VISION by James H Cousins

When I from life's unrest had earned the grace
Of utter ease beside a quiet stream;
When all that was had mingled in a dream
To eyes awakened out of time and place;
Then in the cup of one great moment's space
Was crushed the living wine from things that seem;
I drank the joy of very Beauty's gleam,
And saw God's glory face to shining face.

Almost my brow was chastened to the ground,
But for an inner Voice that said: "Arise!
Wisdom is wisdom only to the wise:
Thou art thyself the Royal thou has crowned:
In Beauty thine own beauty thou hast found,
And thou hast looked on God with God's own eyes."

As a meditation, I have coupled this beautiful poem with a stunningly lovely song, written and performed by Patrick Leonard, Live To Tell. The [popularized] song's lyrics were written by Madonna and include the following phrase, which is convergent with the selected poem:

I know where beauty lives

I've seen it once, I know the warm she gives

The light that you could never see

It shines inside...

May the window of your third eye be opened to the divine beauty within you, that it may shine forth in glory, a reflection of the "joy of Beauty's gleam" in every face. Namaste, Peggy

James Cousins was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1873 (died 1956). He was largely self-educated. He later moved to Dublin where he became part of a literary circle which included William Butler Yeats, George William Russell and James Joyce. Cousins was significantly influenced by Russell's ability to reconcile mysticism with a pragmatic approach to social reforms. He had a life-long interest in the paranormal. Cousins produced several books of poetry and wrote widely on the subject of Theosophy. In 1915 travelled to India where he spent most of the rest of his life, eventaully converting to Hinduism. At the core of Cousins's engagement with Indian culture was a firm belief in the "shared sensibilities between Celtic and Oriental peoples". In India he became friendly with many key Indian personalities including poet Rabindranath Tagore, Indian classical dancer Rukmini Devi Arundale, painter Abdur Rahman Chughtai and Mahatma Gandhi. Wikipedia

Live To Tell was originally written by Patrick Leonard, who plays in this video, for the soundtrack of the film Fire With Fire. The song was shown to Madonna, who decided to use it for the film At Close Range. It was produced by Leonard (score) and Madonna (lyric) for her third studio album True Blue.