BEAUTIFUL are the heralds
①
That stand at Nature"s door,
Crying, "O traveller, enter in, And taste the Master"s store!""Enter," they cry, "to a kingly feast, Where all may venture near; -A million beauties for the eye, And music for the ear:
"Only, before thou enterest in, Upon the threshold fall,And pay the tribute of thy praise "To Him who gives thee all.""So some kneel down, and enter With reverent step and slow;And calm airs fraught with precious scent Breathe round them as they go:
Gently they pass "mid sight and sound And the sunshine round them sleeping,To where the angels Faith and Love The inner gates are keeping.
Then backward rolls the wondrous screen That hides the secret place,Where the God of Nature veils himself In the brighter realms of Grace:
But they who have not bent the knee Will smile at this my story;For, though they enter the temple gates, They know not the inner glory.
- W. E. LITTLEWOOD
WORDS
fraught, laden.
heralds, proclaimers. realms, regions; kingdoms. reverent, humble.
screen, curtain.
threshold, entrance. tribute, meed; homage. venture, dare to come. wondrous, wonderful.
NOTES
① Nature"s door.-In this poem Nature is represented as a great temple, full of God"s wondrous works, with an inner "secret place" veiling the wonders of His grace and love to man. All may enter the outer temple; but only those who kneel reverently at the threshold, and acknowledge God, the maker of these wonders, as the Father of their spirits, are permitted to see the "inner glory."