Man Godlike

 Man Godlike

Swarming across the earthly crust,
Delving deep in the yellow dust.
Raising his ant-hills here and there.
Scoring the soil for his humble fare,
Braving the sea in his tiny boat -
Tireless he struggles, this human mote.

Tempests scatter his ant-hills wide,
Vainly he braves the boiling tide.
Fire will ruin his busy mart.
Famine stilleth his throbbing heart.
Trembles the earth and prone he falls,
Crusht and tombed by his pigmy walls.

Heir of the kingdom 'neath the skies,
Often he falls, yet falls to rise.
Stumbling, bleeding, beaten back,
Holding still to the upward track;
Playing his part in creation's plan.
Godlike in image - this is man!

Evil Thoughts

Evil Thoughts

by William Collings

As deadly germs of foul disease.
Come floating on the gentle breeze:
And on their entertainers feed,
To satisfy their horrid greed:
Implanting death, where'er they go,
And filling man with mortal woe:
So, sinful thoughts our minds assail,
If we permit them to prevail;
They will to words, and actions grow.
And fill our souls with deadly woe.

 As downy seeds float through the air,
To plant their nuisance anywhere
That they can find a place to rest,
A quiet place will suit them best.
So evil thoughts. pass through the mind,
And if they can a lodgment find,
They will take root; spring up, bloom out,
And scatter their vile seed about.
Yes evil thoughts are passing by
The human mind's perceiving eye.
And if they can a lodgment find:
They occupy that human mind
With deadly germs of inbred sin,
Which let the great deceiver in
To fortify this citadel
And then prepare the soul for hell.
When these vile thoughts, our minds assail
Unresisted, they will prevail;
If they get rooted in the heart,
How hard it is from them to part
Like deadly germs of foul disease,
Which seem to go just where they please,
And on their entertainers feed
To satisfy their awful greed.
These thoughts to words and actions lead.
And thus bloom out and bear the seed,
Which satan's agents scatter round
Where a neglected spot is found.

Angel of Pain

Angel of Pain

by Saxe Holm

Angel of Pain, I think thy face
Will be in all the heavenly place
The sweetest face that I shall see,
The swiftest face to smile on me.
All other angels faint and tire;
Joy wearies, and forsakes Desire;
Hope falters face to face with Fate,
And dies because it cannot wait;
And Love cuts short each loving day,
Because fond hearts cannot obey
That subtlest law which measures bliss 

By what it is content to miss.

But thou, O loving, faithful Pain,
Hated, reproached, rejected, slain,
Dost only closer cling, and bless
In sweeter, stronger steadfastness.
Dear, patient angel  to thine own
Thou comest, and art never known,
Till late, in some lone twilight place,
The light of thy transfigured face
Sudden shines out, and speechless they
Know they have walked with Christ all day.