Via, Et Veritas, Et Vita

"You never attained to Him?" "If to attain
    Be to abide, then that may be."
"Endless the way, followed with how much pain!"
    "The way was He."

Alice Meynell

Alice Meynell was an English writer, editor, critic, and suffragist, now remembered mainly as a poet. Born on September 11, 1847, she grew up in a literary family and published her first book of poems, "Preludes," in 1875. She married the editor Wilfrid Meynell in 1877 and joined him in literary and journalistic endeavors. Meynell's worked in the women's suffrage movement, advocating for her rights through her writings. She died on November 27, 1922, leaving behind a legacy of lyrical and meditative poetry.

Alice Meynell

Parentage

Alice Meynell, Simple Poetry

Sonnet - My Heart Shall Be Thy Garden

Alice Meynell, Simple Poetry

Sonnet - Spring On The Alban Hills

Alice Meynell, Simple Poetry

In Early Spring

Alice Meynell, Simple Poetry

English

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Via, Et Veritas, Et Vita

"You never attained to Him?" "If to attain
    Be to abide, then that may be."
"Endless the way, followed with how much pain!"
    "The way was He."

Alice Christiana Thompson Meynell

I Am The Way

    Thou art the Way.
Hadst Thou been nothing but the goal,
    I cannot say
If Thou hadst ever met my soul.

    I cannot see -
I, child of process - if there lies
    An end for me,
Full of repose, full of replies.

    I'll not reproach
The way that goes, my feet that stir.
    Access, approach,
Art Thou, time, way, and wayfarer.

Alice Meynell

I Am The Way

    Thou art the Way.
Hadst Thou been nothing but the goal,
    I cannot say
If Thou hadst ever met my soul.

    I cannot see--
I, child of process--if there lies
    An end for me,
Full of repose, full of replies.

    I'll not reproach
The way that goes, my feet that stir.
    Access, approach,
Art Thou, time, way, and wayfarer.

Alice Christiana Thompson Meynell

Life

All in the dark we grope along,
    And if we go amiss
We learn at least which path is wrong,
    And there is gain in this.

We do not always win the race
    By only running right;
We have to tread the mountain's base
    Before we reach its height.

The Christs alone no errors made;
    So often had they trod
The paths that lead through light and shade,
    They had become as God.

As Krishna, Buddha, Christ again,
    They passed along the way,
And left those mighty truths which men
    But dimly grasp to-day.

But he who loves himself the last
    And knows the use of pain,
Though strewn with errors all his past,
    He surely shall attain.

Some souls there are that needs must taste
    Of wrong, ere choo...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Life

All in the dark we grope along,
    And if we go amiss
We learn at least which path is wrong,
    And there is gain in this.

We do not always win the race,
    By only running right,
We have to tread the mountain's base
    Before we reach its height.

The Christs alone no errors made;
    So often had they trod
The paths that lead through light and shade,
    They had become as God.

As Krishna, Buddha, Christ again,
    They passed along the way,
And left those mighty truths which men
    But dimly grasp to-day.

But he who loves himself the last
    And knows the use of pain,
Though strewn with errors all his past,
    He surely shall attain.

Some souls there are that needs must taste
    Of wrong, ere cho...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Attainment

There is no summit you may not attain,
    No purpose which you may not yet achieve,
    If you will wait serenely and believe.
Each seeming loss is but a step to'rd gain.

Between the mountain-tops lie vale and plain;
    Let nothing make you question, doubt, or grieve;
    Give only good, and good alone receive;
And as you welcome joy, so welcome pain.

That which you most desire awaits your word;
    Throw wide the door and bid it enter in.
Speak, and the strong vibrations shall be stirred;
    Speak, and above earth's loud, unmeaning din
Your silent declarations shall be heard.
    All things are possible to God's own kin.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox