THE ONE OBLATION
God does not need your virtue
Proclaimed in any place,
Who knows a better beauty
Than such a pious face!
The stars keep His commandments,
The suns observe His law
And all the countless comets
Bow down to Him in awe.
God does not want your temples,
Whose domes are in the sky;
With archangelic anthems
How dare we mortals vie?
One thing alone, my brothers,
Rivals that bliss above:
Not incense on an altar,
But man's oblation—Love!
A QUESTION
Have you Christ found—
Whose eyes are cold
And lips are set?
How you forget
That day of old,
When on the ground
He wrote one tender word:
"Let him who has not erred
Be first of these alone
To cast a stone!"
COMBATANTS
My God and I met at the ford—
Lightning of wrath was on His face,
And in His hand He held a sword!
He whom of old I had adored
Now challenged me! I paused a space—
My God and I met at the ford.