Page:Poems Gifford.djvu/17

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MUSIC.

Hark! hear ye not the harmonies
 Through all creation stealing,
By subtle means the mysteries
 Of heaven to earth revealing?

Truths beyond those we learn by word
 In music find expression,
And joys that ne'er our hearts had stirred
 Become a rich possession.

A heavenly chorus fills the air,
 Echoing down the ages;
The stilled heart hears it everywhere,
 And blessing it presages.

So manifold its wondrous tones,
 So resonant its ringing,
So forcible the sway its owns,
 So exquisite its singing.

Now breathing peace, so calm, so soft,
 As nought could e'er disturb it;
With rushing roar resounding oft,
 As if no power could curb it.

The whispering of the summer breeze,
 The thunder's mighty crashing,
The murmur of the quiet seas,
 The waves' uproarious splashing;

The robins' solitary lay,
 The lark's ecstatic trilling,
Philomel's anthem, grave, sweet, gay,
 The midnight silence thrilling;

The mother's gentle lullaby,
 The infant's pretty cooing,
The kindly tones of sympathy,
 The lover's tender wooing;