Lizzie Doten

“ How tender and serenely bright
The stars light up the depths of night!
Thus beauty unto ruin clings,
And light from deepest darkness springs;
The Soul its noblest strength must gain
Through ministries of grief and pain;
Great victories only come through strife,
And death is but the gate of life.
The ocean waves that darkly flow,
Sweep over priceless pearls below;
The tempest cloud, when wild winds rest,
Builds up the rainbow on its breast,
And truths, unseen when all is bright,
Shine like the stars in sorrow’s night.{49}
O Thou, in whom the vine bears fruit! ”

“ O, ye who tears of anguish shed
Above some empty cradle-bed,
Where once reposed a precious head—
Be reconciled.
For yet your longing eyes shall see,
In heaven’s broad sunshine, glad and free,
Your spirit child.
They are all there—they are all there—
The young, the beautiful, the fair;
They know no want, they feel no care.{201}
They are not dead;
But quickened in their spirit’s powers,
Life crowns with her immortal flowers
Each shining head.
Some are no longer weak and small,
But fair, and beautiful, and tall ”

“ We know that all things change, they do not die.{101}
Wherever man may roam,
Thy presence, viewless as the Summer air,
Meets him abroad, or in his peaceful home,
And when Death calls him forth, thou, too, art there.
Thou art where soul meets soul,
Or where earth’s noblest fall in battle strife;
But Death, the Spoiler, yields to thy control;
Forevermore thou art the conqueror, Life.
Leaves have their glad recall,
And blossoms open to the South wind’s breath,
And stars that set shall rise again, for all,
All things shall triumph o’er the Spoiler—Death. ”

“ And they placed it with pious care
O’er the perilous way where they went astray,
That pilgrims might ever beware
Of the dangers of Doubting Castle,
And the wrath of old Giant Despair.
Thereafter came Greatheart the valiant,
Unrivaled in courage and might,
The friend of the weak and defenseless,
Who had pledged his good sword to the Right.
There, boldly defiant, he challenged the Giant
From his stronghold of Death to come out;
And Giant Despair, with an insolent air,
Looked down from the Castle of Doubt,
And cried, “I will slay thee, vile braggart,
And put all thy forces to rout.” ”

“ The blood of millions on her hands—
She pampers pride and winks at sin—
A whited sepulchre she stands,
Hiding but dead men’s bones within.
We do not ask for forms and creeds,
Or useless dogmas, old or new,
But we do ask for Christian deeds,
With man’s progression full in view.{145}
Let her be first to aid and bless,
And not the first to cast a stone,
The while her robes of righteousness
Are over foul corruptions thrown.
The pure, fresh impulse of to-day,
Which thrills within the human heart,
As time-worn errors pass away,
Fresh life and vigor shall impart. ”

“ Of crime and blood no longer could he freely drink his fill,
For the curséd demon, Slavery, had best performed his will.
Let words of deep thanksgiving blend with the tears you shed
For the hosts of noble martyrs who in Freedom’s cause have bled.
Though they fell before the sickle which reaps the battle-plain,
Yet, to-day, they know in heaven, that they perished not in vain. ”

“ We count not the ages through which thou hast run,
But we render thee praises, O life-giving Sun.
All day the glad Earth in thy loving embrace,
Arrayed by thy bounty in garments of grace,
Lifts up to thy glances her beautiful face.
And at night, when her children need silence and rest,
With the light of her starry-eyed sisterhood blest,
She sleeps like a bride on thy cherishing breast.{120}
When the skylark springs up at the coming of morn,
When the golden fringed curtains of night are withdrawn,
Then blushing with beauty the day is new born. ”

“ Thou hast power in thyself to live.
{229}
JUBILATE.
Sung at the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Modern Spiritualism, March 31, 1868.
The world hath felt a quickening breath
From Heaven’s eternal shore,
And souls triumphant over Death
Return to earth once more.
For this we hold our jubilee,
For this with joy we sing—
“O Grave, where is thy victory?
O Death, where is thy sting?”
Our cypress wreaths are laid aside
For amaranthine flowers,
For Death’s cold wave does not divide
The souls we love from ours. ”

“ And the angels that stand with the harp in the hand,
On the “sea, as it were, of glass,{169}”
Play so soft and clear that the human ear,
And the spirits who love the Lord,
Can catch the sound through the space profound,
And join in the sweet accord.
O, what is death? ’Tis a fleeting breath—
A simple but blesséd change—
’Tis rending a chain, that the soul may gain
A higher and broader range.
Unbounded space is its dwelling-place,
Where no human foot hath trod,
But everywhere doth it feel the care
And the changeless love of God. ”

