Poems (Jackson)/Joy

by Helen Hunt Jackson

For works with similar titles, see Joy.

JOY.

JOY, hast thou a shape?Hast thou a breath?How fillest thou the soundless air?Tell me the pillars of thy house!What rest they on? Do they escape The victory of Death?And are they fair Eternally, who enter in thy house?O Joy, thou viewless spirit, canst thou dare To tell the pillars of thy house?

On adamant of pain, Before the earthWas born of sea, before the sea,Yea, and before the light, my houseWas built. None know what loss, what gain, Attends each travail birth, No soul could be At peace when it had entered in my house,If the foundations it could touch or see, Which stay the pillars of my house!