STEEP the ascent to which we laughing bent; Slowly we left the weary slope behind. Now hand in hand upon the crest we stand Amid the shouting welcome of the wind. I TOO rejoice with its exultant voice That we upon this hill-top once have stood Before we die, together, you and I, To see our world and know that it is good. TO find the worth of this perplexing earth Which yet is of our heaven the only gate; Where life must be ere immortality Can its transfiguration consummate. THE test we need ere spirit may succeed To perfect power and unimagined scope -- Where dreams untried must ever dreams abide And hopeless is the unattempted hope. WE who have caught the substance of our thought May smile triumphant though our pathways part. You of my best forever stand possessed, And greater for your greatness is my heart. HENCE we shall turn more eager to discern The hid Shekinah of our neighbour's soul, Stronger to dare our brief blind part to bear In the slow silent growth of God's great Whole. A WORD, the flower of this uplifted hour Shall turn the chill of time and space to mirth; A deed that springs from these forgotten things Shall link us yet across the breadth of earth -- SHALL link us yet, although we may forget. Our thoughts may pass, our inmost selves endure. Yea, life and death may come and go like breath -- Wrought in our souls, this moment lives secure. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WINTER NIGHT by CH'IEN WEN OF LIANG THE LITTLE BEACH BIRD by RICHARD HENRY DANA (1787-1879) FIDELITY by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH ODE; SUNG BY THE CHILDREN OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS by W. T. ADAMS THE SONG OF THE ILL-BELOVED; TO PAUL LEAUTARD by GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE THE CLOAK by ANNA LOUISE BARNEY THE SPINNER by CLARA DOTY BATES LIBERTINE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN IN VINCULIS; SONNETS WRITTEN IN AN IRISH PRISON: A LESSON IN HUMILITY by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |