Page:Songs of Rebellion (Hall 1915).djvu/30

 THE LAST MESSAGE

(Being fragments of a letter from Jesus of Nazareth to Mary of Magdala)

Dear Mary of Magdala, how my weary, lone soul pines, As I sit here longing for you, while my hope, like day, declines; And it matters not if Judah cry me down, or hail me king, Since, in your absence, all the birds of heaven cease to sing.

In the Gardens of Gethsemane, when all things seemed untrue, How often my impatient soul has waited, dear, for you; For the coming of the presence that would change the dark to light, My weakness into power and my blindness into sight.

And upon the Mount of Olives, when my fame at zenith shone, Of the thousand faces 'round me I beheld but one, your own; And there upon the waters, on the waves of Galilee, I have stayed awake to listen for your soul-step on the sea.

Out into the Land of Loneliness, across the desert sands, You have come to me with roses and with lilies in your hands; You have come to me as Morning comes into the halls of Night, Hope's halo on your forehead and your eyes with love a-light.

Dear Mary of Magdala, when all other stars have set, The lodestar of your spirit will o'er Jesus linger yet; On the cross upon Golgotha, when forsaken from above, And all mankind denies me, you will comfort me with love.

Ere I leave the world behind me, on the ship of death depart, From my prison cell I send you this last message from my heart; This last message, dear, I send you ere the shrouds around me fall,— You have been to me the love-light, and the love-light is the all..  ✤ ✤ ✤ ✤ PSYCHE-LAND

There the beautiful stars in the beautiful heavens above Glow thru the beautiful night on the beautiful gardens of love, Till the world is a beautiful vision, the dream of the dreamers come true, And the light of the beautiful gardens is the beautiful spirit of you.

There the beautiful birds sing life's beautiful song, And the beautiful waters the beautiful music prolong, Filling and thrilling and making the world-land beautiful, over anew, And the heart and the soul of the beautiful music is the beautiful spirit of you.  —24—