Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN HENRY VII'S CHAPEL, WESTMINSTER ABBEY, by FREDERICK WILLIAM HENRY MYERS


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IN HENRY VII'S CHAPEL, WESTMINSTER ABBEY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O holy heart of england! Inmost shrine
Last Line: Save god and such as she.
Alternate Author Name(s): Myers, Frederic
Subject(s): Henry Vii, King Of England (1457-1509); Westminster Abbey; Fitzroy, Henry, Duke Of Richmond; Tudor, Henry


O HOLY heart of England! inmost shrine
Of Mary's grace divine;
Proud aisles, where all things noble, all things high,
Her sweet soul magnify;
Vaults where the bones of mighty kings are laid,
Blest by a Mother-Maid!
One heart, great shrine, thou knewest then, be sure,
As thine own Mistress pure;
Eyes that like hers by supplication bless,
And reign by lowliness.
Oh solemn hour, and on Love's altar sent
Sun-fire for sacrament,
When in the age-old answers she and I
Made each to each reply;—
Ay, for a moment rose and were alone
With Him who was our own,
While wide on earth heaven's height made luminous
Shone, and the Lord on us.
O Priest, whose voice from that irradiant sun
Proclaimed the twain made one,—
Amid the banners of his Order spake
That oath no age can break!
Voice of a Ruler born to soothe and sway
Man on his wandering way,
Dowered with the courage glad, the wisdom mild,
Which keep the sage a child;
Whose high thoughts immanent have built him fair
A shrine in the upper air
Stainless, and still, and ever oftener trod
By messengers of God!
While to that voice amid those memories heard
Answered her underword,
No wonder if the Eternal Presence then
Seemed mute no more to men,
Nor gulf betwixt, nor any darkness shed
On souls miscalled the dead;
Since we and they, henceforth or long ago,
One life alone can know;—
Since from seas under earth to stars above
There is no joy but love,
Nor in God's house shall any glory be
Save God and such as she.





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