Page:Reuben and other poems.pdf/49

 Unto the flowers he came, and there Paced out with equal tread, And careful glance this way and that (As meting yet another plat), Six feet of earth among his flowers. Then, looking up, he said:

“Sons, parents, friends, yea, how much more Had I in thee, my God! Yet, knowing that we are but dust, And earth a little love we must, All-pitying! lo, what fellowship Thou brought’st me from the sod!

“Children, more every day, to tend, Mothers, to furnish food, Brethren, to help me praise Thee—nay But Cherubim in coats of clay, To guide my soul, and lead it thro’ Low gateways unto good.

“Oh, I have seen fair come of foul, And cleanness crown the mould— I have watch’d patience mastering ill And Death requickening Life—until I learn’d that in a garden yet God walketh as of old.