Classic Poem

FOREFATHERS'

Who cradled thee on the rock, my boy,
Far, far from the sun-warm South?
Who woke thee with shout and shock, my boy,
And spray for a kiss on thy mouth,
As the low, sad shores grew dim with rain
And the grey sea moaned its infinite pain
To grey grass and pale sands, thy sole domain?
Who cradled thee on the rock?

I brought thee into the wilderness,
When thou didst cry to me,
And I gave thee there in thy sore distress
The rock and the cloud and the sea;
With baptismal waves thy limbs were wet,
And the ragged cloud was thy coverlet, —
Thus saith the Lord God: Dost thou forget?
I cradled thee on the rock.

Who shadowed thee with the cloud, my boy;
And the stars forgat to shine,
And the sun lay as dead in his shroud, my boy,
And thy tears were to thee for wine?
Who took from thee every pleasant thing,
Sweet sounds that are drawn from stop and string,
Day's dream and the night's glad banqueting?
Who shadowed thee with the cloud?

I broke thy slumber with clarion storms,
I called like a midnight bell,
Till thou saw'st thro' the dark the spirit-forms,
Heaven's glow and the glare of hell;
And then, that thou mightest know God's grace
And drink his love-wine and see his face,
I drew thee into my secret place, —
I shadowed thee with the cloud.

Who fenced thee round with the sea, my boy,
And locked its gates amain?
Who, to set thy fathers free, my boy,
Burst the bars of the deep in twain,
And led them by ways they knew not of,
When the black storm spread its wings above
And thundered, My God is Law, not Love!
Who fenced thee round with the sea?

I set thee beyond where the great sea ran,
I made thee to dwell apart,
For in the divisions of man from man
Come the mighty searchings of heart;
I, the Lord, who moved on the waters old,
Who sought for a heart like the sea's heart, — bold,
Unchartered, chainless, and myriad-souled —
I fenced thee round with the sea.