 | "Until the Day Break," |  |
229
THE HILL BEYOND.
“Superat cacumine nubes.”
—Ovid, Met. i. 317.
—Ovid, Met. i. 317.
Deep lies the valley; in its hollows sleeps
The darkness stern and still—
Darkness that may be felt;
But clear and fair, above, beyond, there towers
The everlasting hill.
None like it here on earth—
The hill of God, upon whose boundless slopes
The holy myriads stray,
The host of the redeemed;
The hill of heaven, on which the splendour rests
Of never-ending day,
The day without a sun.
The darkness stern and still—
Darkness that may be felt;
But clear and fair, above, beyond, there towers
The everlasting hill.
None like it here on earth—
The hill of God, upon whose boundless slopes
The holy myriads stray,
The host of the redeemed;
The hill of heaven, on which the splendour rests
Of never-ending day,
The day without a sun.
230
Into these depths we go, as, step by step,
This life moves downward still
Into the place of tombs.
Yet not on these we fix our eye, but on
The everlasting hill,
Beyond the place of tombs—
The hill of life, where sparkle all in dew
Flowers of an endless May,
Roses of life and love;
The hill of light, upon which rests the kiss
Of the unchanging day
Day of the deathless host.
This life moves downward still
Into the place of tombs.
Yet not on these we fix our eye, but on
The everlasting hill,
Beyond the place of tombs—
The hill of life, where sparkle all in dew
Flowers of an endless May,
Roses of life and love;
The hill of light, upon which rests the kiss
Of the unchanging day
Day of the deathless host.
Dark are these depths beneath; the eye in vain
Attempts to probe the gloom,
Corruption's awful cell,
From which all beauty and all love have fled;
The life-absorbing tomb,
The treasure-house of dust.
Fair are the heights beyond, which sweetly tell
Of unextinguished love,
Of reunited hearts,
Unwrinkled foreheads and unweeping eyes;
The tree of life above,
Eternal fruit and shade!
Attempts to probe the gloom,
Corruption's awful cell,
From which all beauty and all love have fled;
The life-absorbing tomb,
The treasure-house of dust.
231
Of unextinguished love,
Of reunited hearts,
Unwrinkled foreheads and unweeping eyes;
The tree of life above,
Eternal fruit and shade!
All perfect; not a wrinkle on the brow
Of that wide blue serene,
On which no stain can come.
All lucent; not a shade across these orbs
That o'er us calmly lean,
And watch us in their love.
'Tis the true morning then; the night is past,
And comes not back again
To overshadow us.
In the pure light of God, ourselves all pure,
Without a shade or stain,
We dwell for evermore.
Of that wide blue serene,
On which no stain can come.
All lucent; not a shade across these orbs
That o'er us calmly lean,
And watch us in their love.
'Tis the true morning then; the night is past,
And comes not back again
To overshadow us.
In the pure light of God, ourselves all pure,
Without a shade or stain,
We dwell for evermore.
| "Until the Day Break," | |