They are all gone into the world of light! <br />And I alone sit ling'ring here; <br />Their very memory is fair and bright, <br />And my sad thoughts doth clear. <br /> <br />It glows and glitters in my cloudy breast, <br />Like stars upon some gloomy grove, <br />Or those faint beams in which this hill is drest <br />After the sun's remove. <br /> <br />I see them walking in an air of glory, <br />Whose light doth trample on my days: <br />My days, which are at best but dull and hoary, <br />Mere glimmering and decays. <br /> <br />O holy Hope! and high Humility, <br />High as the heavens above! <br />These are your walks, and you have show'd them me, <br />To kindle my cold love. <br /> <br />Dear, beauteous Death! the jewel of the Just, <br />Shining nowhere, but in the dark; <br />What mysteries do lie beyond thy dust, <br />Could man outlook that mark! <br /> <br />He that hath found some fledg'd bird's nest may know, <br />At first sight, if the bird be flown; <br />But what fair well or grove he sings in now, <br />That is to him unknown. <br /> <br />And yet as Angels in some brighter dreams <br />Call to the soul, when man doth sleep: <br />So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes, <br />And into glory peep. <br /> <br />If a star were confin'd into a tomb, <br />Her captive flames must needs burn there; <br />But when the hand that lock'd her up gives room, <br />She'll shine through all the sphere. <br /> <br />O Father of eternal life, and all <br />Created glories under Thee! <br />Resume Thy spirit from this world of thrall <br />Into true liberty. <br /> <br />Either disperse these mists, which blot and fill <br />My perspective still as they pass: <br />Or else remove me hence unto that hill, <br />Where I shall need no glass.<br /><br />Henry Vaughan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/beyond-the-veil-4/
