Classic Poem

Along the lake the bugle rings,
And hark! what harmony of sound
Breaks through the mountains: silv'ry clear
The chorus is diffused around.
It multiplies from cliff to cliff,
A weird antiphony, so sweet
The magic tones, the heart throbs high,
Entranced with unison complete.

Ay, listen! now it steals again:
From peak to peak the music rings,
Wave upon wave; until the soul
Thrilled and subdued, in rapture sings.
One echo wakes, it dies away;
Soft, softer, hushed, till in a dream
Of ecstasy divine we muse,
Floating adown the peaceful stream.

O holy echo! sweet and clear,
Thou tell'st of the Creator's hand
That swung the singing planets there
In distant orbits, when were planned
These mountains: thou dost but repeat
Some fragment of the harmony
The morning stars together sang;
O wondrous, echoing mystery!