XVII.

Others, the hours of youth gone by,

A mother's hearth and home forsake;

And, with the need, the filial tie

Relaxes, though it does not break.

But Thou wert born to be a Son.

God's Son in heaven, Thy will was this,

To pass the chain of Sonship on,

And bind in one whatever is.

Thou cam'st the Son of Man to be,

That so Thy brethren too might bear

Adoptive Sonship, and with Thee

Thy Sire's eternal kingdom share.

Transcendently the Son Thou art:

In this mysterious bond entwine,

As in a single, two-celled heart,

Thy natures, human and divine.