Classic Poem

I DREAMED of love; I thought the air
Was glowing with the smile of God —
An angel told me all the sod
Was beauteous with answered prayer —
I looked, and lo! the flowers were there.

I could not tell what place to tread,
So thick the yellow violets run;
Along the brooks, and next the sun
The woods were like a garden bed;
And whispering soft, the angel said,

(While in his own he took my hand,)
" Dear soul, thou art not in a dream,
All things are truly what they seem —
Thou art but newly come to land,
Through shallows and across the sand. "

I felt the light wings cross my face,
My heavy eyes I felt unclose,
And from my dreaming I arose,
If I had dreamed, and by God's grace,
Saw glory in the angel's place.