But the stern warden of the Gate
Broke his dread sword upon his knees,
And opened wide the fields where wait
The loveless unremembered trees,
The sealed and silent mysteries.
And the scales fell from man’s eyes,
And his heart woke again, as when
Adam found Eve in Paradise;
And joy was made complete ... and then
God entered in and spoke with men.
THE HOLY SPRING
THE radiant feet of Christ now lead
The dancing sunny hours,
The ancient Earth is young again
With growing grass and warm white rain
And hedgerows full of flowers.
The lilac and laburnum show
The glory of their bud,
And scattered on each hawthorn spray
The snow-white and the crimson may—
The may as red as blood.
The bluebells in the deep dim woods
Like fallen heavens lie,
And daffodils and daffodils
Upon a thousand little hills
Are waving to the sky.
The corn imprisoned in the mould
Has burst its wintry tomb,
And on each burdened orchard tree
Which stood an austere calvary
The apple blossom bloom.
The kiss of Christ has brought to life
The marvel of the sod.
Oh, joy has rent its chrysalis
To flash its jewelled wings, and is
A dream of beauty and of bliss—
The loveliness of God.