[Sidenote: _"I dreamed that Allah kissed me, and his kiss was cold."_] All self-seeking I forsake; In my soul a silence make. There was joy to feel I _could_, That I had some power of good, That I was not vainly tost: Now I'm empty, empty quite; Fill me, God, or I am lost; In my spirit shines no light; All the outer world's wild press Crushes in my emptiness. Am I giving all away? Will the sky be always grey? Never more this heart of mine Beat like heart refreshed with wine? I shall die of misery, If Thou, God, come not to me. [Sidenote: _Dead indeed unto Sin_.] Now 'tis finished. So depart All untruth from out my heart; All false ways of speaking, thinking; All false ways of looking, linking; All that is not true and real, Tending not to God's Ideal: Help me--how shall human breath Word _Thy_ meaning in this death! [Sidenote: _How is no matter, so that he wake to Life and Sight._] Now come hither. Bring that tool. Its name I know not; but its use Written on its shape in full Tells me it is no abuse If I strike a hole withal Through this thick opposed wall. The rainbow-pavement! Never heed it-- What is that, where light is needed? Where? I care not; quickest best. What kind of window would I choose? Foolish man, what sort of hues Would you have to paint the East, When each hill and valley lies Hungering for the sun to rise? 'Tis an opening that I want; Let the light in, that is all; Needful knowledge it will grant. How to frame the window tall. Who at morning ever lies Thinking how to ope his eyes? This room's eyelids I will ope, Make a morning as I may; 'Tis the time for work and hope; Night is waning near the day. I bethink me, workman priest; It were best to pierce the wall Where the thickness is the least-- Nearer there the light-beams fall, Sooner with our dark to mix-- That niche where stands the Crucifix. "The Crucifix! what! impious task! Wilt thou break into its shrine? Taint with human the Divine?" Friend, did Godhead wear a mask Of the human? or did it Choose a form for Godhead fit? [Sidenote: _The form must yield to the Truth._] Brother with the rugged crown Won by being all divine, This my form may come to Thine: Gently thus I lift Thee down; Lovingly, O marble cold, Thee with human hands I fold, And I set Thee thus aside, Human rightly deified! God, by manhood glorified! [Sidenote: _Nothing less than the Cross would satisfy the Godhead for its own assertion and vindication._]