Poems (Hinxman)/The "Amen of the Stones"
THE "AMEN OF THE STONES."FROM THE GERMAN,
Aged and blind the holy priest went forth
From city unto city wandering far,
Led by a little child, and evermore
Preaching the word of Christ with fervent lips,
As if the fire of youth was in his heart.
And it befell that to a lonely vale,
O'erhung and compassed with huge blocks of stone,
The child did guide his footsteps, and thus spake,
Less with an evil purpose than the light
And idle thoughtlessness of boyish jest:
"Here, father, are there many men that wait
To hear thy preaching."
From city unto city wandering far,
Led by a little child, and evermore
Preaching the word of Christ with fervent lips,
As if the fire of youth was in his heart.
And it befell that to a lonely vale,
O'erhung and compassed with huge blocks of stone,
The child did guide his footsteps, and thus spake,
Less with an evil purpose than the light
And idle thoughtlessness of boyish jest:
"Here, father, are there many men that wait
To hear thy preaching."
Then the old man roused
The strength that was within him; gathered up
His sacred lore, and turned him round and spake,
Exhorted, warned, rebuked, and comforted,
And with a soul so earnest, that mild tears
Brake forth, and on his silver beard fell down:
And when, as ever was his wont, he closed
The holy lesson with our Lord's own Prayer,
And said, "Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power,
And Glory, evermore," then rang a sound
As of a thousand voices through the vale,
"Amen! Eternal God, Amen! Amen!"
Then the boy trembled, and he cast him down
Before the old man's feet, and told his sin;
And the blind priest made answer to him thus,
"Hast thou not read, my son, should men be mute
The very stones would cry aloud? My son,
Play with God's word no more, for it is quick
And powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword:
And if men to its voice make stone their hearts,
Will for itself make human hearts from stone."
The strength that was within him; gathered up
His sacred lore, and turned him round and spake,
Exhorted, warned, rebuked, and comforted,
And with a soul so earnest, that mild tears
Brake forth, and on his silver beard fell down:
And when, as ever was his wont, he closed
The holy lesson with our Lord's own Prayer,
And said, "Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power,
And Glory, evermore," then rang a sound
As of a thousand voices through the vale,
"Amen! Eternal God, Amen! Amen!"
Then the boy trembled, and he cast him down
Before the old man's feet, and told his sin;
And the blind priest made answer to him thus,
"Hast thou not read, my son, should men be mute
The very stones would cry aloud? My son,
Play with God's word no more, for it is quick
And powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword:
And if men to its voice make stone their hearts,
Will for itself make human hearts from stone."
1843.