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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

REALITY by FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL

First Line: REALITY, REALITY, / LORD JESUS CHRIST THOU ART TO ME!
Last Line: "UNVEILED, THY ""BRIGHT REALITY""?"
Subject(s): JESUS CHRIST; REALITY;
Reality, reality,
Lord Jesus Christ Thou art to me!
From the spectral mist and the driving clouds,
From the shifting shadows and phantom crowds
From unreal words and unreal lives,
Where truth with falsehood feebly strives;
From the passings away, the chance and change,
Flickerings, vanishings, swift and strange,
I turn to my glorious rest in Thee,
Who art the grand Reality!

Reality in greatest need,
Lord Jesus Christ Thou art indeed!
Is the pilot real who alone can guide
The drifting ship o'er the midnight tide?
Is the life-boat real, as it nears the wreck,
And the saved ones leap from the parting deck?
Is the haven real, where the barque may flee
From the autumn gales of the wild north sea?
Reality indeed art Thou,
My pilot, life-boat, haven now.

Reality, reality,
In the brightest days art Thou to me!
Thou art the sunshine of my mirth,
Thou art the heaven above my earth,
The spring of love of all my heart,
And the fountain of my song Thou art;
For dearer than the dearest now,
And better than the best art Thou,
Beloved Lord, in whom I see
Joy-giving, glad Reality.

Reality, reality,
Lord Jesus Thou hast been to me,
When I thought the dream of life was past
And "the Master's home-call" come at last;
When I thought I had only to wait
A little while at the Golden Gate--
Only another day or two,
Till Thou thyself shouldst bear me through;
How real Thy presence was to me!
How precious Thy Reality!

Reality, reality,
Lord Jesus Christ Thou art to me;
Thy name is sweeter than songs of old,
Thy words are better than "most fine gold."
Thy deeds are greater than hero-glory,
Thy life is grander than poet story;
But Thou, thyself for aye the same
Art more than words and life and name!
Thyself Thou hast revealed to me,
In glorious reality.

Reality, reality,
Lord Jesus Christ, is crowned in Thee,
In Thee is every type fulfilled,
In Thee is every yearning stilled
For perfect beauty, truth and love:
For Thou art always far above
The grandest glimpse of our Ideal,
Yet more and more we know Thee real,
And marvel more and more to see
Thine infinite Reality.

Reality, reality,
Lord Jesus Christ Thou art to me!
My glorious king, my Lord, my God,
Life is too short for half the laud,
For half the debt of praise I owe,
For this blest knowledge that "I know
The reality of Jesus Christ"--
Unmeasured blessing, gift unpriced!
Will I not praise Thee when I see
In the long noon of Eternity
Unveiled, Thy "bright reality"?



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