Like an enchanted boat
Upon the downward-gliding stream,
Toward the allegro’s wide, bright sea
Of dancing, glittering, blending tone,
Where every instrument is sounding free,
And harps like wedding-chimes are rung, and trumpets blown
Around the barque of love
That rides, with smiling skies above,
A royal galley, many-oared,
Into the happy harbour of the perfect chord.

IX

IRIS

          Light to the eye and Music to the ear,—­
      These are the builders of the bridge that springs
      From earth’s dim shore of half-remembered things
          To reach the heavenly sphere
      Where nothing silent is and nothing dark. 
          So when I see the rainbow’s arc
      Spanning the showery sky, far-off I hear
          Music, and every colour sings: 
      And while the symphony builds up its round
      Full sweep of architectural harmony
      Above the tide of Time, far, far away I see
      A bow of colour in the bow of sound. 
          Red as the dawn the trumpet rings;
          Blue as the sky, the choir of strings
      Darkens in double-bass to ocean’s hue,
      Rises in violins to noon-tide’s blue,
  With threads of quivering light shot through and through;
      Green as the mantle that the summer flings
      Around the world, the pastoral reeds in tune
      Embroider melodies of May and June. 
            Purer than gold,
          Yea, thrice-refined gold,
      And richer than the treasures of the mine,
        Floods of the human voice divine
      Along the arch in choral song are rolled. 
          So bends the bow complete: 
          And radiant rapture flows
      Across the bridge, so full, so strong, so sweet,
      That the uplifted spirit hardly knows
        Whether the Music-Light that glows
    Within the arch of tones and colours seven,
  Is sunset-peace of earth or sunrise-joy of Heaven.

X

SEA AND SHORE

        Music, I yield to thee
        As swimmer to the sea,
  I give my spirit to the flood of song! 
        Bear me upon thy breast
        In rapture and at rest,
  Bathe me in pure delight and make me strong;
        From strife and struggle bring release,
  And draw the waves of passion into tides of peace.

        Remembered songs most dear
        In living songs I hear,
  While blending voices gently swing and sway,
        In melodies of love,
        Whose mighty currents move
  With singing near and singing far away;
        Sweet in the glow of morning light,
  And sweeter still across the starlit gulf of night.