{ "id": "henry-van-dyke-jr/the-toiling-of-felix", "title": "The Toiling of Felix", "ordinal": null, "subtitle": "A Legend on a New Saying of Jesus", "poet": "Henry van Dyke Jr.", "poet_slug": "henry-van-dyke-jr", "language": "en", "book": "The Poems of Henry Van Dyke", "book_slug": "poems", "book_kind": "volume", "sequence": 27, "container": null, "epigraph": null, "first_published": { "year": 1920, "venue": "The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1920)", "note": "Taken from the 1920 collected edition. That is the printing this text comes from, not the poem's first appearance: the volume gathers work published from 1897 onward, and which earlier book or magazine printed this poem first has not been established here.", "uncertain": true, "sources": [ "https://archive.org/details/poemsofhenryvand00vandrich" ] }, "source": { "kind": "standard-ebooks", "repo": "standardebooks/henry-van-dyke-jr_poetry", "file": "poetry.xhtml", "upstream": [ "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16229", "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16134", "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10679", "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3525", "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9372", "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29314", "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43094", "https://archive.org/details/poemsofhenryvand00vandrich", "https://archive.org/details/buildersotherpoe00vandrich", "https://archive.org/details/toilingoffelixan00vandiala", "https://archive.org/details/musicotherpoems0000henr_c7v6", "https://archive.org/details/poemsnowfirstcol00vanduoft", "https://archive.org/details/songsoutofdoors0000vand", "https://archive.org/details/thyseaisgreatour00vandiala", "https://archive.org/details/chosenpoems0000vand" ], "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)" }, "verification": { "level": "structural-only", "last_checked": "2026-08-20" }, "stats": { "n_lines": 229, "n_stanzas": 93, "n_parts": 0, "longest_line_chars": 76, "max_indent": 4 }, "site_ready": true, "parts": [], "stanzas": [ [ { "text": "Hear a word that Jesus spake", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "Nineteen hundred years ago,", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Where the crimson lilies blow", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Round the blue Tiberian lake:", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "There the bread of life He brake,", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "Through the fields of harvest walking", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "With His lowly comrades, talking", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Of the secret thoughts that feed", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Weary souls in time of need.", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Art thou hungry? Come and take;", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "Hear the word that Jesus spake!", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "’Tis the sacrament of labour, bread and wine divinely blest;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Friendship’s food and sweet refreshment, strength and courage, joy and rest.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "But this word the Master said", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "Long ago and far away,", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Silent and forgotten lay", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Buried with the silent dead,", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "Where the sands of Egypt spread", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "Sea-like, tawny billows heaping", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Over ancient cities sleeping,", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "While the River Nile between", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Rolls its summer flood of green", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Rolls its autumn flood of red:", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "There the word the Master said,", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "Written on a frail papyrus, wrinkled, scorched by fire, and torn,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Hidden by God’s hand was waiting for its resurrection morn.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Now at last the buried word", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "By the delving spade is found,", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Sleeping in the quiet ground.", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Now the call of life is heard:", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "Rise again, and like a bird,", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "Fly abroad on wings of gladness", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Through the darkness and the sadness,", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Of the toiling age, and sing", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Sweeter than the voice of Spring,", "indent": 4 }, { "text": "Till the hearts of men are stirred", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "By the music of the word⁠—", "indent": 3 }, { "text": "Gospel for the heavy-laden, answer to the labourer’s cry:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "“Raise the stone, and thou shall find me; cleave the wood and there am I.”", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Brother-men who look for Jesus, long to see Him close and clear,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Hearken to the tale of Felix, how he found the Master near.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Born in Egypt, ’neath the shadow of the crumbling gods of night,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "He forsook the ancient darkness, turned his young heart toward the Light.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Seeking Christ, in vain he waited for the vision of the Lord;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Vainly pondered many volumes where the creeds of men were stored;", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Vainly shut himself in silence, keeping vigil night and day;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Vainly haunted shrines and churches where the Christians came to pray.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "One by one he dropped the duties of the common life of care,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Broke the human ties that bound him, laid his spirit waste and bare,", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Hoping that the Lord would enter that deserted dwelling-place,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "And reward the loss of all things with the vision of His face.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Still the blessed vision tarried; still the light was unrevealed;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Still the Master, dim and distant, kept His countenance concealed.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Fainter grew the hope of finding, wearier grew the fruitless quest;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Prayer and penitence and fasting gave no comfort, brought no rest.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Lingering in the darkened temple, ere the lamp of faith went out,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Felix knelt before the altar, lonely, sad, and full of doubt.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Hear me, O my Lord and Master,” from the altar-step he cried,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "“Let my one desire be granted, let my hope be satisfied!", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Only once I long to see Thee, in the fulness of Thy grace:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Break the clouds that now enfold Thee, with the sunrise of Thy face!", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“All that men desire and treasure have I counted loss for Thee;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Every hope have I forsaken, save this one, my Lord to see.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Loosed the sacred bands of friendship, solitary stands my heart;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Thou shalt be my sole companion when I see Thee as Thou art.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“From Thy distant throne in glory, flash upon my inward sight,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Fill the midnight of my spirit with the splendour of Thy light.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“All Thine other gifts and blessings, common mercies, I disown;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Separated from my brothers, I would see Thy face alone.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“I have watched and I have waited as one waiteth for the morn:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Still the veil is never lifted, still Thou leavest me forlorn.