quote · Legacy record
Methought that in a solemn church I stood. Its marble acres, worn with knees and feet, Lay spread from door to door, from street to street. Midway the form hung high upon the rood Of Him who gave His life to be our good; Beyond, priests flitted, bowed, and murmured meet Among the candles shining still and sweet. Men came and went, and worshipped as they could; And still their dust a woman with her broom, Bowed to her work, kept sweeping to the door. Then saw I slow through all the pillared gloom Across the church a silent figure come. "Daughter," it said, "Thou sweepest well my floor!" "It is the Lord!" I cried, and saw no more.
Methought that in a solemn church I stood. Its marble acres, worn with knees and feet, Lay spread from door to door, from street to street. Midway the form hung high upon the rood Of Him who gave His life to be our good; Beyond, priests flitted, bowed, and murmured meet Among the candles shining still and sweet. Men came and went, and worshipped as they could; And still their dust a woman with her broom, Bowed to her work, kept sweeping to the door. Then saw I slow through all the pillared gloom Across the church a silent figure come. "Daughter," it said, "Thou sweepest well my floor!" "It is the Lord!" I cried, and saw no more.
Approximate author period: c. 1864 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- George Macdonald
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1864 AD · industrial
Approximate author-period evidence for George MacDonald: life dates 1824 to 1905. Wikidata Q368519, inspected 2026-10-08. Not a quotation composition date or independent verification of attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q368519 (accessed 2026-10-08).
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911) (1911 AD)
Complete signed selection 227; printed byline: George MacDonald; Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911; printed copyright 1907
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.