23.
God, thou from death dost lift me. As I rise, Its Lethe from my garment drips and flows. Ere long I shall be safe in upper air, With thee, my life--with thee, my answered prayer Where thou art God in every wind that blows, And self alone, and ever, softly dies, There shall my being blossom, and I know it fair.
24.
I would dig, Master, in no field but thine, Would build my house only upon thy rock, Yet am but a dull day, with a sea-sheen! Why should I wonder then that they should mock, Who, in the limbo of things heard and seen, Hither and thither blowing, lose the shine Of every light that hangs in the firmament divine.
25.
Lord, loosen in me the hold of visible things; Help me to walk by faith and not by sight; I would, through thickest veils and coverings, See into the chambers of the living light. Lord, in the land of things that swell and seem, Help me to walk by the other light supreme, Which shows thy facts behind man's vaguely hinting dream.
26.
I see a little child whose eager hands Search the thick stream that drains the crowded street For possible things hid in its current slow. Near by, behind him, a great palace stands, Where kings might welcome nobles to their feet. Soft sounds, sweet scents, fair sights there only go-- There the child's father lives, but the child does not know.
27.
On, eager, hungry, busy-seeking child, Rise up, turn round, run in, run up the stair. Far in a chamber from rude noise exiled, Thy father sits, pondering how thou dost fare. The mighty man will clasp thee to his breast: Will kiss thee, stroke the tangles of thy hair, And lap thee warm in fold on fold of lovely rest.
28.
The prince of this world came, and nothing found In thee, O master; but, ah, woe is me! He cannot pass me, on other business bound, But, spying in me things familiar, he Casts over me the shadow of his flight, And straight I moan in darkness--and the fight Begins afresh betwixt the world and thee.
29.
In my own heart, O master, in my thought, Betwixt the woolly sheep and hairy goat Not clearly I distinguish; but I think Thou knowest that I fight upon thy side. The how I am ashamed of; for I shrink From many a blow--am borne on the battle-tide, When I should rush to the front, and take thy foe by the throat.
30.
The enemy still hath many things in me; Yea, many an evil nest with open hole Gapes out to him, at which he enters free. But, like the impact of a burning coal, His presence mere straight rouses the garrison, And all are up in arms, and down on knee, Fighting and praying till the foe is gone.