Like Moses, eyes so dim,
All signs he could not
spell;
Yet he endured, as seeing
Him
Who is invisible.
His life was under One
“Who made and
loveth all;”
And when his mighty work was
done,
How grand his coronal!
* * * * *
Garfield.
Of Garfield’s finished
days,
So fair and all too
few,
Destruction, which at noon-day
strays,
Could not the work undo.
O martyr prostrate, calm,
I learn anew that pain
Achieves, as God’s subduing
psalm,
What else were all in
vain!
Like Samson in his death,
With mightiest labor
rife,
The moments of thy halting
breath
Were grandest of thy
life.
And now, amid the gloom
Which pierces mortal
years,
There shines a star above
thy tomb
To smile away our tears.
* * * * *
Not Too Near.
O workers brave and true,
Whose lives are full
of song,
I dare not take too near a
view,
Lest I should do you
wrong.
I only look to see
The marks of sacrifice,
The heraldry of sympathy,
Which can alone suffice.
For nothing else is great,
However proudly won,
Or has the light to indicate
The will of God is done.
Ah, who would judge what fire
Will surely burn away!
And ask not, What doth God
require
At the Eternal Day?
* * * * *
“Stonewall” Jackson.
God somehow owns the creeds
That seem so much amiss,
What time they bear heroic
deeds
Above analysis.
How, in his burning zeal,
Did Stonewall breast
his fate,
Converted to his country’s
weal
With fame beyond debate!
Sincere and strong of heart,
In very truth he thought
His ensign signaled duty’s
part;
And as he thought he
fought.
And truth baptized in blood,
As many a time before,
Gave honor to his soldierhood,
Though trailed the flag he
bore.
Work Its Own Reward
O worker with
the Lord,
To crown thee
with success,
Believe thy work its own reward,
Let self be less
and less.
In all things
be sincere,
Afraid not of
the light,
A prophet of the Golden Year
In simply doing
right.
And be content
to serve,
A little one of
God,
In loyalty without reserve,
A hero armored,
shod.
Or this dear life
of thine,
Of every charm
bereft,
Will crumble in the fire divine,
Naught, naught
but ashes left.