Legends and Lyrics-1 [37]
to cry on your disdain,
Know that my blessing lay in your forsaking.
Farewell for ever now:- in peace we part;
And should an idle vision of my tears
Arise before your soul in after years -
Remember that I thank you from my heart!
VERSE: THE GOLDEN GATE
Dim shadows gather thickly round, and up the misty stair they
climb,
The cloudy stair that upward leads to where the closed portals
shine,
Round which the kneeling spirits wait the opening of the Golden
Gate.
And some with eager longing go, still pressing forward, hand in
hand,
And some with weary step and slow, look back where their Beloved
stand -
Yet up the misty stair they climb, led onward by the Angel Time.
As unseen hands roll back the doors, the light that floods the very
air
Is but the shadow from within, of the great glory hidden there -
And morn and eve, and soon and late, the shadows pass within the
gate.
As one by one they enter in, and the stern portals close once more,
The halo seems to linger round those kneeling closest to the door:
The joy that lightened from that place shines still upon the
watcher's face.
The faint low echo that we hear of far-off music seems to fill
The silent air with love and fear, and the world's clamours all
grow still,
Until the portals close again, and leave us toiling on in pain.
Complain not that the way is long--what road is weary that leads
there?
But let the Angel take thy hand, and lead thee up the misty stair,
And then with beating heart await, the opening of the Golden Gate.
VERSE: PHANTOMS
Back, ye Phantoms of the Past;
In your dreary caves remain:
What have I to do with memories
Of a long-forgotten pain?
For my Present is all peaceful,
And my Future nobly planned:
Long ago Time's mighty billows
Swept your footsteps from the sand.
Back into your caves; nor haunt me
With your voices full of woe;
I have buried grief and sorrow
In the depths of Long-ago.
See the glorious clouds of morning
Roll away, and clear and bright
Shine the rays of cloudless daylight -
Wherefore will ye moan of night?
Never shall my heart be burthened
With its ancient woe and fears;
I can drive them from my presence,
I can check these foolish tears.
Back, ye Phantoms; leave, oh leave me
To a new and happy lot;
Speak no more of things departed;
Leave me--for I know ye not.
Can it be that 'mid my gladness
I must ever hear you wail,
Of the grief that wrung my spirit,
And that made my cheek so pale?
Joy is mine; but your sad voices
Murmur ever in mine ear:
Vain is all the Future's promise,
While the dreary Past is here.
Vain, oh worse than vain, the Visions
That my heart, my life would fill,
If the Past's relentless phantoms
Call upon me still!
VERSE: THANKFULNESS
My God, I thank Thee who hast made
The Earth so bright;
So full of splendour and of joy,
Beauty and light;
So many glorious things are here,
Noble and right!
I thank Thee, too, that Thou hast made
Joy to abound;
So many gentle thoughts and deeds
Circling us round,
That in the darkest spot of Earth
Some love is found.
I thank Thee MORE that all our joy
Is touched with pain;
That shadows fall on brightest hours;
That thorns remain;
So that Earth's bliss may be our guide,
And not our chain.
For Thou who knowest, Lord, how soon
Our weak heart clings,
Hast given us joys, tender and true,
Yet all with wings,
So that we see, gleaming on high,
Diviner things!
I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast kept
The best in store;
We have enough, yet not too much
To long for more:
A yearning for a deeper peace,
Not known before.
I thank Thee, Lord, that here our souls,
Though amply blest,
Can never find, although they seek,
A perfect rest -
Nor ever shall, until they lean
On Jesus' breast!
VERSE: HOME-SICKNESS
Where I am, the halls are gilded,
Stored with pictures bright and rare;
Strains of deep melodious music
Float upon the perfumed air:-
Nothing stirs the dreary silence
Save the melancholy sea,
Near the poor and
Know that my blessing lay in your forsaking.
Farewell for ever now:- in peace we part;
And should an idle vision of my tears
Arise before your soul in after years -
Remember that I thank you from my heart!
VERSE: THE GOLDEN GATE
Dim shadows gather thickly round, and up the misty stair they
climb,
The cloudy stair that upward leads to where the closed portals
shine,
Round which the kneeling spirits wait the opening of the Golden
Gate.
And some with eager longing go, still pressing forward, hand in
hand,
And some with weary step and slow, look back where their Beloved
stand -
Yet up the misty stair they climb, led onward by the Angel Time.
As unseen hands roll back the doors, the light that floods the very
air
Is but the shadow from within, of the great glory hidden there -
And morn and eve, and soon and late, the shadows pass within the
gate.
As one by one they enter in, and the stern portals close once more,
The halo seems to linger round those kneeling closest to the door:
The joy that lightened from that place shines still upon the
watcher's face.
The faint low echo that we hear of far-off music seems to fill
The silent air with love and fear, and the world's clamours all
grow still,
Until the portals close again, and leave us toiling on in pain.
Complain not that the way is long--what road is weary that leads
there?
But let the Angel take thy hand, and lead thee up the misty stair,
And then with beating heart await, the opening of the Golden Gate.
VERSE: PHANTOMS
Back, ye Phantoms of the Past;
In your dreary caves remain:
What have I to do with memories
Of a long-forgotten pain?
For my Present is all peaceful,
And my Future nobly planned:
Long ago Time's mighty billows
Swept your footsteps from the sand.
Back into your caves; nor haunt me
With your voices full of woe;
I have buried grief and sorrow
In the depths of Long-ago.
See the glorious clouds of morning
Roll away, and clear and bright
Shine the rays of cloudless daylight -
Wherefore will ye moan of night?
Never shall my heart be burthened
With its ancient woe and fears;
I can drive them from my presence,
I can check these foolish tears.
Back, ye Phantoms; leave, oh leave me
To a new and happy lot;
Speak no more of things departed;
Leave me--for I know ye not.
Can it be that 'mid my gladness
I must ever hear you wail,
Of the grief that wrung my spirit,
And that made my cheek so pale?
Joy is mine; but your sad voices
Murmur ever in mine ear:
Vain is all the Future's promise,
While the dreary Past is here.
Vain, oh worse than vain, the Visions
That my heart, my life would fill,
If the Past's relentless phantoms
Call upon me still!
VERSE: THANKFULNESS
My God, I thank Thee who hast made
The Earth so bright;
So full of splendour and of joy,
Beauty and light;
So many glorious things are here,
Noble and right!
I thank Thee, too, that Thou hast made
Joy to abound;
So many gentle thoughts and deeds
Circling us round,
That in the darkest spot of Earth
Some love is found.
I thank Thee MORE that all our joy
Is touched with pain;
That shadows fall on brightest hours;
That thorns remain;
So that Earth's bliss may be our guide,
And not our chain.
For Thou who knowest, Lord, how soon
Our weak heart clings,
Hast given us joys, tender and true,
Yet all with wings,
So that we see, gleaming on high,
Diviner things!
I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast kept
The best in store;
We have enough, yet not too much
To long for more:
A yearning for a deeper peace,
Not known before.
I thank Thee, Lord, that here our souls,
Though amply blest,
Can never find, although they seek,
A perfect rest -
Nor ever shall, until they lean
On Jesus' breast!
VERSE: HOME-SICKNESS
Where I am, the halls are gilded,
Stored with pictures bright and rare;
Strains of deep melodious music
Float upon the perfumed air:-
Nothing stirs the dreary silence
Save the melancholy sea,
Near the poor and