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Poems (Dudley)/The Burning Bush

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4657459Poems — The Burning BushMarion Vienna Churchill Dudley


THE BURNING BUSH.
IN the tangled, dim old garden,
Where the Frost had traced its name,
I saw one Autumn morning,
A sumac bush aflame;
All its leaves, like burning falchions,
Leaped up in glowing blaze,
And, I thought, the old-time marvel
Is wrought in latter days.

Not a fibre curled or shriveled,
No tissue scorched or lost;
Yet it flamed like the fiery pillar
That led old Israel's host;
And a voice like perfume stealing,
Spake clear, but made no sound,
And I knew that it was saying,
"This ground is holy ground."

"There's no backward glancing needed
To teach thee what to do,
For the bush which burned for Moses
Glows bright to-day, for you,
And the voice that thrilled the prophet
To deeds before unwrought,
Is the same that now interprets
The Everlasting thought."

"O'er the busy Present's pathway
Still 'signs and wonders' move,
And the miracles of Nature
Her laws unchanging prove;
Ye have need to walk with reverence
Bare-browed and feet unshod,
Lest ye fail to see the glory
And hear the words of God."

1870.