And yet, as Angels in some brighter dreams
  Call to the soul when man doth sleep,
So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes,
  And into glory peep.

_—­H.  Vaughan_

THE LAND OF DREAMS

“Awake, awake, my little boy! 
Thou wast thy mother’s only joy;
Why dost thou weep in thy gentle sleep? 
O wake! thy father does thee keep.”

—­“O what land is the Land of Dreams? 
What are its mountains, and what are its streams? 
O father!  I saw my mother there
Among the lilies by waters fair.

“Among the lambs, clothed in white,
She walk’d with her Thomas in sweet delight: 
I wept for joy; like a dove I mourn:—­
O when shall I again return!”

—­“Dear child!  I also by pleasant streams
Have wander’d all night in the Land of Dreams:—­
But, though calm and warm the waters wide,
I could not get to the other side.”

—­“Father, O father! what do we here,
In this land of unbelief and fear?—­
The Land of Dreams is better far,
Above the light of the morning star.”

_—­W.  Blake_

ADORATION

Sweet is the dew that falls betimes,
And drops upon the leafy limes;
  Sweet Hermon’s fragrant air: 
Sweet is the lily’s silver bell,
And sweet the wakeful tapers smell
  That watch for early prayer.

Sweet the young nurse, with love intense,
Which smiles o’er sleeping innocence;
  Sweet when the lost arrive;
Sweet the musician’s ardor beats,
While his vague mind’s in quest of sweets,
  The choicest flowers to hive.

Strong is the horse upon his speed;
Strong in pursuit the rapid glede,
  Which makes at once his game: 
Strong the tall ostrich on the ground;
Strong through the turbulent profound
  Shoots xiphias to his aim.

Strong is the lion—­like a coal
His eyeball—­like a bastion’s mole
  His chest against the foes: 
Strong the gier-eagle on his sail;
Strong against tide the enormous whale
  Emerges as he goes.

But stronger still, in earth and air,
And in sea, the man of prayer,
  And far beneath the tide: 
And in the seat to Faith assign’d,
Where ask is, have; where seek is, find;
  Where knock is, open wide.

_—­C.  Smart_