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Now I seek Thee in the desert, where the holy hermits dwell;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "There, beside the saint Serapion, I will find a lonely cell.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“There at last Thou wilt be gracious; there Thy presence, long-concealed,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "In the solitude and silence to my heart shall be revealed.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Thou wilt come, at dawn or twilight, o’er the rolling waves of sand;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "I shall see Thee close beside me, I shall touch Thy pierced hand.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Lo, Thy pilgrim kneels before Thee; bless my journey with a word;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Tell me now that if I follow, I shall find Thee, O my Lord!”", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Felix listened: through the darkness, like a murmur of the wind,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Came a gentle sound of stillness: “Never faint, and thou shalt find.”", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Long and toilsome was his journey through the heavy land of heat,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Egypt’s blazing sun above him, blistering sand beneath his feet.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Patiently he plodded onward, from the pathway never erred,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Till he reached the river-headland called the Mountain of the Bird.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "There the tribes of air assemble, once a year, their noisy flock,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Then, departing, leave a sentinel perched upon the highest rock.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Far away, on joyful pinions, over land and sea they fly;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "But the watcher on the summit lonely stands against the sky.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "There the eremite Serapion in a cave had made his bed;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "There the faithful bands of pilgrims sought his blessing, brought him bread.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Month by month, in deep seclusion, hidden in the rocky cleft,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Dwelt the hermit, fasting, praying; once a year the cave he left.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "On that day a happy pilgrim, chosen out of all the band,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Won a special sign of favour from the holy hermit’s hand.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Underneath the narrow window, at the doorway closely sealed,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "While the afterglow of sunset deepened round him, Felix kneeled.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Man of God, of men most holy, thou whose gifts cannot be priced!", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Grant me thy most precious guerdon; tell me how to find the Christ.”", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Breathless, Felix bent and listened, but no answering voice he heard;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Darkness folded, dumb and deathlike, round the Mountain of the Bird.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Then he said, “The saint is silent; he would teach my soul to wait:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "I will tarry here in patience, like a beggar at his gate.”", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Near the dwelling of the hermit Felix found a rude abode,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "In a shallow tomb deserted, close beside the pilgrim-road.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "So the faithful pilgrims saw him waiting there without complaint⁠—", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Soon they learned to call him holy, fed him as they fed the saint.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Day by day he watched the sunrise flood the distant plain with gold,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "While the River Nile beneath him, silvery coiling, sea-ward rolled.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Night by night he saw the planets range their glittering court on high,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Saw the moon, with queenly motion, mount her throne and rule the sky.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Morn advanced and midnight fled, in visionary pomp attired;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Never morn and never midnight brought the vision long-desired.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Now at last the day is dawning when Serapion makes his gift;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Felix kneels before the threshold, hardly dares his eyes to lift.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Now the cavern door uncloses, now the saint above him stands,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Blesses him without a word, and leaves a token in his hands.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "’Tis the guerdon of thy waiting! Look, thou happy pilgrim, look!", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Nothing but a tattered fragment of an old papyrus book.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Read! perchance the clue to guide thee hidden in the words may lie:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "“Raise the stone, and thou shalt find me; cleave the wood, and there am I.”", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Can it be the mighty Master spake such simple words as these?", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Can it be that men must seek Him at their toil ’mid rocks and trees?", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Disappointed, heavy-hearted, from the Mountain of the Bird", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Felix mournfully descended, questioning the Master’s word.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Not for him a sacred dwelling, far above the haunts of men:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "He must turn his footsteps backward to the common life again.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "From a quarry near the river, hollowed out amid the hills,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Rose the clattering voice of labour, clanking hammers, clinking drills.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Dust, and noise, and hot confusion made a Babel of the spot:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "There, among the lowliest workers, Felix sought and found his lot.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Now he swung the ponderous mallet, smote the iron in the rock⁠—", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Muscles quivering, tingling, throbbing⁠—blow on blow and shock on shock;", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Now he drove the willow wedges, wet them till they swelled and split,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "With their silent strength, the fragment, sent it thundering down the pit.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Now the groaning tackle raised it; now the rollers made it slide;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Harnessed men, like beasts of burden, drew it to the river-side.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Now the palm-trees must be riven, massive timbers hewn and dressed;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Rafts to bear the stones in safety on the rushing river’s breast.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Axe and auger, saw and chisel, wrought the will of man in wood:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "‘Mid the many-handed labour Felix toiled, and found it good.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Every day the blood ran fleeter through his limbs and round his heart;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Every night he slept the sweeter, knowing he had done his part.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Dreams of solitary saintship faded from him; but, instead,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Came a sense of daily comfort in the toil for daily bread.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Far away, across the river, gleamed the white walls of the town", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Whither all the stones and timbers day by day were floated down.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "There the workman saw his labour taking form and bearing fruit,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Like a tree with splendid branches rising from a humble root.