WHY should we seek at all to gain By vigils, and in pain, By lonely life and empty heart, To set a soul apart Within a cloistered cell, For whom the precious, homely hearth would serve as well? There, with the early breaking morn, Ere quite the day is born, The lustral waters flow serene, And each again grows clean; From sleep, as from a tomb, Born to another dawn of joy, and hope, and doom. There through the sweet and toilsome day, To labour is to pray; There love with kindly beaming eyes Prepares the sacrifice; And voice and innocent smile Of childhood do our cheerful liturgies beguile. There, at his chaste and frugal feast, Love sitteth as a Priest; And with mild eyes and mien sedate, His deacons stand and wait; And round the holy table Paten and chalice range in order serviceable. And when ere night, the vespers said, Low lies each weary head, What giveth He who gives them sleep, But a brief death less deep? Or what the fair dreams given But ours who, daily dying, dream a happier heaven? Then not within a cloistered wall Will we expend our days; But dawns that break and eves that fall Shall bring their dues of praise. This best befits a Ruler always near, This duteous worship mild, and reasonable fear. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BUTCHER SHOP by DAVID IGNATOW ARMOR by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SHALL I SAY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DOMESDAY BOOK: JANE FISHER by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: JONAS KEENE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |