And I felt, in my soul’s deep yearning,
At last the sure answer stir:-
“The music will go up to Heaven,
And carry my thought to her.”

It rose in harmonious rushing
Of mingled voices and strings. 
And I tenderly laid my message
On the Music’s outspread wings.

I heard it float farther and farther,
In sound more perfect than speech;
Farther than sight can follow. 
Farther than soul can reach.

And I know that at last my message
Has passed through the golden gate: 
So my heart is no longer restless,
And I am content to wait.

VERSE:  NEVER AGAIN

“Never again!” vow hearts when reunited,
“Never again shall Love be cast aside;
For ever now the shadow has departed;
Nor bitter sorrow, veiled in scornful pride,
Shall feign indifference, or affect disdain,—­
Never, oh Love, again, never again!”

“Never again!” so sobs, in broken accents,
A soul laid prostrate at a holy shrine,—­
“Once more, once more forgive, oh Lord, and pardon,
My wayward life shall bend to love divine;
And never more shall sin its whiteness stain,—­
Never, oh God, again, never again!”

“Never again!” so speaketh one forsaken,
In the blank desolate passion of despair,—­
“Never again shall the bright dream I cherished
Delude my heart, for bitter truth is there,—­
The angel, Hope, shall still thy cruel pain
Never again, my heart, never again!”

“Never again!” so speaks the sudden silence,
When round the hearth gathers each well-known face,—­
But one is missing, and no future presence,
However dear, can fill that vacant place;
For ever shall the burning thought remain,—­
“Never, beloved, again! never again!”

“Never again!” so—­but beyond our hearing—­
Ring out far voices fading up the sky;
Never again shall earthly care and sorrow
Weigh down the wings that bear those souls on high;
Listen, oh earth, and hear that glorious strain,—­
“Never, never again! never again!”

VERSE:  LISTENING ANGELS

Blue against the bluer Heavens
Stood the mountain, calm and still,
Two white Angels, bending earthward,
Leant upon the hill.

Listening leant those silent Angels,
And I also longed to hear
What sweet strain of earthly music
Thus could charm their ear.

I heard the sound of many trumpets
In a warlike march draw nigh;
Solemnly a mighty army
Passed in order by.

But the clang had ceased; the echoes
Soon had faded from the hill;
While the Angels, calm and earnest,
Leant and listened still.

Then I heard a fainter clamour,
Forge and wheel were clashing near
And the Reapers in the meadow
Singing loud and clear.

When the sunset came in glory,
And the toil of day was o’er,
Still the Angels leant in silence,
Listening as before.