Music, and Other Poems

IV

       Joyful the heart that, when the flood rolled by,
       Leaped up to see the rainbow in the sky;
       And glad the pilgrim, in the lonely night,
       For whom the hills of Haran, tier on tier,
       Built up a secret stairway to the height
       Where stars like angel eyes were shining clear.
       From mountain-peaks, in many a land and age,
         Disciples of the Persian seer
       Have hailed the rising sun and worshipped thee;
       And wayworn followers of the Indian sage
     Have found the peace of God beneath a spreading tree.

         But One, but One,—ah, child most dear,
       And perfect image of the Love Unseen,—
         Walked every day in pastures green,
       And all his life the quiet waters by,
       Reading their beauty with a tranquil eye.

     To him the desert was a place prepared
             For weary hearts to rest;
       The hillside was a temple blest;
       The grassy vale a banquet-room
     Where he could feed and comfort many a guest.
             With him the lily shared
     The vital joy that breathes itself in bloom;
     And every bird that sang beside the nest
     Told of the love that broods o'er every living thing.
         He watched the shepherd bring
     His flock at sundown to the welcome fold,
       The fisherman at daybreak fling
     His net across the waters gray and cold,
     And all day long the patient reaper swing
     His curving sickle through the harvest-gold.
     So through the world the foot-path way he trod,
     Drawing the air of heaven in every breath;
     And in the evening sacrifice of death
     Beneath the open sky he gave his soul to God.
     Him will I trust, and for my Master take;
     Him will I follow; and for his dear sake,
             God of the open air,
             To thee I make my prayer.