The Spirit-Land

Jones Very (1813–1880)

FATHER! thy wonders do not singly stand,

Nor far removed where feet have seldom strayed;

Around us ever lies the enchanted land,

In marvels rich to thine own sons displayed.

In finding thee are all things round us found;

In losing thee are all things lost beside;

Ears have we, but in vain strange voices sound;

And to our eyes the vision is denied.

We wander in the country far remote,

Mid tombs and ruined piles in death to dwell;

Or on the records of past greatness dote,

And for a buried soul the living sell;

While on our path bewildered falls the night

That ne’er returns us to the fields of light.