第 11 节
作者:
辛苦 更新:2022-04-12 11:59 字数:9321
10。
With every morn my life afresh must break
The crust of self; gathered about me fresh;
That thy wind…spirit may rush in and shake
The darkness out of me; and rend the mesh
The spider…devils spin out of the flesh
Eager to net the soul before it wake;
That it may slumberous lie; and listen to the snake。
11。
'Tis that I am not goodthat is enough;
I pry no fartherthat is not the way。
Here; O my potter; is thy making stuff!
Set thy wheel going; let it whir and play。
The chips in me; the stones; the straws; the sand;
Cast them out with fine separating hand;
And make a vessel of thy yielding clay。
12。
What if it take a thousand years to make me;
So me he leave not; angry; on the floor!
Nay; thou art never angry!that would break me!
Would I tried never thy dear patience sore;
But were as good as thou couldst well expect me;
Whilst thou dost make; I mar; and thou correct me!
Then were I now content; waiting for something more。
13。
Only; my God; see thou that I content thee
Oh; take thy own content upon me; God!
Ah; never; never; sure; wilt thou repent thee;
That thou hast called thy Adam from the clod!
Yet must I mourn that thou shouldst ever find me
One moment sluggish; needing more of the rod
Than thou didst think when thy desire designed me。
14。
My God; it troubles me I am not better。
More help; I pray; still more。 Thy perfect debtor
I shall be when thy perfect child I am grown。
My Father; help meam I not thine own?
Lo; other lords have had dominion o'er me;
But now thy will alone I set before me:
Thy own heart's lifeLord; thou wilt not abhor me!
15。
In youth; when once again I had set out
To find thee; Lord; my life; my liberty;
A window now and then; clouds all about;
Would open into heaven: my heart forlorn
First all would tremble with a solemn glee;
Then; whelmed in peace; rest like a man outworn;
That sees the dawn slow part the closed lids of the morn。
16。
Now I grow old; and the soft…gathered years
Have calmed; yea dulled the heart's swift fluttering beat;
But a quiet hope that keeps its household seat
Is better than recurrent glories fleet。
To know thee; Lord; is worth a many tears;
And when this mildew; age; has dried away;
My heart will beat again as young and strong and gay。
17。
Stronger and gayer tenfold!but; O friends;
Not for itself; nor any hoarded bliss。
I see but vaguely whither my being tends;
All vaguely spy a glory shadow…blent;
Vaguely desire the 〃individual kiss;〃
But when I think of God; a large content
Fills the dull air of my gray cloudy tent。
18。
Father of me; thou art my bliss secure。
Make of me; maker; whatsoe'er thou wilt。
Let fancy's wings hang moulting; hope grow poor;
And doubt steam up from where a joy was spilt
I lose no time to reason it plain and clear;
But fly to thee; my life's perfection dear:
Not what I think; but what thou art; makes sure。
19。
This utterance of spirit through still thought;
This forming of heart…stuff in moulds of brain;
Is helpful to the soul by which 'tis wrought;
The shape reacting on the heart again;
But when I am quite old; and words are slow;
Like dying things that keep their holes for woe;
And memory's withering tendrils clasp with effort vain?
20。
Thou; then as now; no less wilt be my life;
And I shall know it better than before;
Praying and trusting; hoping; claiming more。
》From effort vain; sick foil; and bootless strife;
I shall; with childness fresh; look up to thee;
Thou; seeing thy child with age encumbered sore;
Wilt round him bend thine arm more carefully。
21。
And when grim Death doth take me by the throat;
Thou wilt have pity on thy handiwork;
Thou wilt not let him on my suffering gloat;
But draw my soul outgladder than man or boy;
When thy saved creatures from the narrow ark
Rushed out; and leaped and laughed and cried for joy;
And the great rainbow strode across the dark。
22。
Against my fears; my doubts; my ignorance;
I trust in thee; O father of my Lord!
