Laughing, the blind boys
Run round their college lawn,
Playing such games of buff
Over its dappled grass.
See the blind frolicsome
Girls in blue pinafores
Turning their skipping-ropes.
How full and rich a world
Theirs to inhabit is —
Sweet scent of grass and bloom,
Playmates' glad symphony,
Cool touch of western wind,
Sunshine's divine caress.
How should they know or feel
They are in darkness?
But, O the miracle!
If a Redeemer came,
Laid finger on their eyes —
One touch, and what a world,
New-born in loveliness!
Spaces of green and sky,
Hulls of white cloud adrift,
Ivy-grown college walls.
Shining loved faces.
What a dark world — who knows?
Ours to inhabit is!
One touch, and what a strange
Glory might burst on us,
What a hid universe!
Do we sport carelessly,
Blindly upon the verge
Of an Apocalypse?
Israel Zangwill (1864 – 1926) England
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