Communion
In the silence of my heart,
I will spend an hour with thee,
When my love shall rend apart
All the veil of mystery:
All that dim and misty veil
That shut in between our souls
When Death cried, 'Ho, maiden, hail!'
And your barque sped on the shoals.
On the shoals? Nay, wrongly said.
On the breeze of Death that sweeps
Far from life, thy soul has sped
Out into unsounded deeps.
I shall take an hour and come
Sailing, darling, to thy side.
Wind nor sea may keep me from
Soft communings with my bride.
I shall rest my head on thee
As I did long days of yore,
When a calm, untroubled sea
Rocked thy vessel at the shore.
I shall take thy hand in mine,
And live o'er the olden days
When thy smile to me was wine,--
Golden wine thy word of praise,
For the carols I had wrought
In my soul's simplicity;
For the petty beads of thought
Which thine eyes alone could see.
Ah, those eyes, love-blind, but keen
For my welfare and my weal!
Tho' the grave-door shut between,
Still their love-lights o'er me steal.
I can see thee thro' my tears,
As thro' rain we see the sun.
What tho' cold and cooling years
Shall their bitter courses run,--
I shall see thee still and be
Thy true lover evermore,
And thy face shall be to me
Dear and helpful as before.
Death may vaunt and Death may boast,
But we laugh his pow'r to scorn;
He is but a slave at most,--
Night that heralds coming morn.
I shall spend an hour with thee
Day by day, my little bride.
True love laughs at mystery,
Crying, 'Doors of Death, fly wide.'
poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Related quotes
Cock-Crowing
Father of lights! what sunny seed,
What glance of day hast Thou confined
Into this bird? To all the breed
This busy ray Thou hast assigned;
Their magnetism works all night,
And dreams of paradise and light.
Their eyes watch for the morning hue;
Their little grain, expelling night,
So shines and sings as if it knew
The path unto the house of light.
It seems their candle, howe'er done,
Was tinned and lighted at the sun.
If such a tincture, such a touch,
So firm a longing can empower,
Shall Thy own image think it much
To watch for Thy appearing hour?
If a mere blast so fill the sail,
Shall not the breath of God prevail?
O Thou immortal Light and Heat!
Whose hand so shines through all this frame
That, by the beauty of the seat,
We plainly see who made the same,
Seeing Thy seed abides in me,
Dwell Thou in it, and I in Thee!
To sleep without Thee is to die;
Yea, 'tis a death partakes of hell:
For where Thou dost not close the eye,
It never opens, I can tell.
In such a dark Egyptian border,
The shades of death dwell, and disorder.
If joys, and hopes, and earnest throes,
And hearts whose pulse beats still for light
Are given to birds, who but Thee knows
A love-sick soul's exalted flight?
Can souls be tracked by any eye
But His who gave them wings to fly?
Only this veil which Thou hast broke,
And must be broken yet in me,
This veil, I say, is all the cloak
And cloud which shadows Thee from me.
This veil Thy full-eyed love denies,
And only gleams and fractions spies.
O take it off! make no delay;
But brush me with Thy light that I
May shine unto a perfect day,
And warm me at Thy glorious eye!
O take it off, or till it flee,
Though with no lily, stay with me!
poem by Henry Vaughan
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Furness Abbey
I WISH for the days of the olden time,
When the hours were told by the abbey chime,
When the glorious stars looked down through the midnigh dim,
Like approving saints on the choir's sweet hymn:
I think of the days we are living now,
And I sigh for those of the veil and the vow.
I would be content alone to dwell
Where the ivy shut out the sun from my cell,
With the death's-head at my side, and the missal on my knee,
Praying to that heaven which was opening to me:
Fevered and vain are the days I lead now,
And I sigh for those of the veil and the vow.
Silken broidery no more would I wear,
Nor golden combs in my golden hair;
I wore them but for one, and in vain they were worn;
My robe should be of serge, my crown of the thorn:
'Tis a cold false world we dwell in now,
And I sigh for the days of the veil and the vow.
I would that the cloister's quiet were mine;
In the silent depths of some holy shrine.
I would tell my blessed beads, and would weep away
From my inmost soul every stain of clay:
My heart's young hopes they have left me now,
And I sigh for the days of the veil and the vow.
poem by Letitia Elizabeth Landon
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The Mystic Veil
When the shadows take their nightly places,
When departing light is faint and pale,
Then in my chamber gather phantom faces,
Gazing thro' the mystic veil.
