Poems by Mary Baker Eddy Part 4

E'en as Thou gildest gladdened joy, dear G.o.d, Give risen power to prayer; fan Thou the flame Of right with might; and midst the rod, And stern, dark shadows cast on Thy blest name, Lift Thou a patient love above earth's ire, Piercing the clouds with its triumphal spire.

While sacred song and loudest breath of praise Echo amid the hymning spheres of light,-- With heaven's lyres and angels' loving lays,-- Send to the loyal struggler for the right, Joy--not of time, nor yet by nature sown, But the celestial seed dropped from Love's throne.

Prolong the strain "Christ risen!" Sad sense, annoy No more the peace of Soul's sweet solitude!

Deep loneness, tear-filled tones of distant joy, Depart! Glad Easter glows with grat.i.tude-- Love's verdure veils the leaflet's wondrous birth-- Rich rays, rare footprints on the dust of earth.

Not life, the va.s.sal of the changeful hour, Nor burdened bliss, but Truth and Love attest The solemn splendor of immortal power,-- The ever Christ, and glorified behest, Poured on the sense which deems no suffering vain That wipes away the sting of death--sin, pain.

Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., _April 18, 1900_.

_RESOLUTIONS FOR THE DAY_

To rise in the morning and drink in the view-- The home where I dwell in the vale, The blossoms whose fragrance and charms ever new Are scattered o'er hillside and dale;

To gaze on the sunbeams enkindling the sky-- A loftier life to invite-- A light that illumines my spiritual eye, And inspires my pen as I write;

To form resolutions, with strength from on high, Such physical laws to obey, As reason with appet.i.te, pleasures deny, That health may my efforts repay;

To kneel at the altar of mercy and pray That pardon and grace, through His Son, May comfort my soul all the wearisome day, And cheer me with hope when 'tis done;

To daily remember my blessings and charge, And make this my humble request: Increase Thou my faith and my vision enlarge, And bless me with Christ's promised rest;

To hourly seek for deliverance strong From selfishness, sinfulness, dearth, From vanity, folly, and all that is wrong-- With ambition that binds us to earth;

To kindly pa.s.s over a wound, or a foe (And mem'ry but part us awhile), To breathe forth a prayer that His love I may know, Whose mercies my sorrows beguile,--

If these resolutions are acted up to, And faith spreads her pinions abroad, 'Twill be sweet when I ponder the days may be few That waft me away to my G.o.d.

Written in girlhood.

_O FOR THY WINGS, SWEET BIRD!_

O for thy wings, sweet bird!

And soul of melody by being blest-- Like thee, my voice had stirred Some dear remembrance in a weary breast.

But whither wouldst thou rove, Bird of the airy wing, and fold thy plumes?

In what dark leafy grove Wouldst chant thy vespers 'mid rich glooms?

Or sing thy love-lorn note-- In deeper solitude, where nymph or saint Has wooed some mystic spot, Divinely desolate the shrine to paint?

Yet wherefore ask thy doom?

Blessed compared with me thou art-- Unto thy greenwood home Bearing no bitter memory at heart;

Wearing no earthly chain, Thou canst in azure bright soar far above; Nor pinest thou in vain O'er joys departed, unforgotten love.

O take me to thy bower!

Beguile the lagging hours of weariness With strain which hath strange power To make me love thee as I love life less!

From mortal consciousness Which binds to earth--infirmity of woe!

Or pining tenderness-- Whose streams will never dry or cease to flow;

An aching, voiceless void, Hushed in the heart whereunto none reply, And in the cringing crowd Companionless! Bird, bear me through the sky!

Written more than sixty years ago for the _New Hamps.h.i.+re Patriot_.

_COME THOU_

Come, in the minstrel's lay; When two hearts meet, And true hearts greet, And all is morn and May.

Come Thou! and now, anew, To thought and deed Give sober speed, Thy will to know, and do.

Stay! till the storms are o'er-- The cold blasts done, The reign of heaven begun, And Love, the evermore.

Be patient, waiting heart: Light, Love divine Is here, and thine; You therefore cannot part.

"The seasons come and go: Love, like the sea, Rolls on with thee,-- But knows no ebb and flow.

"Faith, hope, and tears, triune, Above the sod Find peace in G.o.d, And one eternal noon."

Oh, Thou hast heard my prayer; And I am blest!

This is Thy high behest: Thou, here and _everywhere_.

_WISH AND ITEM_

To the editor of the _Item_, Lynn, Ma.s.s.

I hope the heart that's hungry For things above the floor, Will find within its portals An item rich in store;

That melancholy mortals Will count their mercies o'er, And learn that Truth and wisdom Have many items more;

That when a wrong is done us, It stirs no thought of strife; And Love becomes the substance, As item, of our life;

That every ragged urchin, With bare feet soiled or sore, Share G.o.d's most tender mercies,-- Find items at our door.