Surrender in Delight

I will go into the garden once again

To clear some weeds, perhaps to prune dead limbs

As I must cut away in me the pain

And clear my mind of sorrow's throb that dims

Thy presence in the heart, a growing light.

They tell me I must find companionship,

To live alone with grief is just not right

Allow eternal memories to slip

Into a deep forgetfulness, partake

Of all the fruits the "good life" has to give,

Awake to love for the beloved's sake,

Mourning ended, time again to live.

I hear their voices as in an empty hall

Echoing in chambers of the heart

And soft above their sound I hear the call:

"Go deep within, discover who thou art

And why your spirit from the heights came down

On earth in human form"; to whom replied:

"My being heard the voice for ages known,

She for whom I lived, for whom I died

In countless journeyings from distant stars.

O lift this grief that all my heart has cleft

And heal the deep and formidable scars,

The joy return of which I am bereft

That I may learn surrender in delight,

A settled calm pervading every sense

And slowly from this dark and prolonged night

Awake to serve. O Lord this being cleanse."