A Hidden Life and Other Poems Part 6

"He dreams Of the gleams Of their garments of white: He misses Their kisses, The maidens of light.

"They long For the strong, Who has burst through alarms, Up, by the labour Of stirrup and sabre, Up to their arms.

"Oh! the wine of the grape is a feeble ghost; But the wine of the fight is the joy of a host."

When Saad came home from the far pursuit, He sat him down, and an hour was mute.

But at length he said: "Ah! wife, the fight Had been lost full sure, but an arm of might Sudden rose up on the crest of the war, With its sabre that circled in rainbows afar, Took up the battle, and drove it on-- Enoch sure, or the good St. John.

Wherever he leaped, like a lion he, The fight was thickest, or soon to be; Wherever he sprang, with his lion cry, The thick of the battle soon went by.

With a headlong fear, the sinners fled; We followed--and pa.s.sed them--for they were dead.

But him who had saved us, we saw no more; He had gone, as he came, by a secret door; And strange to tell, in his holy force, He wore my armour, he rode my horse."

The lady arose, with her n.o.ble pride, And she walked with Saad, side by side; As she led him, a moon that would not wane, Where Midjan counted the links of his chain!

"I gave him thy horse, and thy armour to wear; If I did a wrong, I am here to bear."

"Abu Midjan, the singer of love and of wine!

The arm of the battle--it also was thine?

Rise up, shake the fetters from off thy feet; For the lord of the battle, are fetters meet?

Drink as thou wilt--till thou be h.o.a.r-- Let Allah judge thee--I judge no more."

Abu Midjan arose and flung aside The clanging fetters, and thus he cried: "If thou give me to G.o.d and his decrees, Nor purge my sin by the shame of these; I dare not do as I did before-- In the name of Allah, I drink no more."

AN OLD STORY.

They were parted at last, although Each was tenderly dear; As asunder their eyes did go, When first alone and near.

'Tis an old story this-- A trembling and a sigh, A gaze in the eyes, a kiss-- Why will it _not_ go by?

A BOOK OF DREAMS.

PART I.

1.

I lay and dreamed. The master came In his old woven dress; I stood in joy, and yet in shame, Oppressed with earthliness.

He stretched his arms, and gently sought To clasp me to his soul; I shrunk away, because I thought He did not know the whole.

I did not love him as I would, Embraces were not meet; I sank before him where he stood, And held and kissed his feet.

Ten years have pa.s.sed away since then, Oft hast thou come to me; The question scarce will rise again, Whether I care for thee.

To every doubt, in thee my heart An answer hopes to find; In every gladness, Lord, thou art, The deeper joy behind.

And yet in other realms of life, Unknown temptations rise, Unknown perplexities and strife, New questions and replies.

And every lesson learnt, anew, The vain a.s.surance lends That now I know, and now can do, And now should see thy ends.

So I forget I am a child, And act as if a man; Who through the dark and tempest wild Will go, because he can.

And so, O Lord, not yet I dare To clasp thee to my breast; Though well I know that only there Is hid the secret rest.

And yet I shrink not, as at first: Be thou the judge of guilt; Thou knowest all my best and worst, Do with me as thou wilt.

Spread thou once more thine arms abroad, Lay bare thy bosom's beat; Thou shalt embrace me, O my G.o.d, And I will kiss thy feet.

2.

I stood before my childhood's home, Outside the belt of trees; All round, my dreaming glances roam On well-known hills and leas.

When sudden, from the westward, rushed A wide array of waves; Over the subject fields they gushed From far-off, unknown caves.

And up the hill they clomb and came, On flowing like a sea: I saw, and watched them like a game; No terror woke in me.

For just the belting trees within, I saw my father wait; And should the waves the summit win, I would go through the gate.

For by his side all doubt was dumb, And terror ceased to foam; No great sea-billows dared to come, And tread the holy home.

Two days pa.s.sed by. With restless toss, The red flood brake its doors; Prostrate I lay, and looked across To the eternal sh.o.r.es.

The world was fair, and hope was nigh, Some men and women true; And I was strong, and Death and I Would have a hard ado.

And so I shrank. But sweet and good The dream came to my aid; Within the trees my father stood, I must not be dismayed.

My grief was his, not mine alone; The waves that burst in fears, He heard not only with his own, But heard them with my ears.

My life and death belong to thee, For I am thine, O G.o.d; Thy hands have made and fas.h.i.+oned me, 'Tis thine to bear the load.

And thou shalt bear it. I will try To be a peaceful child, Whom in thy arms right tenderly Thou carriest through the wild.

3.

The rich man mourns his little loss, And knits the brow of care; The poor man tries to bear the cross, And seeks relief in prayer.

Some gold had vanished from my purse, Which I had watched but ill; I feared a lack, but feared yet worse Regret returning still.

And so I knelt and prayed my prayer To Him who maketh strong, That no returning thoughts of care Should do my spirit wrong.

I rose in peace, in comfort went, And laid me down to rest; But straight my soul grew confident With gladness of the blest.