Bards of Passion and of Mirth, br Ye have left your souls on earth! br Have ye souls in heaven too, br Double lived in regions new? br Yes, and those of heaven commune br With the spheres of sun and moon; br With the noise of fountains wound'rous, br And the parle of voices thund'rous; br With the whisper of heaven's trees br And one another, in soft ease. br br Seated on Elysian lawns br Brows'd by none but Dian's fawns; br Underneath large blue-bells tented, br Where the daisies are rose-scented, br And the rose herself has got br Perfume which on earth is not; br Where the nightingale doth sing br Not a senseless, tranced thing, br But divine melodious truth; br Philosophic numbers smooth; br Tales and golden histories br Of heaven and its mysteries. br br Thus ye live on high, and then br On the earth ye live again; br And the souls ye left behind you br Teach us, here, the way to find you, br Where your other souls are joying, br Never slumber'd, never cloying. br Here, your earth-born souls still speak br To mortals, of their little week; br Of their sorrows and delights; br Of their passions and their spites; br Of their glory and their shame; br What doth strengthen and what maim. br Thus ye teach us, every day, br Wisdom, though fled far away.