 | Verse in bloom |  |
15
THEIR SACRAMENT
“While you and I are standing underneath
An edge of moon, before the birth of rest,
To hear the nightjar calling on the heath
That England lends him as a bridal guest,
Our hearts, being mated now and well-content,
So call each other by the deathless tune
Of ecstasy, that lips on lips are spent
In teaching dawn the miracle of noon,
And Love himself is satisfied with June.
An edge of moon, before the birth of rest,
To hear the nightjar calling on the heath
That England lends him as a bridal guest,
Our hearts, being mated now and well-content,
So call each other by the deathless tune
Of ecstasy, that lips on lips are spent
In teaching dawn the miracle of noon,
And Love himself is satisfied with June.
“This is new knowledge honied to delight;
And we, as scholars of emotion, stand
In quick and grave acceptance of a night
By wings of Joy and Revelation fanned.
I bend my head above the touching grace
Of hair and temples, studying the gleam
Of bright unearthliness upon the face
That, even snowier than an infant beam
Surrendered by the moon, is living dream.
And we, as scholars of emotion, stand
In quick and grave acceptance of a night
By wings of Joy and Revelation fanned.
I bend my head above the touching grace
Of hair and temples, studying the gleam
Of bright unearthliness upon the face
16
Surrendered by the moon, is living dream.
“This is the meeting-point of pilgrims tired
By uncompanioned travel in the vast
Expanse of duty; valorous, and fired
With hope of exultation won at last.
This is the moment when the thirsty miles
Accept their fountains; when the saviour green
Conceals the rock; when all the desert smiles
Forgetful of the sand that once had been,
For half a life, the only footing seen.
By uncompanioned travel in the vast
Expanse of duty; valorous, and fired
With hope of exultation won at last.
This is the moment when the thirsty miles
Accept their fountains; when the saviour green
Conceals the rock; when all the desert smiles
Forgetful of the sand that once had been,
For half a life, the only footing seen.
“Had I but known how certainly I fared
Toward the bright oasis that is You,
The leagues of desert had been bravelier dared,
The scorching furnace in the naked blue;
Yet now Immensities are satisfied
To grant this absolution from the test:
I feel beneath my hand your bending side,
And know that when my head desires to rest
You want it as the loading of your breast.
Toward the bright oasis that is You,
The leagues of desert had been bravelier dared,
The scorching furnace in the naked blue;
Yet now Immensities are satisfied
To grant this absolution from the test:
I feel beneath my hand your bending side,
And know that when my head desires to rest
You want it as the loading of your breast.
“Once more the nightjar sounds the piercing truth
Entrusted to his brain when Wisdom's hand
Fell open, and a child of Love and Youth
Was dropped upon the sheltering heatherland.
You turn to me and sing your heart with eyes
Of stilly music. In the world above,
Beyond the veiling of a million skies,
The angels, watching as we homeward move,
Run to their King and cry for human love.”
Entrusted to his brain when Wisdom's hand
17
Was dropped upon the sheltering heatherland.
You turn to me and sing your heart with eyes
Of stilly music. In the world above,
Beyond the veiling of a million skies,
The angels, watching as we homeward move,
Run to their King and cry for human love.”
| Verse in bloom | |