Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A VESPER SONG, by MARGARET ELIZABETH MUNSON SANGSTER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A VESPER SONG, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The clouds of the sunset, fold on fold
Last Line: Perhaps to some one lost in the dark.
Alternate Author Name(s): Van Deth, Gerrit, Mrs.
Subject(s): Hymns (as Literary Form); Melodies; Praise; Singing & Singers


THE clouds of the sunset, fold on fold,
Are purple and tawny, and edged with gold.

Soft as the silence after a hymn
Is the hush that falls as the light grows dim,

And the phantom feet of the shadows glide
To the maple-tops and the river's tide.

Not the thought of a sound is heard,
Till the dusk is thrilled by a hidden bird

That suddenly sings, as the light grows dim,
Its wonderful, passionate vesper hymn.

Sweet as the voice of an angel's call,
Sent to me from the jasper wall,

Is the music poured from that tiny throat,
A message of comfort in every note.

I know not where, in the leafy tree,
The dear little warbler's home may be,

Nor care I to find by a thoughtful quest
Its cunningly woven castled nest.

The singer was less to my heart to-night
Than the song he sent through the parting light.

Its overflow of a joy intense
Came unto me like a recompense,

For the undertone of an aching care
That had chilled my praise and chained my prayer.

There are in this world, where God is King,
Some who have nothing to do but sing;

Some who are all too blithe to keep
Pent up the voice of their rapture deep,

Though, it may be, low under waves of pain
They found the pearl of their purest strain.

Listening, we have naught to say
Concerning, to them, the Master's way,

Only this: it was surely best,
Since it taught them songs so full of rest;

And this: that never a folding wing
Should cover a breast that was meant to sing,

And show the path to a lighted ark,
Perhaps to some one lost in the dark.





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