| Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917. |
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| 346. Preface to ‘Fate in Arcadia’ |
| By Edwin J. Ellis |
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| HERE kneels my word, that may not say | |
| Even to the inward ear of night | |
| More than the laughter of the day | |
| Or the soft weeping of twilight. | |
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| No waking hours, no sleep shall find | 5 |
| The world’s continual dream revealed. | |
| The Living Word is silent mind, | |
| And every book is closed and sealed. | |
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| Our Mother Earth for daily things | |
| Has given the daily mother-tongue; | 10 |
| But the mute wonder that she brings, | |
| All lips have kissed; no voice has sung. | |
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| And even now the usual word | |
| Spread like an empty couch and cold | |
| Measures the sound our fathers heard, | 15 |
| But holds no more the hint untold. | |
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| For He is risen whom we seek: | |
| The linen clothes without the form | |
| Are folded, lest too clear they speak | |
| The Divine Body, buried warm. | 20 |
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| Then every song is free from blame, | |
| Though silence veil her inmost part | |
| Like the dark centre of the flame, | |
| Or the hot patience of the heart. | |
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