 | The Poems of A. C. Benson |  |
273
A SERMON
I know not what the preacher said:—
His words fell muffled in a dream,
By clause and clause, from head to head,
He traced a sad and subtle scheme;
His words fell muffled in a dream,
By clause and clause, from head to head,
He traced a sad and subtle scheme;
Through legal maze, on dizzy height,
The curious metaphysic trode:
He held with all his tedious might,
The mirror to the mind of God.
The curious metaphysic trode:
He held with all his tedious might,
The mirror to the mind of God.
The mind of God! and all the while
His large wind thundered in the tower,
And on the casements of the aisle
Pelted and tapped the driving shower:
His large wind thundered in the tower,
And on the casements of the aisle
Pelted and tapped the driving shower:
Old grandsires shivered at the sound;
How cold among the slanting stones,
The comfortless and ugly ground,
Where they must lay their aching bones!
How cold among the slanting stones,
The comfortless and ugly ground,
Where they must lay their aching bones!
While lovers sat in blushing thought,
And heeded not the unkindly skies;—
But with an awkward rapture caught
The sudden glance of wistful eyes.
And heeded not the unkindly skies;—
But with an awkward rapture caught
The sudden glance of wistful eyes.
| The Poems of A. C. Benson | |