Out of the Depths: Written After the Reformation of a Brilliant and Talented Man
Out of the midnight, rayless and cheerless,
Into the morning’s golden light;
Out of the clutches of wrong and ruin,
Into the arms of truth and right;
Out of the ways that are ways of sorrow,
Out of the paths that are paths of pain,
Yea, out of the depths has a soul arisen,
And ‘one that was lost is found again.’
Lost in the sands of an awful desert,
Lost in the region of imps accursed,
With bones of victims to mark his pathway,
And burning lava to quench his thirst;
Lost in the darkness, astray in the shadows;
Father above, do we pray in vain?
Hark! on the winds come gleeful tidings,
Lo! he was lost, but is found again.
Found! and the sunlight of God’s great mercy
Dispels the shadows, and brings the morn.
Found! and the hosts of the dear Redeemer
Are shouting aloud o’er a soul new born,
Plucked, like a brand, from the conflagration,
Cleansed, like a garment, free from stain,
Saved, pray God, for ever and ever;
Lost for a season, but found again.
‘Out of the depths’ by the grace of heaven,
Out of the depth of woe and shame,
And he blots his name from the roll of drunkards,
To carve it again on the heights of fame.
‘Wine is a mocker, and strong drink raging.’
Glory to God, he has snapped the chain
That bound him with fetters of steel and iron,
And he that he was lost is found again.
Down with the cup, though it gleam like rubies;
Down with the glass, though it sparkle and shine,
‘It bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder,’
There is woe, and sorrow, and shame in wine.
Keen though the sword be, and deadly its mission,
Three times its number the wine-cup has slain.
God, send thy grace unto those it has fettered–
God, grant the lost may be found again.
Other works by Ella Wheeler Wilcox...
