 | Virginalia ; or, songs of my summer nights |  |
36
AMORE DIVINO
My rapturous soul, entranced, now naked lies
Humbled before thee in the very dust—
Crying unto thee, as some Christian cries
Unto the God in whom he puts his trust.
Humbled before thee in the very dust—
Crying unto thee, as some Christian cries
Unto the God in whom he puts his trust.
Like the great golden Stairs that towered sublime,
Which Jacob saw on Bethel plain at even;
Thou art the Ladder by which I now climb
From this dark world up to my Home in Heaven.
Which Jacob saw on Bethel plain at even;
Thou art the Ladder by which I now climb
From this dark world up to my Home in Heaven.
When thy sweet beauty first to me was given,
My soul, by gazing on thee, grew like thine;
For thou hadst power to change this world to Heaven,
And make all things, like thy dear self, divine.
My soul, by gazing on thee, grew like thine;
For thou hadst power to change this world to Heaven,
And make all things, like thy dear self, divine.
I would, but to secure this heavenly Crown,
Go from the Garden of Gethsemane,
And there on Calvary lay my body down,
If, being crucified, my soul could dwell with thee.
Go from the Garden of Gethsemane,
And there on Calvary lay my body down,
If, being crucified, my soul could dwell with thee.
Scourgings would be to this fond heart of mine,
The soft caressings of impassioned pain;
Wormwood, Ambrosia—death, the life divine—
If I, in Kingdom Come, with thee could reign.
The soft caressings of impassioned pain;
Wormwood, Ambrosia—death, the life divine—
If I, in Kingdom Come, with thee could reign.
I would be nailed upon the Cross to die,
To drink the healing Wellsprings of thy love;
For I should see, in my great agony,
The Gates of Glory opening there above.
To drink the healing Wellsprings of thy love;
For I should see, in my great agony,
The Gates of Glory opening there above.
For being laid into the grave would be
A prelude to that resurrection bliss—
That Crown of Glory I should wear with thee
In Heaven above of future happiness.
A prelude to that resurrection bliss—
That Crown of Glory I should wear with thee
In Heaven above of future happiness.
37
Where my entranced soul should ever hear
The jubilant shout of the Angelic Choir,
And all the Morning Stars, from year to year,
Answering the Sons of God with lips of fire.
The jubilant shout of the Angelic Choir,
And all the Morning Stars, from year to year,
Answering the Sons of God with lips of fire.
Tontine Hotel, New Haven, Conn., July 1851.
| Virginalia ; or, songs of my summer nights | |