The Woman of Samaria
St. John iv. 5 - 26

XIV

The Son of Man sat, languid, in the shade
The plenteous leafage o'er the cool well made,
For it was noon, and He had walked all day
In the heat of the sun ; 'twas Jacob's well that lay
There in the green to invite His noontide rest,
And, as He was, He sat, by weariness opprest.

The Lord was thirsty, too ; and for awhile,
The need of water might His thoughts beguile
E'en from that spot of ground that Jacob bought
And gave to Joseph ; dear to Jewish thought,
And dear to Him Who Israel had led
Through all their devious ways, and in green pastures fed.

He suffered thirst ; His living creature there
Lay deep below, nor of it's Lord aware,
Leapt high to the well's mouth His thirst to slake !
Never for use of His, the Christ might make

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Other than as their wont His creatures act,
Though He an-hungered went, athirst, of ills compact.

A woman saw He, coming from afar,
Bearing, graceful on her head her water-jar :---
Daughter of Sychar  she, too bold of mien,
And eyed the stranger o'er with curious spleen :
For every Jew was hated of her race,
And Him a Jew she knew, both by His garb and face.

But His first word allayed her truculent mood :
"Give Me to drink," as suppliant He sued ;
And as she drew the gurgling water up,
Gave Him to drink of that refreshing cup,
At leisure she to ponder, Whose that face ?
Who is't that asks to drink with so benign a grace?

The woman of Samaria said to Him, ---
"How is't that Thou, a Jews, shouldst touch the brim
Of my pitcher ? Through ages past the Jews
All common dealings with our race refuse !"
The Lord beheld her ; saw, through flippant speech,
A thirsting soul that craved a draught beyond its reach.

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Now Jesus passed her idle chatter by,
And answer made to that sincerer cry
He only heard, uplifting from her heart :
"Didst thou but know the gift of God, thy part ---
And hadst but known Who water begged of thee ---
Had been to ask, and get, a living draught from Me."

Dim recollections crossed her untaught mind;
Here was a prophet, sure : one of the kind
Who struck the rock and water issued thence.
What if He struck out stream, to wander hence
To her very door, what labour saved, in sooth !
"Now will I question Him, and learn the very truth !"

"Sir, whence canst Thou get water for my drought?
The well is deep, Thou hast no vessel brought ;
Where else canst living water get for me ?
Greater than Jacob wouldst Thou claim to be
Which gave us the well, and thereof drank he too,
Our father, his sons, his flock :--- and canst Thou greater do?"

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How should this soul be taught to comprehend
Water, whose satisfaction hath no end?
"Who drinketh of this water thirsts again ;
Who drinks water I give, shall know no pain
Of thirst, for evermore ; in him a well
Brimming with water of life shall spring perpetual."

"A prophet, sure !" But not a thought can find,
Beyond the needs of the day, her darkened mind :
Still harping on that stream of Moses, she, ---
"Sir, give me this water, that no more I be
Thirsty, or weary, journeying to the well !"
Now, with long-suffering sweet, He seeks another spell :

"Go, call thy husband to thee, and come here."
The rock is struck at last ; a trickle, clear,
Of truth, flows out this most world-hardened soul ;
"I have no husband," saith she ; and the whole
Of her besmirchèd life is in her view.
Then said the Holy Watcher, "In this thou speakest true."

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'Tis no slight thing to speak a shameful truth ;
Nor would He try her further, but, in ruth,
Told of five husbands, and another man :
Assured, ashamed, attracted -- faith began ;
But not all at once would she yield ; with woman's skill,
Another theme she opes ; "Our fathers, on this hill,

"Contented, worshipped God ; and ye would say,
:To worship in Jerusalem, the one way."
And Jesus, tenderer grown for her true word, ---
"Nor here, nor in Jerusalem, shall the Lord
Be worshipped, in a near" (how dreadful !)
"hour ;
Confinèd to no place believe the Father's power.

"Not where they worship, but what men believe
Enables them God's purpose to perceive.
The ignorant, who will not use his mind,
But worships that he knows not, shall he find
God here or there or in another place ?
And such are ye ; we know ; salvation, of our race."

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"But comes the hour when not to Jews alone
Condition of true worship shall be known :
The Father for His faithful goes abroad
And seeks them by the searching of His word :
Not clime or nation shall affect His choice ;
In spirit and in truth, who worship, shall rejoice :

"For God, a Spirit, intimate with man ;
And drawing near in spirit, all men can
Approach the Father." How much understood
This ignorant shrewd woman, of all, would
The Master, lavish of high truth, impart ?
To know herself untaught, she had the humble art.

Knew, too, no doom of darkness on her soul, ---
Messias cometh, shall declare the whole :
This thing I know." A mighty word of faith,
Invites Messiah's confidence ; He saith,
(Blest woman, graced with News told first to thee !) ---
"The Christ, indeed, hath come ; lo, I that speak am He !"

by C. M. S. Mason