Love and Grief

LOVE sometimes scales the mountain height,

In  joys and ecstasies sublime;
But oftener takes the downward flight,
And sheds its tears for woe and crime.
Love and Grief go side by side;
Christ was Love; He bled and died.

Love plucks the flowers of Olivet,
And plays with daylight's fading sea;
But when that parting sun is set,
It seeks thy shades, Gethsemane!
Love and Grief go side by side,
Christ was Love; He bled and died.

Gethsemane! Divinely sent,
Though bitter be its draught of woe,
Is  mix'd with Love's dear element,
And love and tears together flow.
Love and Grief go side by side.
Christ was Love; He bled and died.

— Christ in the Soul (1872) XV.