Sunday, March 13, 2016

Her Faith

BECAUSE my faltering feet will fail to dare
   The downward of the endless steps of Hell,
Give me a word in time that triumphs there.

   I too must go into the dreadful hollow,
Where all our human laughter stops—and hark!
The tiny stuffless voices of the dark
   Have called me, called me till I needs must follow.

Give me the word, and I’ll attempt it well.

Say it’s the little winking of an eye,
   Which in that issue is uncurtained quite.
A little sleep that helps a moment by
   Between the thin dawn and the large daylight.
Oh! tell me more than yet was hoped of men,
Swear that’s true now, and I’ll believe it then.

~Hilaire Belloc: in Verses and Sonnets

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