LOOK, O blinded eyes and burning, Think, O heart amazed with yearning, Is it yet beyond thine earning, That delight that was thy all?— Wilful eyes and undiscerning, Heart ashamed of bitter learning, It is flown beyond returning, It is lost beyond recall. Who with prayers has overtaken Those glad hours when he would waken To the sound of branches shaken By an early song and wild,— When the golden leaves would flicker, And the loving thoughts come thicker, And the thrill of life beat quicker In the sweet heart of the child? Yet my soul, tho' Thou forsake her, Shall adore Thee, till Thou take her, In the morning, O my Maker, For Thine Oriflamme unfurled: For the lambs beneath their mothers, For the bliss that is another's, For the beauty of my brothers, For the wonder of the world. From above us and from under, In the ocean and the thunder, Thou preludest to the wonder Of the Paradise to be: For a moment we may guess Thee From Thy creatures that confess Thee When the morn and even bless Thee, And thy smile is on the sea. Then from something seen or heard, Whether forests softly stirred, Or the speaking of a word, Or the singing of a bird, Cares and sorrows cease: For a moment on the soul Falls the rest that maketh whole, Falls the endless peace. O the hush from earth's annoys! O the heaven, O the joys Such as priest and singing-boys Cannot sing or say! There is no more pain and crying, There is no more death and dying, As for sorrow and for sighing,— These shall flee away. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: 39 by PHILIP SIDNEY KEEPING ENDLESS HOLIDAY by TITUS PETRONIUS NIGER TO THE SMALL CELANDINE (1) by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH EPIGRAM by DECIMUS MAGNUS AUSONIUS CLIO, NINE ECLOGUES IN HONOUR OF NINE VIRTUES: 7. OF HOSPITALITY by WILLIAM BASSE TOM O' BEDLAM'S SONG by FRANCIS BEAUMONT |