Reality

I see men gaze upon the distant skies
   Of ideals inaccessible and vain;
And miss the Holy Way which near them lies—
   The hourly conquest over sin and pain.

I see uplifted and imploring hands
   Aching with emptiness; I see the cause,
Self-made, of man’s long sorrow; see his bands
   Self-wrought, self-bound; I see the broken laws.

Wisdom lies hidden in our common life,
   And he will find it who shall rightly ask;
Where springs the fretful fever and the strife
   There Truth abides—e’en in the daily task.

Behold where Love Eternal rests concealed!
   (The deathless Love that seemed so far away!)
E’en in the lowly heart; it stands revealed
   To him who lives the sinless life to-day.

Wrapped in our nearest duty is the Key
   Which shall unlock for us the Heavenly Gate;
Unveiled, the Heavenly Vision he shall sec,
   Who cometh not too early nor too late.

The glory of the Truth no Future veils
   From tear - stained eyes; no Past obliterates,
For toil - worn feet, the narrow, weed - grown trails
   Which wind through common ways to joyful Gates.

Where’er we go immortal splendour goes;
   But eyes, self-blinded, look and cannot see;
Th’ Eternal Glory shines upon man’s woes,
   Piercing the dark night of his misery.

Lo! where the shadowless Effulgence gleams—
   In tasks well done, in stainless thoughts and deeds,
In words of love and pity, not in dreams
   Of sky-bound glories holding future needs.

Peace cometh only to the peaceful soul;
   Love, painless, nestles in the Love-born heart;
Joy springs where self is sunken for the whole;
   From conquered sins immortal beauties start.

Our task is with us, and the Path Sublime,
   Rising from swamps of self, through Duty’s way,
Cuts its clear course up the steep hills of Time
   Unto the splendour of the Perfect Day.