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SONG-OFFERINGS
I Recognition
Hail to Thee, Scion of Glory, Whose utterance poureth abroa
The joy of the heavenly “fonwledge and the light of the greatest of day
Poet of mysteries chanting in rapture the beauty of
God, Unto Thee be thanksgiving and praise! Child of the darkness that wandered in gloom but reamed of the light, Lo! I have seen Thy splendour ablaze in the heavens afar Showering gladness and glory and shattering the shadows of night, And see no other star. Thy words are to me as fragrances borne from the garden of heaven, Beams of a lamp that j is hid in the height of a holier
wor, Arrows of "ate that pierce and destroy with the might of the levi Into our dil nes hurled. Sword of the Father! none other can rend the dark veil from my eyes, None other can beat from my limbs with the shearing lade of God’s might The sins I am fettered withal and give me the power
to rise And come forth to the fulness of light.
Lo! Thou hast breathed on my sorrow the sweetness of faith and of hope, Thou hast chanted a pzans of joy that my heart’s echoes ever repea' And the path to the knowledge of God begins glimmer ope Before my faltering feet.
to
Weak and unworthy my praise. Yet, as from its throbbing throat
Some lone bird pours its song to the flaming infinite
Sky, So unto Thee in the zenith I lift from a depth remote This broken human cry. —G. TowNsHEND.
II
THE BAB O inner heart Thru which the rivers of God’s love shall flow, Thou art the Gat By which a waiting world will know That glorious Orb Who rose o’er Persia’s slowly yielding night To flash a host of angels into flight.
O Gate of God, Ope wide Thy door And let the vista of Thy mystic lore Reveal the pre-existent plan
'o make of earth a paradise for man Take Thou our hearts and gently lead us in The chalice of supernal grace to win.
- beyond our tears;
To see that Beauty Whom Thy soul reveres. O Gate of God!
—Puitip AMALFI MARANGELLA.
Ill
1.
O Light Divine! Invisible! aomearueable Light! Eternal as inity!
Impenetrably Bright! The living universe bows down And veils its face before Thee. All angels and archangels bend And happily adore Thee. sta O Shining Spirit! Light of = All-flooding, radiant beam, Eternally proceeding Forth from Him, the Lorp Supreme; To all immensity of life, Himself Thou art revealing: With Thine intensity of light, Himself Thou art concealing. m1.
He is the Essence, Thou the Power,
Above all height and depth is He, In His own Ser abiding; Through Thee all depth and pee He fills. Through Thee Creation guiding. Iv. As light from flame, Thou art from Him; As fragrance from the flow As colors from the prism’d light; As rainbow from the shower; As thought from mind; or word from thought; dee d.
Not dual, nor divide
Vv.
O Splendor of the Spaceless! Thou,
Through hosts of wandering suns,
Dost quicken dense, material spheres.
Where these dull-shining ones
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518 THE BAHA’{i WORLD
Are lords of matter, time, and spac Their powers from Thee sing Obedient vassals of Thy Beneath Thy glory waning.
Vi.
Thou art the flame a. Life itself, The Ever-living Lig These burn with imitative fires Through matter’s stolid night; With semblance of creative heat; Worlds, moons and earthlings breeding; Yet, all, in traceless paths confined, Thine ordered ways are speeding. vil. The planets feel Thy quivering life And bring forth of their kind, All plants, and creeping things, and beasts, A en of dust—but blind To Thy Realities are they— In earthy dungeons dwelling, Imprisoned deep in sense and self, he Light Unseen repelling.
vil. O Life of Life! O Perfect Light! Pierce through the darkening walls; Bring forth the prisoners to Thy Day; Remove the veiling cau
Create new sight, new hearts, new minds;
Reveal the heavenly vision: Disperse the dust-formed clouds of self; Disclose the fields Elysian!
IX.
O Word of God! Light, Love and Life—
Transmuted into speech! Thou mighty Logos—come from heaven, The Will Divine to teach! Incarnate Gift to happy m Endowed with power perceiving, With speaking tongues and listening ears, With minds and hearts believing.
x.
