Poems and dramas of George Cabot Lodge :: :: University of Virginia Library

VII

O murmur and passionate silence of to-night!
Earth of sublime arrival!—Let there creep,
Like music thro' the muffled gloom of sleep,
Tremors of Life's imperishable might,
Whether from airs that range the steep starred height
Of heaven, or where the delicate dew is deep
On grass and flowers, or where the bird-cries leap
Loud down the pathways mute and bare with light.
Fabric of night, O easeful rest, O airs
Kissing her cheek, O flowers that feel her feet,
O Life, O earth's impetuous utterance!—
We stand to-night the fit and faithful heirs
To Life's inheritance,—the power, the sweet
Strong motive, and the Soul's ecstatic trance!