I swooned, then, bursting up in talk deranged, Shattered to tears; while he stood by unchanged. I held my peace, my heart with courage burned, And to his cold touch one faint sigh returned.

Undreamt-of wings he lifted, 'For awhile
I vanish. Never be afraid to smile

Lest I waylay thee: curse me not; nay, love;
That I may bring thee tidings from above.'

And often since, by day or night, descends
The face obdurate; now almost a friend's.
Oh! quite to Faith; but Frailty's lips not dare
The word. To both this angel taught a prayer.

'Lord God, thy servant, wounded and bereft,
Feels Thee upon his right hand and his left;
Hath joy in grief, and still by losing gains;-
All this is gone, yet all myself remains!'

WILLIAM ALLINGHAM.

Penitence.

LEVAVI OCULOS.

N trouble for my sin, I cried to God,—

To the Great God who dwelleth in the deeps.

The deeps return not any voice or sign.

But with my soul I know Thee, O Great God;
The soul Thou givest knoweth Thee, Great God;
And with my soul I sorrow for my sin.

Full sure I am there is no joy in sin;
Joy-scented peace is trampled under foot,
Like a white growing blossom into mud.

Sin is established subtly in the heart
As a disease; like a magician foul

Ruleth the better thoughts against their will.

Only the rays of God can cure the heart,
Purge it of evil: there's no other way
Except to turn with the whole heart to God.

In heavenly sunlight live no shades of fear;
The soul there, busy or at rest, hath peace;
And music floweth from the various world.

The Lord is great and good, and is our God.
There needeth not a word but only these;
Our God is good, our God is great. 'Tis well!
All things are ever God's; the shows of things
Are of men's fantasy, and warped with sin;
God, and the things of God, immutable.

O great good God, my pray'r is to neglect
The shows of fantasy, and turn myself
To thy unfenced, unmeasured warmth and light!
Then were all shows of things a part of truth:
Then were my soul, if busy or at rest,
Residing in the house of perfect peace!

WILLIAM ALLINGHAM.

PENITENCE.

BECAUSE I knew

not when my life was good

And when there was a light upon my path,

But turned my soul perversely to the dark

O Lord, I do repent.

Because I held upon my selfish road,

And left my brother wounded by the way,
And called ambition duty, and pressed on-
O Lord, I do repent.

Because I spent the strength Thou gavest me
In struggle which Thou never didst ordain,
And have but dregs of life to offer Thee—
O Lord, I do repent.

Because I chose the thorns, and 'plained for flowers,
And pressed the sword-points down upon my heart,
And moaned that they did hurt me, like a child—
O Lord, I do repent.

Because I struck at others in my pain,

Like some wild beast that, wounded, turns at bay,
And rends the innocent earth he stands upon-
O Lord, I do repent.

Because I was impatient, would not wait,
But thrust mine impious hand across thy threads,
And marred the pattern drawn out for my life—
O Lord, I do repent.

Because I called good evil, evil good,

And thought I, ignorant, knew many things,
And deemed my weight of folly weight of wit-
O Lord, I do repent.

Because Thou hast borne with me all this while,
Hast smitten me with love until I weep,

Hast called me, as a mother calls her child

O Lord, I do repent.

SARAH WILLIAMS.

SIN.

LORD, with what care hast Thou begirt us round!

Parents first season us; then schoolmasters

Deliver us to laws; they send us bound
To rules of reason, holy messengers;
Pulpits and Sundays, sorrow dogging sin,
Afflictions sorted, anguish of all sizes,
Fine nets and stratagems to catch us in,
Bibles laid open, millions of surprises,
Blessings beforehand, ties of gratefulness,

The sound of glory ringing in our ears;
Without, our shame; within, our consciences;
Angels and grace, eternal hopes and fears.
Yet all these fences and their whole array
One cunning bosom-sin blows quite away.

GEORGE HERBERT.

IN THE SHADOWS.

THOU of purer eyes than to behold
Uncleanness! sift my soul, removing all

Strange thoughts, imaginings fantastical,
Iniquitous allurements manifold.

Make it a spiritual ark, abode

Severely sacred, perfumed, sanctified, Wherein the Prince of Purities may abideThe holy and eternal Spirit of God.