GOD'S SINGER.
23
And through each heart a pang shot strong,
And on it darkly bore
A sense of somewhat that had long
Been lost, unmissed before;
But now, to reach a guiding Hand,
The Spirit groped and felt
Across the void, and for the land
It j^earned where once it dwelt;
It longed to knit some broken troth,
And then, as if it knew
All good below is but the show
And shadow of the true,
Each thirsted sore to claim once more
His birthright, and renew
A higher 'legiance, whence the soul
Had lapsed and fallen through.
And on it darkly bore
A sense of somewhat that had long
Been lost, unmissed before;
But now, to reach a guiding Hand,
The Spirit groped and felt
Across the void, and for the land
It j^earned where once it dwelt;
It longed to knit some broken troth,
And then, as if it knew
All good below is but the show
And shadow of the true,
Each thirsted sore to claim once more
His birthright, and renew
A higher 'legiance, whence the soul
Had lapsed and fallen through.
And there was Silence, such as falls
On one that, musing lone
At midnight on a city's walls,
Sees moonlight round him thrown,
So heavenly fair, ere he is ware
His inner sense hath grown
More pure, and may not well endure
To think on Pain and Sin,
On all that shines so fair without
That lurks so foul within
Our mortal state, and ill can wait
Those clearer Heights to win,
On one that, musing lone
At midnight on a city's walls,
Sees moonlight round him thrown,
So heavenly fair, ere he is ware
His inner sense hath grown
More pure, and may not well endure
To think on Pain and Sin,
On all that shines so fair without
That lurks so foul within
Our mortal state, and ill can wait
Those clearer Heights to win,
