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9
ROSA MYSTICA
This rose so exquisite,
So perfect, so complete,
Beauty beyond all price,
With the hour it dies.
So perfect, so complete,
Beauty beyond all price,
With the hour it dies.
God makes Him roses fast,
With such magnificent haste,
Multitudes, multitudes
In gardens, fields, and woods.
With such magnificent haste,
Multitudes, multitudes
In gardens, fields, and woods.
The roses tell His praise
Their little length of days;
Testify to His name
Gold on gold, flame on flame.
Their little length of days;
Testify to His name
Gold on gold, flame on flame.
They are scarce here, scarce blown
But they are gone, are flown;
The gardener's broom must sweep them
And in the darkness heap them.
But they are gone, are flown;
The gardener's broom must sweep them
And in the darkness heap them.
Drift of rose-leaves upon
The garden-bed, the lawn:
The exquisite thought of God
Is scattered, wasted abroad.
The garden-bed, the lawn:
The exquisite thought of God
Is scattered, wasted abroad.
10
What of the soul of the rose?
It shall not die with those.
It shall wake, shall live again
In God's rose-garden.
It shall not die with those.
It shall wake, shall live again
In God's rose-garden.
It shall climb rose-trellises
Before God's palaces.
The Eternal Rose shall cover
The House of God all over.
Before God's palaces.
The Eternal Rose shall cover
The House of God all over.
She shall breathe out her soul
And yet living, made whole,
Shall offer her oblation
Out of her purest passion.
And yet living, made whole,
Shall offer her oblation
Out of her purest passion.
She shall know all bliss
Where God's garden is:
The rose drinking her fill is
Of joy with her sister lilies.
Where God's garden is:
The rose drinking her fill is
Of joy with her sister lilies.
Where the Water of Life sweet
Bathes her from head to feet
The River of Life flows—
There is the Rose.
Bathes her from head to feet
The River of Life flows—
There is the Rose.
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