The life of those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High may be called a Hidden Life, because the animating principle, the vital or operative element, is not so much in itself as in another. It is a life grafted into another life. It is the life of the soul, incorporated into the life of Christ; and in such a way, that, while it has a distinct vitality, it has so very much in the sense, in which the branch of a tree may be said to have a distinct vitality from the root.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

To Freedom From the Earliest Days

To freedom from the earliest days,
The soul of poetry has given
The tribute of its mighty lays,
A note, that had its breath from heaven.

Nations have started at its call;
And not a heart and not a hand
Was absent from the living wall
That rose around the bleeding land.

And yet, which gives the greatest pain?
The links the outward man that bind?
Or  that unseen but galling chain,
Which subjugates the sinful mind?

Oh Sinner! If there's truth and power
In all that calls us to be free,
Awake! 'Tis now the day, the hour!
Arise, assert thy liberty!

American Cottage Life (1850).

No comments:

Post a Comment