Sunlight and Moonlight

Sunlight and Moonlight! these two glories reach
Into our souls from our first day and night;
And we live afterwards on what they teach,
Finding our way by their two kinds of light.
Our Sunlight is the steadfast radiance cast
Thro' true church-windows, lustrous and unfading,
Where Creed and Rite thro' life give light, and last.
But that sweet Moon, that perils oft our lading,
Lures the good ship astray, then sinks hard by,
Leaving gray water where its light was thrown;
Or hangs, midway between the sea and sky,
O'er some fair earthly haven of its own.
Love is the Moonlight of our lives, and takes
All hearts to the soft shadows that it makes.