 | Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy |  |
44
ST. FLORIAN
IN THE MONASTERY CHURCH AT ENGELBERG
There was no priest behind this golden gate,
No angel floating in the painted dome
To give him comfort and to guide him home,
When Florian went a martyr to his fate.
He saw no temples thronged and consecrate
With music and the mysteries of Rome;
He dreamed no countless multitudes would come
To gaze upon his bones in jewelled state.
No angel floating in the painted dome
To give him comfort and to guide him home,
When Florian went a martyr to his fate.
He saw no temples thronged and consecrate
With music and the mysteries of Rome;
He dreamed no countless multitudes would come
To gaze upon his bones in jewelled state.
Nay, take those amethysts from out his eyes,
Unstop his careless ears of any gem,
Nor fill his mouth with pearls. A poor man's part
He played, who wears his crown in Paradise,
Who strove to touch his Saviour's simple hem,
Whom Christ wears now, a jewel at His heart.
Unstop his careless ears of any gem,
Nor fill his mouth with pearls. A poor man's part
He played, who wears his crown in Paradise,
Who strove to touch his Saviour's simple hem,
Whom Christ wears now, a jewel at His heart.
| Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy | |