Through a long cloister where the gloom
of night
Lingers in sombre silence
all the day,
Across worn pavements crumbling
to decay
We wandered, blindly groping for the light.
A door swung wide, and splendour infinite
Streamed through the painted
glass, and drove away
The lingering gloom from choir,
nave and bay,
And a great minster’s glory met
our sight.
Blindly along life’s cloister do
we grope,
We seek a gate that leads
to life immortal,
We see it loom
before us dim and vast,
And doubt’s dark shadows veil the
light of hope:
When lo, Death’s hand
flings wide the sombre portal,
And light unfading
meets our gaze at last.