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Poems (Coolidge)/Transit Umbra, Lux Parmanet

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4474724Poems — Transit Umbra, Lux ParmanetHelen Elizabeth Coolidge
TRANSIT UMBRA—LUX PARMANET
(The inscription on a sun dial[1])

The shadowy of mine unbelief! Oh, let it pass away
Till all the things eternal I view as cloudless day;
Mine art thou, Sun of Righteousness, the while I struggle here,
A light that shineth ever though darkness seemeth near.

The shadow of my suffering! May it too pass away;
Give me the peace that cometh when I thy will obey;
For pain is hallowed ever since thou hast suffering known,
A light shines on the pathway I need not tread alone.

The shadow of my sorrowing shall also pass away;
Whene'er I seek for comfort thou wilt not say me "nay,"
In holy radiance gleaming Gethsemane I see,
And, though my cup o'erfloweth, I drink it, Christ, for thee.

The shadows of this fitful life at length shall flee away,
Then I shall see the dawning of an eternal day;
Oh, Lamb of God, the vision give, to light my darkness here,
Of jasper-stone most precious, that shines as crystal, clear.

  1. The sun dial, bearing the inscription which suggested these lines, was given "In Memoriam," and stands upon the sight of the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, at Washington, D.C.