Verses (Baughan)/The Summons

by Blanche Edith Baughan

THE SUMMONS

“Leave the broad sunshine, and the pleasant plain;
Seek thou the o’erclouded height!”
Great was the voice that call’d. I rose, and went
Out from the light
That makes the happy valleys laugh; I left
Glad homes and children’s prattle all behind;
And, climbing up the hillside, a sheer cleft,
Pine-clad and dark, did find.

What mystery Divine, what unknown calm
Made awful that dim air!
Twilight’s deep wings, laid tenderly above,
Held silence there.
Birds in the valley caroll’d. I lay still.
Vague stirrings of some giant soul possess’d
My soul with its vast Life’s tumultuous thrill—
How much more sweet than rest!