FOR this, for this was I foreseen, For this was born and made, To make a house 'mid leaves green All in a tender shade. To build a house both warm and kind Amid the sad world's dearth. God had the children in His mind The hour He gave me birth. For this He tempered wind and storm, Kept me in heat and chill, To build a house both bright and warm Against the powers of ill. To build a house on a clear height, Nor see its light grow dim, That draws the children home by night And keeps a thought of Him. I set a light on a high hill And from their heavenly place The children's angels, grave and still, They say: God give you grace! For this, for this was I fashioned, To give them back again, Some day—come kiss me, Golden-Head!— Without a fleck or stain. I am the servant of the Lord. If one day He should tell: Now name thine own fee and reward Who kept My trust so well. Lord: I would say: Thou hast repaid, Yea, more than seven times seven, Who in a house in a green shade Made me the children's heaven. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PLAIN LANGUAGE FROM TRUTHFUL JAMES by FRANCIS BRET HARTE THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM BY THE BABYLONIAN HORDES by ISAAC ROSENBERG MERLIN AND THE GLEAM by ALFRED TENNYSON PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 87. AL-GHANI by EDWIN ARNOLD NEWS OF THE WORLD: 3 by GEORGE BARKER ASPIRATIONS: 2 by MATHILDE BLIND TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 4. BELIEVE YOURSELF A WHOLE by EDWARD CARPENTER |