THE HEALING OF THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. 131

Into his face until her sight grew dim

With the fast-falling tears, and, with a sigh
Of tremulous weakness, murmuring his name,
She gently drew his hand upon her lips,
And kiss'd it as she wept. The old man sunk
Upon his knees, and in the drapery

Of the rich curtains buried up his face

And when the twilight fell, the silken folds

Stirr'd with his prayer, but the slight hand he held
Had ceased its pressure, and he could not hear
In the dead, utter silence, that a breath

Came through her nostrils, and her temples gave
To his nice touch no pulse, and at her mouth
He held the lightest curl that on her neck
Lay with a mocking beauty, and his gaze
Ach'd with its deathly stillness.

It was night

And softly o'er the Sea of Galilee

Danced the breeze-ridden ripples to the shore,
Tipp'd with the silver sparkles of the moon.

The breaking waves play'd low upon the beach
Their constant music, but the air beside
Was still as starlight, and the Saviour's voice,
In its rich cadences unearthly sweet,

Seem'd like some just-born harmony in the air,
Wak'd by the power of wisdom. On a rock,
With the broad moonlight falling on his brow,
He stood and taught the people. At his feet
Lay his small scrip, and pilgrim's scallop-shell,
And staff, for they had waited by the sea
Till he came o'er from Gadarene, and pray'd
For his wont teachings as he came to land.
His hair was parted meekly on his brow,
And the long curls from off his shoulders fell
As he leaned forward earnestly, and still
The same calm cadence, passionless and deep,
And in his looks the same mild majesty,
And in his mien the sadness mix'd with power,
Fill'd them with love and wonder. Suddenly,
As on his words entrancedly they hung,
The crowd divided, and among them stood

JAIRUS THE RULER. With his flowing robe
Gather'd in haste about his loins, he came,
And fix'd his eyes on Jesus. Closer drew
The twelve disciples to their Master's side,
And silently the people shrunk away,
And left the haughty Ruler in the midst
Alone. A moment longer on the face
Of the meek Nazarene he kept his gaze,
And as the twelve look'd on him, by the light
Of the clear moon they saw a glistening tear
Steal to his silver beard, and drawing nigh
Unto the Saviour's feet, he took the hem

Of his coarse mantle, and with trembling hands
Press'd it upon his lips, and murmur'd low,
"Master! my daughter!"—

The same silvery light,

That shone upon the lone rock by the sea,

Slept on the Ruler's lofty capitals

As at the door he stood, and welcom❜d in

Jesus and his disciples. All was still.

The echoing vestibule gave back the slide
Of their loose sandals, and the arrowy beam
Of moonlight slanting to the marble floor
Lay like a spell of silence in the rooms
As Jairus led them on. With hushing steps
He trod the winding stair, but ere he touch'd
The latchet, from within a whisper came,
"Trouble the Master not-for she is dead!”
And his faint hand fell nerveless at his side,
And his steps falter'd, and his broken voice
Chok'd in its utterance ;-But a gentle hand
Was laid upon his arm, and in his ear
The Saviour's voice sånk thrillingly and low,
"She is not dead-but sleepeth."

They pass'd in.

The spice-lamps in the alabaster urns

Burn'd dimly, and the white and fragrant smoke

Curl'd indolently on the chamber walls.

The silken curtains slumbered in their folds

Not ev❜n a tassel stirring in the air

And as the Saviour stood beside the bed,
And pray'd inaudibly, the Ruler heard
The quickening division of his breath
As he grew earnest inwardly. There came
A gradual brightness o'er his calm sad face,
And drawing nearer to the bed, he mov'd
The silken curtains silently apart

And look'd upon the maiden.

Like a form

Of matchless sculpture in her sleep she lay-
The linen vesture folded on her breast,
And over it her white transparent hands,
The blood still rosy in their tapering nails.
A line of pearl ran through her parted lips,
And in her nostrils, spiritually thin,

The breathing curve was mockingly like life,
And round beneath the faintly tinted skin
Ran the light branches of the azure veins—
And on her cheek the jet lash overlay

Matching the arches pencill'd on her brow.