THE SOUL'S RESPONSE

He said, ‘Wilt thou go with Me
Where shadows eclipse the light?
And she answered: ‘My Lord, I will follow Thee
Far under the stars of night.’
But He said: ‘No starlight pierces the gloom
Of the valley thy feet must tread;
But it leads thee on to a cross and tomb-‘
‘But I go with Thee,’ she said…

‘Count the cost - canst thou pay the price -
Be as the dumb thing led;
Laid on an altar of sacrifice?’
Bind me there, O Lord,’ she said.

‘Bind, that I may not fail -
Or hold with Thy wounded hand;
For I fear the knife and the piercing nail,
And I shrink from the burning brand.
Yet whither Thou goest I will go,
Though the way be lone and dread -’
His voice was tender, and sweet, and low,
‘Thou shalt go with Me, ’ He said.

And none knew the anguish sore
Or the night of the way she came;
Alone, alone with the cross she bore,
Alone in her grief and shame.
Brought to the altar of sacrifice,
There as a dumb thing slain;
Was the guerdon (reward) more than the bitter price?
Was it worth the loss and pain?

Ask the seed corn, when the grain
Ripples its ripened gold;
Ask the sower when, after toil and pain,
He garners the hundredfold.
He said, (and His voice was glad and sweet):
‘Was it worth the cost, My own?’
And she answered, low at His pierced feet,
‘I found at the end of the pathway lone
Not death, but life on a throne.”

- Annie Clarke -