AFTER A PARTING
Reading edition
Farewell has long been said; I have forgone thee; I never name thee even. But how shall I learn virtues and yet shun thee? For thou art so near Heaven That heavenward meditations pause upon thee.
Thou dost beset the path to every shrine; My trembling thoughts discern Thy goodness in the good for which I pine; And if I turn from but one sin, I turn Unto a smile of thine.
How shall I thrust thee apart Since all my growth tends to thee night and day— To thee faith, hope, and art? Swift are the currents setting all one way; They draw my life, my life, out of my heart.