And fought for truth and love, and taken part

In the eighth day’s creation—God-inspired Art.

And now our island earth, our bounded home

Took new dimensions,—Time transfigured Space;

And we beheld vast realms through which to roam

Within the limits of our dwelling-place.

Dim pathways of the past we turned to pace,

And far receding vistas of the years

Opened old wonderlands; ’twas ours to trace

The labyrinths of love, the vales of tears,{51}

{51}

And toward the unknown future march as pioneers.

Along the borders of that beaten way

Was many a landmark of man’s mortal fate;

But hope was ever written in decay,

And simple things interpreted the great.

A charm was in the wild flowers to translate

Death’s ruth, a benediction in the stone

Of ruined abbey walls to consecrate

The skies that roofed them, and to link the lone

 Prev. P 41/104 next