Speak Thou to self-endarkened souls! Command, “Let there be Light!
So shall eternal Day appear To end chaotic night.
The morning stars shall sing again
The anthem of creation:
The sons of God shall shout for joy
With new divine clation.
xi.
Thy Word, O ee is knowledge, truth! y Unive
The boundless "aiallge realms of life, Which mirrors only Thee.
This mind of mine’s a twinkling orb, Toward Thy clear sun advancing:
A flickering mote of mental dust, In Thy great splendor dancing.
XI.
Thy flame is Love, the living Fire! Thine alchemy divine Transmutes man’s spirit into Life, The water into wine Within thy crucible, O Love, With Thee this heart is blending; Its life outdrawn, to be reborn From death to Life unending.
XII.
Thou Holy Light! So calmly pure So penetrating, sweet;
The whole creation’s living heart Is melted in Thy heat.
The souls of things turn unto Thee, Thy radiant Love divining,
As dewdrops glisten in the dawn, Each one a sunlet shining.
xiv. Thou crystal Ocean, limpid, clear, Unstained and colorless!
All life is is Thine, all beat Thine,
In ecstasy of dying. xv.
Immortal Spirit! Loving Power! Thou dost my soul enthrall.
I am in Thee, and Thou in me; Else were I not at all
For what I am, have been, shall be,
s Thine, not of my earning;
A "hobeae I, with naught to pay,
Except Thine own, returning.
XVI.
Thou Primal Parent! Lift Thy sons Into the heavens of Truth! Give them new birth in realms of Light, rant them eternal youth, That they may serve Thy Universe With wisdom, strength, perfection; True stars and suns of Thy pure Light, Ablaze with Thy reflection. xvi. As iron, glowing in the Shows glistening and 1 more ie bright, So ee oe Thee in love, re nuclei of light. Infilled wach Thee, O Fire of Life, n Thee all self resigning; Through space empyreal they fly, Pure flames of glory shining.
XVIII.
Thou All in all! The worlds of worlds
Are filled with naught but Thee.
Both light and fren heaven and hell,
Thou art, O Mys
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SONG-OFFERINGS
Thou dost create, sustain, destroy; Yet Thou unchanged abidest.
With seventy thousand veils of light The InrinitE Thou hidest.
xix.
Ah, Wondrous Light! Invisible, Immeasurable Light!
Begotten of Divinity, Impenetrably bright!
Heaven-filled, the Universe, aglow Unveils its face before Thee
All angels and archangels know, And happily adore Thee.
—THORNTON CHASE.
IV BAHA’U’LLAH
O! for a thousan d tongues aflame,
Thee and read Thy Words Filled with celestial fire.
O! for a Pentacostal power To utter forth Thy Name
With all its glorious Light Divine, Its wonders to proclaim
Thy Name which stirs the universe, Creating thru Its might
A world renewed, a heaven renewed, Revealed unto man’s sight.
O! for a heart all crystal pure And calm as summer sea, That it might catch Thy rays divine And so reflect but Thee! Thou art God’s manifested Love, His glory for all time, His Sun of Truth omnipotent, His Majesty Sublime! —SHAHNAZ WAITE.
Vv THE MODERN SANCTUARY The Making of the Temple
hat Hand arrayed the Hopes of all the Ages In this bright Shape—this many-pointed Star?
hat Architect designed this firm foundation On which to build Love’s templed Avatar?
What Wisdom set the waning dishes of Jesus ‘or eve
Those everlasting words, “I am the Door!”
What Master-mind conceived these Gates of Splendor, Nine golden Doors es round about;
That it should be ‘A Dawning-Place of Praises,” Claiming the true, the faithful and devout?
519
Here God is One! O Master of the Temple! In Thee we trust and all the world is kin
Thus, by Muhammad, “Seal of all the Prophets? 2 By Moses and by Buddha—let them in!
