The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse
AnastasisAlbert Ernest Stafford Smythe (18611947)
W
To gain the world—if he can—
And lose his soul, as they say
In their uninstructed way?
The whole of your soul! Too vain
You judge yourself in the cost.
’Tis you—not your soul—is lost.
You would reach to the Heaven’s blue,
To the heartmost centre sink,
Ere you severed the silver link,
And scattered in cosmic dust.
For your soul is a Shining Star
Where the Throne and the Angels are.
With the salve of his bottled tears,
Your soul shall gather again
From the dust of a world of pain
The man that you ought to be,
The man you may be to-night
If you turn to the Valley of Light.