England's Antiphon

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DESOLATION.

O
say not thou art left of God,
Because His tokens in the sky

Thou canst not read: this earth He trod

To teach thee He was ever nigh.

He sees, beneath the fig-tree green,

Nathaniel con His sacred lore;

Shouldst thou thy chamber seek, unseen

He enters through the unopened door.

And when thou liest, by slumber bound,

Outwearied in the Christian fight,

In glory, girt with saints around,

He stands above thee through the night.

When friends to Emmaus bend their course,

He joins, although He holds their eyes:

Or, shouldst thou feel some fever's force,

He takes thy hand, He bids thee rise.

Or on a voyage, when calms prevail,

And prison thee upon the sea,

He walks the waves, He wings the sail,

The shore is gained, and thou art free.

Sir Aubrey de Vere is a poet profound in feeling, and gracefully tender in utterance. I give one short poem and one sonnet.



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