Poems (Tynan)/Of the True Marriage
OF THE TRUE MARRIAGE
Unto His servant on a day The Lord revealed His hidden way.
He said: "Within this city great, Where sin still slays the Lamb of God, What dost thou think I contemplate For comfort when I look abroad?"His servant answered: "Yonder church Crowded at Mass-time to the porch."
The Lord replied: "Not so"; and then, His servant guessed to make Him glad The priest where he sat shriving men; The wounded healed; the orphan clad; The widow's tears wiped off; the poor Fed from another's little store.
And then he guessed the saint who died Last night; Fra Leo, vigil-pale,Painting the wings of Heaven; Christ's bride New-wed, beneath her shadowy veil; The gray cross in the market-place With children playing at its base.
And many things of earth and heaven: The Convent garden and the doves; The western sky aflame at even; The mountains and the orange groves; The sea that moaned alway and prayed: And yet the Lord God shook His head.
He said: "Lo, in thy city I see A wife and husband, full of love, Whose lives in loving harmony Are set all death and change above. I see: and leaning from my place, I bless them in their hidden grace.
"Whose love and peace and sweet accord Comfort Me greatly," saith the Lord.