One there is with features so familiar,
Glimpse of her give[s] my pulse a start;
Oh! tell me truely is it you, love,
Come to cheer my lonly heart?
Come one step nearer! (One step nearer!)
one shade clearer? (one shade clearer!)
Breath on word before we part; (before we part;)
And tell me--truly it is you, love,
Come to cheer my lonely heart?
When my song, in lonely notes ascending,
Vainly bids my sadden'd soul rejoin [rejoice?],
Methinks I hear a murmur'd alto blending:
Is it really your sweet voice?
Answer now, if only by a whisper;
Rend the veil, the mystic veil, apart:
And tell me truely is it you, love,
Come to cheer my lonely heart?
Waking while the denser darkness lingers,
Some one seems to stand beside my bed;
I can but think I feel your fairy fingers,
Softly laid upon my head.
Silently why does the vision vanish?
Dream I yet, or is it magic art?
Now tell me truely is it you, love,
Come to cheer my lonely heart?
poem by Henry Clay Work
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Missing Love~
Love is not the same when my love does not love you
Weak when I am with thee, meek without thee
Death never died, like my soul dies when death ensue
Without thee affections to incinerate mine tears weary
I walk through the storm of lost love dreary
Like the orphan I know not love but loves woe
If love is a dove, than my love a crow
And tears that make one strong, make me week
Through tears veil, with passion vehement I seek
My love's soul, her body, her apparition
To pledge my repentance and emanate contrition
But passion ameliorates naught, and does not turn
my love to love thee… I still burn
without thee.
poem by Kevin Michael Murphy
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Victory but a veil of lies, treachery and deceit.
Victory but a veil,
of lies, treachery and deceit.
The web spun around your heart,
that makes it believe it's complete.
Victory but a veil
that hides you from the truth,
The fallacy that makes you believe
the impossible, even with no proof.
Victory but a veil
of scorn, lust and despair.
The thing that makes you believe
in the things that were never really there.
Behind The Veil
She always stands alone and nobody wants her,
He always stands alone and nobody wants him,
Behind the veil with the truth;
Open the waters to expose matters,
Like when success fails to come in.
Cheerful and childish,
Lonely and hopeless,
Better as expected from the traditions of the people;
A Philosophy,
A Notebook,
Like guns without a veil when being exposed;
Here are the experimental overviews.
Individualism,
Promoted on ignorance;
Always alone without a friend,
Like when the rains fail to come.
Behind the veil,
But if you think, do reason;
Behind the veil,
But if you learn, do know;
In this life,
Every once a while there is the truth.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Sometimes The Veil So Thin
Sometimes the veil is so thin
I can sense your eyes
Sometimes the veil is so thin
I can feel your smile
We are anointed and appointed
For this time and place
To share our love and your grace
Sometimes the veil is so thin
I can hear what you say
Sometimes the veil is so thin
I don’t think I can wait another day
We are anointed and appointed
For this time and place
To share our love and your grace
Sometimes the veil so thin
I can feel the truth for miles
Sometimes the veil so thin
There can be no denial
We are anointed and appointed
For this time and place
To share our love and your grace
poem by Brian Kilpatrick
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Spring's Bower
Spring’s Bower
Ah! Woe is me the veil I see
The veil of death hangs lower.
And e’re my spirit passes from me
I will see again Spring’s Bower.
Awaiting death must stay his hand
For my life has one more hour.
And tho’ I close my eyes this day
I will again see Spring’s Bower.
“Tis tho’ my life were but a thread
Of what life had to shower.
There is still just time before I’m dead,
Time enough to see Spring’s Bower
Take me I pray to the window seat,
Clutch to thy breast the flower
Which I plucked when last we did meet,
'Neath our beautiful Spring Bower.
poem by Robert Harrison
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Hymn XXII: Behold the Saviour of Mankind
Behold the Saviour of mankind
Nailed to the shameful tree!
How vast the love that him inclined
To bleed and die for thee!
Hark, how he groans! while nature shakes,
And earth's strong pillars bend;
The temple's veil in sunder breaks,
The solid marbles rend.
'Tis done! the precious ransom's paid,
'Receive my soul,' he cries!
See where he bows his sacred head!
He bows his head, and dies!
But soon he'll break death's envious chain,
And in full glory shine:
O Lamb of God! was ever pain,
Was ever love, like thine?
poem by Charles Wesley
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I Will Renew My...
