University of Virginia Library

Search this document 
The Altar

or, Meditations in Verse On The Great Christian Sacrifice By The Author of "The Cathedral," [i.e. Isaac Williams]

expand section 

5.

“That Thy children, O Lord, whom Thou lovest, might know that it is not the growing of fruits that nourisheth man; but that it is Thy Word.”

So shall Thy Blood become to us new wine,
New wine of God, that maketh glad the heart
Of the meek soul that hath in Thee her part;
And multiplied throughout in every sign,
Thy death our life, Thy memories are a shrine
From evil thoughts. Yea, from ourselves Thou art
Our covering and our refuge. Ne'er to start
Away from this the spirit's rest divine,
Allured by cares or pleasures, love or strife,
To the bad world; but here for this short life,
In Thy dear Blood upon ourselves to gaze,
As in a fountain lit by the sun's rays:
In Thee, the Eternal Mind, ourselves to know—
This is the highest wisdom here below.