87. St. Gregory Nazianzen
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{151}
PEACE-LOVING man, of humble heart and true |
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What dost thou here? |
| Fierce is the city's crowd; the lordly few |
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Are dull of ear! |
| Sore pain it was to thee,—till thou didst quit |
| Thy patriarch-throne at length, as though for |
| power unfit. |
So works the All-wise! our services dividing |
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Not as we ask: |
| For the world's profit, by our gifts deciding |
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Our duty-task. |
| See in king's courts loth Jeremias plead; |
| And slow-tongued Moses rule by eloquence of |
| deed! {152} |
Yes! thou, bright Angel of the East! didst rear |
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The Cross divine, |
| Borne high upon thy liquid accents, where |
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Men mock'd the Sign; |
| Till that cold city heard thy battle-cry, |
| And hearts were stirr'd, and deem'd a Pentecost |
| was nigh. |
Thou couldst a people raise, but couldst not |
| rule:— |
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So, gentle one, |
| Heaven set thee free,—for, ere thy years were full, |
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Thy work was done; |
| According thee the lot thou lovedst best, |
| To muse upon the past,—to serve, yet be at rest. |
Palermo.
June 12, 1833. |