Marble Isle; Legends of the Round Table, 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. 1864 Excerpt: ...of the herd, And hold them fetter'd for a passing hour "Surely these few, the sovereigns of the world, Are nearer God, and see His throne more plain, Than all these shallow vendors in the mart, Whose dearest hopes are those of self and gain " Just then another inward voice replied, "Be still, 0 judging heart; for what art thou Darest call God's creatures common and unclean, And makest idols where thy soul may bow? "The lowest being in yon restless crowd In Heaven's sight is as the grandest great, Their breath a thought of God: the mysteries hid Of birth and death give all an equal state "And every man holds that within himself No other man may know Alas 'tis not The gifted only that do stand alone And yearn and weep: it is the common lot "For though we sit together at the feast, And pledge each other's secret hope or plan, And tell the stories of our different fates, And think we know at last our neighbor man; "And though we feel the clasp of tender arms, And walk through bitter trials hand in hand, And lean on hearts that love has made our own, And side by side near open graves do stand; "Yet evermore within each separate soul Is that can be interpreted aright By One alone, the everlasting God, That weighs our actions by our inner light "And they, the mighty ones that work apart, Children of Genius, are servants sent, Evangels to their brethren, and their gifts Are but the Sender's means a short space lent "They are the priests that go behind the veil Of flesh and sense, and, standing face to face With God's own glory, bring His word again To listening people from the holy place "They rouse the Possible in human minds; They lift to heaven low and grovelling dreams; They bear the truth to earnes...