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MY HEART'S ETERNAL GUEST

Lord,
I am with You always
And I love You always.
I drink Your Beauty always.
I smile at Your Eternity's Beauty always.
You are my heart's eternal Guest.
In You I see the centre of all excellence.
Lord Supreme, You are my heart-life
And my soul-light.
You are my Eternity's All.[33]

The mutual inhabitation of the seeker and God which is reflected in this poem also finds expression in the poems of Emily Dickinson:

The Soul that hath a Guest
Doth seldom go abroad-
Diviner Crowd at Home
Obliterate the need-

And Courtesy forbid
A Host's departure when
Upon Himself be visiting
The Emperor of Men [34]

Similarly, in the Eastern tradition, the fifteenth century mystic Kabir writes:

This day is dear to me above all other days, for today the Beloved Lord is a guest in my house;
My chamber and my courtyard are beautiful with His presence.[35]

The fact that these poets turn to such a homely metaphor to carry their vision of God is seen as a characteristic feature of mystics. Evelyn Underhill, for example, writes in reference to Kabir: