Orpheus

That wave of love, that sole exultant splendour Throned o’er all being, supreme, A single-shining beam Burning with love, unutterably tender. Ah! the calm wave retires. Down all the fearful fires Go thundering to darkness, so dissever Their being from pure being, that the river Of love is waveless now, and is pure love for ever. Then, mightier than all birth of stars or suns, Breaks the vast flood and trembles in its tide. Serene and splendid shine the mystic ones, Exult, appal, reiterate, abide. Timid and fleet the earth Comes rushing back to birth, Brighter and greener, radiant with gold Of a diviner sun, An exaltation Of life to life, of light to light untold. I? I remain, and see Across eternity My lover’s face, and gaze, and know the worth Of love’s life to the glowing earth, The kiss that wakes all life unto a better birth. So the swoon broke. I saw the face (Shining with Love's reverberate grace) 151