Poems (Kennedy)/Ex Tenebris
EX TENEBRIS
BEFORE us all the way lies dark, A rugged, sunless length;And yet we ask thee not for lightTo make the gloomy spaces brightAnd give the stinging thorns to sight— We only pray for strength.
For strength to shroud dead love and lay The rue where roses blend;For strength to tread, with eyes unwetAnd lips calm-touched 'gainst useless fret,The paths wherein our feet are set, And so to reach the end.