[When its higher faith this heart denies]
When its higher faith this heart denies,
Bare and open to the world's glare lies,
Presently, ye blessëd ones, ye seem
Turning hither sad reproachful eyes;
Gaze ye then on this unholy heart
With a solemn and a sad surprise.
‘When we left you,’ so the voices come,
‘When the last light faded from our eyes,
When the last farewells found hardly way,
Hardly spoken amid sobs and sighs,
Was not this our trust in death, that ye
Would to God be faithful anywise,
That one love to Him would link us yet,
You on earth, and us in Paradise?’
—O ye blessëd voices of rebuke,
When ye reach me, straightway I arise;
And exclaim I, bidding to depart
The world's flatteries, and lures, and lies,
‘Grant us ever to keep faith with Thee,
Lord, and with our saints in Paradise.’
