NEWS

by: Thomas Traherne (1637?-1674)

      EWS from a foreign country came
      As if my treasure and my wealth lay there;
      So much it did my heart inflame,
      'Twas wont to call my Soul into mine ear;
      Which thither went to meet
      The approaching sweet,
      And on the threshold stood
      To entertain the unknown Good.
      It hover'd there
      As if 'twould leave mine ear,
      And was so eager to embrace
      The joyful tidings as they came,
      'Twould almost leave its dwelling-place
      To entertain the same.
       
      As if the tidings were the things,
      My very joys themselves, my foreign treasure--
      Or else did bear them on their wings--
      With so much joy they came, with so much pleasure.
      My soul stood at that gate
      To recreate
      Itself with bliss, and to
      Be pleased with speed. A fuller view
      It fain would take,
      Yet journeys back would make
      Unto my heart; as if 'twould fain
      Go out to meet, yet stay within
      To fit a place to entertain
      And bring the tidings in.
       
      What sacred instinct did inspire
      My soul in childhood with a hope so strong?
      What secret force moved my desire
      To expect my joys beyond the seas, so young?
      Felicity I knew
      Was out of view,
      And being here alone,
      I saw that happiness was gone
      From me! For this
      I thirsted absent bliss,
      And thought that sure beyond the seas,
      Or else in something near at hand--
      I knew not yet--since naught did please
      I knew--my Bliss did stand.
       
      But little did the infant dream
      That all the treasures of the world were by:
      And that himself was so the cream
      And crown of all which round about did lie.
      Yet thus it was: the Gem,
      The Diadem,
      The ring enclosing all
      That stood upon this earthly ball,
      The Heavenly eye,
      Much wider than the sky,
      Wherein they all included were,
      The glorious Soul, that was the King
      Made to possess them, did appear
      A small and little thing!

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