::R1288 : page 22::

I AM THE WAY

Once I heard a sweet voice say,
“Come to me: I am the way;”
Then I was a sheep astray,
Fainting in the heat of day.

Mountains high my vision bound;
Desert sands lay all around;
Drink, nor food, could there be found!
Naught sprang from the parched ground.

Wearily I turned my head
O’er the way my path had led.
Surely, ’twas a voice, I said,
Yet of feet I heard no tread.

Like the mocking of a dream
When the thoughts with fancies teem,
Making things that are not seem
Pleasant as a cooling stream:—

So, the voice I heard behind,
More than gentle, more than kind,
Seemed to float upon the wind—
Bringing solace to my mind.

Soft again, and low and clear
As the accents seraphs hear,
Came the whisper to my ear,
“I will help thee, do not fear.”

Look! the bread; the water springs!
All the barren desert sings!
Haste thee! on love’s wide-spread wings
Tell the grace my message brings.

Gird on thee thine armor bright!
I, thy Captain, lead the fight;
Up, and battle with thy might!
God will guard and keep thee right.

Gather to my fold the sheep;
Gather lambs, that I may keep;
Let them sing for joy and leap:
None shall hunger more, nor weep.

Beasts of prey, nor serpent’s charm,
Ne’er my homeward flocks shall harm,
Nor my tender lambs alarm;
All their foes will I disarm.

From the hills shall rivers flow
Through the verdant vales below;
From Mount Zion light shall go;
All the flock one Shepherd know.

In and out his voice shall lead,
Able to supply each need;
In the pastures green to feed,
Or to rest in blooming mead.
MRS. ABIEL BOWEN.

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— February, 1891 —