 | The silver bridge and other poems |  |
21
HETERODOXY.
Pray thee, put the sermon by,—vex my soul no more with creeds,
And the vague and slow rewards dealt to good and evil deeds;
I am tired of differing sects, with their various bigotry,—
Ah, for me death holds no terror but the fear of losing thee!
And the vague and slow rewards dealt to good and evil deeds;
I am tired of differing sects, with their various bigotry,—
Ah, for me death holds no terror but the fear of losing thee!
In a heaven apart from thee, could my exiled soul rejoice?
Could I join the angels' song, missing thence thy tender voice?
What to me were gates of pearl, if they parted thee and me?
What the streets so fair and golden, if I wandered lacking thee?
Could I join the angels' song, missing thence thy tender voice?
What to me were gates of pearl, if they parted thee and me?
What the streets so fair and golden, if I wandered lacking thee?
What to me would be the joys of that bright and wondrous land,
If among them all I sought vainly for thy loving hand?
What to me were pastures green, where thy feet could never be?
Or the paths beside still waters, if thou walkedst not with me?
If among them all I sought vainly for thy loving hand?
22
Or the paths beside still waters, if thou walkedst not with me?
Ah, wherever after death my still faithful soul may dwell,—
Saints may call it bliss or woe, they may name it heaven or hell,—
By thee only, O beloved, will my joy or pain be wrought,
I shall find my heaven beside thee, or my hell where thou art not!
Saints may call it bliss or woe, they may name it heaven or hell,—
By thee only, O beloved, will my joy or pain be wrought,
I shall find my heaven beside thee, or my hell where thou art not!
| The silver bridge and other poems | |