"After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up." -- Mark viii.25.

C. P. C.

tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899

Lo! a Hand amidst the darkness

Clasped mine own --

Led me forth the blind and helpless,

Led me forth alone;

From the crowd and from the clamour

To a silent place;

Touched mine eyes -- I looked upon Him --

Saw Him face to face.

Saw Him, as the dawning swiftly risen

O'er the valleys grey;

I had passed from midnight of my prison

Forth into the day.

Lo! again His mighty Hand hath touched me,

Touched the eyes so dim;

Radiant in the noontide of His Heaven

Look they now on Him.

Where He is, I see Him and I know Him;

Where He is I am,

In the Light that is the Love eternal,

Light that is the Lamb.

"Go not back," so spake He, "to the city

Where men know Me not --

Tell not there the mystery and the wonder

I have wrought.

Go unto thy Home, O My beloved

To thy Home and Mine;

Hear the blessed welcome of My Father,

All I have is thine.'"

Therefore am I journeying to the Father,

And He walks with me

Over mountains, through the pastures of His valleys,

O'er the sea --

And upwards through the heavens where His City

Burneth, gloweth with the light

Of the glory of the gems that He has gathered

In the caverns of the night.

Already come the sounds of harps and singing

When the winds arise,

And the joy of His espousals glows as morning

Arisen in His eyes.

See ye nought of Him? His glory and His beauty?

O eyes so sad and dim?

Still -- hearken -- He is passing -- He is passing --

Come unto Him.