A World of Words

Jay Macpherson

Assumed a verbal universe
Holds apart from Adam's curse,
And in that City's shelter we
Outlast this vessel and this sea,
To stand unmoved like stars above
That burn, but not for grief or love,
Next time let the shaping Spirit
Build in words, and we inherit.

But what should flesh and pining ghost,
That nearest are divided most,
Do in an immortal dwelling?
And what are words, if not for telling?
Then let them shudder in the sea
And quake in fires, as do we:
So shall our palaces decay,
The stammering stream bear all away,
Heaven's gate stand guarded evermore,
And we be vexed as heretofore.