The kingdom of heaven is what?
Oh, what?
Would that the Infinite Presence which flows
Through a life on the earth finely cut
Might disclose!
The kingdom of heaven is whence?
Oh, whence?
Ah! let the wind and the breath of the rose
Their secrets of life and of sense
Dare disclose!
Could we then see the better whence spirit arose?
Who knows? Oh, who knows?
[HEROES.]
The heroes on the battlefield are calm in death,
Their fighting o'er;
They feel no more the fevered breath
Of battle's war;
They hear at last the voice that saith
"Fight on no more."
But oh, the heroes on the grander field of peace,
Who know no rest!
Whose hearts ne'er feel the full release
From mortal quest,
Nor breathe the air where struggles cease
The soul to test.
For such we mourn, O purifying soul of life,
For such we pray.
Let Nature free them from the strife
Of falsehood's way,
And Love through every struggle rife
Have free, full play.