Poems - The Loser Finds

The following poem was published with this note from the Editor:

It will be observed that the writer of this piece of powerful if irregular verse is a lady missionary. Hence the allusion to women converts,—Ed.

The Loser Finds

That battle fought, that will laid down
That struggle which no eye could see
Save His, who marked the falling tear,
This is to lose thy life.
To find it,—what? It is to see
A struggling soul made strong by Thee;
A battling soul a victor crowned
Through words of cheer on Thy lips found;
A will upon God’s altar laid
After Thy words that soul has stayed
from wilful ways. Soul, tell me this—
Is not such finding purest bliss?

That night of prayer: that yearning pain
O’er one indifferent: dost count it loss?
Ah no! the loss is gain; the finding sure
In that dear soul who steps into the light
And with a winsome grace thou dost not own
Win for her Saviour vassals for His Throne.

It is so hard thus to be lost to sight
Whilst others in the forefront of the fight
Command such praise?
Think thou awhile! Thy life laid down
Hath won the Master’s smile—the crown
Of His approval decks thy brow.
It is enough that thou to Him art dear
That thou dost know the love, undimmed by fear,
Of those choice souls who at His dear behest
Relinquish all that they may have His best.

Thou canst not lose thy life without a cost
That wringeth tears from heart as well as eye;
Nor can thou find thy life in other lives
Without a bliss proportioned; therefore die
To live—Yes, live again in lives to be
A joy to Jesus and a balm to thee.

Ning Taik. M. E. B.

Meter: irregular Published:

  • Anchored To Infinity:
  • A Seed Sown In China:

    Earliest Known Publication: The Church Missionary Gleaner, Volume 27, Issue 314. 1900. London: Church Missionary Society.

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