 | [Poems by Cary in] The poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary |  |
HEAVEN ON EARTH.
Oh, in this beautiful world I fain would deem
Some things, at least, are what they seem to me;
That deepest joy is no ideal dream,
Linking the thought to something yet to be.
Some things, at least, are what they seem to me;
That deepest joy is no ideal dream,
Linking the thought to something yet to be.
That in the living present, we can find
Enough to smooth the way beneath our feet,—
That where heart blends with heart and mind with mind,
Even life's bitterest bitter hath a sweet!
Enough to smooth the way beneath our feet,—
That where heart blends with heart and mind with mind,
Even life's bitterest bitter hath a sweet!
I 've dreamed of heaven—the full and perfect bliss
That waits the spirit in a larger sphere;
And, looking up, have found enough in this
To realize the rapturous vision here!
That waits the spirit in a larger sphere;
And, looking up, have found enough in this
To realize the rapturous vision here!
God hath made all things beautiful—the sky,
The common earth, the sunshine, and the shade;
And with affections that can never die,
Hath gifted every creature He hath made.
The common earth, the sunshine, and the shade;
And with affections that can never die,
Hath gifted every creature He hath made.
Oh they but mock us with a hollow lie,
Who made this goodly land a vale of tears;
For if the soul hath immortality,
This is the infancy of deathless years.
Who made this goodly land a vale of tears;
For if the soul hath immortality,
This is the infancy of deathless years.
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And if we live as God has given us power,
Heaven is begun: no blind fatality
Can shut the living soul from its high dower
Of shaping out a glorious destiny!
Heaven is begun: no blind fatality
Can shut the living soul from its high dower
Of shaping out a glorious destiny!
| [Poems by Cary in] The poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary | |