ment, when the just
shall be once more young and comely in the glory of joy and praise,
singing in adoration of the peerless King: "Peace and wisdom and
blessing for these Thy gifts, and for every good, be unto Thee, the true
God, throned in majesty. Infinite, high, and holy is the power of Thy
might. The heavens on high with the angels, are full of the glory, O
Father Almighty, Lord of all gods, and the earth also. Defend us, Author
of Creation. Thou art the Father Almighty in the highest, the Lord of
Heaven."

How familiarly these words ring! For our heritage of praise has come to
us from afar and from of old.

And again rises the chant triumphant, to the endless honour of the
Eternal Son, whose coming into the world and birth and death are all
typified by the mystical Phoenix.

I have dwelt at considerable length upon this poem for various reasons.
One is that it is of a special kind, the allegorical; another is that,
as I have pointed out, it is full of a richness and colour and love of
nature, which is not found in the earlier poetry. Where does it come
from? It is most probably part of the Celtic influence which has set its
magic touch upon English poetry and given to it that "light that never
was on sea or land." It has done far more than give a sense of colour
and beauty and nature-love. More than the love of nature in its beauty
is the sense of fellowship between man and nature, the sense that makes
man see his own joy and sorrow reflected in the mighty heart of Nature.
This is a very big subject, and can only be touched on here. The
beginning of this influence, which came also from Wales and France, is
due to Ireland. We must never forget how great a debt England owes to
Ireland. May we say that it was from the Irish missionaries whose feet
hallowed the soil of Iona that the English north country caught that
intense glowing love of the Holy Faith, which even still, in a measure,
differentiates the north of England from the south?[C] We must value
very greatly the solid foundation of strength, sincerity, what we call
_grit_, directness of expression, simplicity, to be found in early
English work; all these being great things, yet capable of receiving
into their fellowship and above it and beyond it, that which should give
what we look for in a great literature; the power of appeal to various
kinds of people, to "all sorts and conditions of men." And to Celtic
influence, Irish, British, French, we look for th