Now! Then! A sonnet by Charles Forshaw about a sermon about light preached at Bulmer (Castle Howard) by the Rev. James Gabb this summer solstice evening

21 June 1891: A sonnet by Charles Forshaw about a sermon about light preached at Bulmer (Castle Howard) by the Rev. James Gabb this summer solstice evening

Charles Frederick Forshaw. 1891. A Sermon. Yorkshire Poets Past and Present. Bradford: T. Brown. Get it:

Excerpt

A Sabbath eve – and all around was peace –
A dear old church, slow-crumbling to decay –
God’s servant speaking words of hallowed grace,
And pointing out the life, the truth, the way.
His voice so earnest thrilled my listening ear,
‘Minding me now of that calm summer’s night
When, to his flock he said in accents clear –
“He was a burning and a shining light.”
And bade his hearers to so live their days
That, like St. John, they be prepared for Heaven,
And, falling not in worldom’s wicked ways
To hope, and trust, and pray to be forgiven;
So that when dead, their light to all will shine
Showing they lived on earth for life divine.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

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Original

A Sabbath eve – and all around was peace –
A dear old Church, slow-crumbling to decay –
God’s servant speaking words of hallowed grace,
And pointing out the life, the truth, the way.
His voice so earnest thrilled my listening ear,
‘Minding me now of that calm summer’s night
When, to his flock he said in accents clear –
“He was a burning and a shining light.”
And bade his hearers to so live their days
That, like St. John, they be prepared for Heaven,
And, falling not in worldom’s wicked ways
To hope, and trust, and pray to be forgiven;
So that when dead, their light to all will shine
Showing they lived on earth for life divine.

134 words.