Mountain Spring and Other Poems

<h2><SPAN name="ALONE" id="ALONE" />ALONE</h2> <p>Genesis 28:10-22.</p> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span>The sun had set. He was alone;<br/></span> <span>Mid twilight shadows he would rest.<br/></span> <span>He laid his head upon a stone<br/></span> <span>To woo sweet slumber for his guest.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>Perhaps within those midnight hours<br/></span> <span>His rugged bed was cold and chill,<br/></span> <span>But wrapped in Dreamland's mystic powers,<br/></span> <span>He knew no danger, felt no ill.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>A vision in his dreams appeared!<br/></span> <span>Angels were stepping to and fro<br/></span> <span>Upon a ladder which, upreared,<br/></span> <span>Aided their ministry below.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>And then God spake in words which said<br/></span> <span>What future ages would unfold,<br/></span> <span>The soil on which he made his bed<br/></span> <span>Was his, by prophecy foretold.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>He further heard that holy voice<br/></span> <span>Predict that through his tribe would be<br/></span> <span>Blessings in which all should rejoice,<br/></span> <span>Blessings which all the world should see.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>Through Jacob would the gift be given<br/></span> <span>Of Jesus to this sinful earth;<br/></span> <span>God signified within this vision<br/></span> <span>Glad news of our Redeemer's birth;<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>The star of Bethlehem would shine,<br/></span> <span>That star of joy and peace and love,<br/></span> <span>Our bleeding sacrifice divine<br/></span> <span>To cleanse our hearts, our guilt remove.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>If faith and praise in us abound<br/></span> <span>Toward Israel's God, angels are near;<br/></span> <span>His word declares they camp around<br/></span> <span>All those who look to him in fear.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span>When Jacob woke, the ground he trod<br/></span> <span>Seemed holy; and he named his stone<br/></span> <span>&quot;Bethel,&quot; which means &quot;the house of God.&quot;<br/></span> <span>With heaven so near, was he alone?<br/></span></div> </div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />