DEDICATION.
11
The spirit of Song that lies buried
In silence or sleep in the breast,
Unlike the wild music of Memnon,
Is charmed by the sunshine to rest;
In the clash of contending emotions
Are its harmonies only expressed.
In silence or sleep in the breast,
Unlike the wild music of Memnon,
Is charmed by the sunshine to rest;
In the clash of contending emotions
Are its harmonies only expressed.
When, at moments, my soul has been shaken,
In the strife with the world’s rushing throng;
Or moved by some holier impulse,
As borne by its current along;
This spirit aroused, has responded,
And uttered these fragments of song.
In the strife with the world’s rushing throng;
Or moved by some holier impulse,
As borne by its current along;
This spirit aroused, has responded,
And uttered these fragments of song.
I know they are but passing echoes,
For which time has no place and no name;
But hereafter, in loftier numbers,
Might I seek for the guerdon of fame—
Might I gather its evergreen laurels—
I would twine them around thy loved name.
For which time has no place and no name;
But hereafter, in loftier numbers,
Might I seek for the guerdon of fame—
Might I gather its evergreen laurels—
I would twine them around thy loved name.
But I mark now a pallor that deepens,
And spreads o’er thy brow and thy cheek;
And, filled with a fearful foreboding,
My strong heart grows nerveless and weak;
And shrinks back appalled from the anguish,
The blow beneath which it would break.
And spreads o’er thy brow and thy cheek;
And, filled with a fearful foreboding,
My strong heart grows nerveless and weak;
And shrinks back appalled from the anguish,
The blow beneath which it would break.
