25 March 2015

"My eyes for beauty pine", Robert Bridges

My eyes for beauty pine,
My soul for Goddës grace:
No other care nor hope is mine,
To heaven I turn my face.

One splendour thence is shed
From all the stars above:
'Tis named when God's name is said,
'Tis Love, 'tis heavenly Love.

And every gentle heart,
That burns with true desire,
Is lit from eyes that mirror part
Of that celestial fire.

(One is compelled to mention the lovely Howells anthem that is a setting of this text. Why, even average church choirs can — and should — sing it.)

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