Jones Very

I have no Brother,—they who meet me now Offer a hand with their own wills defiled, And, while they wear a smooth unwrinkled brow, Know not that Truth can never be beguiled; Go wash the hand that still betrays thy guilt; Before the spirit’s gaze what stain can hide? Abel’s red blood upon the earth is spilt, And by thy tongue it cannot be denied; I hear not with my ear,—the heart doth tell Its secret deeds to me untold before; Go, all its hidden plunder quickly sell, Then shalt thou cleanse thee from thy brother’s gore, Then will I take thy gift; that bloody stain Shall not be seen upon thy hand again.

The hand and foot that stir not, they shall find Sooner than all the rightful place to go; Now in their motion free as roving wind, Though first no snail more limited and slow; I mark them full of labor all the day, Each active motion made in perfect rest; They cannot from their path mistaken stray, Though ’tis not theirs, yet in it they are blest; The bird has not their hidden track found out, Nor cunning fox, though full of art he be; It is the way unseen, the certain route, Where ever bound, yet thou art ever free; The path of Him, whose perfect law of love Bids spheres and atoms in just order move.

I saw the spot where our first parents dwelt; And yet it wore to me no face of change, For while amid its fields and groves, I felt As if I had not sinned, nor thought it strange; My eye seemed but a part of every sight, My ear heard music in each sound that rose; Each sense forever found a new delight, Such as the spirit’s vision only knows; Each act some new and ever-varying joy Did my Father’s love for me prepare; To dress the spot my ever fresh employ, And in the glorious whole with Him to share; No more without the flaming gate to stray, No more for sin’s dark stain the debt of death to pay.

The morning comes, and thickening clouds prevail, Hanging like curtains all the horizon round, Or overhead in heavy stillness sail; So still is day, it seems like night profound; Scarce by the city’s din the air is stirred, And dull and deadened comes its every sound; The cock’s shrill, piercing voice subdued is heard, By the thick folds of muffling vapors drowned. Dissolved in mists the hills and trees appear, Their outlines lost and blended with the sky; And well-known objects, that to all are near, No longer seem familiar to the eye, But with fantastic forms they mock the sight, As when we grope amid the gloom of night.