Page:Poems Curwen.djvu/45

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a vision of the night.
37

Who follows Christ? Not he who prays
The loudest, and the oftenest—No!
What is it, that the Master says?
"Many call Lord! I do not know."
But he who lightens loads of care
Who binds the wounds that smart and bleed,
His is the most effectual prayer,
And his the highest, holiest creed.




A Vision of the Night.
I, sleeping, dreamt a dream so strange,
A dream that haunts me yet,
Though months have rolled, its mem'ry stirs
My soul with sad regret.
Would God, mine eyes had ne'er unclosed
To earthly care and fret.

For in this vision of the night
While slumbering I lay,
I saw the winds of heaven loosed,
Power given them to slay;
And like destroying angels all
Sped on their awful way.

The sea rose, lashed to fury by
The violence of the blast,
And hurled the mighty waves on shore,
While awful thunders crashed,
And from the lowering heavens tongues
Of lightning leapt and flashed.