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Themes and Variations
A TEXT.
In every land, in every age,
Wherever man’s brief tenancy
Has left some stone, or graven page,
Or reed-writ history.
Though dark and sad, or growing clear,
This writing gleams upon the wall—
Some dream of faith, some hope of cheer,
Some heavenly call.
We see some river by whose crystal wave
The soul finds peace;
Some high tribunal that decrees the slave
A long release.
Wherever man’s brief tenancy
Has left some stone, or graven page,
Or reed-writ history.
Though dark and sad, or growing clear,
This writing gleams upon the wall—
Some dream of faith, some hope of cheer,
Some heavenly call.
We see some river by whose crystal wave
The soul finds peace;
Some high tribunal that decrees the slave
A long release.
Darkly, beyond our straining sight,
One planet wings its starry way.
No sparkle tells us of its wheeling flight,
No signal ray.
Yet o’er the untrodden deep of space
It sends a secret mystic call:
Its brethren hear, and each in measured place
Sway to its thrall.
Above the heaven’s glittering poles,
Beyond the star-beam’s fathom line,
Unseen, a spirit draws our souls
With power divine.
One planet wings its starry way.
No sparkle tells us of its wheeling flight,
No signal ray.
Yet o’er the untrodden deep of space
It sends a secret mystic call:
Its brethren hear, and each in measured place
Sway to its thrall.
Above the heaven’s glittering poles,
Beyond the star-beam’s fathom line,
Unseen, a spirit draws our souls
With power divine.