THE Door is flashing to and fro; The light leaps out in amber streams. I gather up a shaft and go Back to the sleeping hosts below And thread the light within their dreams -- And then I seek again the glow Where the Door flashes to and fro. The Door that flashes leads to Heaven, And none have seen it opened wide; But some have gathered up, as leaven, A golden portion of its tide -- And it is woven in my song With earthly fibres, lest its light Should blind the timid human sight With blazings bright and strong. His eyes are darkened still with sin, His ears are deadened to the Call, Whoever says he wandered in The blazing doors and learned the All. The creeds were writ with blood and hate, With here and there a golden glow That filtered through the jewelled Gate, The Door that flashes to and fro. To one in every host is given A glimpse beyond the flashing Door -- A daring glance -- and he is driven Back to his subterranean floor. But in his hair the light will burn; His eyes will wear the holy glow; And blinded hosts will rise and yearn The living Light he brought below. Sometimes an outcast, with a cry Of joy beside his dying fire Sees the swift portal flash on high, And runs to tell the hosts of Tyre; And hears the high priests mock and jeer, The jesters laugh, the wise men roar -- And finds not any man to hear His message of the flashing Door. If you would know what burns inside The Door that flashes to and fro, Bid swift adieu to creed and pride, And wash your linen white as snow, And go as any simple child Who filches pearls upon the shore, And you shall gather, undefiled, Some beauty of the flashing Door. Some day I'll hear the cymbals crash, The bugles break the frightened air. And see the golden portals flash With light that even for them is fair: And through the door I'll pass, and on, And on, beneath the sunless skies, Until I find the Eternal Dawn -- The shining of the Master's eyes. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AUTUMN by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON FICTION by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON I WANT TO LIVE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON ILLUSIONS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON QUEST by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE LONESOME CHILD by KATHERINE MANSFIELD CHILD OF MY HEART by EDWIN MARKHAM |