by Alice Christina Meynell (1847 - 1922)
Christ in the Universe
Language: English
With this ambiguous earth His dealings have been told us. These abide: The signal to a maid, the human birth, The lesson, and the young Man crucified. But not a star of all The innumerable host of stars has heard How He administered this terrestrial ball. Our race have kept their Lord's entrusted Word. Of His earth-visiting feet None knows the secret, cherished, perilous, The terrible, shamefast, frightened, whispered, sweet, Heart-shattering secret of His way with us. No planet knows that this Our wayside planet, carrying land and wave, Love and life multiplied, and pain and bliss, Bears, as chief treasure, one forsaken grave. Nor, in our little day, May His devices with the heavens be guessed, His pilgrimage to thread the Milky Way, Or His bestowals there be manifest. But, in the eternities, Doubtless we shall compare together, hear A million alien Gospels, in what guise He trod the Pleiades, the Lyre, the Bear. O be prepared, my soul! To read the inconceivable, to scan The million forms of God those stars unroll When, in our turn, we show to them a Man.
Authorship:
- by Alice Christina Meynell (1847 - 1922), "Christ in the Universe", appears in Later Poems, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by (Henry) Walford Davies, Sir (1869 - 1941), "Christ in the Universe", c1929 [ soprano, tenor, chorus, and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by James Douglas (b. 1932), "Christ in the Universe", 1966 [ medium voice and violoncello ], from Light Shining Out of Darkness [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-02
Line count: 28
Word count: 185