Beautiful, oh beautiful-
In all the mountain passes
The plenteous dowers of April showers,
Which every spring amasses,
...
Tell us, tell us, holy shepherds,
What at Bethlehem you saw.-
'Very God of Very God
'Asleep amid the straw.'
...
Here in the flats that encompass the hills called Beautiful, lying,
O Beloved, behold a Pilgrim who fain would be sleeping,
...
Come to me, Belovèd,
Babe of Bethlehem;
Lay aside Thy Sceptre
And Thy Diadem.
...
Beyond the calumny and wrong,
Beyond the clamour and the throng,
Beyond the praise and triumph-song
He passed.
...
My Love, and once again my Love,
And then no more until the end,
Until the waters cease to move,
Until we rest within the Ark,
...
On the tender myrtle-branches,
In the meadow lotus-grassèd,
While the wearied sunlight softly
To the Happy Islands passèd,-
...
I asked for Peace-
My sins arose,
And bound me close,
I could not find release.
...
My sister Death! I pray thee come to me
Of thy sweet charity,
And be my nurse but for a little while;
I will indeed lie still,
...
O, a moon face
In a shadowy place.
Lean over me-ah so,-let fall
...