f his all things are made for man, if only man will inherit them
wisely: even God, in conferring benefits on man, is moved and rewarded by
the felicity of witnessing man's grateful delight in them:--

"For God enjoyed is all His end,
Himself He then doth comprehend
When He is blessed, magnified,
Extoll'd, exalted, prais'd, and glorified."

Yes, and 'undeified almost, if once denied.' A startling creed, this; but
what a bold and great-hearted one! To Traherne the Soul is a sea which not
only receives the rivers of God's bliss but 'all it doth receive returns
again.' It is the Beloved of the old song, 'Quia Amore Langueo;' whom God
pursues, as a lover. It is the crown of all things. So in one of his
loveliest poems he shows it standing on the threshold to hear news of a
great guest, never dreaming that itself is that great guest all the
while--

ON NEWS

I.

News from a foreign country came,
As if my treasure and my wealth lay there:
So much it did my heart enflame,
'Twas wont to call my soul into mine ear,
Which thither went to meet
The approaching sweet,
And on the threshold stood
To entertain the unknown Good.
It hover'd there
As if 'twould leave mine ear,
And was so eager to embrace
The joyful tidings as they came,
'Twould almost leave its dwelling-place
To entertain that same.

II.

As if the tidings were the things,
My very joys themselves, my foreign treasure,
Or else did bear them on their wings--
With so much joy they came, with so much pleasure--
My Soul stood at that gate
To recreate
Itself with bliss, and to
Be pleased with speed. A fuller view
It fain would take,
Yet journeys back again would make
Unto my heart: as if 'twould fain
Go out to meet, yet stay within
To fit a place to entertain
And bring the tidings in.

III.

What sacred instinct did inspire
My Soul in childhood with a hope so strong?
What secret force moved my desire
To expect my joy, beyond the seas, so young?
Felicity I knew
Was out of view;
And being here alone,
I saw that happin