¶ The Search.
VVHither, O, whither art thou fled, My Lord, my Love? My searches are my daily bread; Yet never prove. My knees pierce thearth, mine eies the skie; And yet the sphere And centre both to me denie That thou art there. Yet can I mark how herbs below Grow green and gay, As if to meet thee they did know, While I decay. Yet can I mark how starres above Simper and shine, As having keyes unto they love, While poore I pine. I sent a sigh to seek thee out, Deep drawn in pain, Wingd like an arrow: but my scout Returns in vain. I tund another (having store) Into a grone; Because the search was dumbe before: But all was one. Lord, dost thou some new fabrick mold Which favour winnes, And keeps thee present, leaving th old Unto their sinnes? Where is my God? what hidden place Conceals thee still? What covert dare eclipse thy face? Is it thy will? O let not that of any thing; Let rather brasse, Or steel, or mountains be thy ring, And I will passe. Thy will such an intrenching is, As passeth thought: To it all strength, all subtilties Are things of nought. Thy will such a strange distance is, As that to it East and West touch, the poles do kisse, And parallels meet. Since then my grief must be as large, As is thy space, Thy distance from me; see my charge, Lord, see my case. O take these barres, these lengths away; Turn, and restore me: Be not Almightie, let me say, Against, but for me. When thou dost turn, and wilt be neare; What edge so keen, What point so piercing can appeare To come between? For as thy absence doth excell All distance known: So doth thy nearenesse bear the bell, Making two one. |
Note: The image of the bell concludes the development of the poem. Two different beings, God and man paralleled by the bell and the clapper or gong. Uniting the two forms an entity different from either. The coming together of God and man makes a longed-for, satisfying relationship; the meeting of bell and gong create the expectant, etherial sound; making the two, one. The greater the distance and the harder the journey the louder the sound. [JRA] Musical Interpretation: "The Search," in A Minor, sort of, for a capella quartet by Red Dragon |
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