Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Thomas WilliamParsons

401 Paradisi Gloria

THERE is a city, builded by no hand,

And unapproachable by sea or shore,

And unassailable by any band

Of storming soldiery for evermore.

There we no longer shall divide our time

By acts or pleasures,—doing petty things

Of work or warfare, merchandise or rhyme;

But we shall sit beside the silver springs

That flow from God’s own footstool, and behold

Sages and martyrs, and those blessed few

Who loved us once and were beloved of old,

To dwell with them and walk with them anew,

In alternations of sublime repose,

Musical motion, the perpetual play

Of every faculty that Heaven bestows

Through the bright, busy, and eternal day.