The still commandress of the silent night Borrows her beams from her bright brother's eye: His fair aspect fills her sharp horns with light; If he withdraw, her flames are quench'd and die : E'en so the beams of Thy enlight'ning Sp'rit, Infus'd and shot into my dark desire, Inflame my thoughts, and fill my soul with fire, That I am ravish'd with a new delight; But if Thou shroud Thy face, my glory fades, And I remain a nothing, all composed of shades. Eternal God! O Thou that only art The sacred fountain of eternal light And blessed loadstone of my better part, O Thou, my heart's desire, my soul's delight! Reflect upon my soul, and touch my heart, And then my heart shall prize no good above Thee; And then my trembling thoughts shall never start From Thy commands, or swerve the least degree, Or once presume to move, but as they move in Thee. FRANCIS QUARLES. AUGUST 29. A SONG OF DIVINE LOVE. LORD! when the sense of Thy sweet grace Q Though still I die, I live again, R. CRASHAW. AUGUST 30. THAT THY WAY MAY BE KNOWN ALAS! long-suffering and most patient God, Sustain me, that with Thee I walk these waves, E. BARRETT BROWNING. AUGUST 31. TO THE FATHER OF HEAVEN. O RADIANT luminary of light interminable, Whose magnificence is incomprehensible, From whom al goodness and vertue doth procede, Assist me, good Lord, and graunt me of Thy grace JOHN SKELTON. 244 SEPTEMBER 1. THE AUTUMN OF LIFE. THESE hairs of age are messengers That doth prepare Wherefore I joy that you may see They be the lines that lead the length Such lines upon my head to be. They be the strings of sober sound, Their tunes declare a time from ground God grant to those that white hairs have, Their souls may joy their lives well spent ; Upon my head such hairs to be. LORD VAUX. L SEPTEMBER 2. THE FOUNTAIN OF TEARS. IF you go over desert and mountain, And it flows and it flows with a motion You shall surely, without a word spoken, Kneel down there and know your heart broken, And yield to the long-curbed emotion, That day by the Fountain of Tears. And the tears shall flow faster and faster, Of Brim over and battle resistance, And roll'd down bleared roads to each distance past desolation and years; Till they cover the place of each sorrow, And leave you no Past and no Morrow; For what man is able to master And stem the great Fountain of Tears? But the floods of the tears meet and gather, Is poured the whole sorrow of years? |