Quote#God & Faith
I walk as one unclothed of flesh
Quote byFrancis William Bourdillon · 1852–1921
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: "The Chantry Of The Cherubim" in The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse (1917) by D. H. S. Nicholson..
English (original)
I walk as one unclothed of flesh, I wash my spirit clean; I see old miracles afresh, And wonders yet unseen. I will not leave Thee till Thou give Some word whereby my soul may live!I listened — but no voice I heard; I looked — no likeness saw; Slowly the joy of flower and bird Did like a tide withdraw; And in the heaven a silent star Smiled on me, infinitely far.
— Francis William Bourdillon
More from Francis William Bourdillon
I buoyed me on the wings of dream, Above the world of sense; I set my thought to sound the scheme, And fathom the Immense
Sudden thy silent beauty on me shone, Fair as the moon had given thee all her spell. Then, as Endymion had found on earth, In unchanged beauty but in fashion changed, Her whom I loved so long; so felt I then, Not that a new love in my …
As strong, as deep, as wide as is the sea, Though by the wind made restless as the wind, By billows fretted and by rocks confined, So strong, so deep, so wide my love for thee.
So my great love for thee lies tranquil, deep, Forever; though above it passions fierce, Ambition, hatred, jealousy; like waves That seem from earth’s core to the sky to leap, But ocean’s depths can never really pierce; Hide its great …
The Night has a thousand eyes, And the Day but one; Yet the light of the bright world dies With the dying sun.The mind has a thousand eyes, And the heart but one; Yet the light of a whole life dies
Yet came there never voice nor sign; But through my being stole Sense of a Universe divine, And knowledge of a soul Perfected in the joy of things, The star, the flower, the bird that sings.