Their shining faces telling him what they
Had seen, for him it could be nothing more
Than second-hand experience: the way
Of learning, not the way of truth. I know
What Thomas craved: not proof that satisfies
Vague doubts - for who can doubt the inner glow
Of witnesses - he longed to feast his eyes,
To hear with his own ears what they had heard,
To fall upon his knees and, as he knelt,
To touch Christ's hem. He did not doubt their word,
He envied them. I know how Thomas felt:
Like all of us he longed to cry, "I know!",
Not murmur feebly, "Someone told me so".
