Part 7

As a bright and joyous troop From the breast of earth ye came Fair and lovely are your cheeks, With sun-kisses all aflame.

In the dusty streets and lanes, Where the lowly children play, There as gentle friends ye smile, Making brighter life's highway

Dewdrops and the morning sun, Weave your garments fair and bright, And we welcome you to-day As the children of the light.

Children of the earth and sun. We are slow to understand All the richness of the gifts Flowing from our Father's hand.

THE BUILDING. 25

Were our vision clearer far, In this sin-dimmed world of ours, Would we not more thankful be For the love that sends us flowers?

Welcome, early visitants, With your sun-crowned golden hair, With your message to our hearts Of our Father's loving care.

THE BUILDING.

"Build me a house," said the Master, "But not on the shifting sand, Mid the wreck and roar of tempests, A house that will firmly stand.

"I will bring thee windows of agates, And gates of carbuncles bright, And thy fairest courts and portals Shall be filled with love and light.

"Thou shalt build with fadeless rubies, All fashioned around the throne, A house that shall last forever, With Christ as the cornerstone.

26 HOME, SWEET HOME.

"It shall be a royal mansion, A fair and beautiful thing, It will be the presence-chamber Of thy Saviour, Lord and King.

"Thy house shall be bound with pinions To mansions of rest above, But grace shall forge all the fetters With the links and cords of love.

"Thou shalt be free in this mansion From sorrow and pain of heart, For the peace of God shall enter, And never again depart."

HOME, SWEET HOME.

Sharers of a common country, They had met in deadly strife; Men who should have been as brothers Madly sought each other's life.

In the silence of the even, When the cannon's lips were dumb,

HOME, SWEET HOME. 27

Thoughts of home and all its loved ones To the soldier's heart would come.

On the margin of a river, 'Mid the evening's dews and damps, Could be heard the sounds of music Rising from two hostile camps.

One was singing of its section Down in Dixie, Dixie's land, And the other of the banner Waved so long from strand to strand.

In the land where Dixie's ensign Floated o'er the hopeful slave, Rose the song that freedom's banner, Starry-lighted, long might wave.

From the fields of strife and carnage, Gentle thoughts began to roam, And a tender strain of music Rose with words of "Home, Sweet Home."

Then the hearts of strong men melted, For amid our grief and sin Still remains that "touch of nature," Telling us we all are kin.

28 THE PURE IN HEART SHALL SEE GOD.

In one grand but gentle chorus, Floating to the starry dome, Came the words that brought them nearer, Words that told of "Home, Sweet Home."

For awhile, all strife forgotten, They were only brothers then, Joining in the sweet old chorus, Not as soldiers, but as men.