Classic Poem

WHEREIN SOARING IN AN ECSTASY OF THOUGHT TO HEAVEN HE ENCOUNTERS LAURA

An ecstasy of thought upraised me where
She wanders, that shall no more walk with me:
There! — lovelier, humbler — there, ah there I see —
I see her in the third celestial sphere!
She takes my hand and whispers, " With me here
Thou shalt again taste pure felicity:
For I am she that pained thee, even she
That perished in the blossom of her year.
My bliss no mortal hope has ever spanned;
Thee only I await, and that sweet veil
Thou didst so love, my body's golden shell. " —
Why did she stop? Ah why release my hand?
Alas! Her tones, her touch beyond control
Had swept me heavenward, snatched my ravished soul!