 | Rhymes with reason and without |  |
101
MIDNIGHT MUSIC.
Silence and darkness rested o'er the town;
The midnight clock had tolled its solemn numbers,
When, like some blissful strain from heaven sent down,
Broke music on the quiet of our slumbers.
The midnight clock had tolled its solemn numbers,
When, like some blissful strain from heaven sent down,
Broke music on the quiet of our slumbers.
Scarcely yet conscious, did the drowsy ear,
Drinking in tones seraphic in their seeming,
Convey them to the soul entranced to hear,
And wove them in the fabric of its dreaming.
Drinking in tones seraphic in their seeming,
Convey them to the soul entranced to hear,
And wove them in the fabric of its dreaming.
Forgotten were the shadows of the night,
And music shed a glory o'er the hour,
And sombre darkness grew with joy bedight,
Beneath the influence of its magic power.
And music shed a glory o'er the hour,
And sombre darkness grew with joy bedight,
Beneath the influence of its magic power.
The infant, slumbering by its mother's breast,
Waked at the sound, and waking smiled a blessing,
Then sank again serenely to its rest,
Its tiny hand its mother's face caressing.
Waked at the sound, and waking smiled a blessing,
Then sank again serenely to its rest,
Its tiny hand its mother's face caressing.
The sickness-bowed, to whom the weary time
Lagged slowly on, replete with bitter sadness,
Heard the sweet note that filled the air, sublime,
And felt a thrill run through his frame of gladness;
Lagged slowly on, replete with bitter sadness,
Heard the sweet note that filled the air, sublime,
And felt a thrill run through his frame of gladness;
102
The fevered pulse a healthy tone assumed,
Harmonious throbbing to the music's measure,
And the glazed eye 'came transiently illumed
With radiant tokens of a present pleasure.
Harmonious throbbing to the music's measure,
And the glazed eye 'came transiently illumed
With radiant tokens of a present pleasure.
The widow's tears a moment ceased to flow;
She hailed the blessed melody a token
Of promise to her hopes, surcease from woe,
A note from spheres where unions are unbroken;
She hailed the blessed melody a token
Of promise to her hopes, surcease from woe,
A note from spheres where unions are unbroken;
Bidding her heart its bitter strife to cease,
And from the future joyful hope to borrow;
Quelling the raging waves of grief to peace,
And soothing, like a charm, her preying sorrow.
And from the future joyful hope to borrow;
Quelling the raging waves of grief to peace,
And soothing, like a charm, her preying sorrow.
To the close-curtained chamber of the bride
The music notes on airy wings ascended,
Blessed the fond pair harmoniously allied,
And with their aspirations sweetly blended.
The music notes on airy wings ascended,
Blessed the fond pair harmoniously allied,
And with their aspirations sweetly blended.
But, all too soon did flee that 'witching strain,—
Fled 'mid the darkness, thus made doubly dreary;
And the still, solemn hours rolled on again
Their sluggish wave, more tedious and weary.
Fled 'mid the darkness, thus made doubly dreary;
And the still, solemn hours rolled on again
Their sluggish wave, more tedious and weary.
| Rhymes with reason and without | |