Poems by Hartley Coleridge With a Memoir of his Life by his Brother. In Two Volumes |
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RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES. |
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 | Poems by Hartley Coleridge |  |
376
RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES.
Yea, we do differ, differ still we must,
For language is the type of thought, and thought
The slave of sense; and sense is only fraught
With cheques and tokens taken upon trust,
Not for their worth but promise. Earth is all
One mighty parable of Hell and Heaven.
The portion we can read at best is small;
'Tis little that we know, and if befal
That faith do wander, like the restless raven,
That rather chose without an aim to roam
O'er the blank world of waters, than to seek
In the one sacred ark, a duteous home,
May good be with it! Yet the bird so meek,
The missive dove, that ne'er begrudged her pain,
But duly to the ark return'd again,
And brought at last the promise and the pledge
Of peace, hath won a dearer privilege,—
For language is the type of thought, and thought
The slave of sense; and sense is only fraught
With cheques and tokens taken upon trust,
Not for their worth but promise. Earth is all
One mighty parable of Hell and Heaven.
The portion we can read at best is small;
'Tis little that we know, and if befal
That faith do wander, like the restless raven,
That rather chose without an aim to roam
O'er the blank world of waters, than to seek
In the one sacred ark, a duteous home,
May good be with it! Yet the bird so meek,
The missive dove, that ne'er begrudged her pain,
But duly to the ark return'd again,
And brought at last the promise and the pledge
Of peace, hath won a dearer privilege,—
377
To be of birds the most beloved—of maids
To be the emblem—the security
Of mother's love and wedded purity!
And see the mystic dove that sinks and fades
In unreflected light on Jordan river,
Upon the Mighty Sin Forgiver!
Sweet dove, sweet image of the faith that rests
All doubts, all questions past,
In babe-like love at last,
With that dear Babe divine, between the Virgin's breasts.
To be the emblem—the security
Of mother's love and wedded purity!
And see the mystic dove that sinks and fades
In unreflected light on Jordan river,
Upon the Mighty Sin Forgiver!
Sweet dove, sweet image of the faith that rests
All doubts, all questions past,
In babe-like love at last,
With that dear Babe divine, between the Virgin's breasts.
Yes, we do differ when we most agree,
For words are not the same to you and me.
And it may be our several spiritual needs
Are best supplied by seeming different creeds.
And differing, we agree in one
Inseparable communion,
If the true life be in our hearts—the faith,
Which not to want is death;
To want is penance; to desire
Is purgatorial fire;
To hope, is paradise; and to believe
Is all of Heaven that earth can e'er receive.
For words are not the same to you and me.
And it may be our several spiritual needs
Are best supplied by seeming different creeds.
And differing, we agree in one
Inseparable communion,
If the true life be in our hearts—the faith,
Which not to want is death;
To want is penance; to desire
Is purgatorial fire;
To hope, is paradise; and to believe
Is all of Heaven that earth can e'er receive.
| Poems by Hartley Coleridge | |