Poems (Procter)/A First Sorrow
A FIRST SORROW.
RISE! this day shall shine, Forevermore,To thee a star divine, On Time's dark shore.Till now thy soul has been All glad and gay:Bid it awake, and look At grief to-day!
No shade has come between Thee and the sun;Like some long childish dream Thy life has run:
But now the stream has reached A dark, deep sea,And Sorrow, dim and crowned, Is waiting thee.
Each of God's soldiers bears A sword divine:Stretch out thy trembling hands To-day for thine!
To each anointed Priest God's summons came:O Soul, he speaks to-day, And calls thy name.
Then, with slow reverent step, And beating heart,From out thy joyous days Thou must depart.
And, leaving all behind, Come forth alone,To join the chosen band Around the throne.
Raise up thine eyes—be strong, Nor cast awayThe crown that God has given Thy soul to-day!