Thomas Traherne

News

News from a foreign country came,
As if my treasures and my joys lay there;
        So much it did my heart inflame,
’Twas wont to call my soul into mine ear;
               Which thither went to meet
                       Th’ approaching sweet,
               And on the threshold stood
        To entertain the secret good;
                       It hover’d there
               As if ’twould leave mine ear,
        And was so eager to embrace
        Th’ expected tidings as they came,
        That it could change its dwelling place
               To meet the voice of fame.
 
        As if new tidings were the things
Which did comprise my wished unknown treasure,
        Or else did bear them on their wings,
With so much joy they came, with so much pleasure,
               My soul stood at the gate
                       To recreate
               Itself with bliss, and woo
        Its speedier approach; a fuller view
                       It fain would take,
               Yet journeys back would make
        Unto my heart, as if ’twould fain
        Go out to meet, yet stay within,
        Fitting a place to entertain
               And bring the tidings in.
 
        What sacred instinct did inspire
My soul in childhood with an hope so strong?
        What secret force mov’d my desire
T’ expect my joys beyond the seas, so young?
               Felicity I knew
                       Was out of view;
               And being left alone,
        I thought all happiness was gone
                       From earth; for this
               I long’d for absent bliss,
        Deeming that sure beyond the seas,
        Or else in something near at hand
        Which I knew not, since nought did please
               I knew, my bliss did stand.
 
        But little did the infant dream
That all the treasures of the world were by,
        And that himself was so the cream
And crown of all which round about did lie.
               Yet thus it was! The gem,
                       The diadem,
               The ring enclosing all
        That stood upon this earthen ball;
                       The heav’nly eye,
               Much wider than the sky,
        Wherein they all included were;
        The love, the soul, that was the king
        Made to possess them, did appear
               A very little thing.
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