Henry Charles Beeching, ed. (1859–1919). Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse. 1903.
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THERE 1 is a shrine whose golden gate | |
Was opened by the Hand of God; | |
It stands serene, inviolate, | |
Though millions have its pavement trod; | |
As fresh as when the first sunrise | 5 |
Awoke the lark in Paradise. | |
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’Tis compass’d with the dust and toil | |
Of common days, yet should there fall | |
A single speck, a single soil, | |
Upon the whiteness of its wall, | 10 |
The angels’ tears in tender rain | |
Would make the temple theirs again. | |
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Without, the world is tired and old; | |
But once within the enchanted door, | |
The mists of time are backward rolled, | 15 |
And creeds and ages are no more, | |
But all the human-hearted meet | |
In one communion vast and sweet. | |
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I enter; all is simply fair, | |
Nor incense clouds, nor carven throne, | 20 |
But in the fragrant morning air | |
A gentle lady sits alone; | |
My mother—ah! whom should I see | |
Within, save ever only thee? | |