 | Rhymes of travel, ballads and poems |  |
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THE SOUL'S SONG OF ACTION.
Like the silver wing of starlight, sweeping on its silent race,
Widening forward and forever through eternities of space,
Moves the human soul in longings and in thought and deed sublime,
On from summit unto summit, o'er the solemn hills of Time!
Widening forward and forever through eternities of space,
Moves the human soul in longings and in thought and deed sublime,
On from summit unto summit, o'er the solemn hills of Time!
Earth would sink to Night and Chaos, were that golden draught no more
From the sun's o'erbrimming chalice on the thirsty gloom to pour,
And the spirit-planet darkens in its orbit blind and chill,
When its flaming wings are folded and its pulse of lightning still.
From the sun's o'erbrimming chalice on the thirsty gloom to pour,
And the spirit-planet darkens in its orbit blind and chill,
When its flaming wings are folded and its pulse of lightning still.
Not with sweat of weary labor, as we shed on earthly soil,
But with thrills of power and glory, goes the spirit to its toil—
To the long and eager striving for the grasp of things afar,
Like the throbbing of the firefly for the lustre of the star!
But with thrills of power and glory, goes the spirit to its toil—
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Like the throbbing of the firefly for the lustre of the star!
Toil and Grief and Self-denial, must its burdened pinions bear,
Beating vainly for the freedom of the far empyreal air;
But above Earth's wail and struggling, like a trumpet in the van,
Through the dim and listening ages, speaks the Destiny of Man!
Beating vainly for the freedom of the far empyreal air;
But above Earth's wail and struggling, like a trumpet in the van,
Through the dim and listening ages, speaks the Destiny of Man!
From the living soul of Nature comes an echo to the heart,
Filled with deep, resistless longing, when the fading beams depart—
When the holy shadows gather and the stars are in the sky,
And a saddened fire of feeling kindles in the dewy eye.
Filled with deep, resistless longing, when the fading beams depart—
When the holy shadows gather and the stars are in the sky,
And a saddened fire of feeling kindles in the dewy eye.
When the noon of night is silent, and the silvery moonlight falls
On the forest's branching columns, on its broken foliage-walls—
Comes that starry presence nearer, hushing all the fearful air,
Till the soul has prophet-glimpses of the glory it shall wear.
On the forest's branching columns, on its broken foliage-walls—
Comes that starry presence nearer, hushing all the fearful air,
Till the soul has prophet-glimpses of the glory it shall wear.
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Not within the sick wind's sighing, nor in sleeping sea and field—
Outward types of weary toiling—are its oracles revealed;
But in shadows and in whispers from the void and vast Unknown,
And in thoughts whose holy beauty seems to come from God alone.
Outward types of weary toiling—are its oracles revealed;
But in shadows and in whispers from the void and vast Unknown,
And in thoughts whose holy beauty seems to come from God alone.
Far-away appears the gleaming of a radiant star of bliss,
As if that sublime existence were foreshadowēd unto this;
And the spirit, onward speeding, to the summit yet untrod,
Sees the shining path of angels leading upward unto God.
As if that sublime existence were foreshadowēd unto this;
And the spirit, onward speeding, to the summit yet untrod,
Sees the shining path of angels leading upward unto God.
Through the hushed and solemn portal, where a silent warder stands,
Rests its purer gaze, rejoicing, on the shores of better lands;
In the Night it triumphed over, lie the fetters it has worn,
And it floats with wing unshackled on the golden tides of morn!
Rests its purer gaze, rejoicing, on the shores of better lands;
In the Night it triumphed over, lie the fetters it has worn,
And it floats with wing unshackled on the golden tides of morn!
With a kingly grasp of knowledge shall it mount before the sun,
Adding realms of conquered Darkness to the wide dominion won:
There the lore of Truth Eternal shall the angel-mind employ,
And in active being blossom the immortal flowers of Joy!
Adding realms of conquered Darkness to the wide dominion won:
There the lore of Truth Eternal shall the angel-mind employ,
And in active being blossom the immortal flowers of Joy!
| Rhymes of travel, ballads and poems | |