Life-Crystals

The world is full of crystals. Swift, or slow,
Or dark, or bright their varying formation ;
From pure calm heights of fair untrodden snow
To fire-wrought depths of earliest creation.
And life is full of crystals ; forming still
In myriad-shaped results from good and seeming ill.

Yes ! forming everywhere ; in busiest street,
In noisiest throng. Oh how it would astound us,
The strange soul-chemistry of some we meet
In slight and passing talk ! For all around us,
Deep inner silence broods o'er gems to be.
Now, in three visioned hearts trace out the work with me

A heart that wonderingly received the flow
Of marvels and of mysteries of being,
Of sympathies and tensions, joy and woe;
Each earnestly from baser substance freeing :
A great life-mixture, full, and deep, and strong:
A sudden touch, and lo ! it crystallized in song.

Then forth it flashed among the souls of men
Its own prismatic radiance, brightly sealing
A several rainbow for each several ken ;
The secrets of the distant stars revealing ;
Reflecting many a heart's clear rays unknown,
And, freely shedding light, it analyzed their own.

A heart from which all joy had ebbed away,
And grief poured in a flood of burning anguish,
Then sealed the molten glow ; till, day by day,
The fires without, within, begin to languish :
Then' afterward' came coolness ; all was well,
And from the broken crust a shining crystal fell.

A. mourner found, and fastened on her breast
The soft-hued gem, the prized by mourners only ;
With sense of treasure gained she sought her rest,
No longer wandering in the twilight lonely ;
The sorrow-crystal glittering in the dark,
While faith and hope shone out to greet its starry spark.

A heart where emptiness seemed emptier made
By colourless remains of tasteless pleasure ;
ONE came, and pitying the hollow shade,
Poured in His own strong love in fullest measure ;
Then shadowed it with silent falling night,
And stilled it with the solemn Presence of His might.

A little while, then found the Master there
Love-crystals, sparkling in the joyous morning;
He stooped to gaze, and smiled to own them fair,
A treasured choice for His own rich adorning ;
Then set them in His diadem above,
To mingle evermore with His own light and love.