180
A VISION OF POETS.
Then rose and fell (with swell and swound
Of shapeless noises wandering round
A concord which at last they found)
Of shapeless noises wandering round
A concord which at last they found)
Those mystic keys—the tones were mixed,
Dim, faint; and thrilled and throbbed betwixt
The incomplete and the unfixed:
Dim, faint; and thrilled and throbbed betwixt
The incomplete and the unfixed:
And therein mighty minds were heard
In mighty musings, inly stirred,
And struggling outward for a word.
In mighty musings, inly stirred,
And struggling outward for a word.
Until these surges, having run
This way and that, gave out as one
An Aphrodite of sweet tune,
This way and that, gave out as one
An Aphrodite of sweet tune,
A Harmony that finding vent,
Upward in grand ascension went,
Winged to a heavenly argument—
Upward in grand ascension went,
Winged to a heavenly argument—
Up, upward! like a saint who strips
The shroud back from his eyes and lips,
And rises in apocalypse!
The shroud back from his eyes and lips,
And rises in apocalypse!
A Harmony sublime and plain
Which cleft (as flying swan, the rain,—
Throwing the drops off with a strain
Which cleft (as flying swan, the rain,—
Throwing the drops off with a strain
Of her white wing) those undertones
Of perplext chords, and soared at once,
And struck out from the starry thrones
Of perplext chords, and soared at once,
And struck out from the starry thrones
Their several silver octaves, as
It passed to God! The music was
Of divine stature—strong to pass!
It passed to God! The music was
Of divine stature—strong to pass!
And those who heard it, understood
Something of life in spirit and blood—
Something of nature's fair and good.
Something of life in spirit and blood—
Something of nature's fair and good.
And while it sounded, those great souls'
Did thrill as racers at the goals,
And burn in all their aureoles.
Did thrill as racers at the goals,
And burn in all their aureoles.
