The Revelation

An idle poet, here and there,

    Looks round him; but, for all the rest,

The world, unfathomably fair,

    Is duller than a witling’s jest.

Love wakes men, once a lifetime each;

    They lift their heavy lids, and look;

And, lo, what one sweet page can teach,

    They read with joy, then shut the book.

And some give thanks, and some blaspheme

    And most forget; but, either way,

That and the Child’s unheeded dream

Is all the light of all their day.