The Lost Country

Fall 2012 • Vol. 1, No. 1

issn 2326-5310 (online)

Felix Culpa

By Thomas A. Beyer

This work was published in the Fall 2012 issue of The Lost Country. You may purchase a copy of this issue from us or, if you prefer, from Amazon.

Oh! happy fault
That Adam did incur
That made possible our wretchedness
And rent our bonds asunder.

That opened up our eyes
To the sight of one another,
Our fleshly difference did reveal,
And our nakedness uncover.

Though one may mourn, lament,
That regretful end of innocence,
I, for one, will glory
In our corporate dissent;

For if our Father had not sinned,
I would not see your beauty,
I would not wonder at your shape,
Nor my most solemn duty:

To have, to hold,
To love, to cherish,
Each other gently nourish,
And mend our Sin in marriage.

So I’ll sing the splendid blessing
Of the loss of Paradise,
For otherwise we’d not have known
The bliss of fierce desire.