III
Reading edition
BEFORE THE THRONE
When on thy brow I gaze and in thine eyes— Eyes heavy-laden with the soul's desire, Not passion-lit, but lit with Heav'n's own fire— I have a vision of Love's Paradise. Gazing, my trancèd spirit straightway flies Beyond the zone to which the stars aspire; I hear the blent notes of the white-wing'd quire Around Immortal Love triumphant rise.
And there I kneel before th' eternal throne Of Love, whose light conceals him,—there I see, Veiled in his sacred light, a face well known To me on earth, now, yearning, bend o'er me. Heaven's mystic veil, inwove of light and tone, Conceals thee not, Belovèd,—I know thee!