XVIII
32 lines✦
I believe it! 'Tis thou, God, that givest, 'tis I who receive:In the first is the last, in thy will is my power to believe.All's one gift; thou canst grant it moreover, as prompt to 290my prayerAs I breathe out this breath, as I open these arms to the air.From thy will, stream the worlds, life and nature, thy dread Sabaoth:_I_ will?--the mere atoms despise me! Why am I not loathTo look that, even that in the face too? Why is it I dareThink but lightly of such impuissance? What stops my 295despair?This;--'tis not what man Does which exalts him, but what man Woulddo!See the King--I would help him but cannot, the wishes fall through.Could I wrestle to raise him from sorrow, grow poor to enrich,To fill up his life, starve my own out, I would--knowing which,I know that my service is perfect. Oh, speak through me now! 300Would I suffer for him that I love? So wouldst thou--so wilt thou!So shall crown thee the topmost, ineffablest, uttermost crown--And thy love fill infinitude wholly, nor leave up nor downOne spot for the creature to stand in! It is by no breath,Turn of eye, wave of hand, that salvation joins issue with 305death!As thy Love is discovered almighty, almighty be provedThy power, that exists with and for it, of being Beloved!He who did most, shall bear most; the strongest shall stand the mostweak.'Tis the weakness in strength, that I cry for! my flesh, that I seekIn the Godhead! I seek and I find it. O Saul, it shall be 310A Face like my face that receives thee; a Man like to me,Thou shalt love and be loved by, forever: a Hand like this handShall throw open the gates of new life to thee! See the Christstand!"
✦