Poems (Coolidge)/Transit Umbra, Lux Parmanet
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.
- ↑ 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.