| Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917. |
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| 363. Before the Dawn |
| By Alice Mary Buckton |
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| THOU, for whom words have exhausted their sweetness— | |
| Thou, the All-End of all human desire— | |
| Thou, in whose Presence the ages are hourless, | |
| Gather me nigher! | |
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| Husht in the chambers where Reason lies sleeping, | 5 |
| Ere the Day claim us, to which we are told,— | |
| Wrapped in the veil of Thy slumbering Beauty, | |
| Fold me, oh fold! | |
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| Fill me afresh with the wonder of wakening— | |
| Draw me again with Thy splendour and might— | 10 |
| Open my lids but a moment, and grant me | |
| Sight of Thy sight! | |
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| Out of the furthest high Throne of Thy Dwelling, | |
| A motionless Flame on the Bosom of Thought, | |
| Deign to uncover Thyself, O Eternal | 15 |
| Seeker and Sought! | |
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| Pure in the Body that offers Thee homage, | |
| Blest in the Thought that embraces Thee far, | |
| Next to Thy secret and innermost Breathing | |
| Thy worshippers are! | 20 |
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| Forth to the Day that I know not awaiting, | |
| Out to the highway Thy glory hath trod, | |
| Glad as a child, and as passionless, fearless, | |
| Lead me, O God! | |
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