Living
The Beatific Vision
From The Wild Knight and Other Poems (1900)
Through what fierce incarnations, furled
In fire and darkness, did I go,
Ere I was worthy in the world
To see a dandelion grow?
Well, if in any woes or wars
I bought my naked right to be,
Grew worthy of the grass, nor gave
The wren, my brother, shame for me.
But what shall God not ask of him
In the last time when all is told,
Who saw her stand beside the hearth,
The firelight garbing her in gold?
Codex Note
Through what fierce incarnations must the speaker have gone, the poem asks, before he was worthy to see a dandelion grow, or a woman stand beside a hearth in firelight? A small poem of gratitude.
Cite this poem
MLA
Chesterton, G. K. “The Beatific Vision.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/chesterton/5/.
Chicago
Chesterton, G. K. “The Beatific Vision.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/chesterton/5/.
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