Songs and Sonnets (Coleman)/Whither?
WHITHER?
Within the portals of my heart
There lies a chamber set apart,
And I to enter there
Must first be purged of every sin—
Be purified without, within,
And girded with a prayer;
For nothing common or unclean
May ever in that room be seen,
No taint of sin or woe;
Up from the midst there runs a stair
That leads above, I know not where,
But angels come and go.
I feel the fanning of their wings,
I hear their low-breathed whisperings—
They sometimes speak my name!
And all my soul is softened, thrilled,
With holy aspirations filled
I touch the altar-flame.
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Another chamber lies apart
Within the portals of my heart,
Whose easy door swings wide;
And when my feet its threshold tread
A tumult in my soul is bred
That sweeps me like a tide.
And from it, too, there runs a stair
That leads without, I know not where,
But flitting forms I see,
Who would my spirit fain beguile
With soft beseeching look and smile
To join their revelry.
And some dark presence hovering near
Constrains me, whispering in my ear—
Exultant, smooth and bold—
The same alluring, honied word—
The subtle promise Jesus heard
Upon the Mount of old.
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Some day the portals of my heart
Shall riven be, and fall apart,
Touched by a power unknown;
And I, a pallid ghost, must flee
Far out into eternity,
Unshriven and alone.
In that dread hour of waste and woe
One door shall open wide, I know,
But only one, to me;
One stair my hurrying feet must tread,
As I go forth to join the dead—
O Soul, which shall it be?