Classic Poem

" Behold," — in vision said
The Voice to John on Patmos —
" I make all things new!"
Vanish before his view
The earth and heavens old;
In splendor manifold
New heavens and earth appear
To the enraptured seer:
And lo! descending from the skies,
Fairer than storied paradise,
He saw the New Jerusalem, —
Apparelled as a bride
With gold and precious gem, —
And heard a Voice that cried:
" God's dwelling is with men,
And he will wipe away all tears,
And death shall be no more, nor pain;
Passed are the things of former years:
Behold, I make all things new!
Write: for faithful are these words and true.

So speaks to thee, O heart,
As the swift years depart
The re-creating Voice.
Turn not in vain regret
To thy fond yesterdays,
But rather forward set
Thy face toward the untrodden ways.
Open thine eyes to see
The good in store for thee, —
New love, new thought, new service too
For him who daily maketh thy life new.
Nor think thou aught is lost
Or left behind upon the silent coast
Of thy spent years;
Give o'er thy faithless fears.
Whate'er of real good —
Of thought, or deed, or holier mood —
Thy life hath known
Abideth still thine own,
And hath within significance
Of more than Time's inheritance.
Thy good is prophecy
Of better still to be.
In the future thou shalt find
How far the Fact hath left behind
Thy fondest Dream; how deeper than all sense
Or thought of thine, thy life's sure Providence!