Father Ryan's Poems (87)

    By sound of name, and touch of hand, Thro' ears that hear, and eyes that see, We know each other in this land, How little must that knowledge be？

    How souls are all the time alone, No spirit can another reach； They hide away in realms¹ unknown, Like waves that never touch a beach.

    We never know each other here, No soul can here another see —— To know, we need a light as clear As that which fills eternity².

    For here we walk by human light, But there the light of God is ours, Each day, on earth, is but a night； Heaven alone hath clear-faced hours.

    I call you thus —— you call me thus —— Our mortal³ is the very bar That parts forever each of us, As skies, on high, part star from star.

    A name is nothing but a name For that which, else, would nameless be； Until our souls, in rapture⁴, claim Full knowledge in eternity.