The Reliquary By Bernard and Lucy Barton. With A Prefatory Appeal for Poetry and Poets |
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“THE LAND WHICH NO MORTAL MAY KNOW.” |
 | The Reliquary |  |
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“THE LAND WHICH NO MORTAL MAY KNOW.”
Though
Earth has full many a beautiful spot,
As a poet or painter might show;
Yet more lovely and beautiful, holy and bright,
To the hopes of the heart and the spirit's glad sight,
Is the land that no mortal may know.
As a poet or painter might show;
Yet more lovely and beautiful, holy and bright,
To the hopes of the heart and the spirit's glad sight,
Is the land that no mortal may know.
There the crystalline stream, bursting forth from the throne,
Flows on, and for ever will flow;
Its waves, as they roll, are with melody rife,
And its waters are sparkling with beauty and life,
In the land which no mortal may know.
Flows on, and for ever will flow;
Its waves, as they roll, are with melody rife,
And its waters are sparkling with beauty and life,
In the land which no mortal may know.
And there, on its margin, with leaves ever green,
With its fruits, healing sickness and woe,
The fair tree of life! in its glory and pride,
Is fed by that deep inexhaustible tide
Of the land which no mortal may know.
With its fruits, healing sickness and woe,
The fair tree of life! in its glory and pride,
Is fed by that deep inexhaustible tide
Of the land which no mortal may know.
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There, too, are the lost! whom we lov'd on this earth,
With whose mem'ries our bosoms yet glow;
Their reliques we gave to the place of the dead,
But their glorified spirits before us have fled
To the land which no mortal may know.
With whose mem'ries our bosoms yet glow;
Their reliques we gave to the place of the dead,
But their glorified spirits before us have fled
To the land which no mortal may know.
There the pale orb of night, and the fountain of day.
Nor beauty nor splendour bestow;
But the presence of Him, the unchanging I Am!
And the holy, the pure, the immaculate Lamb!
Light the land which no mortal may know.
Nor beauty nor splendour bestow;
But the presence of Him, the unchanging I Am!
And the holy, the pure, the immaculate Lamb!
Light the land which no mortal may know.
Oh! who but must pine, in this dark vale of tears,
From its clouds and its shadows to go,
To walk in the light of the glory above,
And to share in the peace, and the joy and the love
Of the land which no mortal may know.
From its clouds and its shadows to go,
To walk in the light of the glory above,
And to share in the peace, and the joy and the love
Of the land which no mortal may know.
| The Reliquary | |