Gleams of Sunshine: Optimistic PoemsChant, Joseph Horatio
Religion
Gleams of Sunshine: Optimistic Poems
Chant, Joseph Horatio
Canadian poetry; Christian poetry
THE HIGHEST GOAL 126
JOY IN THE MORNING 128
"HE SHALL DWELL ON HIGH" 129
BAG YOUR GAME 132
OTHERS' BURDENS 135
MEMORY 136
THE ROYAL WAY 138
'STABLISHED 140
A MEROGNOSTIC 141
"SALUT AUX BLESSIS" 144
SONNET 146
BROTHERHOOD 147
SHE DEARLY LOVED THE FLOWERS 149
MY PANSY PETS 151
LOVE BETTER THAN KNOWLEDGE 153
A SUFFERING GOD 155
THE COPY 157
PERFECT WORK 159
THE JOHNSTOWN DISASTER 160
EYE HATH NOT SEEN 169
WHAT LASTS? 171
IS THERE A BRIGHTER WORLD? 173
A GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN 176
THE END WE SOUGHT 178
ASPIRATION 179
MY REST 180
"PAINT ME AS I AM, WARTS AND ALL" 182
"I WAS THERE" 183
TRUE LOVE 185
A TRUE MAN 186
MY OLD SWEETHEART 187
Gleams of Sunshine
INVOCATION
_O Thou, who art the source of joy and light,
The great Revealer of the will Divine;
Thyself Divine, all nature owns Thy might,
And bows in homage at a beck of Thine,
Afford me light to guide my unskilled hand,
And by Thy Spirit all my thoughts command.
To Thy great name I dedicate my powers,
Yielding to Thee what Thou with blood hast bought,
Resolved that Thou shalt have my days and hours,
And for Thy sake shall every work be wrought;
O deign to use me, if it be Thy will,
And my poor heart with love and gladness fill.
If this strange impulse which I feel within
To write this book proceeds, O Lord, from Thee,
Let it not die, nor be defiled by sin,
But let the work from self and sin be free,
And prove a guide to home and bliss above,
And help to fill this warring world with love.
The Master's touch I know it sadly lacks,
And may not please the nice artistic taste
Of some fine mind that naught but gold attracts;
Some may not count these iron-filings waste;
Like magnets, to which gold will not adhere,
May they find ore in this to bless and cheer.
In this plain pitcher, Lord, Thy blessing pour,
That from it men their raging thirst may slake,
And when exhausted is the scanty store,
Then let the earthen vessel quickly break;
Its end is gained if Thou art glorified,
And men have learned to love the Christ who died.
As flowers drink in the solar rays and dew,
And in return give bloom and odors sweet,
So would I to Thy Spirit's touch prove true,
And render that return which seemeth meet;
Come, dews of grace! Great Sun, illume my heart!
That I to some sad soul may joy impart._
FATHER OF UNIVERSAL MAN
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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