 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
3
PROLOGUE.
Religion, she that stands sublime
Upon the rock that crowns our globe,
Her foot on all the spoils of time,
With light eternal on her robe;
Upon the rock that crowns our globe,
Her foot on all the spoils of time,
With light eternal on her robe;
She, sovereign of the orb she guides,
On Truth's broad sun may root a gaze
That deepens onward as she rides,
And shrinks not from the fontal blaze:
On Truth's broad sun may root a gaze
That deepens onward as she rides,
And shrinks not from the fontal blaze:
But they—her daughter Arts—must hide
Within the cleft, content to see
Dim skirts of glory waving wide
And steps of parting Deity.
Within the cleft, content to see
Dim skirts of glory waving wide
And steps of parting Deity.
'Tis theirs to watch the Vision break
In gleams from Nature's frown or smile
The legend rise from out the lake
The relic consecrate the isle.
In gleams from Nature's frown or smile
The legend rise from out the lake
The relic consecrate the isle.
'Tis theirs to adumbrate and suggest;
To point toward founts of buried lore,
Leaving, in type alone expressed,
What Man must know not, yet adore.
To point toward founts of buried lore,
Leaving, in type alone expressed,
What Man must know not, yet adore.
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For where her court true Wisdom keeps,
'Mid loftier handmaids one there stands
Dark as the midnight's starry deeps,
A Slave, gem-crowned, from Nubia's sands—
'Mid loftier handmaids one there stands
Dark as the midnight's starry deeps,
A Slave, gem-crowned, from Nubia's sands—
O thou whose light is in thy heart,
Reverence, love's mother! without thee
Science may soar awhile; but Art
Drifts barren o'er a shoreless sea.
Reverence, love's mother! without thee
Science may soar awhile; but Art
Drifts barren o'er a shoreless sea.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |