John Banister Tabb

Out of the dusk a shadow,
Then a spark;
Out of the cloud a silence,
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Out of the dusk a shadow,
Then a spark;
Out of the cloud a silence,
Then a lark;
Out of the heart a rapture,
Then a pain;
Out of the dead, cold ashes,
Life again.

A flash of harmless lightning,
A mist of rainbow dyes,
The burnished sunbeams brightening
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A flash of harmless lightning,
A mist of rainbow dyes,
The burnished sunbeams brightening
From flower to flower he flies.

Hush!
With sudden gush
As from a fountain sings in yonder bush
The Hermit read more

Hush!
With sudden gush
As from a fountain sings in yonder bush
The Hermit Thrush.

Palm Sunday I had no God but these, The sacerdotal trees, And they uplifted me, "I hung upon a read more

Palm Sunday I had no God but these, The sacerdotal trees, And they uplifted me, "I hung upon a Tree." The sun and moon I saw, And reverential awe Subdued me day and night, "I am the perfect light." Within a lifeless stone -- All other gods unknown -- I sought Divinity, "The Corner-stone am I." For sacrificial feast I slaughtered man and beast, Red recompense to gain. "So I a Lamb was slain." "Yea, such My hungering Grace That whereso'er My face Is hidden, none may grope Beyond eternal Hope.".