Classic and Contemporary Poetry
OLD HYMN-TUNES, by JOHN LAWSON STODDARD Poet's Biography First Line: Dear, old-time tunes of prayer and praise Last Line: Till silence settles over all! Subject(s): Earth; Life; Time; World | ||||||||
Dear, old-time tunes of prayer and praise, Heard first beside my mother's knee, Your music on my spirit lays A spell from which I should be free, If lapse of time gave liberty. I listen, and the crowded years Fade, dream-like, from my life, and lo! I find my eyelids wet with tears, -- So much I loved, so well I know Those plaintive airs of long ago! They tell me of my vanished youth, Of faith in what so flawless seemed, Before the painful quest of truth Had proved how much I then esteemed Was other than I fondly dreamed! They make my childhood live again; And life's fair dawn grows once more bright, While listening to the sweet refrain, Sung in the Sabbath's waning light, -- "Glory to Thee, my God, this night!" My mother's voice, so pure and strong, My father's flute of silvery tone, The little household's strength of song, The childish treble of my own, -- I hear them once more, but . . . alone! Sweet obligato to some hymn Whose words those vanished tones recall, Float o'er me, when earth's scenes grow dim, And life's last, lingering echoes fall, Till silence settles over all! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BROKEN BALANCE by ROBINSON JEFFERS SUBJECTED EARTH by ROBINSON JEFFERS GEOMETAPHYSICS by MARGARET AVISON NIAGARA by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS SOPHISTICATION by CONRAD AIKEN I SEE CHILE IN MY REARVIEW MIRROR by AGHA SHAHID ALI WASHING OUR HANDS OF THE REST OF AMERICA by MARVIN BELL THE EARTH IS A LIVING THING by LUCILLE CLIFTON A MAY MONODY by JOHN LAWSON STODDARD |
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