Jephthah and Other Mysteries

LYRICAL AND DRAMATIC. 133 AN ODE. VOICE of sightless magic Clear through day’s crystal sky, Blithe, contemplative, tragic, As men may laugh or sigh, As men may love or sorrow, Their moods thy music borrow To bid them live or die. | So sweet, so sad, so lonely, In silent noontide only Thy song-wings float and lie On cloud-foam scarred and riven By God’s red lightnings shriven, And quiet hours are given To him that lingers nigh. Fain would I linger near thee Amid the poppies red, Forget this world, and hear thee As one among the dead, Amid the daffadillies, Red tulips and white lilies, Where daisies’ tears are shed