Classic Poem

Alone with life, I heard massed choirs declare
for humankind conjunction with the unseen
Essence which rules redemption. On the air
Hosanna in excelsis swelled serene
As through cathedral'd centuries that have been.

This was the moment's affirmation. And then
On gloom-girt winds of time I heard it blown
With dwindling resonance, from mouths of men
Forever claiming kinship with the unknown —
Forever their one hope on earth pursuing
In perishable pilgrimage, in doomed defeat,
Fooled by phantasms that wreak their dire undoing,
Yet mindful of the Maker they would meet.

Thus, praise persistent, year beyond wrought year,
Those paeans rise and fade and disappear —
Held to what infinite heart — heard by what immanent ear?