< Page:Poems of Emma Lazarus vol 2.djvu
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64 .

AN EPISTLE.

Thy spirit's needs, left flesh and sense behind,
Accepted without shrinking or reserve,
The trans-substantial bread and wine, the Christ
At whose shrine thine own kin were sacrificed.

XXIV.

Here then the moment comes when I crave light.
All 's dark to me. Master, if I be blind.
Thou shalt unseal my lids and bless with sight,
Or groping in the shadows, I shall find
Whether within me or without, dwell night.
Oh cast upon my doubt-bewildered mind
One ray from thy clear heaven of sun-bright faith,
Grieving, not wroth, at what thy servant saith.

XXV.

Where are the signs fulfilled whereby all men
Should know the Christ ? Where is the wide-winged peace
Shielding the lamb within the lion's den ?
The freedom broadening with the wars that cease ?
Do foes clasp hands in brotherhood again ?
Where is the promised garden of increase.
When like a rose the wilderness should bloom ?
Earth is a battlefield and Spain a tomb.

XXVI.

Our God of Sabaoth is an awful God
Of lightnings and of vengeance, — Christians say.

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