Listening

HER white hand flashes on the strings,
Sweeping a swift and silver chord,
And wild and strong the great harp rings
Its throng of throbbing tones abroad;
Music and moonlight make a bloom Throughout the rich and sombre room.

Oh sweet the long and shivering swells,
And sweeter still the lingering flow,
Delicious as remembered bells
Dying in distance long ago,
When evening winds from heaven were blown,
And the heart yearned for things unknown!

Across the leafy window-place
Peace seals the stainless sapphire deep;
One sentry star on outer space
His quenchless lamp lifts, half asleep;
Peace broods where falling waters flow,
Peace where the heavy roses blow.

And on the windless atmosphere
Wait all the fragrances of June;
The summer night is hushed to hear
The passion of the ancient tune:
Then why these sudden tears that start,
And why this pierced and aching heart ?

Ah, listen! We and all our pain
Are mortal, and divine the song!
Idly our topmost height we gain, —
It spurns that height, and far along
Seeks in the heavens its splendid mark,
And we fall backward on the dark!