A COUNTRY LANE IN HEAVEN

THE exceeding weight of glory bowed My head, in that pure clime: I found a road that ran through cloud Along the coasts of Time.... Out of that mist of years there came A cross-barred gate of wood. I clutched, I kissed the unheavenly frame So hard, it trickled blood. My head upon the iron lay. I slobbered blood and foam. Yea, like a dog, I knew the way, A hundred yards from home. Iron and blood and wood! They knew The secret of that cry When the Eternal Passion drew Their Maker through—to die. I knew each little hawthorn-cloud Along my misty lane, Then my heart burst. She sobbed aloud, Between my arms again.