Here -- or hereafter -- you shall see it ended, This mighty work to which your souls are set; If from beyond -- then, with the vision splendid, You shall smile back and never know regret. Be this your vision! -- through you, Life transfigured, Uplift, redeemed from its forlorn estate, Purged of the stains which once its soul disfigured, Healed and restored, and wholly consecrate. Christ's own rich blood, for healing of the nations, Poured through His heart the message of reprieve; God's holy martyrs built on His foundations, Built with their lives and died that Life might live. Now, in their train, your blood shall bring like healing; You, like the saints, have freely given your all, And your high deaths, God's purposes revealing, Sound through the earth His mighty Clarion Call. O, not in vain has been your great endeavour; For, by your dyings, Life is born again, And greater love hath no man tokened ever, Than with his life to purchase Life's high gain. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FOR A' THAT AND A' THAT by CHARLES WILLIAM SHIRLEY BROOKS THE LONG WHITE SEAM by JEAN INGELOW FAIRYLAND (1) by EDGAR ALLAN POE PROUD MAISIE, FR. THE HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN by WALTER SCOTT DE RERUM NATURA: BOOK 3. AGAINST THE FEAR OF DEATH by TITUS LUCRETIUS CARUS THE MEDITATION OF THE OLD FISHERMAN by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS |