"And from the silence multiplied
By these still forms on every side,
The world that time and sense have known
Falls off and leaves us God alone.
So to the calmly gathered thought
The innermost of Truth is taught,
The mystery dimly understood
That love of God is love of Good;
That Book and Church and Day are given
For man, not God; for earth, not heaven;
The blessed means to holier ends
Not masters, but benignant friends;
That the dear Christ dwells not afar
The King of some remoter star,
Listening at times, with flattered ear
To homage wrung from selfish fear;
But here amidst the poor and blind,
The bound and suffering of our kind;
In works we do, in prayers we pray,
Life of our life, He lives to-day."
