IF Earth hath aught that speaks to us of Heaven, 'Tis when, within some lone and leafy dell, Solemn and slow we list the Sabbath bell, On Music's wings, thro' the clear ether driven:— Say not the sounds aloud—" O men, 'twere well Hither to come; walk not in sins unshriven; Haste to this temple; tidings ye shall hear, Ye who are sorrowful and sick in soul, Your doubts to chase, your downcastness to cheer, To bind affliction's wounds, and make you whole: Hither—come hither; though, with Tyrian dye, Guilt hath polluted you, yet, white as snow, Cleansed by the streams that from this altar flow, Home ye shall pass to meet your Maker's eye?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DEFENSE OF THE ALAMO [MARCH 6, 1835] by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER VIGNETTES OVERSEAS: 5. NIGHT SONG AT AMALFI by SARA TEASDALE TO A REPUBLICAN FRIEND, 1848, CONTINUED by MATTHEW ARNOLD EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 19. THE HEART, LOVE'S BUTT by PHILIP AYRES LILIES: 22. THE VEIL OF BLISS by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) S. BARNABAS by JOSEPH BEAUMONT |