My spirit was like the lonely air br Before night, br Like hovering cloud that's melted there br In the late light, br When slow the vast earth--shadows reach br To the last flush, br And the wandering silences have each br Their own hush. br br Did the green grass about me glimmer, br Or trees tower? br Not softer to my sense, nor dimmer, br The obscure power br Of all the world's wide trouble, fought br In the heart's recess: br My heart was solitude, my thought br Emptiness. br br But through my spirit that seemed, unfilled, br Alone to float, br A sudden dewy sweetness thrilled; br A low note! br And then a loud note, rippling full br To a still pause: br The liquid silence was a pool br That a breeze flaws. br br It throbbed again, how lonely clear! br A song that seemed br Sprung beyond memory or fear, br A voice dreamed br In a land that no man ever found; br And who knows br What shook those lingering drops of sound br At the rich close? br br Ah, where were you, passion and grief br Of the world's wrong? br What had you to do with a trembling leaf br And a bird's song, br And spaces calm with coming of night, br And the fresh gloom br Of shadowy trees, and smelt delight br Of hidden bloom? br br Yet O, in me that song had part br Because of you! br It drank of the very blood of the heart br It quivered through br Because of the tears of joy, and the cost br Of a joy's breath, br Measureless thoughts of a dearness lost, br Hope, and death. br br Strangeness of longing, beauty, pain! br I was aware br Of all your secret, soft as rain, br In the dim air. br For Life it was that sang aloud br To the lone dew, br Brave in the night and sweet in the cloud: br My heart knew.