The world went on in this same broken dance;
When; worn and mocked; he trusted and adored:
I too will trust; and gather my poor best
To face the truth…faced false。 So in his nest
I shall awake at length; a little scarred and scored。
23。
Things cannot look all right so long as I
Am not all right who seetherefore not right
Can see。 The lamp within sends out the light
Which shows the things; and if its rays go wry;
Or are not white; they must part show a lie。
The man; half…cured; did men not trees conclude;
Because he moving saw what else had seemed a wood。
24。
Give me; take from me; as thou wilt。 I learn
Slowly and stubbornly I learn to yield
With a strange hopefulness。 As from the field
Of hard…fought battle won; the victor chief
Turns thankfully; although his heart do yearn;
So from my old things to thy new I turn;
With sad; thee…trusting heart; and not in grief。
25。
If with my father I did wander free;
Floating o'er hill and field where'er we would;
And; lighting on the sward before the door;
Strange faces through the window…panes should see;
And strange feet standing where the loved had stood;
The dear old place theirs all; as ours before
Should I be sorrowful; father; having thee?
26。
So; Lord; if thou tak'st from me all the rest;
Thyself with each resumption drawing nigher;
It shall but hurt me as the thorn of the briar;
When I reach to the pale flower in its breast。
To have thee; Lord; is to have all thy best;
Holding it by its very life divine
To let my friend's hand go; and take his heart in mine。
27。
Take from me leisure; all familiar places;
Take all the lovely things of earth and air
Take from me books; take all my precious faces;
Take words melodious; and their songful linking;
Take scents; and sounds; and all thy outsides fair;
Draw nearer; taking; and; to my sober thinking;
Thou bring'st them nearer all; and ready to my prayer。
28。
No place on earth henceforth I shall count strange;
For every place belongeth to my Christ。
I will go calm where'er thou bid'st me range;
Whoe'er my neighbour; thou art still my nighest。
Oh my heart's life; my owner; will of my being!
Into my soul thou every moment diest;
In thee my life thus evermore decreeing。
29。
What though things change and pass; nor come again!
Thou; the life…heart of all things; changest never。
The sun shines on; the fair clouds turn to rain;
And glad the earth with many a spring and river。
The hearts that answer change with chill and shiver;
That mourn the past; sad…sick; with hopeless pain;
They know not thee; our changeless heart and brain。
30。
My halting words will some day turn to song
Some far…off day; in holy other times!
The melody now prisoned in my rimes
Will one day break aloft; and from the throng
Of wrestling thoughts and words spring up the air;
As from the flower its colour's sweet despair
Issues in odour; and the sky's low levels climbs。
31。
My surgent thought shoots lark…like up to thee。
Thou like the heaven art all about the lark。
Whatever I surmise or know in me;
Idea; or but symbol on the dark;
Is living; working; thought…creating power
In thee; the timeless father of the hour。
I am thy book; thy songthy child would be。
NOVEMBER
1。
THOU art of this world; Christ。 Thou know'st it all;
Thou know'st our evens; our morns; our red and gray;
How moons; and hearts; and seasons rise and fall;
How we grow weary plodding on the way;
Of future joy how present pain bereaves;
Rounding us with a dark of mere decay;
Tossed with a drift Of summer…fallen leaves。
2。
Thou knowest all our weeping; fainting; striving;
Thou know'st how very hard it is to be;
How hard to rouse faint will not yet reviving;
To do the pure thing; trusting all to thee;
To hold thou art there; for all no face we see;
How hard to think; through cold and dark and dearth;
That thou art nearer now than when eye…seen on earth。
3。
Have pity on us for the look of things;
When blank denial stares us in the face。
Although the serpent mask have lied before;
It fascinates the bird that darkling sings;
And numbs the little prayer…bird's beating wings。
For how believe thee somewhere in blank space;
If through the darkness come no knocking to our door?
4。
If we might sit until the darkness go;
Possess our souls in patience perhaps we might;
But there is always something to be done;
And no heart left to do it。 To and fro
The dull thought surges; as the driven waves fight
In gulfy channels。 Oh! victorious one;
Give strength to rise; go out; and meet thee in the night。
5。
〃Wake; thou that sleepest; rise up from the dead;
And Christ will give thee light。〃 I do not know
What sleep is; what is death; or what is light;
But I am waked enough to feel a woe;
To rise and leave death。 Stumbling through the night;
To my dim lattice; O calling Christ! I go;
And out into the dark look for thy star…crowned head。
6。
There are who come to me; and write; and send;
Whom I would love; giving good things to all;
But friendthat name I cannot on them spend;
'Tis from the centre of self…love they call
For cherishingfor which they first must know
How to be still; and take the