 | The point of view (some talks and disputations) |  |
IV
Can we, can you, whom thought has swept
High o'er these vales where earth-mists roll,
Barter that birthright, or accept
Less than the Whole?
High o'er these vales where earth-mists roll,
Barter that birthright, or accept
Less than the Whole?
Less than that vast and mystic scroll
Our Mother proffers; no mere part;
Her undivided realm; her whole
Exhaustless heart?
Our Mother proffers; no mere part;
Her undivided realm; her whole
Exhaustless heart?
That heart whose universal flow
Warms the least crawler of this sod,
Wakes the wild pulses of yon glow,
And beats from God?
Warms the least crawler of this sod,
Wakes the wild pulses of yon glow,
And beats from God?
29
From God? Ah little, potent word,
On which we climb towards the light,
Till, deep within, the cry is heard
—“Behold the night!”
On which we climb towards the light,
Till, deep within, the cry is heard
—“Behold the night!”
And round us, as we dream or pray,
It gathers; murky fold on fold,
Blotting the comfortable way,
Remorseless, cold;
It gathers; murky fold on fold,
Blotting the comfortable way,
Remorseless, cold;
Cold as the clay-cold foe of life;
The night-winds hurtle roughly by,
We cease the vain delusive strife,
And falling, lie
The night-winds hurtle roughly by,
We cease the vain delusive strife,
And falling, lie
Without a word; with no more prayer
Than some crushed thing which, falling, feels
Across it, amid dust and glare,
The whirling wheels.
Than some crushed thing which, falling, feels
Across it, amid dust and glare,
The whirling wheels.
| The point of view (some talks and disputations) | |