By Love's wise tenderness.
They seem to suffer all their days
Life's direst storm and stress.
But God shall raise them up at length,
His purposes are sure,
He for their weakness shall give strength,
For every ill a cure.
SHUT WINDOWS
(_For the Braille Magazine_)
When the outer eye grows dim,
Turns the inner eye to Him,
Who makes darkness light.
Fairer visions you may see,
Live in nobler company,
And in larger liberty,
Than the men of sight.
He sometimes shuts the windows but to open hidden doors,
Where all who will may wander bold and free,
For His house has many mansions, and the mansions many floors,
And every room is free to you and me.
PROPS
Earthly props are useless,
On Thy grace I fall;
Earthly strength is weakness,
Father, on Thee I call,--
For comfort, strength, and guidance,
O, give me all!
BED-ROCK
I have been tried,
Tried in the fire,
And I say this,
As the result of dire distress,
And tribulation sore--
That a man's happiness doth not consist
Of that he hath, but of the faith
And trust in God's great love
These bring him to.
Nought else is worth consideration.
For the peace a man may find
In perfect trust in God
Outweighs all else, and is
The only possible foundation
For true happiness.
AFTER WORK
Lord, when Thou seest that my work is done,
Let me not linger on,
With failing powers,
Adown the weary hours,--
A workless worker in a world of work.
But, with a word,
Just bid me home,
And I will come
Right gladly,--
Yea, right gladly
Will I come.
KAPIOLANI IN RAROTONGAN
Mr. F.W. Christian, of the Polynesian Society of New Zealand, whose
personal acquaintance with the South Sea Islands and their dialects is
unique, is translating "Kapiolani" into Rarotongan. He writes--
"I enclose a four-line stanza which, translating your first line--'Where
the great green combers break,' etc.--strictly according to East
Polynesian ballad-metres, ushers in your great theme.
"'Kapiolani' will, I trust, God willing, become a household classic
in many of the Eastern Islands, such as Rapa and Manahiki, where the
Rarotongan language runs current as a sort of Lingua Franca or Sacred
Esperanto, thanks to the magnificent translation of the Bible by the
great missionary, John Williams. I have translated the poem most carefully,
and as accurately as possible into the peculiar metre and cast of
expression which an Eastern Polynesian 'Atu-Pe'e, or Versifier, would
immediately grasp as idiomatic. The first lines run thus:--"
Tei te ngai mangúngú--anga no te an ngaru roro'a
Ki rúnga no te púnga matoato'a
Ngàru kerekere, ngáru mamaáta e tini
Ki rúnga no te 'Akau-Pipíni.