Better Gutenberg
Free, beautifully formatted public-domain ebooks

The Ballad of St. Barbara

by G. K. Chesterton

6 of 35 · Contents · Download EPUB

The Mystery

If sunset clouds could grow on trees
It would but match the may in flower;
And skies be underneath the seas
No topsyturvier than a shower.

If mountains rose on wings to wander
They were no wilder than a cloud;
Yet all my praise is mean as slander,
Mean as these mean words spoken aloud.

And never more than now I know
That man’s first heaven is far behind;
Unless the blazing seraph’s blow
Has left him in the garden blind.

Witness, O Sun that blinds our eyes,
Unthinkable and unthankable King,
That though all other wonder dies
I wonder at not wondering.

← Back to The Ballad of St. Barbara

Scroll to Top