10
POEMS.
We are but humble, so we
On through the night, sheep,
And with the stars. Between us and the east,
No wall, no tree, no cloud, lifts bar.
We know the sunrise. Not one least
Of all its tokens can escape
Our eyes that watch. But all days are
As nights, and nights as days,
In our still ways.
We have no dread of any shape
Which darkness can assume or fill;
We are not weary; we can wait;
God's hours are never late.
The wise men say they will return,
Revealing unto us the things they learn.
Mayhap! Meantime the Star stands still;
And, having that, we have the Sign.
If we mistake, God is divine!
On through the night, sheep,
And with the stars. Between us and the east,
No wall, no tree, no cloud, lifts bar.
We know the sunrise. Not one least
Of all its tokens can escape
Our eyes that watch. But all days are
As nights, and nights as days,
In our still ways.
We have no dread of any shape
Which darkness can assume or fill;
We are not weary; we can wait;
God's hours are never late.
The wise men say they will return,
Revealing unto us the things they learn.
Mayhap! Meantime the Star stands still;
And, having that, we have the Sign.
If we mistake, God is divine!
II.
Oh, not alone because His name is Christ,
Oh, not alone because Judea waits
This man-child for her King, the Star stands still.
Its glory reinstates,
Beyond humiliation's utmost ill,
On peerless throne, which she alone can fill,
Each earthly woman. Motherhood is priced
Of God, at price no man may dare
To lessen, or misunderstand.
The motherhood which came
To virgin sets in vestal flame,
Oh, not alone because Judea waits
This man-child for her King, the Star stands still.
Its glory reinstates,
Beyond humiliation's utmost ill,
On peerless throne, which she alone can fill,
Each earthly woman. Motherhood is priced
Of God, at price no man may dare
To lessen, or misunderstand.
The motherhood which came
To virgin sets in vestal flame,