“TO WONDER AND BE STILL.”

Oft in the starry middle night

I vex my heart in vain,

To set its mystic music right,

And find the hidden strain.

To-night the summer moon is strong,

The little clouds drift past,—

The wonder is too deep for song —

The silence speaks at last.

“Thou canst not match those harmonies

On moon-enamoured lute,

Serenely silent arch the skies,

And the great stars are mute;

“Thou canst not tune to thine unrest

Their solemn calm above;

In silence thou shalt worship best,

And reverently love.

“Beyond this night in which thou art,

There is a voice of spheres,

Which the eternal in thine heart

Remembers and reveres.

“But how they sing in unison

Earth’ s ear hath never heard,

So only in thine heart rings on

The song that has no word.”