 | Tales in Verse for Young People |  |
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THOUGHTS OF HEAVEN.
Thoughts of Heaven! they come when low
The summer eve's breeze doth faintly blow;
When the mighty sea shines clear, unstirred
By the wavering tide or the dipping bird.
They come in the rush of the surging storm,
When the waves rear up their giant form,
When the breakers dash o'er dark rocks, white,
And the terrible lightnings rend the night;
When the mighty ship hath vainly striven;
With the seaman's cry, come thoughts of Heaven!
The summer eve's breeze doth faintly blow;
When the mighty sea shines clear, unstirred
By the wavering tide or the dipping bird.
They come in the rush of the surging storm,
When the waves rear up their giant form,
When the breakers dash o'er dark rocks, white,
And the terrible lightnings rend the night;
When the mighty ship hath vainly striven;
With the seaman's cry, come thoughts of Heaven!
They come where man doth not intrude;
In the trackless forest's solitude;
In the stillness of the gray rock's height,
Whence the lonely eagle takes his flight;
On peaks where lie the unwasting snows,
In the sun-bright island's rich repose;
In the heathery glen; by the dark, clear lake,
Where the wild swan broods in the reedy brake;
Where nature reigns in her deepest rest,
Pure thoughts of heaven come unreprest.
In the trackless forest's solitude;
In the stillness of the gray rock's height,
Whence the lonely eagle takes his flight;
On peaks where lie the unwasting snows,
In the sun-bright island's rich repose;
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Where the wild swan broods in the reedy brake;
Where nature reigns in her deepest rest,
Pure thoughts of heaven come unreprest.
They come as we gaze on the midnight sky,
When the star-gemmed vault is dark and high,
And the soul, on the wings of thought sublime,
Soars from the world and the bounds of time,
Till the mental eye becomes unsealed,
And the mystery of being in light revealed!
They rise in the old cathedral dim,
When slowly bursts forth the holy hymn,
And the organ's tones swell full and high,
Till the roof peals back the melody.
When the star-gemmed vault is dark and high,
And the soul, on the wings of thought sublime,
Soars from the world and the bounds of time,
Till the mental eye becomes unsealed,
And the mystery of being in light revealed!
They rise in the old cathedral dim,
When slowly bursts forth the holy hymn,
And the organ's tones swell full and high,
Till the roof peals back the melody.
Thoughts of Heaven! from his joy beguiled,
They come to the bright-eyed, playful child;
To the man of age in his dull decay,
Bringing hopes that his youth took not away!
To the woe-smit soul, in its dark distress,
As flowers spring up in the wilderness;—
Like the light of day in its blessed fall,
Such holy thoughts are given to all!
They come to the bright-eyed, playful child;
To the man of age in his dull decay,
Bringing hopes that his youth took not away!
To the woe-smit soul, in its dark distress,
As flowers spring up in the wilderness;—
Like the light of day in its blessed fall,
Such holy thoughts are given to all!
| Tales in Verse for Young People | |