Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
I. AdmirationAt the Church-Gate
William Makepeace Thackeray (18111863)A
Yet round about the spot
Ofttimes I hover;
And near the sacred gate
With longing eyes I wait,
Expectant of her.
Above the city’s rout,
And noise and humming;
They ’ve hushed the minster bell;
The organ ’gins to swell;
She ’s coming, coming!
Timid and stepping fast,
And hastening hither,
With modest eyes downcast;
She comes,—she ’s here, she ’s past!
May Heaven go with her!
Pour out your praise or plaint
Meekly and duly;
I will not enter there,
To sully your pure prayer
With thoughts unruly.
Round the forbidden place,
Lingering a minute,
Like outcast spirits, who wait,
And see, through heaven’s gate,
Angels within it.