“ Like Judas of old,
For silver or gold,
Man often has bartered his conscience away,
Has walked in disguise,
And has trafficked in lies,
If the prospect was good that the business would pay.
If a fortune is made
By cheating in trade,
It is seldom, if ever, men question the way;
But they make it a rule
That a man is a fool
Who strives to make justice and honesty pay.{110}
An instance more clear
Could never appear,
Than was seen in the life of old Nicholas Gray,
Who ne’er made a move,
In religion or love,
Unless he was sure that the venture would pay. ”

“ And from her home of peace above,
She watches with her starry eyes,
As with a tender mother’s love.
The sounds of toil and strife are stilled,
And in the silence calm and deep,
The word of promise is fulfilled—
“He giveth his belovéd sleep.”
The weary soul oppressed with care,
The young, the old, the strong, the weak,
The rich, the poor, the brave, the fair,
Alike the common blessing seek. ”

“ Like jewels of beauty adorned the green sod.
O, how blesséd to feel from the care-laden heart
All the sorrows and woes that oppressed it depart,
And to lay the tired head, with its achings, to rest
On the heart of all others that loves it the best;
O, thus is it ever, when, wearied, we yearn
To the bosom of Nature and Truth to return,
And life blossoms forth into beauty anew,
As we learn to repose in the Simple and True.{19}
No longer with self or with Nature at strife,
The soul feels the presence of Infinite Life ”

“ GOOD IN ALL.
’Tis a beautiful thought, by Philosophy taught,
That from all things created some good is out-*wrought;
That each is for use, and not one for abuse,
Which leaves the transgressor no room for excuse.
Thus the great, and the small, and the humblest of all,
To action and duty alike have a call;
And he does the best, who excels all the rest,
In making the lot of humanity blest.
As Jonathan Myer sat one night by the fire,
Watching the flames from the embers expire,
O’er his senses there stole, and into his soul,
A spell of enchantment he could not control. ”

“ Derived from strange doctrines, and dogmas, and creeds,
At war with man’s reason, with God and with Nature;
And he who subscribes to the popular faith,
Never questions the fact of divine inspiration,
But holds to the Bible as absolute truth,
From Genesis through to St. John’s Revelation.
We mock at the Catholic bigots at Rome,
Who strive with their dogmas man’s reason to fetter;
But we turn to the Protestant bigots at home,
And we find that their dogmas are scarce a whit better.{36}
We are called to believe in the wrath of the Lord—
In endless damnation, and torments infernal ”

“ The bond which unites the human to the divine is Love, and Love is the longing of the Soul for Beauty; the inextinguishable desire which like feels for like, which the divinity within us feels for the divinity revealed to us in Beauty. ”

“ The monstrous blasphemy of creeds
Which represent an angry God,
Who tempts man sorely through his needs,
And meets his failings with a rod—
Eternal wrath, through blood appeased,
The curse of God, salvation’s plan,
Are nightmare visions, which have seized
The slumbering consciousness of man. ”

“ Or freedom from care through my life’s little hour—
But I ask that the gift which hath made thee divine,
Of comfort, and healing, and strength, may be mine.”
Then the angel uplifted a chalice most fair,
Which seemed to be filled with a balm-breathing air,
And a chrism outpoured on the suppliant’s head,
Whose fragrance like soft wreathing incense out-*spread.
“Go forth,” said the angel, “thy mission fulfill,
With faith in the heart, which gives strength to the will.” ”

“ THE TRIUMPH OF FREEDOM.
Rejoice! O blood-stained Nation, in darkness wandering long,
For Freedom is triumphant, and Right hath conquered Wrong.
To-day, the glorious birthright the patriot Fathers gave,
Makes, through Eternal Justice, a freeman of the slave. ”

“ The last, divinely guided, hath made her free indeed.{163}
Let a nation’s grateful tribute to each, alike, be given,
While the kingdom, power and glory are ascribed alone to Heaven.
“Ethiopia no longer stretcheth forth her hands” in vain;
On the demon of oppression she hath left her servile chain;
Then swell the shout of triumph, till the nations hear afar;
Three cheers—three cheers for Freedom! Huzzä! Huzzä! Huzzä! ”

