The Carver's Lesson

Trust me, no mere skill of subtle tracery,No mere practice of a dexterous hand,Will suffice, without a hidden spirit,That we may, or may not, understand.

And those quaint old fragments that are left usHave their power in this,--the Carver broughtEarnest care, and reverent patience, onlyWorthily to clothe some noble thought.

Shut then in the petals of the flowers,Round the stems of all the lilies twine,Hide beneath each bird's or angel's pinion,Some wise meaning or some thought divine.

Place in stony hands that pray for everTender words of peace, and strive to windRound the leafy scrolls and fretted nichesSome true, loving message to your kind.

Some will praise, some blame, and, soon forgetting,Come and go, nor even pause to gaze;Only now and then a passing strangerJust may loiter with a word of praise.

But I think, when years have floated onward,And the stone is grey, and dim, and old,And the hand forgotten that has carved it,And the heart that dreamt it still and cold;

There may come some weary soul, o'erladenWith perplexed struggle in his brain,Or, it may be, fretted with life's turmoil,Or made sore with some perpetual pain.

Then, I think those stony hands will open,And the gentle lilies overflow,With the blessing and the loving tokenThat you hid there many years ago.

And the tendrils will unroll, and teach himHow to solve the problem of his pain;And the birds' and angels' wings shake downwardOn his heart a sweet and tender rain.

While he marvels at his fancy, readingMeaning in that quaint and ancient scroll,Little guessing that the loving CarverLeft a message for his weary soul.