I Went Down Into the Desert
I went down into the desert
To meet Elijah—
Or some one like, arisen from the dead.
I thought to find him in an echoing cave,
For so my dream had said.
I went down into the desert
To meet John the Baptist.
I walked with feet that bled,
Seeking that prophet, lean and brown and bold.
I spied foul fiends instead.
I went down into the desert
To meet my God,
By Him be comforted.
I went down into the desert
To meet my God
And I met the Devil in Red.
I went down into the desert
To meet my God.
Oh Lord, my God, awaken from the dead!
I see you there, your thorn-crown on the ground—
I see you there, half-buried in the sand—
I see you there, your white bones glistening, bare,
The carrion birds a-wheeling round your head!
Encountered on the Streets of the City
The Church of Vision and Dream
Is it for naught that where the tired crowds see
Only a place for trade, a teeming square,
Doors of high portent open unto me
Carved with great eagles, and with Hawthorns rare?
Doors I proclaim, for there are rooms forgot
Ripened through æons by the good and wise:
Walls set with Art’s own pearl and amethyst
Angel-wrought hangings there, and heaven-hued dyes:—
Dazzling the eye of faith, the hope-filled heart:—
Rooms rich in records of old deeds sublime:
Books that hold garnered harvests of far lands
Pictures that tableau Man’s triumphant climb:
Statues so white, so counterfeiting life,
Bronze so ennobled, so with glory fraught
That the tired eyes must weep with joy to see,
And the tired mind in Beauty’s net be caught.
Come, enter there, and meet Tomorrow’s Man,
Communing with him softly, day by day.
Ah, the deep vistas he reveals, the dream
Of Angel-bands in infinite array—
Bright angel-bands that dance in paths of earth
When our despairs are gone, long overpast—
When men and maidens give fair hearts to Christ
And white streets flame in righteous peace at last!