LET OUT THY SOUL.

A Lent Lay.

1.

Let out thy soul, and pray

Not for thy home alone!

Away—in prayer, away!

Make all the world thine own!

Let out thy soul in prayer;

Oh, let thy spirit grow!

God gives thee sun and air;

Let the full blossom blow!

2.

There! dost thou not perceive

Thy spirit swell within,

And something high receive,

That is not born of sin?

Oh, paltry is the soul

That only self can heed!

Sail outward—from the shoal,

And bourgeon, from the seed!

3.

Moth and the rust consume

The spangled folds of pride;

Dry-rot doth eat the bloom,

And gnaw the wealth we hide:

The Spirit’s selfish care,

Doth die away the same;

But give it air—free air,

And how the soul can flame!

4.

Yestreen I did not know

How largely I could live;

But Faith hath made me grow,

To more than Earth can give.

Joy! for a heart released

From littleness and pride;

Fast is the Spirit’s feast,

And Lent the soul’s high-tide.

5.

When for the Church I pray’d,

As this dear Lent began,

My thoughts, I am afraid,

Within small limits ran.

By Ember-week I learn’d

How large that prayer might be,

And then, in soul, I burn’d

That all might pray with me.

6.

Plead for the victims all

Of heresy and sect;

And bow thy knees like Paul,

For all the Lord’s Elect!

Pray for the Church—I mean,

For Shem and Japhet pray:

And churches, long unseen,

In isles, and far away!

7.

Oh, pray that all who err

May thus be gather’d in;

The Moslem worshipper,

And all the sects of sin!

For all who love in heart,

But have not found the way,

Pray—and thy tears will start!

’Twas so the Lord did pray.

8.

Now, when the hordes of Rome

Are up against the Lord,

All churches are our home,

And Prayer our mighty sword!

The saints’ communion—one,

One Lord—one Faith—one birth,

Oh, pray to God the Son,

For all his Church on Earth.