By every Cup that frees from sin and sorrow, Enter, ye tribes and nations, and be blest. Here each hath life beneath its healing shadow, And thus God made the Temple of His Rest! —Janet Botton.
VI THE LEADER (To ‘Abdw'l-Bahd)
Great Leader, lofty soul,
Thou calm and vast and wise, Thou shining sweet and good, Whose word brings Paradise If men but understood.
No prison walls or chai
Thy tomb is torn apart
Thou Golden Rose of God, Thou bloom Thou Star upon our sod, Thou Day within our night. Thou challenge in this place, Thou lightning, storm and wind, Thou lover of the race, Thou servant of mankind! —ANGELA Morgan.
VIL WINGS
I saw Him sweep beneath the orange trees,
His robe a great white wing against the summer sky. So swift His majesty that scarce my eager lips Had breathed His name, before He vanished
Down the golden aisles.
Today the Gothic arches of these northern pines Are filled with music of the wings of Light; Strange gold mosaics gleam upon the bronzy floor Of this vast forest Temple of our God.
Here once He passed, the radiant Lord of Lifc,
That caught the wingéd silver of His robe.
The soaring pillars of the pines are silent now, The Paths that knew His Beauty dream, in misted
Yet sell, eee down the blue-green corridors
There shines the radiance of a swift white wing.
O Thou majestic Bird of God
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520
Who knowest the mysteries of interstellar space And all the ancient ways of H
We would be winged, strong and free! Give us some little silver wings That We may follow Thee —GENEVIEVE L. Coy. VII
‘ABDU’L-BAHA
(Love Is the Clue) © Heart of Love, we turn to thee To guide us over life’s strange, trackless sea. The thinker thinks his intellect the goal But we know better, you and I, my soul; Love is the clue, and Love the guiding, too;
none may pass life’s mystic portals
Without it through. And so to that great Splendor of Desire far away,
Love be my company, and Love my stay. —Stanwoop Coss.
IX THE APPEAL
By His side I wandered and saw His hands outstretched
‘o give.
Under the beautiful sun of glory He walked,
Administering to the poor,— ord of censure,
Only a quiet giving of self, always a giving of self.
And I could only smile and wonder, not understanding
Yesterday, when the blue haze of morning covered the world, I came upon Him unaw He stood pensive, contemateting the drifting clouds bove Mount Carmel. Suddenly the garment of sorrow descended upon Him
And I felt Him surrounded by warring elements: A myriad voices tore the delicate fibre of His
eing; At once He seemed overcome with longing And fell prone upon the warm earth. Alas, I heard Him sob and I shuddered— But I understood.
“Thine aid, O Father!” He whispered, Soaring to heaven with soul-pinions fleet; “Thine aid, O Father! Thy children stand on a
ipice,
Caught in a whirlwind of destroying forces;
Help me to reveal the loveliness of Thy desire for them!
Let them look into the heart of Thy glor
Thou hast called me. Ere I cast the aah mantle
away, I would tie the jeweled sandals of love upon their
eet, That when I am gone, they may remember, remember!”
THE BAHA’{
WORLD
Then I saw the blue haze of morning shift. The destroying forces were withdrawn, th mour of tongues was lost In a solemn thrill that came aye the mountain-side. Among the low shrubs I lay qui Soon a Agu wrapped in a long, a robe, passed
A figure magnificen My tout—bocdne, ‘weighed down, beheld the white
And purged of all else but the heaven I yearned for— Reached out in the silence.
Today He is gone! His mantle of earth He has laid aside; Only the wonderful whiteness of His presence Still lingers. I have looked into the heart of His desire for me And am content, for I understand. —EpitH Burr.
x THE CARMEL MONKS
A waxen Virgin hovers in the gloom
and candles, and the fume
- heavy sighs
Hang listless in the air, and upturned eyes Are straining for the brazen trump of doom.
