Poems (Hoffman)/Rest (O the toiling and the striving)

by Martha Lavinia Hoffman

For works with similar titles, see Rest.

REST.
(Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden
  and I will give you rest.—Matt. 11:28.)

O the toiling and the striving
 Of this busy age!
O the anxious care of living,
 Mankind's heritage!
Weary mortals reaching after
 Things they cannot reach;
Tears beneath their lightest laughter,
 Heartaches under gayest speech.
Brows where Care is ploughing furrows,
 Eyes where Time is writing sorrows,
This is what you teach:

That the planning and contriving
 Of the wisest and the best
For a better, easier living
 Has not brought the tired world rest.
Listen! 'tis the Saviour calleth,
 Like the dew His message falleth;
Dew that falls tired earth to gladden,
 From the east unto the west:
"Come ye weary, heavy laden,
 I will give you rest."

And from mountain, plain and city,
 Weary souls whom angels pity;
Bring to Him their heavy losses,
 Bring to Him their cruel crosses.
O, that all the world distressed,
 Tossed in life's delirium fever,
Might but claim the free bequest,
 Peace that floweth like a river,
Christ hath brought the tired world rest!

Like a great ocean weary of unrest,
 My soul cried out to God in troubled waves;
Storms, rocks and billows, yawning, hungry caves,
 A midnight ocean in one human breast
Cried unto God for rest.

And in the darkest hour before the dawn,
 One stood beside me, One whom angels laud;
Whose form was like unto the Son of God.
 I woke, the troubled sea of life rolled on,
But all the burden of my soul was gone.

O burdened spirits cease your fruitless quest,
 For Christ alone thy burden can remove,
Till with the boundless ocean of His love,
 A sunlit ocean in one human breast,
Where flow the tides of His eternal rest!