I will renew my covenant with you my love and,
Like the same covenant i had with you before;
It will be through the blood of goats and calves to refresh your mind!
And like the love of your muse behind your first veil.
The blow of sheep and of the bulls,
And like the love of your muse behind the second veil;
But we need the ashes of the red heifer on this love,
Because you've got my heart in order since all these years!
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Hymn XXII: Behold the Saviour of Mankind
Behold the Saviour of mankind
Nailed to the shameful tree!
How vast the love that him inclined
To bleed and die for thee!
Hark, how he groans! while nature shakes,
And earth's strong pillars bend;
The temple's veil in sunder breaks,
The solid marbles rend.
'Tis done! the precious ransom's paid,
"Receive my soul," he cries!
See where he bows his sacred head!
He bows his head, and dies!
But soon he'll break death's envious chain,
And in full glory shine:
O Lamb of God! was ever pain,
Was ever love, like thine?
poem by John Wesley
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The Tent
Only the stars endome the lonely camp,
Only the desert leagues encompass it;
Waterless wastes, a wilderness of wit,
Embattled Cold, Imagination's Cramp.
Now were the Desolation fain to stamp
The congealed Spirit of man into the pit,
Save that, unquenchable because unlit,
The Love of God burns steady, like a Lamp.
It burns ! beyond the sands, beyond the stars.
It burns ! beyond the bands, beyond the bars.
And so the Expanse of Mystery, veil by veil,
Burns inward, plume on plume still folding over
The dissolved heart of the amazéd lover-
The angel wings upon the Holy Grail!
W'aint t' Aissha.
poem by Aleister Crowley
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Coquette et Froide
What is thy thought of me?
What is thy feeling?
Lov'st thou the veil of sense,
Or its revealing?
Leav'st thou the maiden rose
Drooping and blushing,
Or rend'st its bosom with
Kissing and crushing?
I would be beautiful
That thou should'st woo me,
Gentle, delightsome, but
To draw thee to me.
Yet should thy longing eye
Ever caress me,
And quickened Fantasy
Only, possess me,
Thus thy heart's highest need
Long would I cherish,
Lest its more trivial wish
Pall, and then perish.
Would that Love's fond pursuit
Were crownèd never,
Or that his virgin kiss
Lasted for ever!
poem by Julia Ward Howe
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I Saw Thy Form in Youthful Prime
I saw thy form in youthful prime,
Nor thought that pale decay
Would steal before the steps of Time,
And waste its bloom away, Mary!
Yet still thy features wore that light,
Which fleets not with the breath;
And life ne'er look'd more truly bright
Than in thy smile of death, Mary!
As streams that run o'er golden mines,
Yet humbly, calmly glide,
Nor seem to know the wealth that shines
Within their gentle tide, Mary!
So veil'd beneath the simplest guise,
Thy radiant genius shone,
And that which charm'd all other eyes
Seem'd worthless in thy own, Mary!
If souls could always dwell above,
Thou ne'er hadst left that sphere;
Or could we keep the souls we love,
We ne'er had lost thee here, Mary!
Though many a gifted mind we meet,
Though fairest forms we see,
To live with them is far less sweet
Than to remember thee, Mary!
poem by Thomas Moore
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A White Wedding Veil
A breezy day for a Bride in her prime,
Controlling her dainty wedding veil...
But in the Church, with love in her heart
Her distinctive aura cast a magical spell.
At the Altar the bluest of eyes shone with love.
She would keep those vows ~ and never fail.
Tomorrow, the dream of a lifetime would start.
All thanks to a 'white wedding veil'.
poem by Joyce Hemsley
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The Veil
THE SISTER
Why, brother, why upon me stare?
Why do your brows so fiercely lower?
Your eyes like funeral torches glare,
Beneath their gloomy looks I cower.
Why do I see your sashes rent?
Why have you thrice your fingers laid
Upon the sheath? What dire intent
Makes you half draw the glittering blade?
FIRST BROTHER
Raised you today your veil, and face displayed!
SISTER
Home from the bath my path I took—
Brothers! Look not so terribly!—
And I was hidden from the look
Of every unbeliever's eye.
But as the Mosque I hurried by,
Close covered in my palanquin,
Stifled beneath the mid-day sky,
I loosed my veil to breathe between.
SECOND BROTHER
Did not a man then pass in Cafton green?
