University of Virginia Library

TANSY.

Heaven may vanish like a dream
Or the glimmer of a stream,
And all hell come;
But if other forms go by,
Thou, pure Immortality,
Shalt be well come.
Radiant eyes of more than morn
Into our dumb darkness born,
Love expected;
Hail to thee, white wondrous Child,
Earthly yet all undefiled,
God-protected!
Thou dost bloom the brighter yet
From the shadows round us set,
And art sweeter;
These imperfect works, that weave
Lesser lives of frailty, leave
Thine completer.
O shine on, incarnate Bliss,
Poised betwixt a smile and kiss,
Mercy's prophet;
I shall hear thy footsteps pass
Soft as dew upon the grass,
Down in Tophet.