"Then I ponder, and I wonder
Was some heart-chord snapped asunder
When the threads were soft and silken?
Did some fatal boyish blunder
Plant a canker in my bosom
That hath ever burned and rankled?
"O this thirsting, thirsting hanker!
O this burning, burning canker'
Driving Peace and Hope to shipwreck--
Without rudder, without anchor,
On the reef-rocks of Damnation!"
_Invisible Angel:_
"Jesus--Son of Virgin Mary;
Lift the burden from the weary:
Pity, Jesus, and anoint him
With the holy balm of Gilead."
_Poet:_
"Yea, Christ Jesus, pour thy blessings
On these terrible heart-pressings:
O I bless thee, unseen Angel;
Lead me--teach me, holy Spirit."
_Angel:_
"There is balm in Gilead!
There is balm in Gilead!
Peace awaits thee with caressings--
Sitting at the feet of Jesus--
At the right-hand of Jehovah--
At the blessed feet of Jesus;--Alleluia!"
CHRISTMAS EVE
I
From church and chapel and dome and tower,
Near--far and everywhere,
The merry bells chime loud and clear
Upon the frosty air.
All down the marble avenues
The lamp-lit casements glow,
And from an hundred palaces
Glad carols float and flow.
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