John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892.
Religious PoemsThe Call of the Christian
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On Horeb’s mount of fear,
Not always as the burning bush
To Midian’s shepherd seer,
Nor as the awful voice which came
To Israel’s prophet bards,
Nor as the tongues of cloven flame,
Nor gift of fearful words,—
Of fire or voice from Heaven,
The message of a truth divine,
The call of God is given!
Awaking in the human heart
Love for the true and right,—
Zeal for the Christian’s better part,
Strength for the Christian’s fight.
The holy influence steals:
Warm with a rapture not its own,
The heart of woman feels!
As she who by Samaria’s wall
The Saviour’s errand sought,—
As those who with the fervent Paul
And meek Aquila wrought:
Rome’s gathered grandeur saw:
Or those who in their Alpine home
Braved the Crusader’s war,
When the green Vaudois, trembling, heard,
Through all its vales of death,
The martyr’s song of triumph poured
From woman’s failing breath.
Which o’er our spirits pass,
Like breezes o’er the harp’s fine strings,
Or vapors o’er a glass,
Leaving their token strange and new
Of music or of shade,
The summons to the right and true
And merciful is made.
Flash o’er thy waiting mind,
Unfolding to thy mental sight
The wants of human-kind;
If, brooding over human grief,
The earnest wish is known
To soothe and gladden with relief
An anguish not thine own;
Or outward sign or show;
Though only to the inward ear
It whispers soft and low;
Though dropping, as the manna fell,
Unseen, yet from above,
Noiseless as dew-fall, heed it well,—
Thy Father’s call of love!