“ Again, we are told that “Spiritualism is not Science;” to which we reply, that Spiritualism has presented facts and phenomena which the later discoveries in Science are tending both to explain and substantiate. It has been demonstrated that it is not the eye that sees, the ear that hears, or the nerves that feel, but each of these avenues of sense serves to convey the vibrations of the surrounding “ether” to the central consciousness, which alone is possessed of the power of perception. ”

“ Now rests at peace in her ‘home, sweet home.’”
“The pilgrims of earth, in their homeward way,
Full often in danger and doubt must stand;
But out of the darkness shall come the day,
And strength and healing from God’s right hand.
And the scales of life, as they rise and fall,
Full measures of justice shall mete to all.”
{174}
LABOR AND WAIT.
All green, and bitter, and hard, and sour,
The fruit on the Tree of Life is growing;
But the genial sunshine, with quickening power,
Will sweeten its juices like nectar flowing. ”

“ No balm of healing for me is known.
It will be as I said,
This thing that I dread,
This shadow, will haunt me till I am dead.”
The good dame answered, “O, David Bell!
Why will ye be ringing your own heart’s knell?
For I tell ye this, that I know full well—
The blesséd Father, who loves us all,
Who notices even a sparrow’s fall,
Is never deaf to His children’s call;
His love is our light
In the darkest night:
Just turn to that sunshine, and all is right.{81}” ”

“ Till her heart’s full tide of anguish
Flooded to her finger-tips,
And her soul sank down in darkness,
Smitten by a dread eclipse.
“Pure in heart,” and “poor in spirit,”
Hers will be that inner life,
Which Earth’s martyr-souls inherit,
Who are conquerors in the strife.
Born of God they walk with Angels,
Where the air with love is rife.{130}
Men will call her “Laureola,” [5]
And her pale, meek brow will crown ”

“ Underneath the street-lamps’ changing light.
“Children!” said he,
“One of life’s great lessons you are taught;
Be then ready
To apply the teaching as you ought.{31}
All are brothers—
All are sisters in this lower life.
Many others
Make sad failures in the weary strife;
But each failure is a grand expression
Of the law which underlies progression,
Which will raise the soul above transgression.
Yea, this very night,
All throughout this city,
Every soul is striving toward the light.” ”

“ In the struggle with the demon the great Truth flashes with a realizing sense upon the soul, that by its inherent nature it is older than all forms of Truth, and one with God himself. In the strength of this conviction he conquers, and the demon is slain.
Thus “The Inner Mystery” is revealed, and the unfolding of the spiritual perceptions follows as a legitimate result.
“According to Fichte, there is a Divine Idea pervading the visible universe; which visible universe is indeed but its symbol and sensible manifestation, having in itself no meaning, or even true existence, independent of it. ”

“ Shall drink of Life’s eternal stream,
And with new forms of being blend.
No boundless solitude of space
Shall fill man’s conscious soul with awe,
But everywhere his eye shall trace
The beauty of eternal law. ”

“ No other form of faith ever brought the spiritual world so near, as to banish its supernatural character, and place it within the province of natural law. No other form of faith has illustrated the fact so clearly, that just as we go out of this world, so do we enter upon the next, thereby presenting a more rational incentive to endeavor, than the rewards of Heaven or the punishments of Hell; and no other from of faith has so effectually dissipated the idea of an inane and purposeless life in the future, and given to the angels a more exalted employment than “loafing around the throne.” ”

“ To the mass of men this Divine Idea lies hidden; yet to discern it, to seize it, and live wholly in it, is the condition of all genuine virtue, knowledge, freedom, and the end, therefore, of all spiritual effort in every age.”—Carlyle. ”

“ Let the church cleanse her own Augean stables before she utters one word in relation to the immoralities of Spiritualism. Casting stones and calling hard names will not profit either party. It is neither Christianity nor Spiritualism that is responsible for these immoralities, but poor human nature. The remedy lies not in creeds or forms of faith, but in the growth of Truth in the Understanding, and Love in the heart. ”

“ Or why should any man prescribe, as a standard for all others, the limitations of his own feeble consciousness. A modern reasoner tells us that “if the bodily ear receives vibrations from one atmosphere, it cannot receive them from another, and no fiction of an inner ear can give genuineness to voices and whispers of a spiritual tongue.” Since, however, it is not the outer ear, but the inner consciousness, that hears, a quickening of its perceptions will allow it to catch the vibrations from another atmosphere, and Spiritualism demonstrates, by indisputable facts, that this is so. ”