He crosses the road to give them room
As he takes his evening beat;
He also knows that heaven may look
Like a rainy London street.
A LONDON IDYLL
II
Just to all of us once there comes
This splendour and wonder of love,
When the earth is transmuted to silver and gold,
And heaven opens above;
When all we have ever seen with our eyes,
Daily, under the sun,
Seems like a miracle, happening again
To us two, instead of to one.
When there is nothing so ugly or mean,
But somehow shimmers and glows
In that light, whose spring is within our hearts
And whose stream o'er the wide earth flows.
When the spirit of us that is prisoned within
Seems at last to have wings,
And, soaring, looks with no common eyes
On no other than common things;
When we may freely enter and share
Heaven's splendour and mirth—
Just for a moment to all of us comes
This glory of love upon earth.