Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MY HEAVEN, by CHARLES LOUIS HENRY WAGNER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MY HEAVEN, by                    
First Line: I had a dream, sweetheart, last night
Last Line: The heaven in your love.
Subject(s): Dreams; Future Life; Heaven; Love; Love - Nature Of; Nightmares; Retribution; Eternity; After Life; Paradise


I had a dream, sweetheart, last night,
The strangest I have known,
I dreamed my soul had taken flight
Into a boundless zone;
It seemed as if each finite cord
Which held my soul below
Had parted strands and I had soared
To realms no mortals know.

No wings I owned, but yet I flew
Through countless miles of space
Impelled by some great power which drew
Me towards a gorgeous place;
I saw four walls of purest white
Capped with great blocks of gold,
And all gave forth resplendent light,
'Twas marvelous to behold.

And in the walls I saw a door
With locks of burnished brass,
And o'er its top these words it bore,
"None but the poor can pass."
I knew straightway that this must be
The heavenly home of bliss
Which every mortal longs to see
And no one wants to miss.

And glad was I to reach that place
Which knows no earthly pain,
I felt quite sure that in my case
Such poverty was plain.
I boldly knocked and waited long
Before I heard a sound,
I wondered what there could be wrong,
Why no one was around.

But finally the hinges creaked,
The door an inch did stir,
And from behind St. Peter peeked
And said, "What would you, sir?"
I answered, "Peter, I demand
An entrance now within,
A penitent and poor I stand,
I'm free from riches' sin.

A wealthy poet never breathed,
The fates have so ordained,
My rhymes alone I have bequeathed
To those who have remained."
St. Peter looked on me askance
And said, "Pray tell me this,
If ever by the merest chance
You've tasted Heaven's bliss."

"Why, yes," I said, "'Twas when I heard
My sweetheart whisper low
A single, solitary word,
And saw her blushes glow,
And felt her sweet lips pressed to mine,
And knew she cared for me
With a pure love almost divine,
'Twas bliss if such could be."

Again St. Peter to me spake
And said, "Go back, young man!
You've made a terrible mistake,
Go back while yet you can;
For you there is no greater bliss,
In here or anywhere,
'Twas heaven you left, a sweetheart's kiss
Is wealth beyond compare!

You are too rich to enter here,
There's nothing new within
To compensate for that I fear,
If I do let you in;

Go seek your heaven from whence you came,
I cannot give you more,
I wish that I could have the same;"
With that he shut the door.

And then it seemed as though I fell
Back to the earth again,
And then awoke all sound and well
Amidst the haunts of men.

I wrote this dream because, my dear,
It taught that naught above
Contains such bliss as I've found here,
The Heaven in your love.





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