Still holy lives Reveal the Christ of whom the letter told, And the new gospel verifies the old.
1885.
HYMNS OF THE BRAHMO SOMAJ.
I have attempted this paraphrase of the Hymns of the Brahmo Somaj of India, as I find them in Mozoomdar's account of the devotional exercises of that remarkable religious development which has attracted far less attention and sympathy from the Christian world than it deserves, as a fresh revelation of the direct action of the Divine Spirit upon the human heart.
I.
The mercy, O Eternal One! By man unmeasured yet, In joy or grief, in shade or sun, I never will forget.
I give the whole, and not a part, Of all Thou gayest me; My goods, my life, my soul and heart, I yield them all to Thee! II.
We fast and plead, we weep and pray, From morning until even; We feel to find the holy way, We knock at the gate of heaven And when in silent awe we wait, And word and sign forbear, The hinges of the golden gate Move, soundless, to our prayer! Who hears the eternal harmonies Can heed no outward word; Blind to all else is he who sees The vision of the Lord! III.
O soul, be patient, restrain thy tears, Have hope, and not despair; As a tender mother heareth her child God hears the penitent prayer.
And not forever shall grief be thine; On the Heavenly Mother's breast, Washed clean and white in the waters of joy Shall His seeking child find rest.
Console thyself with His word of grace, And cease thy wail of woe, For His mercy never an equal hath, And His love no bounds can know.
Lean close unto Him in faith and hope; How many like thee have found In Him a shelter and home of peace, By His mercy compassed round! There, safe from sin and the sorrow it brings, They sing their grateful psalms, And rest, at noon, by the wells of God, In the shade of His holy palms! 1885.
REVELATION.
"And I went into the Vale of Beavor, and as I went I preached repentance to the people.

And one morning, sitting by the fire, a great cloud came over me, and a temptation beset me.

And it was said: All things come by Nature; and the Elements and the Stars came over me.

And as I sat still and let it alone, a living hope arose in me, and a true Voice which said: There is a living God who made all things.

And immediately the cloud and the temptation vanished, and Life rose over all, and my heart was glad and I praised the Living God."-- Journal of George Fox, 1690.
Still, as of old, in Beavor's Vale, O man of God! our hope and faith The Elements and Stars assail, And the awed spirit holds its breath, Blown over by a wind of death.
Takes Nature thought for such as we, What place her human atom fills, The weed-drift of her careless sea, The mist on her unheeding hills?
What reeks she of our helpless wills?
Strange god of Force, with fear, not love, Its trembling worshipper! Can prayer Reach the shut ear of Fate, or move Unpitying Energy to spare?
What doth the cosmic Vastness care?
In vain to this dread Unconcern For the All-Father's love we look; In vain, in quest of it, we turn The storied leaves of Nature's book, The prints her rocky tablets took.
I pray for faith, I long to trust; I listen with my heart, and hear A Voice without a sound: "Be just, Be true, be merciful, revere The Word within thee: God is near! "A light to sky and earth unknown Pales all their lights: a mightier force Than theirs the powers of Nature own, And, to its goal as at its source, His Spirit moves the Universe.
"Believe and trust.