 | Early and late poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary |  |
261
A VISION.
Once kneeling with my soul alone,
When all was dark as dark may be,
A great light round about me shone,
And God the Spirit came to me.
When all was dark as dark may be,
A great light round about me shone,
And God the Spirit came to me.
Along my garden, where there grew
Sharp thistles at the daylight's close,
In the clear morning, wet with dew,
Came up the cedar and the rose.
Sharp thistles at the daylight's close,
In the clear morning, wet with dew,
Came up the cedar and the rose.
Ambition, pride—how dwarfed and vain!
And from my forehead, bowed in prayer,
Fell off the burning crown of pain,
And God the Son was with me there.
And from my forehead, bowed in prayer,
Fell off the burning crown of pain,
And God the Son was with me there.
No more with sinful sorrow bowed,
How pleasant seemed the Christian strife!
The angel coming in the cloud
Had brightened all the hills of life.
How pleasant seemed the Christian strife!
The angel coming in the cloud
Had brightened all the hills of life.
I saw the bruisèd serpent go
From Eden, lately darkly dim;
Man to his ancient stature grow,
And God the Father talk with him.
From Eden, lately darkly dim;
Man to his ancient stature grow,
And God the Father talk with him.
Was some great inspiration there
That o'er me never more shall be?
Or could I make my life as fair
As in that vision, Holy Three?
That o'er me never more shall be?
Or could I make my life as fair
As in that vision, Holy Three?
| Early and late poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary | |