Poems (Greenwell)/Pax in Novissimo
PAX IN NOVISSIMO.
"He gave her therewith a sure token that he was a true messenger, and was come to bid her make haste to be gone. The token was an arrow, sharpened with love, let easily into her heart;—so Christiana knew that her time was come."
Not like the rulers of our vanities At earthly feasts, art Thou, O Love Divine; These pour their best at first, and still decline At each full-flowing draught, till only lees Of bitterness remain, but Thou dost please To keep unto the last Thy richest wine.
And now, this grace-cup, crowned with flowers, o'erflows To meet my lips, the music never fell More sweet, yet from the banquet, ere its close, I rise to bid the company farewell; I see no sign, I hear no warning bell, No airy tongue my Summoner hath been. Yet all my soul by cords invisible Is drawn the surer unto One unseen;
For oh, my Father! whom I have desired By night, and sought for early, not through Man Or Angel have I at thy voice inquired Since first my solemn quest for Thee began; Thee, only Thee my spirit hath required For Teacher and for Counsellor and Friend; So now Thou needest me, Thou dost not send By any other, but within the shade Thy awful Presence makes, ere yet the fall Of evening darkens, I can hear Thee call, "Come home, my child!" and I am not afraid; Though oft Thou showedst me a brow austere, And oft thy lessons hard to understand Were grievous to me, now Thou drawest near I see Thy smile,[1] I do not feel Thy hand.
And He, our Brother kind,Wounded and grieved by us, yet waiting where He passed before our Mansions to prepare, Made himself strange at first; I did not find An instant welcome; oft with speech severe He questioned me, and oft methought his ear Was turned away, but now I feel his tear Upon my cheek, his kiss upon my soul; He biddeth all withdraw, while with His Own He talketh: "How is this. Thou hast not known Thy Brother? I am Joseph,"—now no more Doth Love refrain itself because its goal Is well-nigh won, and all its trial sore O'erpast, it leaveth with a brow serene The secret Chamber where so oft unseen It wept before;
For ofttimes Love must grieve; For us content and willing to be sad, It left the Halls wherein they made it glad And came to us that grieved it I oft below It hides its face because it will not show The stain upon it! now I feel its clear Full shining eyes upon me, and I know Soon I shall meet the kiss without the tear!
For all my life grows sweet, I know not how to name it; from behind Comes up a murmur voluble and fleet Of mingling voices, some were harsh, some kind, But all are turned to gentleness, the wind That bears them onwards hath so soft a wing, As if it were a Dove unused to bring Aught but a loving message; so Earth sends One only question on it from the track Where I have passed, "Friends, friends? we part as friends?" And all my soul takes up and sendeth back One word for echo and for answer, "Friends."
And, oh, how fair this Earth I leave!—methinks of old I never took Account of half its loveliness and worth; Yea! oft I mourned because I could not look More deep within the pages of this Book, God's glorious Book shut in between the eves And glowing morns, I read betwixt the leaves Like one that passes hastily, and failed To catch its import, yet hath One prevailed To loose its golden clasps, and on her knee He biddeth Nature lift me tenderly And read thereout her Fairy tales, and tell Where lie her treasures guarded with a spell. She takes me to her heart, she will not hold A secret from me now! things new and old She brings to please me. Yet, as if she knew— A loving nurse—that soon her child must sleep, And waken in a land where all things keep Their first simplicity—she doth renew Her forms that charmed me earliest;
With the dew Still hanging round them, well I know these flowers She holds before me; through the noon-tide hours I looked not on their hues; they did not burst To gorgeous life, like some that I have nursed, Shut from the ruder air, until they caught Through each broad leaf a colouring of thought, And spake a symbol-language too intense. The while each lamp-lit urn Did glow and spread and burn Its heart away in odours, till the sense Waxed faint through fragrance; not like these of bold Magnificence, nor dearer flowers that grew Familiar by my path, with whom of old I talked so secretly, it seemed we drew A common breath, until methought they took A human aspect, and like friends that know Too much the heart's deep history, their look Hath oft-times troubled me;
But these did blow For me in meadows wide, ere yet I knew That flowers were charactered with joy or grief; Ye hid no secret in your folded leaf,— Flowers innocent and cool That hung above the pool,Or thrid with gold the pleasant pastures through; I learnt no "Ai, Ai," in your school, Quaint orchis, speedwells blue, And slender cups that grew Deep in the woods, pale purple-veined and brimming o'er with dew!
I see the quiet glade Slope sunward, shut among its hills that lie With light upon their brows; I hear the cry Of wheeling rooks, the little brook goes by And lifts a hurrying voice as one afraid To linger on its way; within the shade Moss-cushioned now I sit, where once my day Cast all its wealth of Summer hours away Upon a book of Marvels; sunbeams hid Among the boughs came trickling down, and slid From page to page to light me on my way; —The charm that fled, the glory that forsook Flow back upon my spirit; I am glad Of ye, sweet scenes, sweet thoughts! I know the look Ye turn upon me, it hath nothing sad; Long, long ago, yet not through blame of mine I left you far behind me on my track, Now flits the shadow on Life's Dial back,Twice ten degrees to find you! things Divine Are imaged by the earthly, it was meet That I should gather in my soul these sweet, Long-parted childish fancies ere I go Where none but children enter;
Where none but children enter;Even so; I sleep at noon; all household noises cease, No voices call me from without; the room Is hushed and darkened round me; through the gloom One friend beloved keeps moving to and fro With step so quiet, oft I only know Her presence by her gentle breathing,—Peace!