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. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FAT LADY by HAYDEN CARRUTH THEN AND NOW by CECIL DAY LEWIS PRIDE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE YEAR'S AWAKENING by THOMAS HARDY DEEDS OF VALOR AT SANTIAGO by CLINTON SCOLLARD A GENTLE ECHO ON WOMAN (IN THE DORIC MANNER) by JONATHAN SWIFT THE RAGGED WOOD by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS |