Poems (Dorr)/Entering In
ENTERING IN
The church was dim and silent With the hush before the prayer,Only the solemn trembling Of the organ stirred the air;Without, the sweet, still sunshine; Within, the holy calmWhere priest and people waited For the swelling of the psalm.
Slowly the door swung open, And a trembling baby girl,Brown-eyed, with brown hair falling In many a wavy curl,With soft cheeks flushing hotly, Shy glances downward thrown,And small hands clasped before her, Stood in the aisle alone.
Stood half abashed, half frightened, Unknowing where to go,While like a wind-rocked flower, Her form swayed to and fro, And the changing color flutteredIn the little troubled face, As from side to side she waveredWith a mute, imploring grace.
It was but for a moment; What wonder that we smiled,By such a strange, sweet picture From holy thoughts beguiled?Then up rose someone softly: And many an eye grew dim,As through the tender silence He bore the child with him.
And I—I wondered (losing The sermon and the prayer)If when sometime I enter The "many mansions" fair,And stand, abashed and drooping, In the portal's golden glow,Our God will send an angel To show me where to go!