Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, JESUS WENT BEFORE, by MARGARET ELIZABETH MUNSON SANGSTER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

JESUS WENT BEFORE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Their faces to jerusalem
Last Line: "our master went before!"
Alternate Author Name(s): Van Deth, Gerrit, Mrs.
Subject(s): Apostles; Bible; Jesus Christ; Disciples, Twelve


THEIR faces to Jerusalem,
They stepped with laggard feet,
Half timorous, defiant half,
At what they went to meet.
But as they rested, or they talked
Their sad forebodings o'er,
Still leading on the little band,
Their Master went before.

He saw in vision maddened throngs;
He saw the crowded hall
Where scribe and priest should mock and flout.
Where cruel scourge should fall;
He saw the cross; its shadows lay
The toilsome pathway o'er;
But, pressing on with ardent soul,
The Master went before.

To-day Thy pledged disciples, Lord,
Meet sorrow, pain, and shame,
Their watchword in the trial time
Thine own all-conquering name.
Though flesh be weak, and spirit faint,
And heart be spent and sore,
They cannot fail in any strife
While Thou shalt go before.

In presence of Thy bitter foes,
In midst of dark defeat,
They yet shall snatch a victory
And taste a triumph sweet;
Nor death itself shall crush them, Lord.
Its final conflict o'er,
The ransomed hosts shall shout and sing,
"Our Master went before!"





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