| Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917. |
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| 375. Foreword |
| By Wilfred Rowland Mary Childe (b. 1890) |
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A Song of the Little City
AT intervals of tunes | |
| And under lonely towers, | |
| Where silences of noons | |
| Cover their secret flowers, | |
| In places no one knows, | 5 |
| Where winding ways go down, | |
| In the dim heart of a rose, | |
| I find the Little Town. | |
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| When my soul wearieth | |
| Of cities proud and great, | 10 |
| Whose skies are dark as death, | |
| But gold is in their gate: | |
| When my soul sorry is | |
| For ships of great renown, | |
| And rich men’s palaces, | 15 |
| I seek the Little Town. | |
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| Upon a hill it stands, | |
| Built up with quiet walls, | |
| Guarding inviolate lands, | |
| A place of festivals, | 20 |
| A place of happy bells, | |
| Where comes no earthly one, | |
| Beyond the heavens and hells, | |
| Between the moon and sun. | |
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| Between the moon and sun, | 25 |
| Far, far beyond the stars, | |
| Where comes not any one, | |
| Nor roll the great world’s cars, | |
| With an angel all day through, | |
| That wears a golden crown, | 30 |
| And is robed in red and blue, | |
| I find the Little Town. | |
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| Fountains are playing there, | |
| And children dance all day, | |
| Who are far lovelier | 35 |
| Than any fabled fay, | |
| And in their festivals | |
| Far, far away behold, | |
| From the high carven walls, | |
| Dim mountains made of gold. | 40 |
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| And high above it all, | |
| With arches rich and fine, | |
| A minster towering tall | |
| Proclaims the place divine: | |
| Where none to veil Him be, | 45 |
| And the birds of Eden sing, | |
| I find the lord of me, | |
| The Little City’s King. | |
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