| Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917. |
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| 386. Everymaid |
| By John Oxenham |
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| KING’S Daughter! | |
| Would’st thou be all fair, | |
| Without—within— | |
| Peerless and beautiful, | |
| A very Queen? | 5 |
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| Know then:— | |
| Not as men build unto the Silent One,— | |
| With clang and clamour, | |
| Traffic of rude voices, | |
| Clink of steel on stone, | 10 |
| And din of hammer;— | |
| Not so the temple of thy grace is reared. | |
| But,—in the inmost shrine | |
| Must thou begin, | |
| And build with care | 15 |
| A Holy Place, | |
| A place unseen, | |
| Each stone a prayer. | |
| Then, having built, | |
| Thy shrine sweep bare | 20 |
| Of self and sin, | |
| And all that might demean; | |
| And, with endeavour, | |
| Watching ever, praying ever, | |
| Keep it fragrant-sweet, and clean: | 25 |
| So, by God’s grace, it be fit place,— | |
| His Christ shall enter and shall dwell therein. | |
| Not as in earthly fane—where chase | |
| Of steel on stone may strive to win | |
| Some outward grace,— | 30 |
| Thy temple face is chiselled from within. | |
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