"The Holy Dawn"

The Holy Dawn

O God, the Dawn is coming up the East!

            White as a virgin waking from a dream,

            Or a chaste lily on a crystal stream;

Sweet as the June air when the rain has ceased,

Sweet as a love that has been hoped for least;

            Dear as the thought of kisses that are gone,

            Pure as a cloistered nun―dear God, the Dawn―

The holy Dawn―is coming up the East!

Now every vein, run full with sacred fire,

            And heart, beat fast and thrill with ecstasy;

            And soul, leap up in exquisite desire,

And throb with passion, every pulse of me! . . .

            Peace to each man, O Christ, and each dumb beast,

            The holy Dawn is coming up the East!

"The Holy Dawn" as it appears in Ella Higginson's When the Birds Go North Again (1898).