Poems (Hornblower)/Verses (I heard a song, and it softly fell)
For works with similar titles, see Verses.
VERSES.
I heard a song, and it softly fell On my ear like one of other years;And I felt my heart to its cadence swell, And its sweetness drew some lingering tears.
Oh! it made me muse on many a one, Who listened once with me to the strain;Long, long from all but my memory gone, The loved, whom I never may see again.
It made me sad, for it brought the days When my hopes were bright, and my heart was young;When my lips were tuned to joy and praise, And the freshness of life was in my song.
I listened and wept—yet when it was o'er, So strangely sweetness mixed with pain,That though my very heart it tore, I asked for that mournful strain again.