Nor moon, nor do I think of any stars; Yet there was light, and there were cedar trees, Or should have seemed at rest, within a trough Was on me, and I would have gone to sleep, I feared that I should never wake again; For I could feel, with every thought, the Man, 'But there was nothing in the world to do.'- 'But are you sure,' he asked, 'that you have skill? And are you sure that you have learned your trade? No, you are not.'-He looked at me and laughed As he said that; but I did not laugh then, Although I might have laughed.—'They are dull,' said he; 'They were not very sharp if they were ground; Only be sure that you find Nazareth.' 'But if I starve-what then?' said I.—He smiled." PSALM CXXI I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, From whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: The LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy com ing in From this time forth, and even for evermore. BEFORE ACTION BY WILLIAM NOEL HODGSON By all the glories of the day And blessings carelessly received, By all of all man's hopes and fears, With high endeavour that was his, Make me a man, O Lord. I, that on my familiar hill Saw with uncomprehending eyes Their fresh and sanguine sacrifice Ere the sun swings his noonday sword By all delights that I shall miss, 1 A PRAYER FOR THE OLD COURAGE 1 BY CHARLES HANSON TOWNE Still let us go the way of beauty; go The way of loveliness; still let us know Those paths that lead where Pan and Daphne run, The earth may rock with War. Still is there peace From this too-vibrant pain that drives men mad. Let us go back, to keep alive the gleam, Oh, doubly precious now is solitude; 1 From A World of Windows by Charles Hanson Towne, copyright 1919, George H. Doran Co., publishers. Brave soldiers of the spirit, guard ye well THE PILLAR OF CLOUD BY JOHN HENRY, CARDINAL NEWMAN Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home- Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see I was not ever thus, nor pray'd that Thou I loved to choose and see my path, but now I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still Will lead me on, O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till The night is gone; And with the morn those angel faces smile Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. |