Beyond the gulf a gleaming strand
Of mansions where the righteous sup
Who sleep at ease among the trees,
Or wake to sing a cadenced hymn
With Cherubim and Seraphim;
They bore the cross, they drained the cup,
Racked, roasted, crushed, rent limb from limb—
They, the off-scouring of the world:
The heaven of starry heavens unfurled,
The sun before their face is dim.