Bliss, by George Herbert

Bliss

Softness and peace and joy and love and bliss,

Love made this way, and lifts us up each stair,

Our maker knows that we were made for this:

The utter bliss that Heaven loves to share.

We glimpse it sometimes in another's eyes,

We taste it sometimes on the tongues of prayer

It takes us wholly, takes us by surprise,

But grasping it, our arms clasp empty air.

Our bliss has vanished with a word of promise,

A sweet come-hither wave that offers more,

Each ecstasy has been a farewell kiss

That left us weeping on the hither shore.

Yet every passing moment whispers this:

Eternity shall love us into bliss.

--from After Prayer, edited and original sonnets by Malcolm Guite