The monks are waiting yet for Christ to come. On Carmel mountain they have made their home, Over the shore where the wan ocean dies.
To beautify His coming roses bloom,
And tuberoses, and yellow Spanish broom,
And in the chapel singing voices rise;
But Christ has come, and gone again, and wise
Were they who kissed His feet and saw Him home —M. K. NasiL.
XL THE MOUNT OF FAITHFULNESS
A Height Divine awaits the severed soul—
For which the mounting faithful only sigh.
O mystic nightingale! Abandon thou The mortal dust, the mire of an O messenger of love! Hear Him Who Melodiously entreats departure hence.
The Beauty of Perfection bids thy flight Unto the fragrant Garden of His Love. Soar on thy wings into the Infinite! Heed thy Beloved’s first call from above.
Immortal phenix! Thy One Love confess;—
well not save on the Mount of Faithfulness!
—Wa Ter H. Bowman.
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SONG-OFFERINGS
XII IN MEMORIAM To Louis BourcEots
thou who caught the vision crystal clear had brought it forth t outer form, A thing so mystical, so wondrous fair, That those who stand before it, bow their heads As if before a shrine and say, ‘Behold! This is the work of God, and not of man! A Temple whose design was drawn above, And given to humanity through thee.”
He ure a mirror must have been thy heart, That it could draw from realms invisible
And in that oneness ever will abide.
Its form divine is like a mighty chord
Of sweet celestial music—spreading peace
And harmony throughout the world. It is
The “Lost Chord” found again, the chord of love, That shall retune each heart with P
Blessed thou art, thrice blessed thou indeed, Whom God didst choose to be a channel pure, To give this Glorious Temple to the world.
Thou art not dead, but risen to higher realms, Thy work not finished; thou shalt still work on And guide the hands of those who daily build, Until completion crowns the Temple’s brow; Then with the “Choir Invisible” thou wilt join
In songs of praise, while from the temple’s doors The songs of little children, sweet and pure, Will float out far upon etheric waves, Encircling all the earth with Peace and Love.
In fondest memory thou wilt still live on, And ever will the Temple speak of thee; For God through thee didst give it unto man A Monument of sacrifice and lov t of orilbne true; And in that light shall men see face to f And East and West forevermore be one. SHAHNAZ WAITE.
XIII GREEN ACRE
I would stand on the knoll that overlooks The radiant River of Light;
And lift my eyes to the distant hills,
From whence come strength and life!
I would walk through forest aisles, where pine Trees rise like cathedral spires;
And in the hush of early morning hours,
Feel the peace that God inspires.
Once again, I would enter the Inn,
The Inn that is glorified,
Because it had room and welcome for Him, Our Lord, to enter and abide!
Green Acre, Green Acre, home of my soul,
My heart ever turns to thee;
The beautiful spot where the Master walked,
And hallowed the earth for me! —EizaBeTH HackLey.
XIV THE DAWN
Ye nations of the earth! Awake! Arise! ff the mildewed garments of the past, Uni
Why then this hatred, prejudice and strife?
And kill, as doth the frost, turn ye to your Source where all are One, And there behold each other face to face.
The hour hath struck! Awake and see God's Light! His glory soon shall fill the Universe,
And His great Tent of Unity be pitched,
Where all nations, races, sects and creeds,
Is now in bloom, and soon shall bear Its fruit;
The Doors of Knowledge are flung open wide,
The Light of Wisdom shineth on the path,
And unto such as do obey God’s Will,
The Mysteries Divine shall be revealed;
Humanity’s true heritage of Love
Awaits ye at the Court of God’s Command.
Put on your garments New of Brotherhood,
And come ye forth with Joy to greet the Dawn. AHNAZ WAITE.
XV IN “HIS GARDEN”
The dew is on the petals of the rose;
The lark sings out his greetings to the sun; A dewdrop glistens with resplendent light;
The dawning of the day has just begun.
Upon this misty morn the Master walks.
