Allan Chace; And Other Poems (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1877 Excerpt: ...Gone her regrets, her griefs, and in their stead The martyr's quenchless zeal inflamed her soul: What was the world to her? like Jonah's gourd, A feeble worm could all its charms destroy; And life that is but breath cannot afford One solid bliss like those which never die. Her sole concern was now her course to run; How best her days to spend in sacred toil, That she might gain at last the great " Well done " To trim her lamp and feed with holy oil; Working and waiting for the Bridegroom's voice; And since her mortal life must soon decay, To be, to do, and suffer, was her choice: 'Tis better far to wear than rust away. Her's was ambition of the most refined; Not like your hero's, who for fame and pelf Will rob and murder, like a fiend, his kind; Will conquer anything but his vile self: Like coward, dares not his own conscience meet; Like Cromwell, at his shadow terrified; Or like the Alexander misnamed great, Who, left to himself, like a spoiled child--cried She chose to be a soldier of the cross; To war 'gainst self, the powers of hell, and sin; And last, from her foe, Death, retrieve her loss-Strike up a light his dismal realms within; Compel the monster, cringing in his thrall, Lead on to life, to everlasting joys, And friends restored and at the great roll-call Of the redeemed, to claim the victor's prize. What is religion? If you ask the sects, One says, 'tis creed; another, ritual; Another quotes theology complex; But Scripture says to me, to you, and all, That if you want it "pure and undefiled," "Seek those who into woe's abyss are hurled; Go, aid the widow and the orphan child, And keep yourself unspotted from the world." And if you want true heroism refined, Unselfish, unambitious, pure, and good, Look not for it in...