DARKNESS AND LIGHT

There is darkness still, gross darkness, Lord,

On this fair earth of Thine.

There are prisoners still in the prison-house,

Where never a light doth shine.

There are doors still bolted against Thee,

There are faces set like a wall;

And over them all the Shadow of Death

Hangs like a pall.

Do you hear the voices calling,

Out there in the black of the night?

Do you hear the sobs of the women,

Who are barred from the blessed light?

And the children,— the little children,—

Do you hear their pitiful cry?

O brothers, we must seek them,

Or there in the dark they die!

Spread the Light! Spread the Light!

Till earth's remotest bounds have heard

The glory of the Living Word;

Till those that see not have their sight;

Till all the fringes of the night

Are lifted, and the long-closed doors

Are wide for ever to the Light.

Spread — the — Light!

O then shall dawn the golden days,

To which true hearts are pressing;

When earth's discordant strains shall blend —

The one true God confessing;

When Christly thought and Christly deed

Shall bind each heart and nation,

In one Grand Brotherhood of Men,

And one high consecration.