I. O FAIR! O purest! be thou the dove, That flies alone to some sunny grove; And lives unseen, and bathes her wing, All vestal white, in the limpid spring. There, if the hovering hawk be near, That limpid spring in its mirror clear Reflects him, ere he can reach his prey, And warns the timorous bird away. Oh! be like this dove; O fair! O purest! be like this dove. II. The sacred pages of God's own Book Shall be the spring, the eternal brook, In whose holy mirror, night and day, Thou wilt study heaven's reflected ray: -- And should the foes of virtue dare, With gloomy wing to seek thee there, Thou wilt see how dark their shadows lie Between heaven and thee, and trembling fly! Oh! be like the dove; O fair! O purest! be like the dove. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DONKEY by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON SEA GODS: 3 by HILDA DOOLITTLE MENAPHON: SAMELA by ROBERT GREENE MISSIONARY HYMN by REGINALD HEBER THE DISCOVERY; SONNET by JOHN COLLINGS SQUIRE THE MORAL FABLES: THE WOLF AND THE WETHER by AESOP |