SUNLIGHT
Sunlight is full of age.
Ah, so old!
Older than any sage
Has ever told!
The draught our Lord quaffed up
To the bloody lees;
The aching hemlock cup
Of Socrates.
It is a golden sword;
The veil of the Grail;
The unfathomable Word
That will not fail.
Along a summer street
It often lies
Shimmering to repeat
Immortal paradise.
As a mountain lake can mirror
The exalted with the near,
Heaven's wonder and terror—
Both shine here.
It says all things in nought;
And, saying them, passes
To gild like gentle thought
Trees and grasses.
It sways upon the ocean
Like a god asleep
Where the waves' wandering motion
Hides the deep.
It shafts through forest aisles
Like miracle;
It trembles and smiles
On the lip of Hell.
It has touched Greece and Rome
And Persia's might—
And stirs the vines of home
With flickering light.