From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.
aher aruhah aher
thus he: er, not to press,
but did you sleep well? thus I: yes
however, somewhen in between
answer and question, I was seen
my eyes to close so as to think,
so as to open thought: I blink
thus in the twinkling of an eye
(to rise again) I blink, I die
Behold,
I shew you a mystery;
We shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed
In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye
trumpted (at last),
my thankful words:
at once a journey I pursue
and travel heaven; to my view
(still blind) is opened all I had
in life of knowledge, good or bad
and this dead seeing without sight
gives me to know wherein I might
on earth have seen all I now see:
all this there dwells in things that be
so blinking (still) I live the task
again of sleep, of which would ask
my host of me--and though my face
I hide from him, he sees its place
because he asks my yea, my nay--
no more, no less; to him I may
express my joy, or e'en my hell,
arising at his one word: well
in his regard, beholding me,
I only blink--but so I see
at last this point: that not of fact--
but face--he asks, and hence his tact
so my well-sleeping translates thus:
was not the bed (because it was)
my nightly pall, made holy by
preparer's touch, beneath God's sky?
and so made whole, made hale, complete,
made healthy, holy, was the sheet
(that covered me on last night's bier)
by providential host: my seer
he bids abiding with abode;
and in the end what love he showed
was only manifest in things,
in matter he made motherings
so for all things this host makes mine
(the morning's bread, the morning's wine,
with which he'll speed me on my way),
I'll praise him--must--if e'er comes day
at last a calling he does press
on me, that opens my eyes; yes
I see now plate and cup are traced
in his hale hands, which me have raised
