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           The Two Worlds

    by John Henry Cardinal Newman, 1862

Unveil, O Lord, and on us shine

In glory and in grace;

This gaudy world grows pale before

The beauty of Thy face.

Till Thou art seen, it seems to be

A sort of fairy ground,

Where suns unsettling light the sky,

And flowers and fruit abound.

But when Thy keener, purer beam

Is pour’d upon our sight,

It loses all its power to charm,

And what was day is night.

Its noblest toils are then the scourge

Which made Thy blood to flow;

Its joys are but the treacherous thorns

Which circled round Thy brow.

And thus, when we renounce for Thee

Its restless aims and fears,

The tender memories of the past,

The hopes of coming years,

Poor is our sacrifice, whose eyes

Are lighted from above;

We offer what we cannot keep,

What we have ceased to love.

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Marian O'Meara who submitted this poem added the following note of interest

According to the Catholic News Service, John Henry Cardinal Newman is set to be beatified on May 2 of next year in Birmingham, England. There is a beautiful book entitled The Spiritual Journey of Newman by Jean Honore, former Archbishop of Tours. In it is this poem of Newman's which I have always loved. ... It's timely, as interest in Newman is increasing with news of his coming beatification.  You also might appreciate the book by Jean Honore.