At The Holy Door

Stephen Vincent Benét

Stephen Vincent Benét (1898 - 1943)

"Come, draw your steel for the right, 

for the time wears on !

It is only a little way to Jerusalem !"

"I have seen the floating swan

And the lion, bloody with dawn,

I will make pictures of them."

Selected Works of Stephen Vincent Bénét, Volume I : Poetry

From the poem: "For Those Who Are As Right As Any", 1936

New York, Farrar & Rinehart, Inc. 1942 

 

Stephen Vincent Benét

 

Now that I'm clean again ,

Now I've slept and fed ,

How shall I remember when

I was someone dead ?

Now the balm has worked its art

And the gashes dry , 

And the lizard at my heart 

Has a sleepy eye ,

How shall I remember yet

Freezing underground ,

With the wakened lizard set

To the living wound ?

Do not ponder the offence

Nor reject the sore ,

Do not tear the cerements

Flesh may need once more .

Cold comes back and rain comes back

And the lizard , too .

And the burden in the sack , 

May be meant for you .   

Do not play the risen dunce

With unrisen men .

Lazarus was risen once

But earth gaped again .

Selected Works of Stephen Vincent Benét

Volume I : Poetry  (pages 118 - 119)

New York, Farrar & Rinehart, Inc. 1942