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Looking at the distant city, temples, houses, domes, and towers,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Felix cried in exultation: “All that mighty work is ours.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Every toiler in the quarry, every builder on the shore,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Every chopper in the palm-grove, every raftsman at the oar,", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Hewing wood and drawing water, splitting stones and cleaving sod,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "All the dusty ranks of labour, in the regiment of God,", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“March together toward His triumph, do the task His hands prepare:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Honest toil is holy service; faithful work is praise and prayer.”", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "While he bore the heat and burden Felix felt the sense of rest", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Flowing softly like a fountain, deep within his weary breast;", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Felt the brotherhood of labour, rising round him like a tide,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Overflow his heart and join him to the workers at his side.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Oft he cheered them with his singing at the breaking of the light,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Told them tales of Christ at noon-day, taught them words of prayer at night.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Once he bent above a comrade fainting in the mid-day heat,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Sheltered him with woven palm-leaves, gave him water, cool and sweet.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Then it seemed, for one swift moment, secret radiance filled the place;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Underneath the green palm-branches flashed a look of Jesus’ face.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Once again, a raftsman, slipping, plunged beneath the stream and sank;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Swiftly Felix leaped to rescue, caught him, drew him toward the bank⁠—", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Battling with the cruel river, using all his strength to save⁠—", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Did he dream? or was there One beside him walking on the wave?", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Now at last the work was ended, grove deserted, quarry stilled;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Felix journeyed to the city that his hands had helped to build.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "In the darkness of the temple, at the closing hour of day,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "As of old he sought the altar, as of old he knelt to pray:", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Hear me, O Thou hidden Master! Thou hast sent a word to me;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "It is written⁠—Thy commandment⁠—I have kept it faithfully.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Thou hast bid me leave the visions of the solitary life,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Bear my part in human labour, take my share in human strife.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“I have done Thy bidding, Master; raised the rock and felled the tree,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Swung the axe and plied the hammer, working every day for Thee.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Once it seemed I saw Thy presence through the bending palm-leaves gleam;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Once upon the flowing water⁠—Nay, I know not; ’twas a dream!", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“This I know: Thou hast been near me: more than this I dare not ask.", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Though I see Thee not, I love Thee. Let me do Thy humblest task!”", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Through the dimness of the temple slowly dawned a mystic light;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "There the Master stood in glory, manifest to mortal sight:", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Hands that bore the mark of labour, brow that bore the print of care;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Hands of power, divinely tender; brow of light, divinely fair.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Hearken, good and faithful servant, true disciple, loyal friend!", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Thou hast followed me and found me; I will keep thee to the end.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Well I know thy toil and trouble; often weary, fainting, worn,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "I have lived the life of labour, heavy burdens I have borne.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Never in a prince’s palace have I slept on golden bed,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Never in a hermit’s cavern have I eaten unearned bread.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Born within a lowly stable, where the cattle round me stood,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Trained a carpenter in Nazareth, I have toiled, and found it good.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“They who tread the path of labour follow where my feet have trod;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "They who work without complaining do the holy will of God.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Where the many toil together, there am I among my own;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Where the tired workman sleepeth, there am I with him alone.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“I, the peace that passeth knowledge, dwell amid the daily strife;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "I, the bread of heaven, am broken in the sacrament of life.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Every task, however simple, sets the soul that does it free;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Every deed of love and mercy, done to man, is done to me.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Thou hast learned the open secret; thou hast come to me for rest;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "With thy burden, in thy labour, thou art Felix, doubly blest.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "“Nevermore thou needest seek me; I am with thee everywhere;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Raise the stone, and thou shall find me; cleave the wood, and I am there.”", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "The legend of Felix is ended, the toiling of Felix is done;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "The Master has paid him his wages, the goal of his journey is won;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "He rests, but he never is idle; a thousand years pass like a day,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "In the glad surprise of that Paradise where work is sweeter than play.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "Yet often the King of that country comes out from His tireless host,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "And walks in this world of the weary as if He loved it the most;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "For here in the dusty confusion, with eyes that are heavy and dim,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "He meets again the labouring men who are looking and longing for Him.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "He cancels the curse of Eden, and brings them a blessing instead:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Blessed are they that labour, for Jesus partakes of their bread.", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "He puts His hand to their burdens, He enters their homes at night:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Who does his best shall have as a guest the Master of life and light.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "And courage will come with His presence, and patience return at His touch,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "And manifold sins be forgiven to those who love Him much;", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "The cries of envy and anger will change to the songs of cheer,", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "The toiling age will forget its rage when the Prince of Peace draws near.", "indent": 0 } ], [ { "text": "This is the gospel of labour, ring it, ye bells of the kirk!", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "The Lord of Love came down from above, to live with the men who work.", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "This is the rose that He planted, here in the thorn-curst soil:", "indent": 0 }, { "text": "Heaven is blest with perfect rest, but the blessing of Earth is toil.", "indent": 0 } ] ] }