The Broadening View

CASSIUS M. LOOMIS

"And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God."—Psalms 40:3.

Our bards of old have told in charming rhyme
Of unrequited love and chance misdeed;
Of loss of friends and fortune at a time
When they of peace of mind seemed most in need.
Sent forth in mournful strain, such sonnets fell
Upon the ears of kith and kin, who shed
Responsive tears. Thus far, perchance, 't were well
For him whose sorrowing heart in anguish bled.

But now, how changed the poet's tuneful lay!
His pen, enamored of a loftier theme,
Finds heaven at hand, and light along the way,
Where once he walked as in a shadowy dream.
Dependent nevermore on faithless love,
His muse is free to roam beyond the ken
Of mortal mind to regions far above
The erstwhile troubled haunts of grief-bound men.

Self-pity never won the ear of Him
Who leads us gently on to seek and find
Redemption from such ills as pain would dim,
Or controvert the dauntless power of Mind.
When thoughts of healing ministry shall fill
The poet mind with unselfed love and praise,
Then will our Christly anthem, "Peace, be still,"
Supplant the unseemly dirge of other days.