Against whose life the bow of power is bent, Who flies, and hath not where to lay his head; I come to thee for shelter and for food, To Yussouf, called through all our tribes "The Good."" "This tent is mine," said Yussouf, "but no more Than it is God's; come in, and be at peace; So Yussouf entertained his guest that night, And, waking him ere day, said: "Here is gold; My swiftest horse is saddled for thy flight; Depart before the prying day grow bold." As one lamp lights another, nor grows less, So nobleness enkindleth nobleness. That inward light the stranger's face made grand, Which shines from all self-conquest; kneeling low, He bowed his forehead upon Yussouf's hand, Sobbing: "O Sheik, I cannot leave thee so ; I will repay thee; all this thou hast done Unto that Ibrahim who slew thy son!" "Take thrice the gold," said Yussouf, "for with thee Into the desert, never to return, My one black thought shall ride away from me; First-born, for whom by day and night I yearn, Balanced and just are all of God's decrees; Thou art avenged, my first-born, sleep in peace!" WHAT RABBI JEHOSHA SAID. ABBI JEHOSHA used to say Perfect as Michael and the rest First brooded in creation's nest, Whose only office was to cry Rabbi Jehosha had the skill To know that Heaven is in God's will; 'T were glorious, no doubt, to be "T is Heaven must come, not we must go, Should win my place as near the throne As the pearl-angel of its zone, And God would listen mid the throng For my one breath of perfect song, Said all the Host of Heaven could say. ALL-SAINTS. NE feast, of holy days the crest, All-Saints, the unknown good that rest Men of the plain heroic breed, That loved Heaven's silence more than fame. Such lived not in the past alone, But thread to-day the unheeding street, And stairs to Sin and Famine known Sing with the welcome of their feet ; The den they enter grows a shrine, The grimy sash an oriel burns, Their cup of water warms like wine, Their speech is filled from heavenly urns. About their brows to me appears An aureole traced in tenderest light, The rainbow-gleam of smiles through tears In dying eyes, by them made bright, Of souls that shivered on the edge Of that chill ford repassed no more, And in their mercy felt the pledge And sweetness of the farther shore. THE DARKENED MIND. HE fire is burning clear and blithely, kindred, On us all flickers the firelight kind ; ; There thou sitt'st; now and then thou moan est; Thou dost talk with what we cannot see, It doth put us very far from thee; |