Harmonies (Howe collection)/The Abiding Voice
FOR E. W. H.
THE ABIDING VOICE
Once when you left me in a room alone,
Sudden the world seemed void and black,
So that my heart cried, "Were she gone,
Gone, never to come back!
Some day, how will it be?
What will remain for me?"
Then through the open door I heard
Your gentle singing, as you stirred
In some unselfish task,
And in my heart the answering song rang clear,
"God bless her, always near."
Sudden the world seemed void and black,
So that my heart cried, "Were she gone,
Gone, never to come back!
Some day, how will it be?
What will remain for me?"
Then through the open door I heard
Your gentle singing, as you stirred
In some unselfish task,
And in my heart the answering song rang clear,
"God bless her, always near."
Now long miles spread between us, and I ask,
Can we be sundered farther still?
These miles are naught,—
Still I can feel your presence near, your song
Still mingles with my thought
To shame my fears of distant ill,
And make my faltering courage strong:
For listening here I know
That when the miles stretch into infinite space,
Beyond the scope of sense or sight,
Upon my spirit's vision there will glow
Sometimes the semblance of your face,
And on my spirit's ear, attuned aright,
Will fall your gentle singing, by heaven's grace
Borne down to guide me groping in the night,
Unable, but through you, to reach your place.
Can we be sundered farther still?
These miles are naught,—
Still I can feel your presence near, your song
Still mingles with my thought
To shame my fears of distant ill,
And make my faltering courage strong:
For listening here I know
That when the miles stretch into infinite space,
Beyond the scope of sense or sight,
Upon my spirit's vision there will glow
Sometimes the semblance of your face,
And on my spirit's ear, attuned aright,
Will fall your gentle singing, by heaven's grace
Borne down to guide me groping in the night,
Unable, but through you, to reach your place.
(1898)