"Can He who crowns the grass with dew, And gems the wood with rain; Fail of His purpose?"--My priest drew His breath and spoke again: "Alas, my son! Your words are wild And far from holy faith; Your reason is of one beguiled By some infernal wraith-- "Do you not know the written Word Tells of our father's fall? Have you not seen, have you not heard How death rules over all?" "There is no death"--I quickly said; And he: "But all must die!" "Now is Christ risen from the dead!" Forthwith I made reply. "Now is Christ risen and become Firstfruits of them that slept!" And lo, the fluent priest was dumb-- He was like one who wept! "Ah, you have suffered, you have sinned, Have known the dark abyss, Have felt upon the roaring wind The phantom of a kiss; "You have looked in a woman's eyes Lit with her love of you, And such a moment made you wise!" He murmured: "It is true." "Tell me, O priest, was it not worth Eternity of hell, When in your heart dear love had birth?"-- Tears from his closed eyes fell. "Then your great moment gives the point To what I said before-- There is no evil. You anoint The spirit's open door-- "A dying body--set the seal Of some old covenant, As though the spirit did not feel The Comrade-Visitant; "As though the soul were not God's son Knowing as he is known, Who hath by cross and passion won His place beside the throne! "If all my life were in the dark And dread of endless doom, Think you that I should fail the spark That gleamed athwart the gloom-- "My moment when I soared to bliss Upon a woman's lips And that revealing word--her kiss-- Thrilled to my finger tips? "Nay; by that instant I should know Evil--so called--worth while, Accept the challenge, forward go Bravely against the mile; "Till by degrees the lengthened space Should give me stronger thews, A firmer tread, a purer face, A never-empty cruse: "I then should reach a gentler hand To cripples by the way, Strike off the fetters, loose the band, Turn night into the day. "My tongue would be a tunèd reed, My throat a silver horn, My lips for fuller faith would plead From even unto morn. "I should not waste the miracle Divine--the gift of speech-- With fancied images of hell-- This only would it teach: "If God with lilies keeps a tryst, Then He will also keep Faith with that moment of the Christ Who walks upon the deep-- "Christ walks upon the deep with him Who dares the rising wave, And though his failing faith grow dim, Finds love is strong to save; "Knows love is strong to save and lift The flagging feet that fail, Hearing across the cloudy drift: 'Courage, O comrade, hail!' "Who sees the Presence, finds the Face, And hears the mystic word; Who moves to his appointed place, Like any homing bird;