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 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
62
XIV.
Three worlds there are—the first of Sense—
That sensuous earth which round us lies;
The next, of Faith's Intelligence;
The third, of Glory, in the skies.
That sensuous earth which round us lies;
The next, of Faith's Intelligence;
The third, of Glory, in the skies.
The first is palpable, but base;
The second heavenly, but obscure;
The third is star-like in the face,
But ah! remote that world as pure.
The second heavenly, but obscure;
The third is star-like in the face,
But ah! remote that world as pure.
Yet, glancing through our misty clime,
Some sparkles from that loftier sphere
Make way to earth; then most what time
The annual spring-flowers re-appear.
Some sparkles from that loftier sphere
Make way to earth; then most what time
The annual spring-flowers re-appear.
Amid the coarser needs of earth
All shapes of brightness, what are they
But wanderers exiled from their birth
Or pledges of a happier day?
All shapes of brightness, what are they
But wanderers exiled from their birth
Or pledges of a happier day?
Yea, what is Beauty, judged aright,
But some surpassing, transient gleam;
Some smile from heaven, in waves of light
Rippling o'er life's distempered dream?
But some surpassing, transient gleam;
Some smile from heaven, in waves of light
Rippling o'er life's distempered dream?
Or broken memories of that bliss
Which rushed through first-born Nature's blood
When He who ever was, and is
Looked down, and saw that all was good?
Which rushed through first-born Nature's blood
When He who ever was, and is
Looked down, and saw that all was good?
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |