Chapter V: The Monk

When in my narrow cell I lie,
The long day’s penance done at last,
I see the ghosts of days gone by,
And hear the voices of the past.

I see the blue-gray wood-smoke curled
From hearths where life has rhymed to love,
I see the kingdoms of the world--
The glory and the power thereof,
And cry, “Ah, vainly have I striven!”
And then a voice calls, soft and low:
“Thou gavest My Earth to win My Heaven;
But Heaven-on-Earth thou mayest not know!”

It is not for Thy Heaven, O Lord,
That I renounced Thy pleasant earth--
The ship, the furrow, and the sword--
The dreams of death, the dreams of birth!

Weary of vigil, fast, and prayer,
Weak in my hope and in my faith--
O Christ, for whom this cross I bear,
Meet me beside the gate of Death!

When the night comes, then let me rest
(O Christ, who sanctifiest pain!)
Falling asleep upon Thy breast,
And, if Thou wilt, wake never again!

THE CROWN OF LIFE

The days, the doubts, the dreams of pain
Are over, not to come again,
And from the menace of the night
Has dawned the day-star of delight:
My baby lies against me pressed--
Thus, Mother of God, are mothers blessed!

His little head upon my arm,
His little body soft and warm,
His little feet that cannot stand
Held in the heart of this, my hand.
His little mouth close on my breast--
Thus, Mary’s Son, are mothers blessed.

All dreams of deeds, all deeds of day
Are very faint and far away,
Yet you some day will stand upright
And fight God’s foes, in manhood’s might,
You--tiny, worshipped, clasped, caressed--
Thus, Mother of God, are mothers blessed.

Whatever grief may come to be
This hour divine goes on for me.
All glorious is my little span,
Since I, like God, have made a man,
A little image of God’s best--
Thus, Mary’s Son, are mothers blessed.

Come change, come loss, come worlds of tears,
Come endless chain of empty years;
They cannot take away the hour
That gives me You--my bird, my flower!
Thank God for this! Leave God the rest!--
Thus, Mother of God, are mothers blessed.

MAGNIFICAT

This is Christ’s birthday: long ago
He lay upon His Mother’s knee,
Who kissed and blessed Him soft and low--
God’s gift to her, as you to me.

My baby dear, my little one,
The love that rocks this cradling breast
Is such as Mary gave her Son:
She was more honoured, not more blest.

He smiled as you smile: not more sweet
Than your eyes were those eyes of His,
And just such little hands and feet
As yours Our Lady used to kiss.

The world’s desire that Mother bore:
She held a King upon her knee:
O King of all my world, and more
Than all the world’s desire to me!

I thank God on the Christmas morn,
For He has given me all things good:
This body which a child has borne,
This breast, made holy for his food.

High in high heaven Our Lady’s throne
Beside her Son’s stands up apart:
I sit on heaven’s steps alone
And hold my king against my heart.

Across dark depths she hears your cry;
She sees your smile, through worlds of blue
Who was a mother, even as I,
And loved her Child, as I love you.

And to her heart my babe is dear,
Because she bore the Babe Divine,
And all my soul to hers draws near,
And loves Him for the sake of mine!

EVENING PRAYER

Not to the terrible God, avenging, bright,
Whose altars struck their roots in flame and blood,
Not to the jealous God, whose merciless might
The infamy of unclean years withstood;
But to the God who lit the evening star,
Who taught the flower to blossom in delight,
Who taught His world what love and worship are
We pray, we two, to-night.

To no vast Presence too immense to love,
To no enthronèd King too great to care,
To no strange Spirit human needs above
We bring our little, intimate, heart-warm prayer;
But to the God who is a Father too,
The Father who loved and gave His only Son
We pray across the cradle, I and you,
For ours, our little one!

CHRISTMAS HYMN

O Christ, born on the holy day,
I have no gift to give my King;
No flowers grow by my weary way;
I have no birthday song to sing.

How can I sing Thy name and praise,
Who never saw Thy face divine;
Who walk in darkness all my days,
And see no Eastern stars a-shine?

Yet, when their Christmas gifts they bring,
How can I leave Thy praise unsung?
How stay from homage to the King,
And hold a silent, grudging tongue?

Lord, I found many a song to sing,
And many a humble hymn of praise
For Thy great Miracle of Spring,
The wonder of the waxing days.

When I beheld Thy days and years,
Did I not sing Thy pleasant earth?
The moons of love, the years of tears,
The mysteries of death and birth?

Have I not sung with all my soul
While soul and song were mine to yield,
Thy lightning crown, Thy cloud-control,
The dewy clover of Thy field?

Have I not loved Thy birds and beasts,
Thy streams and woods, Thy sun and shade;
Have I not made me holy feasts
Of all the beauty Thou hast made?

What though my tear-tired eyes, alas!
Won never grace Thy face to see?
I heard Thy footstep on the grass,
Thy voice in every wind-blown tree.

No music now I make or win,
Yet, Lord, remember I have been
The lover of Thy world, wherein
I found nought common or unclean.

Grown old and blind, I sing no more,
Thy saints in heaven sing sweet and strong,
Yet take the songs I made of yore
For echoes to Thy birthday song.

ABSOLUTION

Unbind thine eyes, with thine own soul confer,
Look on the sins that made thy life unclean,
Behold how poor thy vaunted virtues were,
How weak thy faith, thy deeds how small and mean,
How far from thy high dreams thy life hath been,
How poor thy use of all thou hast received,
How little of all God’s glory thou hast seen,
How misconstrued that which thou hast perceived.

Turn not thine eyes away from thine unworth,
The cup of shame drink to the bitter lees;
And when thou art lowerèd to the least on earth,
And in the dust makest common cause with these,
Then shall kind arms enfold thee, bringing peace,
The Earth, thy Mother, shall assuage thy pain,
Her woods and fields, Her quiet streams and seas
Shall touch thy soul, and make thee whole again.

But if thy heart holds fast one secret sin,
If one vile script thy soul shrinks to erase,
The mighty Mother cannot bring thee in
Unto the happy, holy, healing place;
But thou shalt weep in darkness, out of grace,
And miss the light of beauty undefiled;
For he who would behold Her, face to face,
Must be in spirit as a little child.

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The Paston Letters,

1422-1509

EDITED BY JAMES GAIRDNER

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Boswell’s Life of Johnson

EDITED BY AUGUSTINE BIRRELL.

WITH FRONTISPIECES BY ALEX ANSTED, A REPRODUCTION OF SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS’ PORTRAIT.

_Six Volumes. Foolscap 8vo. Cloth, paper label, or gilt extra, 2s. net per Volume. Also half morocco, 3s. net per Volume. Sold in Sets only._

“Far and away the best Boswell, I should say, for the ordinary book-lover now on the market.”--_Illustrated London News._

“ ... We have good reason to be thankful for an edition of a very useful and attractive kind.”--_Spectator._

“The volumes, which are light, and so well bound that they open easily anywhere, are exceedingly pleasant to handle and read.”--_St. James’s Budget._

“This undertaking of the publishers ought to be certain of success.”--_The Bookseller._

“Read him at once if you have hitherto refrained from that exhilarating and most varied entertainment; or, have you read him?--then read him again.”--_The Speaker._

“Constable’s edition will long remain the best both for the general reader and the scholar.”--_Review of Reviews._

_In 48 Volumes_

CONSTABLE’S REPRINT

OF

The Waverley Novels

THE FAVOURITE EDITION OF

SIR WALTER SCOTT.

With all the original Plates and Vignettes (Re-engraved). In 48 Vols.

_Foolscap 8vo. Cloth, paper label title, 1s. 6d. net per Volume, or £3 12s. the Set. Also cloth gilt, gilt top, 2s. net per Volume, or £4 16s. the Set; and half leather gilt, 2s. 6d. net per Volume, or £6 the Set._

“A delightful reprint. The price is lower than that of many inferior editions.”--_Athenæum._

“The excellence of the print, and the convenient size of the volumes, and the association of this edition with Sir Walter Scott himself, should combine with so moderate a price to secure for this reprint a popularity as great as that which the original editions long and fully enjoyed with former generations of readers.”--_The Times._

“This is one of the most charming editions of the Waverley Novels that we know, as well as one of the cheapest in the market.”--_Glasgow Herald._

“Very attractive reprints.”--_The Speaker._

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The Nation’s Awakening

By SPENSER WILKINSON

_Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d._

“The essence of true policy for Britain, the policy of common-sense, lies, according to Mr. Wilkinson, in choosing for assertion and for active defence those points in the extensive fringe of our world-wide interests, and those moments of time at which our self-defence will coincide with the self-defence of the world. This idea he works out in a clever and vigorous fashion.”--_Glasgow Herald._

“He elaborates his views in four ‘books,’ dealing respectively with the aims of the other Great Powers, the defence of British interests, the organization of the Government, and ‘the idea of the nation,’ ... he deprecates a policy of isolation, and advocates a closer alliance with Germany.”--_Scotsman._

“We consider Mr. Wilkinson completely proves his case. We agree ... that Mr. Spenser Wilkinson must make all men think. We welcome the volume, as we have welcomed previous volumes from Mr. Wilkinson’s pen, as of the highest value towards the formation of a national policy, of which we never stood in greater need.”--_Athenæum._

“These essays show a wide knowledge of international politics.”--_Morning Post._

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

The Volunteers and the National Defence

_Crown 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d._

The Brain of an Army

_Crown 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d._

The Command of the Sea

_Crown 8vo, paper, 1s._

The Brain of the Navy

_Crown 8vo, paper, 1s._

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_At all Booksellers and Bookstalls._

NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION,

REVISED AND BROUGHT UP TO DATE,

WITH A NEW CHAPTER ON THE LATE WAR IN THE EAST.

Problems of the Far East

Japan--Corea--China

BY THE

Rt. Hon. GEORGE N. CURZON, M.P.

_With numerous Illustrations and Maps. Extra Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d._

“Certainly the influence of Mr. Curzon’s thoughtful generalizations, based as they are upon wide knowledge, and expressed in clear and picturesque language, cannot fail to assist in solving the problems of the Far East.”--_Manchester Courier._

“We dealt so fully with the other contents of Mr. Curzon’s volume at the time of first publication, that it is only necessary to say that the extreme interest and importance of them is enhanced by recent events, and the light of which they are revised.”--_Glasgow Herald._

“Any one who desires to know anything of Japan, Corea, and China, will employ time profitably in becoming acquainted with Mr. Curzon’s book. The book is thoughtfully and carefully written, and the writer’s well-known abilities, both as a traveller and a statesman, lend weight to his words, while the fact that it is already in its fourth edition shows that the public realize its value.”--_Belfast News Letter._

“All who have read the volume will admit that it is a valuable addition to the literature dealing with the problems of the Far East.”--_Morning Post._

“His impressions of travel, confirmed by a study of the best authorities, are interesting and well written.”--_Manchester Guardian._

“‘Problems of the Far East’ is most informing, and deserves to be widely read.”--_Liverpool Mercury._

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* * * * *

English Illustration. “The Sixties”: 1855-70. By GLEESON WHITE. _Price £2 2s. net._

_With Numerous Illustrations by_ Sir E. BURNE-JONES; FORD MADOX BROWN; BIRKET FOSTER; A. BOYD HOUGHTON; ARTHUR HUGHES; CHAS. KEENE; LORD LEIGHTON, P.R.A.; G. DU MAURIER; Sir J. E. MILLAIS, P.R.A.; J. W. NORTH; E. J. POYNTER, R.A.; D. G. ROSSETTI; FREDERICK SANDYS; J. MCNEILL WHISTLER; FREDERICK WALKER, A.R.A.; and others.