With majesty and power that thrills the earth, With piercing eyes of far celestial light,
He sees each earth-born spirit at its worth.
The floating, graceful robes, illumined face,
The glistening turban white, the aba bright;
With peace ineffable, no word can name,
The Master walks in palpitating light.
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522 THE
O hallowed strip of leafy bower green,
O rapturous love and glory so divine;
O attar of the rose, bowed heads anointing!
Delectable fragrance—O to be Thine!
The dewdrop glistens in the morning sun, A dazzling prism, radiant and bright O may we now be like the clear dewdr
Reflecting Thy sweet fragrance and Thy Light. —RvutTH
J. Morrett.
XVI
AFTER SEEING THE MOVING PICTURE OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHA
He walked the earth once, patient and tender And the L Of Heaven shone around Him. All who saw Felt the joy and peace and love. Shall we forget? Nay, still He walks among us.
e are blind, Wrapped in a storm of sclf. His sun still shines Into the hearts of me Reach forth ou se, my brother.
Light
Him
ere is min
Clasp we in "dest love
This shining hou
Then when thes storm shall fold us
gain
ray fury, though we sce not clear, Still hands shall clasp, and hearts
Shall still remember.
And the temptation shall lead unto light, And the light shall shine.
It shall flame till it burn away
Desire and doubt.
And then shall come a river
Deep and clear
To sweep away the ashes
And leave naught
But white sand shining sweet and clean Unsoiled by stru
And then shall come a voice, Saying—
I was the doubt and the desire The light, the flame, And the sands
I was the struggle and the triumph. I am God
the river
—Lorna B. Tasker. XVII THE MESSAGE
THE BAB
BAHA’{
WORLD
To be thyself the mystic sign
Through martyrdom did’st plant the sceds Which fructified in wondrous deeds Grant all, through deeds without desire To witness thy celestial fire.
BAHA’U’LLAH O manifested Sun of Man Thy sheen the reign of peace began. Thine exile proved to man his home. Thy shackles freed the souls to roam
Set fire our souls, bestow thy might!
‘ABDU’L-BAHA
O Servant of the Light of God
e the Father through the years Did’st thou restrain the fount of tears
Guide through the storms of hatred dark. To vivify the souls endeared The mystery of God ae
Louis G. Grucory.
XVIII THE MYSTERY OF GOD
Into what painted picture have I stepped
Mirror to radiance of more joyous stars,
So vainly, vainly bea
Spent echoes at m
Tired world that — too many frantic wars, World where Jesus wept.
A dream of sudden sleep—or I have slept
Blind lives away behind imagined bars And broke what cannot break
The heart to this awake.
Tired world that fought too many frantic wars, World where Jesus wept.
O Herald of the King of Kings
From Whom creation’s power springs
The mission thine to blaze the way
Which leads to realms of endless day;
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SONG-OFFERINGS 523
Here Memory kindles, long from memory swept, And Love consumes his human mask of scars. The thunder of his Word
From heaven to heaven is heard!
Tired World hed fought too many frantic wars, World where Jesus wept.
I came, I saw, I am. Serenely kept Unmarred among the multitude that mars— nown
n that fought too many frantic wars, World where Jesus wept. —Horacrt Hottey.
XIX THE SONG OF THE PINE OF BAHJi am the Pine of Bahji, and my lim| be scars of pain, still they are dik of a n love caresses them gl Misi fills their depth with peacefulness at night.
I am the ancient pine of centuries;
The sentinel who stands without a sword, day, by night, by radiant dawn I guard
The Threshold of the Prophet of the Lord.
Before the Prophet came I was alone; Il day the caravans
And there were no bright stars across the sky.
I was alone and blind, nor could I hear The singing of the glad bird on his nest-— Until one day two people, passing by, Stopped for 2 moment in my shade to rest.
Oh glorious day! My branches filled with joy, The sun sent forth her radiating light I woke, and to my poor blind eyes there came Dawn, and the clearness of eternal sight!
Mary Aticr PEARMAN.
