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| Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917. |
| 74. From ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ |
| By John Henry, Cardinal Newman (1801–1890) |
Choir of Angelicals. A DOUBLE debt he has to pay— | |
| The forfeit of his sins: | |
| The chill of death is past, and now | |
| The penance-fire begins. | |
| Glory to Him, who evermore | 5 |
| By truth and justice reigns; | |
| Who tears the soul from out its case, | |
| And burns away its stains! | |
Angel. They sing of thy approaching agony, | |
| Which thou so eagerly didst question of: | 10 |
| It is the face of the Incarnate God | |
| Shall smite thee with that keen and subtle pain; | |
| And yet the memory which it leaves will be | |
| A sovereign febrifuge to heal the wound; | |
| And yet withal it will the wound provoke, | 15 |
| And aggravate and widen it the more. | |
Soul. Thou speakest mysteries: still methinks I know | |
| To disengage the tangle of thy words: | |
| Yet rather would I hear thy angel voice, | |
| Than for myself be thy interpreter. | 20 |
Angel. When then—if such thy lot—thou seest thy Judge, | |
| The sight of Him will kindle in thy heart | |
| All tender, gracious, reverential thoughts. | |
| Thou wilt be sick with love, and yearn for Him, | |
| And feel as though thou couldst but pity Him, | 25 |
| That one so sweet should e’er have placed Himself | |
| At disadvantage such, as to be used | |
| So vilely by a being so vile as thee. | |
| There is a pleading in His pensive eyes | |
| Will pierce thee to the quick, and trouble thee. | 30 |
| And thou wilt hate and loathe thyself; for, though | |
| Now sinless, thou wilt feel that thou hast sinn’d, | |
| As never thou didst feel; and wilt desire | |
| To slink away, and hide thee from His sight: | |
| And yet wilt have a longing ay to dwell | 35 |
| Within the beauty of His countenance. | |
| And these two pains, so counter and so keen,— | |
| The longing for Him, when thou seest Him not; | |
| The shame of self at thought of seeing Him,— | |
| Will be thy veriest, sharpest purgatory. | 40 |
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