The Monks.(Poem)

 
THE MONKS 
 
   It must have been like a radiance 
   that could hardly have been borne: 
   the sudden and naked possibility 
   that there might be a life 
   that was free of blood's hopeless compulsions. 
 
   I am not meaning those 
   for whom Christ was the strongest of war-cries. 
 
   I am thinking of all those 
   for whom the new thought of forgiveness--the 
   dream of a brotherhood stronger than pride or offence--must 
   have rung like a bell: 
   old, northern monks 
   cutting steps in their islets; 
   setting, foursquare to the gale,  ...