Tabb Centenary Year III

Five poems by Rev. John B. Tabb.

God’s Likeness

Not in mine own, but in my neighbor’s face,
   Must I Thine image trace;
Nor he in his, but in the light of mine,
   Behold thy Face Divine.

April 1894 (p. 338, Quatrains: Religion)

Deus Absconditus

My God has hid Himself from me
Behind whatever else I see;
Myself—the nearest mystery—
As far beyond my grasp as He.

And yet, in darkest night, I know,
While lives a doubt-discerning glow,
That larger lights above it throw
These shadows in the vale below.

September 1892 - February 1896 (p. 219, Religion: Doctrine)

The Stranger

He entered, but the mask he wore
Concealed his face from me.
Still, something I had seen before
   He brought to memory.

“Who art thou? What thy rank, thy name?”
I questioned, with surprise.
“Thyself,” the laughing answer came,
   “As seen of others’ eyes.”

1894 (p. 241, Himself and Others)

Recognition

At twilight on the open sea
We passed with breath of melody—
A song, to each familiar, sung
In accents of an alien tongue.

We could not see each other’s face,
Nor through the growing darkness trace
Our destinies; but brimming eyes
Betrayed unworded sympathies.

1894 (p. 246, Himself and Others)

My Neighbor

My neighbor as myself to love,
   Thou hast commanded me,
And in obedience I prove
   That Thou Thyself art he.

1910 (p. 346, Quatrains: Religion)

[Deus Absconditus: Latin, “Hidden God”; see Isaiah 45:15.]

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 01/18/09 03:36:21 PM
Categorized as Father Tabb Centenary Year & Literary.