So should the inner change, he ween'd, "Well hast thou done," said he, " my son, And faithfully fought the fight; So shall this day complete, I trust, The victory of the night.. “I fear'd that forty days and nights But great and strange hath been the change "O Father, Father!" he replied, With me had been begun. "And surely this poor flesh and blood Such terrors could not have withstood, grace had not been given ; If But when I claspt the blessed Cross, "The coldness from my heart is But still the weight is there, gone; And thoughts which I abhor, will come And tempt me to despair. "Those thoughts I constantly repel; "Tears are denied ; their source is dried! And must it still be so? O Thou, who from a rock didst make "A broken and a bleeding heart And, when Thou seest good, my tears A knocking at the door was heard And his venerable Mother, Emmelia the Abbess, drew nigh. “We have not ceased this mournful night," Said she, "on Heaven to call ; And our afflicted Cyra Hath edified us all. 0 4 "More fervent prayers from suffering heart, "So earnestly she ask'd, that I "Hard were I did I not consent And raising then his voice, "Come in, That welcome word when Cyra heard, Forward she came, like one whose heart Her face was pale, . . long illness would Her husband's words had reach'd her ear "Thou hast pray'd in vain for tears," she said, "While I have pour'd a flood! "Mine flow, and they will flow; they must; They cannot be represt! And oh that they might wash away The stigma from thy breast! "Oh that these tears might cleanse that spot, .. He clasp'd the mourner close, and in In grief for her, almost forgot Warm as they fell he felt her tears, So gracious Heaven permitted then, And then the weight was taken off, At that most happy sight, The mercy of the Lord. "What then! before the strife is done Would ye of victory boast ?" Said a Voice above: " they reckon too soon, Who reckon without their host!" "Mine is he by a Bond Which holds him fast in law : I drew it myself for certainty, And sharper than me must the Lawyer be Who in it can find a flaw ! "Before the Congregation, Whoever may pray, and whoever gainsay, "Ha, Satan! dost thou in thy pride," In the face of the Church wilt thou brave it? "There mayest thou set forth thy right, And they that hour shall see the power |