Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A DREAM-SONG, by CARROLL RYAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A DREAM-SONG, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A love-song died on my heart in a dream
Last Line: Will return and restore my dream.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ryan, William Thomas Carroll
Subject(s): Love - Loss Of; Melodies; Music & Musicians


A love-song died on my heart in a dream
That I dreamed in the long ago,
But an echo of that sweet song would seem
Thro' my being ever to flow.
I never can catch the words or the tune,
Though often and often I try,
The syllables fail, like an ancient rune,
The melody breaks in a sigh.

And sometimes I pause when I hear the note
Of a bird, or the laugh of a child;
Then into my spirit there seems to float
A part of the song that beguiled.
The winds in the pines have an echo sweet
Of the memory deep and strong,
And even the voices up from the street
Have sounds like my beautiful song.

But the chords will break and the words will fail,
For my thought has a thousand wings;
And in place of my song I hear the wail
The lost to my memory brings.
I know that I never shall hear my song,
All sung as it was long ago,
Till the shadows of life are dark and long,
And my footsteps gentle and slow.

When the sounds of the strife grow faint and far—
And the thought of the storm, between
The rise of the glorious morning star
And the setting that is not seen,
Have faded all from my spirit away,
While sorrow and pain will but seem,
The song that died on my heart that day
Will return and restore my dream.





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