With Ministry Of Love [poem by Philip Durham Lorimer]

[Editor: This poem by Philip Durham Lorimer was published in Songs and Verses by Philip Durham Lorimer: An Australian Bush Poet, 1901.]

With Ministry Of Love

Let us through this wide world wander,
Dropping here and there a flower,
For some soul whose heart is riven,
And who knows no joyful hour.
Passing by, and downward looking,
Ah ! perchance that flow’ret’s hue
May direct his feelings upward,
May create his heart anew ;
For, remember, we are living
Where the heart is nigh undone,
And the weary tongue is telling
How the mount of life is won.

Let us so adorn our natures
With the sympathy of love,
That our poor, unhappy brother,
May find joy in scenes above ;
For, a kindly act will often
Stay a lifelong life of sin,
And what solace to the giver,
Comforting his soul within !
Oh ! remember, man is toiling
Where sad, aching hearts abound,
And with weary hands he gathers
All that’s needful from the ground.

Is it when the hand is giving,
Is it when the gentle voice
Cheers and speaks to sons of labour, —
Is it then we should rejoice ?
Yes, and still with word, or token,
Comfort thou each sorrowing one ;
Though thy days be cast in shadow,
Be to others as the Sun !
Just remember, in life’s roadway,
Aching hearts and weary hands
Should be linked and bound together
With God’s own, by Love’s own bands.

Robertson.

Source:
E. A. Petherick (editor). Songs and Verses by Philip Durham Lorimer: An Australian Bush Poet, William Clowes and Sons, London, 1901, pages 137-138