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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

JUDGEMENT by CHARLES WILLIAMS

First Line: FAREWELL, MY DAY, YET ERE THOU ART QUITE DEPARTED
Last Line: THOU WHO ART CHRIST, CHRIST WHO IS MORE THAN THOU.
Subject(s): JESUS CHRIST; JUDGMENT DAY; END OF THE WORLD; DOOMSDAY; FALL OF MAN;
FAREWELL, my Day, yet ere thou art quite departed,
Say, invok'd by this prayer, this last good-night,
How shall I find, by what sign know thee again,
In eternity entering when I behold thy dawn?

Thou and thy brothers there, equal in worth,
Children of Time (old riddle!) timelessly gathered,
Wait, sleeping in God till I come, then rise upon me,
Each a witness, a word, a sign, a judge in session,
Each with his passionate hour,—and which then was thine?

The first kiss of happy morn? the gesture that fits
Beauty, some epiphany perfect of perfect love
(Such is thy fortune, Fair, and such thy grace,
In a world insignificant thou significant wholly)?

Or, Day of bewilderment, shall I behold thee scarred
And my accuser, saying, 'Thus I avenge
Upon thee my wrongs, my wounds, and with mine Creation's'?

Merciful then, O Day, for this poem I bring,
This repentance, this reparation,—such thy due
From me, to whom be merciful then as now
Granting sweet sleep, as I bid thee good-night, my Day,
Thou who art Christ, Christ who is more than thou.



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