THE NEARER VIEW

GERTRUDE RING

I did not know such heights were to be won!
I thought them inaccessible, remote,
Shining in solitude approached by none;
Silent and colorless, save there should float
A fleecy sunset cloud awhile to flush
Its majesty; then chilled, drop down in tears
Upon the summit, frozen by the hush
To icy mantle thickening with the years.

But one who journeys thitherward, God-led,
Takes me all tenderly by ways unknown;
With living streams and manna we are fed,
And every lurking peril is foreshown.
We would not linger, since our gaze upturned
Enraptured rests more often on the crest.
The way is not all smooth, the prize all earned;
But every brief abiding-place more blessed.

Serene and limpid is the murk-freed air;
So clear, the mount seems almost touched at times;
Peopled with thoughts harmonious and fair,
Filled with sweet melody like softened chimes.
And Life! Life! Life! Immensity's vast space
Is quickened to the farthest stars that sweep.
I daily pray to keep, by God's good grace,
Hold of the hand which brought me up the steep.

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