 | Songs Old and New |  |
162
THE BEAUTIFUL GATE OF THE TEMPLE.
Little familiar gate!
Gate of the home by the way!
Hour for which daily to wait,
Hour at the close of the day!
Gate of the home by the way!
Hour for which daily to wait,
Hour at the close of the day!
Hand in hand close pressed,
Arm never trusted in vain,
Hearts in each other at rest,
Home all home again!
Arm never trusted in vain,
Hearts in each other at rest,
Home all home again!
Gate through which all must pass,
Gate at the end of the way;—
Men call it a Gate of Brass,
A prison-gate, they say.
Gate at the end of the way;—
Men call it a Gate of Brass,
A prison-gate, they say.
They think it can only divide,
Pitiless, heavy, and strong;
But we who have looked inside
Know they have named it wrong:
Pitiless, heavy, and strong;
But we who have looked inside
Know they have named it wrong:
163
Know it not strong but weak,
Its bars all shattered and slight,
Mere bars of shadow that streak
And prove the inner light;
Gate where all bonds shall break,
All severed hearts unite.
Its bars all shattered and slight,
Mere bars of shadow that streak
And prove the inner light;
Gate where all bonds shall break,
All severed hearts unite.
Terrible, Beautiful Gate!
Gate of the Temple of God!
Well through the day we may wait
Till it open for us our abode.
Gate of the Temple of God!
Well through the day we may wait
Till it open for us our abode.
Hands in hands close pressed,
Hearts past all parting and pain,
In God and each other at rest,
Home all home again!
Hearts past all parting and pain,
In God and each other at rest,
Home all home again!
Beautiful Gate of Life!
Gate at the end of the way!
Well worth day's toil and strife
For that hour at the end of the day.
Gate at the end of the way!
Well worth day's toil and strife
For that hour at the end of the day.
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