 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
63
XV.
Alas! not only loveliest eyes
And brows with lordliest lustre bright
But Nature's self, her woods and skies
The credulous heart can cheat or blight.
And brows with lordliest lustre bright
But Nature's self, her woods and skies
The credulous heart can cheat or blight.
And why? Because the sin of man
'Twixt Fair and Good has made divorce
And stained, since Evil first began,
That stream so heavenly at its source.
'Twixt Fair and Good has made divorce
And stained, since Evil first began,
That stream so heavenly at its source.
O perishable vales and groves!
Your master was not made for you:
Ye are but creatures! human loves
Are to the great Creator due.
Your master was not made for you:
Ye are but creatures! human loves
Are to the great Creator due.
And yet, through Nature's symbols dim
There are with keener sight that pierce
The outward husk and reach to Him
Whose garment is the universe.
There are with keener sight that pierce
The outward husk and reach to Him
Whose garment is the universe.
For this to earth the Saviour came
In flesh; in part for this He died;
That man might have in soul or frame
No faculty unsanctified.
In flesh; in part for this He died;
That man might have in soul or frame
No faculty unsanctified.
That Fancy's self, so prompt to lead
Through paths disastrous or defiled,
Upon the Tree of Life might feed;
And Sense with Soul be reconciled.
Through paths disastrous or defiled,
Upon the Tree of Life might feed;
And Sense with Soul be reconciled.
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