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Canadian Singers and Their Songs/John Reade

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John Reade3037601Canadian Singers and Their Songs — The Wheat's Reward1919Edward S. Caswell


JOHN READE, F.R.S.C.

AUTHOR OF "THE PROPHECY OF MERLIN AND OTHER POEMS," ETC.

The Wheat's Reward.

Out of the ground I rose; the seed seemed dead,
But lo! a slim green arm pushed through the sod,
And by and by before my maker, God,
I stood full ripe. A voice cried: "Give us bread."
The wind of God went by; I bowed my head,
And one approached who held a curved knife,
And for the life of men he took my life,
And ever since by me are millions fed.

And then God spake these words: "O blessed weed,
The lowly sister of the lily proud,
Be thou my chosen messenger to shroud
The mystery of my Son, the Woman's Seed.
Thou dreadest not the sacrificial knife:
Be thou to dying men the Bread of Life.

John Reade.