Classic Poem

So while the careless crowd have gazed and gone
Sits one man stedfast in a chosen place,
And of all faces which they gaze upon
Desires one only face:

For early morning finds the lover there,
Also at eventide his eyes are dim,
Till at the last he slowly is aware
His soul has flown from him.

So also he whom vanished organ-lays
Have stung to jubilance and thrilled to tears
Sits with sonorous memories of praise
Tranced in his echoing ears:

Thro' all his blood the billowy clangours roll,
Thro' all his body leaps the living strain,
And sweetly, stilly, in his hidden soul
The soft notes sink again.

Then while the trooping singers outward range
He waits enthralled in that superb surprise:
Like airy ghosts they pass him by, nor change
His wide and wistful eyes.

So stays he in high heaven a little space,
Then treads the portal which the others trod,
And issues into silence, face to face
With darkness and with God.