Poem by Alice Meynell

To the Body

             Thou inmost, ultimate
Council of judgment, palace of decrees,
Where the high senses hold their spiritual state,
            Sued by earth's embassies,
And sign, approve, accept, conceive, create;

            Create—thy senses close
With the world's pleas. The random odours reach
Their sweetness in the place of thy repose,
            Upon thy tongue the peach,
And in thy nostrils breathes the breathing rose.

            To thee, secluded one,
The dark vibrations of the sightless skies,
The lovely inexplicit colours run;
            The light gropes for those eyes
O thou august! thou dost command the sun.

            Music, all dumb, hath trod
Into thine ear her one effectual way;
And fire and cold approach to gain thy nod,
            Where thou call'st up the day,
Where thou awaitest the appeal of God.

1. Free Will
2. The Two Questions
3. To Silence
4. A Comparison in a Seaside Field
5. To Antiquity

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