Poems of Nature, Poems Subjective and Reminiscent and Religious Poems, Complete

THE CALL OF THE CHRISTIAN

     Not always as the whirlwind's rush
     On Horeb's mount of fear,
     Not always as the burning bush
     To Midian's shepherd seer,
     Nor as the awful voice which came
     To Israel's prophet bards,
     Nor as the tongues of cloven flame,
     Nor gift of fearful words,—

     Not always thus, with outward sign
     Of fire or voice from Heaven,
     The message of a truth divine,
     The call of God is given!
     Awaking in the human heart
     Love for the true and right,—
     Zeal for the Christian's better part,
     Strength for the Christian's fight.

     Nor unto manhood's heart alone
     The holy influence steals
     Warm with a rapture not its own,
     The heart of woman feels!
     As she who by Samaria's wall
     The Saviour's errand sought,—
     As those who with the fervent Paul
     And meek Aquila wrought:

     Or those meek ones whose martyrdom
     Rome's gathered grandeur saw
     Or those who in their Alpine home
     Braved the Crusader's war,
     When the green Vaudois, trembling, heard,
     Through all its vales of death,
     The martyr's song of triumph poured
     From woman's failing breath.

     And gently, by a thousand things
     Which o'er our spirits pass,
     Like breezes o'er the harp's fine strings,
     Or vapors o'er a glass,
     Leaving their token strange and new
     Of music or of shade,
     The summons to the right and true
     And merciful is made.

     Oh, then, if gleams of truth and light
     Flash o'er thy waiting mind,
     Unfolding to thy mental sight
     The wants of human-kind;
     If, brooding over human grief,
     The earnest wish is known
     To soothe and gladden with relief
     An anguish not thine own;

     Though heralded with naught of fear,
     Or outward sign or show;
     Though only to the inward ear
     It whispers soft and low;
     Though dropping, as the manna fell,
     Unseen, yet from above,
     Noiseless as dew-fall, heed it well,—-
     Thy Father's call of love!