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By the Sea, and Other Verses

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<h2>SUNRISE</h2> <div class="blockquot">The incident here narrated occurred some years ago at the Media Training School for Feeble-Minded Children, then in care of Dr. I. N. Kerlin. </div> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> A feeble, idiot boy, he stood Where Nature in her beauty grew, And over field and flowering wood [Pg 46] Her summer mantle lightly threw. </div> <div class="stanza"> The scene had met his eye before; The pleasant path he oft had trod; And one who sought in simple lore To teach him things of heaven and God </div> <div class="stanza"> Had often wandered with him there, And pointed out each lovely spot,— The sunlit cloud—the floweret fair— But still he comprehended not. </div> <div class="stanza"> For all his soul was void and still, And darkness held his mind in thrall; He recognized no Sovereign Will, Nor saw the hand of God in all. </div> <div class="stanza"> In Nature's presence now alone He stood, and filled with silent awe, Beheld, before the coming sun, The curtained Night in haste withdraw. </div> <div class="stanza"> And gazing there with vacant eye, All motionless and mute he waits, When lo! the chariot of the sky Rolls through the morning's crimson gates. </div> <div class="stanza"> The orient beams with beauteous light— Hath not his soul its radiance caught? His being grasps a new delight; A deep, mysterious change is wrought. </div> <div class="stanza"> A light is kindled in his breast; A temple-veil at length is riven; And in that hour of strange unrest [Pg 47] A thought is born—of God in heaven. </div> <div class="stanza"> In haste he seeks his tutor's side, For he who "bore in grief a part" Will, in this happy hour of pride, Responsive hail his joy of heart. </div> <div class="stanza"> The glowing cheek, the flashing eye, The parted lips—not voiceless now— And, caught from that resplendent sky, The marvelous light upon his brow,— </div> <div class="stanza"> While these, ere yet he speaks, attest The rapture which that thought has given; He lifts his finger toward the east And softly whispers, "God, in Heaven!" </div> <div class="stanza"> O blessed hour! and happy he To whom, thro patient love 'twas given To set a fettered spirit free, And wake a hope of God in Heaven </div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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