ONE set apart in days of old From crowded haunts and mortal eyes, Saw gates, like leaves of pearl unfold, And heard the harps of Paradise, While o'er his thoughts, a hallowed spell, The present sense of heaven, fell. So, shimmering through the mountain mist I, too, a miracle behold: A temple, brave with amethyst, And opal tints and gleams of gold, In mystic beauty deigns to rear Its pomps of pillared splendor here. Fair house of God, not made with hands, Thy walls are laid beneath the sea; Thy glittering arches span the lands In light aerial symmetry; Thy dome is crowned with living fire, Thou long enchantment of desire. And far along thy sweeping nave Are fragrant censers swinging low; And sweet from solemn architrave The blending echoes meet and flow— As bird and flower, awakening, pour Their rapture through thine open door. O silver dawn! O listening hush! O kindling glory of the morn! What beauty in the roseate flush, What sheen of gems on leaf and thorn! How near to God the spirit waits Who worships in the morning gates. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PHANTOM KISS by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR CUPID AND CAMPASPE, FR. ALEXANDER AND CAMPASPE by JOHN LYLY THE LITTLE HILL by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY TASTING THE EARTH by JAMES OPPENHEIM THE CLERKS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE CENTAURS by JAMES STEPHENS MY PRAYER FOR TODAY by MAUD AKERS SARGENT'S PORTRAIT OF EDWIN BOOTH AT THE PLAYERS by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |