul.
XXXVII.
Oh you,
Earth's tender and impassioned few,
Take courage to entrust your love
To Him so named who guards above
Its ends and shall fulfil!
Breaking the narrow prayers that may
Befit your narrow hearts, away
In His broad, loving will.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For I say unto you that in Heaven their angels do always behold
the face of my Father which is in Heaven--_Matt. _ xviii, 10.
_THE ROMAUNT OF THE PAGE. _
I.
A knight of gallant deeds
And a young page at his side,
From the holy war in Palestine
Did slow and thoughtful ride,
As each were a palmer and told for beads
The dews of the eventide.
II.
"O young page," said the knight,
"A noble page art thou!
Turned upon it, makes it shine;
And when I touch it, poems sweet
Like separate souls shall fly from it,
Each to the immortal fytte.
We shall all be poets there,
Gazing on the chiefest Fair.
XXXII.
"Love! earth's love! and _can_ we love
Fixedly where all things move?
Can the sinning love each other?
Mother, mother,
I tremble in thy close embrace,
I feel thy tears adown my face,
Thy prayers do keep me out of bliss--
O dreary earthly love!
Loose thy prayer and let me go
To the place which loving is
Yet not sad; and when is given
Escape to _thee_ from this below,
Thou shalt behold me that I wait
For thee beside the happy Gate,
And silence shall be up in heaven
To hear our greeting kiss. "
XXXIII.
The nurse awakes in the morning sun,
And starts to see beside her bed
The lady with a grandeur spread
Like pathos o'er her face, as one
God-satisfied and earth-undone;
The babe upon her arm was dead:
And the nurse could utter forth no cry,--
She was awed by the calm in the mother's eye.
XXXIV.
"Wake, nurse! " the lady said;
"_We_ are waking--he and I--
I, on earth, and he, in sky:
And thou must help me to o'erlay
With garment white this little clay
Which needs no more our lullaby.
XXXV.
"I changed the cruel prayer I made,
And bowed my meekened face, and prayed
That God would do His will; and thus
He did it, nurse! He parted us:
And His sun shows victorious
The dead calm face,--and _I_ am calm,
And Heaven is hearkening a new psalm.
XXXVI.
"This earthly noise is too anear,
Too loud, and will not let me hear
The little harp. My death will soon
Make silence. "
And a sense of tune,
A satisfied love meanwhile
Which nothing earthly could despoil,
Sang on within her soul.
XXXVII.
Oh you,
Earth's tender and impassioned few,
Take courage to entrust your love
To Him so named who guards above
Its ends and shall fulfil!
Breaking the narrow prayers that may
Befit your narrow hearts, away
In His broad, loving will.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For I say unto you that in Heaven their angels do always behold
the face of my Father which is in Heaven--_Matt. _ xviii, 10.
_THE ROMAUNT OF THE PAGE. _
I.
A knight of gallant deeds
And a young page at his side,
From the holy war in Palestine
Did slow and thoughtful ride,
As each were a palmer and told for beads
The dews of the eventide.
II.
"O young page," said the knight,
"A noble page art thou!