“Mr. Gleeson White has done his work well.... It is a book of
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critical treatise in the other.”--DAILY NEWS.

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is practically an exhaustive account of the admirable results
obtained by designers and wood-engravers during the eventful years
that lie between say 1855 and 1870.... Simply invaluable to all
students and collectors....”--_Glasgow Herald._

“ ... This sumptuous volume, which Messrs. Constable have printed
with their familiar mastery, and to which have been added the
glories of hand-made paper and beautiful binding. With
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those who must follow. Certainly in the first instance the volume
is a monument of painstaking research.... But a careful reading
conveys the sense that the historians’ and critics’ parts belong
not less to Mr. Gleeson White. The book, in short, must be in the
hands of all who care for English art. Even those to whom the names
on its title-page are nothing but names, will find it a surprising
picture book, an album, if you will, to lay upon the table, but an
album rich in suggestion and of singular and subtle charm.”--_Pall
Mall Gazette._

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“Mr. Gleeson White has written a work worthy of a foremost place
among the standard reference books on matters artistic. Messrs.
Constable have produced the book in a truly sumptuous
manner.”--_Publisher’s Circular._

The Household of the Lafayettes. By EDITH SICHEL. _Illustrated. Demy 8vo. 15s. net._

Songs for Little People. By NORMAN GALE.

_Profusely Illustrated by_ HELEN STRATTON. _Large Crown 8vo, 6s._

“A delightful book.”--_Scotsman._

“We cannot imagine anything more appropriate as a gift-book for
children.”--_Glasgow Daily Mail._

“This book, in truth, is one of the most tasteful things of its
kind.”--_Whitehall Review._

“Mr. Norman Gale is to be congratulated.”--_Black and White._

“A delightful book in every way.”--_Academy._

The Selected Poems of GEORGE MEREDITH.

_Crown 8vo. 6s._

New Poems. By FRANCIS THOMPSON. _Fcap. 8vo., 6s. net._

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recognise and declare that we are here face to face with a poet of
the first order, a man of imagination all compact, a seer and
singer of rare genius.”--_Daily Chronicle._

“It confers a literary distinction upon the 60th year of the
Victorian Era, and it gives the annus mirabilis yet a new title to
memory.”--_Newcastle Daily Chronicle._

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wielder of beautiful words, a lover of beautiful things.’--I.
ZANGWILL, in the _Cosmopolitan_, Sept., 1895.

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last.”--S_ketch._

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CONSTABLE’S

Hand Atlas of India

A NEW SERIES of Sixty Maps and Plans prepared from Ordnance and other Surveys under the direction of

J. G. BARTHOLOMEW, F.R.G.S., F.R.S.E., &c.

_In half morocco, or full bound cloth, gilt top, 14s._

This Atlas is the first publication of its kind, and for tourists and travellers generally it will be found particularly useful. There are Twenty-two Plans of the principal towns of our Indian Empire, based on the most recent surveys, and officially revised to date in India.

The Topographical Section Maps are an accurate reduction of the Survey of India, and contain all the places described in Sir W. W. Hunter’s “Gazetteer of India,” according to his spelling.

The Military, Railway, Telegraph, and Mission Station Maps are designed to meet the requirements of the Military and Civil Service, also missionaries and business men who at present have no means of obtaining the information they require in a handy form.

The index contains upwards of ten thousand names, and will be found more complete than any yet attempted on a similar scale.

Further to increase the utility of the work as a reference volume, an abstract of the 1891 Census has been added.

“It is tolerably safe to predict that no sensible traveller will go
to India in future without providing himself with ‘Constable’s Hand
Atlas of India.’ Nothing half so useful has been done for many
years to help both the traveller in India and the student at home.
‘Constable’s Hand Atlas’ is a pleasure to hold and to turn
over.”--_Athenæum._

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_Butler & Tanner._]

End of Project Gutenberg's Songs of love and empire, by Edith Nesbit