SISTER
Ah, yes, perhaps it may be so;
But he ne'er saw my face. My brothers,
Together you are whispering low—
What whisper you to one another?
You would not kill me? On your soul
He saw me not! My oath believe!
Have mercy! Your blind rage control!
Your poor young sister, O reprieve!
THIRD BROTHER
Blood-red I saw the sun sink down at eve.
SISTER
Mercy, O mercy! Brothers, cease,
Your daggers stab me to the heart!
Brothers! I cling about your knees!
O veil! White veil! The cause thou art!
Brothers! Your dying sister prop,
Tear not my bleeding hand away—
Darkness come o'er me—with me stop—
The veil of death shuts out the day.
FOURTH BROTHER
Unlifted by your hands this veil will stay.
poem by Victor Hugo
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Love
I have loved Thee with two loves -
a selfish love and a love that is worthy of Thee.
As for the love which is selfish,
Therein I occupy myself with Thee,
to the exclusion of all others.
But in the love which is worthy of Thee,
Thou dost raise the veil that I may see Thee.
Yet is the praise not mine in this or that,
But the praise is to Thee in both that and this.
poem by Rabia al Basri
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Never Fade Away
Graham Russell)
Walking along the boulevard
Speaking into the air
Where can I find the life
I know that only dreams can share
I close my eyes and see you there
Calling me far beyond
Wrapped in a robe of mystery
You wave your magic wand
Maybe it's real, only life is illusion
Don't break my heart
Hold out your hand and I'll never lose you
Don't break my heart
Yes, I'm a man and just flesh and bone
But you do not live, all my dreams are your home
I stare through a veil, so thin, yet so near
And walk in your footsteps as you cast off my fear
Walk with me through the gates of time to eternity
ANd our love will never fade away
We can fly to a bridge across the sky
Where the souls that would always cry will never
Fade away
Walking along the boulevard
Wishing we were complete
Why are some things so very hard to witness and believe
The victor of this universe
The victim of the wind
Where does a dream begin and end
And where does life begin
Maybe it's real, only life is illusion
Don't break my heart
Hold out your hand and I'll never lose you
Don't break my heart
Yes, I'm a man and just flesh and bone
But you do not live, all my dreams are your home
I stare through a veil, so thin, yet so near
And walk in your footsteps as you cast off my fear
Walk with me through the gates of time to eternity
And our love will never fade away
We can climb to a bridge across the sky
Where the souls that would always cry will never
Fade away
---
Eric Wincentsen
[email protected]
Mesa, Arizona
song performed by by Air Supply
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Silence
Lonely girl lies awake at night
Silence ringing in her ears
Theres a boy who is on her mind
So much promise unfulfilled
She had waited so patiently
He had nothing more to say
Not a sound as she slowly walked away
Lonely boy watching from the bridge
His reflection in the lake
Theres a girl who seems out of reach
And a choice he has to make
Lonely boy what will you become
If you let her slip away
Tomorrows pain of regret may come too late
Too many people
Suffer in silence
Because theyre afraid
Love will never come their way
So many walk behind a veil of sorrow
So many know they have themselves to blame
Good reasons not to wait until tomorrow
So dont be afraid
Love will always come your way
He should say hes a lonely man
She may have heard it all before
He should say hes a faithful man
She can never be too sure
If only he would communicate
Thered be nothing in their way
Only then would she understand his pain
Too many people
Suffer in silence
Because theyre afraid
Love will never come their way
So many walk behind a veil of sorrow
So many know they have themselves to blame
Too many people
Suffer in silence
So dont be afraid
Love will always come your way
song performed by by Level 42
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Little While
A little while a little love
The hour yet bears for thee and me
Who have not drawn the veil to see
If still our heaven be lit above.
Thou merely, at the day's last sigh,
Hast felt thy soul prolong the tone;
And I have heard the night-wind cry
And deemed its speech mine own.
A little while a little love
The scattering autumn hoards for us
Whose bower is not yet ruinous
Nor quite unleaved our songless grove.
Only across the shaken boughs
We hear the flood-tides seek the sea,
And deep in both our hearts they rouse
One wail for thee and me.
A little while a little love
May yet be ours who have not said
The word it makes our eyes afraid
To know that each is thinking of.
Not yet the end: be our lips dumb
In smiles a little season yet:
I'll tell thee, when the end is come,
How we may best forget.
poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
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