THE RIVER OF SPEECH by R. I. Schoolmaster

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 6, 1875

THE RIVER OF SPEECH.

By R. I. Schoolmaster

There flows a river through the earth— From hills of Heaven it hath its birth; Through all the lands that speech hath gone, For men to float their thoughts upon.

Some send rich fleets of myrrh and gold, Ships argosied with gems untold, And though the men upon the shore Bind them upon their hearts, the store, Like prophet’s oil, grows more and more.

And some send flowers from fairy lands, That float to little children’s hands; And some—alas! that this should be— Send ships that sail to meet the sea Beneath the pirate’s flag of black, With wreck and rapine on their track.

And some send idle straws alone; And some rich seeds, that may be sown In quiet creeks; for they will rise Dear flowers, to aching hearts and eyes.

And some send holy words, that shed A strange light on the river’s bed— A light so steady, earnest, fair, You almost think God’s stars are there.

Long years ago, past ships and stars, A fleet sailed through the Eastern bars, And on the wave a heavenly spell, A silent consecration fell; The stream grew holy as it bore Christ’s spoken thoughts from shore to shore.

—R. I. Schoolmaster.