Henry Charles Beeching, ed. (1859–1919). Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse. 1903.

By Coventry Patmore (1823–1896)

Magna est Veritas


HERE 1 in this little bay,
Full of tumultuous life and great repose,
Where twice a day,
The purposeless glad ocean comes and goes,
Under high cliffs, and far from the huge town,	5
I sit me down.
For want of me the world’s course will not fail;
When all its work is done, the lie shall rot;
The truth is great and shall prevail,
When none cares whether it prevail or not.	10

Note 1. Mr Coventry Patmore courteously allowed me to choose these five poems from “The Unknown Eros” (1877). [back]