Paradise: In a Dream
(Lyra Messianica, second edition, 1865.)
Once in a dream I saw the flowersThat bud and bloom in Paradise;More fair they are than waking eyesHave seen in all this world of ours.And faint the perfume-bearing rose,And faint the lily on its stem,And faint the perfect violetCompared with them.
I heard the songs of Paradise:Each bird sat singing in his place; 10A tender song so full of graceIt soared like incense to the skies.Each bird sat singing to his mateSoft cooing notes among the trees:The nightingale herself were coldTo such as these.
I saw the fourfold River flow,And deep it was, with golden sand;It flowed between a mossy landWith murmured music grave and low. 20It hath refreshment for all thirst,For fainting spirits strength and rest:Earth holds not such a draught as thisFrom east to west.
The Tree of Life stood budding there,Abundant with its twelvefold fruits;Eternal sap sustains its roots,Its shadowing branches fill the air.Its leaves are healing for the world,Its fruit the hungry world can feed, 30Sweeter than honey to the tasteAnd balm indeed.
I saw the gate called Beautiful;And looked, but scarce could look, within;I saw the golden streets begin,And outskirts of the glassy pool.Oh harps, oh crowns of plenteous stars,Oh green palm-branches many-leaved—Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard,Nor heart conceived. 40
I hope to see these things again,But not as once in dreams by night;To see them with my very sight,And touch, and handle, and attain:To have all Heaven beneath my feetFor narrow way that once they trod;To have my part with all the saints,And with my God.