Prisoners

EVERYWHERE the sculptor hears
A voice unheard by other ears;
It half commands and half entreats,
As this burden it repeats :
“ Hasten, master ! quickly come !
Countless ages, dark and dumb,
Frozen in this prison white,
Has my beauty longed for light.
Hasten ! With thy chisel keen
Cut away my marble screen,
And before your gladdened eyes
See a perfect statue rise ! ”

So at times I strangely hear
Messages distinctly near.
“ Tarry not, but set me free ! ”
Whisper lips well known to me.
“ Silence deeper than the tomb,
Darkness raven as the gloom
Wrapping the decrees of Fate,
Here surround me as I wait.
Hasten, hasten to set free
Thy perfect self that is to be ! ”