Verses on Various Occasions John Henry Newman (ebook reader android txt) š
- Author: John Henry Newman
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How sin defiles us still.
Thou, who hast taught me in Thy fear,
Yet seest me frail at best,
O grant me loss with Moses here,
To gain his future rest!
At Sea. December 19, 1832.
XLV The Patient ChurchBide thou thy time!
Watch with meek eyes the race of pride and crime,
Sit in the gate, and be the heathenās jest,
Smiling and self-possest.
O thou, to whom is pledged a victorās sway,
Bide thou the victorās day!
Think on the sin7
That reapād the unripe seed, and toilād to win
Foul history-marks at Bethel and at Dan;
No blessing, but a ban;
Whilst the wise Shepherd8 hid his heaven-told fate,
Nor reckād a tyrantās hate.
Such loss is gain;
Wait the bright Advent that shall loose thy chain!
Eāen now the shadows break, and gleams divine
Edge the dim distant line.
When thrones are trembling, and earthās fat ones quail,
True Seed! thou shalt prevail!
Off Algiers. December 20, 1832.
XLVI JeremiahāO that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them!ā
āWoeās me!ā the peaceful prophet cried,
āSpare me this troubled life;
To stem manās wrath, to school his pride,
To head the sacred strife!
āO place me in some silent vale,
Where groves and flowers abound;
Nor eyes that grudge, nor tongues that rail,
Vex the truth-haunted ground!ā
If his meek spirit errād, opprest
That God denied repose,
What sin is ours, to whom Heavenās rest
Is pledged, to heal earthās woes?
Off Galita. December 22, 1832.
XLVII PenanceMortal! if eāer thy spirits faint,
By grief or pain opprest,
Seek not vain hope, or sour complaint,
To cheer or ease thy breast:
But view thy bitterest pangs as sent
A shadow of that doom,
Which is the soulās just punishment
In its own guiltās true home.
Be thine own judge; hate thy proud heart;
And while the sad drops flow,
Eāen let thy will attend the smart,
And sanctify thy woe.
Off Pantellaria. December 23, 1832.
XLVIII The Course of TruthāHim God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God.ā
When royal Truth, released from mortal throes,
Burst His brief slumber, and triumphant rose,
Ill had the Holiest sued
A patron multitude,
Or courted Tetrarchās eye, or claimād to rule
By the worldās winning grace, or proofs from learned school.
But, robing Him in viewless air, He told
His secret to a few of meanest mould;
They in their turn imparted
The gift of men pure-hearted,
While the brute many heard His mysteries high,
As some strange fearful tongue, and crouchād, they knew not why.
Still is the might of Truth, as it has been:
Lodged in the few, obeyād, and yet unseen.
Rearād on lone heights, and rare,
His saints their watch-flame bear,
And the mad world sees the wide-circling blaze,
Vain searching whence it streams, and how to quench its rays.
Malta. December 24, 1832.
XLIX Christmas Without ChristHow can I keep my Christmas feast
In its due festive show,
Reft of the sight of the High Priest
From whom its glories flow?
I hear the tuneful bells around,
The blessĆØd towers I see;
A stranger on a foreign ground,
They peal a fast for me.
O Britons! now so brave and high,
How will ye weep the day
When Christ in judgment passes by,
And calls the Bride away!
Your Christmas then will lose its mirth,
Your Easter lose its bloom:
Abroad, a scene of strife and dearth;
Within, a cheerless home!
Malta. December 25, 1832.
L SleeplessnessUnwearied God, before whose face
The night is clear as day,
Whilst we, poor worms, oāer lifeās scant race
Now creep, and now delay,
We with deathās foretaste alternate
Our labourās dint and sorrowās weight,
Save in that fever-troubled state
When pain or care has sway.
Dread Lord! Thy glory, watchfulness,
Is but disease in man;
We to our cost our bounds transgress
In Thy eternal plan:
Pride grasps the powers by Thee displayād,
Yet neāer the rebel effort made
But fell beneath the sudden shade
Of natureās withering ban.
Malta. December 26, 1832.
LI AbrahamThe better portion didst thou choose, Great Heart,
Thy Godās first choice, and pledge of Gentile grace!
Faithās truest type, he with unruffled face
Bore the worldās smile, and bade her slaves depart;
Whether, a trader, with no traderās art,
He buys in Canaan his last resting-placeā ā
Or freely yields rich Siddimās ample spaceā ā
Or braves the rescue, and the battleās smart,
Yet scorns the heathen gifts of those he saved.
O happy in their soulās high solitude,
Who commune thus with God, and not with earth!
Amid the scoffings of the wealth-enslaved,
A ready prey, as though in absent mood
They calmly move, nor reck the unmannerād mirth.
At Sea. December 27, 1832.
LII The Greek FathersLet heathen sing thy heathen praise,
Fallān Greece! the thought of holier days
In my sad heart abides;
For sons of thine in Truthās first hour
Were tongues and weapons of His power,
Born of the Spiritās fiery shower,
Our fathers and our guides.
All thine is Clementās varied page;
And Dionysius, ruler sage,
In days of doubt and pain;
And Origen with eagle eye;
And saintly Basilās purpose high
To smite imperial heresy,
And cleanse the Altarās stain.
From thee the glorious preacher came,
With soul of zeal and lips of flame,
A courtās stern martyr-guest;
And thine, O inexhaustive race!
Was Nazianzenās heaven-taught grace;
And royal-hearted Athanase,
With Paulās own mantle blest.
Off Zante. December 28, 1832.
LIII The WitnessHow shall a child of God fulfil
His vow to cleanse his soul from ill,
And raise on high his baptism-light,
Like Aaronās seed in vestment white
And holy-hearted Nazarite?
First, let him shun the haunts of vice,
Sin-feast, or heathen sacrifice;
Fearing the board of wealthy pride,
Or heretic, self-trusting guide,
Or where the adultererās smiles preside.
Next, as he threads the maze of men,
Aye must he lift his witness, when
A sin is spoke in Heavenās dread face,
And
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