AFTER A PARTING

Farewell has long been said; I have forgone thee;

I never name thee even.

But how shall I learn virtues and yet shun thee?

For thou art so near Heaven

That heavenward meditations pause upon thee.

Thou dost beset the path to every shrine;

My trembling thoughts discern

Thy goodness in the good for which I pine;

And if I turn from but one sin, I turn

Unto a smile of thine.

How shall I thrust thee apart

Since all my growth tends to thee night and day —

To thee faith, hope, and art?

Swift are the currents setting all one way;

They draw my life, my life, out of my heart.