PHILIP, on thee the glowing ray Of heaven came down upon thy prayer, To melt thy heart, and burn away All that of earthly dross was there. Thy soul became as purest glass, Through which the Brightness Incarnate In undimm'd majesty might pass, Transparent and illuminate. And so, on Philip when we gaze, We see the image of his Lord; The Saint dissolves amid the blaze Which circles round the Living Word. The Meek, the Wise, none else is here, Dispensing light to men below; His awful accents fill the ear, Now keen as fire, now soft as snow. As snow, those inward pleadings fall, As soft, as bright, as pure, as cool, With gentle weight and gradual, And sink into the feverish soul. The Sinless One, He comes to seek, The dreary heart, the spirit lone, Tender of natures proud or weak, Not less than if they were His own. He takes and scans the sinner o'er, Handling His scholars one by one, Weighing what they can bear, before He gives the penance to be done. Jesu, to Philip's sons reveal That gentlest wisdom from above, To spread compassion o'er their zeal, And mingle patience with their love. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SUNSET: ST. LOUIS by SARA TEASDALE NICHOLAS NYE by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE THE POET AND HIS BOOK by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY LEXINGTON; 1775 by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THOUGHT OF A BRITON ON THE SUBJUGATION OF SWITZERLAND by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH THE SORROW OF LOVE (2) by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS A DIALOGUE (TO BE SUNG TO THE VIOL, BY A BASE, AND A TREBLE) by JOSEPH BEAUMONT |