home Back to Bridge of the Air
Eden Sleeping
~~~
Far, so far, from living lands
Doth Eden’s garden still repose,
In mantled vines and clinging thorn
In metaphor, a secret rose;
From human memory so torn
Till etched traditions be reborn.
Oh, sweet Eden, art thou sleeping,
In thy shadowed wall?
Shining secrets art thou keeping
Written ‘ere the fall?
In language foreign to our ear
Didst Eden’s master frame His words.
In dreaming glade and breathless dell
In symphony with new-made birds,
Before the judgement’s awful knell
When Eden’s silences befell.
Oh, sweet Eden, art thou dreaming
In eternal night?
Hope hast thou of thy redeeming?
Dost thou crave respite?
With flaming sword the angel stands
At Eden’s gates of timeless age,
In bitter rosemary and rue,
In gentle healthfulness of sage;
By garlands twined with war-like yew
Tear-watered by the steadfast few.
My sweet Eden, soft in slumber
Join us in our prayer,
That though with sin we still encumber
Thou art dreaming fair.
Eden Sleeping
Building the Bridge of the Air
home Back to Bridge of the Air