This selection commemorates the day of Father Tabb’s death, November 19th.
The Old Pastor
How long, O Lord, to wait
Beside this open gate?
My sheep with many a lamb
Have entered, and I am
Alone, and it is late.
Death
I passed him daily, but his eyes,
On others musing, missed me,
Till suddenly, with pale surprise,
He caught, & clasped, & kissed me.
Since then his long-averted glance
Is fixed upon my countenance.
Leaf and Soul
Leaf
Let go the Limb?
My life in him
Alone is found.
Come night, come day,
’Tis here I stay
Above the sapless ground.
Soul
Let go the warm
Life-kindled form,
And upward fly?
Come joy, come pain,
I here remain
Despite the yearning sky.
A sudden frost, and, lo!
Both Leaf and Soul let go!
In Extremis
Lord, as from Thy body bleeding,
Wave by wave is life receding
From these limbs of mine:
As it drifts away from me
To the everlasting sea,
Blend it, Lord, with Thine.
United
Here buried side by side
We long have waited with between us two
A place for you.
The powers of darkness tried
To chill our hearts to ashes; but behold
They grew not cold.
You journey far and wide;
Our eyes were on you till they turned your way
To where we lay.
Henceforth, all fate defied,
Our kindred dust commingling, three in one—
We slumber, son.
A Stone’s Throw
Lo, Death another pebble far doth fling
Into the midmost sea,
To leave of Life an ever-widening ring
Upon Eternity.
The Soul’s Quest
I laid my vesture by
Upon this spot,
And here returning, I
Behold it not.
Dost thou, O Earth, resume
The relics of the tomb?
Whereto the Earth replies:
“Be not afraid;
Safe in my keeping lies
What here was laid:
A thousand forms refine
What shall again be thine.”
John B. Tabb [1]
For a recitation, click the play button:
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/118573479″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
“The Old Pastor”: Later Lyrics, p. 129; Poetry, p. 216. 1902. Pastor: Latin, shepherd; that is, one who herds sheep.
“Death”: Later Poems, p. 72; Poetry, p. 129. 1910. Long-averted means long-turned-away; one’s countenance is one’s face.
“Leaf and Soul”: Later Lyrics, p. 107; Poetry, p. 31. November 1902.
“In Extremis”: Later Poems, p. 27; Poetry, p. 250. July 9, 1908. In Extremis: Latin, to the furthest reaches; thus, figuratively, near the point of death. The poem was written two days before the death of Father Tabb’s friend Rt. Rev. Alfred Allen Paul Curtis, auxiliary bishop of Baltimore.
“United”: Father Tabb, p. 80; Poetry, p. 271. October 25, 1902. The poem was written the day after the death of Father Tabb’s ward Edward J. Carroll.
“A Stone’s Throw”: Poems, p. 125; Poetry, p. 357. 1894.
“The Soul’s Quest”: Later Poems, p. 90; Poetry, p. 160. October 1896. Vesture is clothing or raiment; by analogy, what the body is to the soul.