Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922.
AmenArthur Christopher Benson (18621925)
R
Dim, unsubstantial wraith!
Return, thy votary saith
He needs thee now:
Thou wert serenely fair!
But some diviner air
Gleams on thy silver’d hair,
And crowns thy brow;
Shall rather sing than sigh,
In that great company
Of souls forlorn:
One with all hearts that break
For some belovèd’s sake,
The hopeless hearts, that ache
And dare not mourn.
Must sleep unsatisfied,—
Because Thy heart is wide,
And dim our ken,—
To that vast prayer that rolls
Beyond the frozen poles,
With all desirous souls
I cry, Amen.