I.
BENEDICTUS.
Can priestly lips, long silenced, raise
A strain so lofty and so strong,
Making our matin hymn of praise
As jubilant as evensong?
Yes: not the lips alone, the eyes
Of Zacharias were unsealed,
To see and sing the mysteries
To love and penitence revealed.
With keen prevision of the seer
He sings of a redemption wrought,
Whereby, released from slavish fear,
Men are to filial freedom brought.
Three things immutable and sure,
His promise, covenant, and oath,
Reveal God's purpose, and secure
Whate'er man needs for life and growth.
The promise to the fathers made
Was seen and known—th' Incarnate Word;
The Cross His covenant displayed,
His oath at Pentecost was heard.
Well may this father's heart rejoice,
And with prophetic rapture sing;
His song a prelude to that 'Voice'
Predestined to proclaim the King.
His joy a foretaste of that mirth
Which shall the hearts of all possess,
When o'er a recreated earth
Christ's sceptre reigns in righteousness.
Of light he sings for darkened eyes,
For wandering feet the way of peace,
Tells how the Dayspring shall arise,
And shadows flee and sorrows cease.
And still the Church's children raise
That strain so lofty and so strong,
Which makes their matin hymn of praise
As jubilant as evensong.
LOCH LAGGAN: 1884.
II.
MAGNIFICAT.
Earth's noise God's music supersedes,
Sin's discord it excludes,
It tells us of a Lamb that bleeds,
And of a Dove that broods.
It tells us of a Child Who brings
The help that sets us free;
The song His Maiden-Mother sings
Of saved Humanity.
The Mother's and the Sister's part
She plays; she leads the choir
Of those whose purity of heart
Is passionate desire.
Above the blood-encrimsoned sea,
Dispelling doubt and fear
With her celestial minstrelsy,
Our Miriam doth cheer
The men whose homeward-going hearts
Are loyal to their King;
When all from her have learnt their parts,
Then shall creation sing!
The sweetest of the Gospel songs,
To all the Saints so dear,
To every eventide belongs
Throughout the changeful year.
It sanctifies the vesper hour
When summer smiles serene;
It is a joy-constraining power
When winter blasts are keen.
'My soul doth magnify the Lord'—
Ecstatic is the voice
That sings of Paradise restored—
'My spirit doth rejoice!'
PINZOLO: 1882.
III.
NUNC DIMITTIS.
To cradle Mary's Child his heart
An old man opens wide:
Behold him in God's peace depart,
And in God's peace abide.
He sings the very Song of Peace,
Responsive to the Word;
His lullaby shall never cease
To make its music heard.
For all the children of the Bride,
The subjects of the King,
With each returning eventide
Have learnt his song to sing.
He sings of 'peace,' 'salvation,' 'light:'
His lovely words we take
For consolation night by night,
Until God's morning break.
Then, when our dazzled eyes grow dim,
Breathed with our parting breath
The old man's sweet, heart-soothing hymn
Glad welcome gives to death.
We too what Simeon saw may see—
The Mother undefiled,
Our hearts enfold as blissfully
The Everlasting Child!