THE INNER CHAMBER. N the outer Court I was singing, And I sang till it grew immortal; Was the Chamber a silver round Was there hidden within a lyre Which, as air breathed over its strings, Filled my song with a soul of fire, And sent back my words with wings? Was some seraph imprisoned there, Whose Voice made my song complete, And whose lingering, soft despair, Made the echo so faint and sweet? Long I trembled and paused—then parted Now I sing in the court once more, As I kneel by the close-shut door, Yet I sing not the song of old, Ere I knew whence the echo came, Ere I opened the door of gold; But the music sounds just the same. Then take warning, and turn away; Or the meaning of what I sing. HEARTS. I. TRINKET made like a Heart, dear, And another heart, warm and tender, Sailing over the waters, I dropped my golden heart, dear, It lies in the cold blue waters, The golden heart which I promised, Gazing at Life's bright visions, I might seek that heart for ever, II. HE Heart?-Yes, I wore it Of a love that once gave it, A vow that was spoken; But a love, and a vow, and a heart Can be broken. The Love?-Life and Death Are crushed into a day, So what wonder that Love Should as soon pass away What wonder I saw it Fade, fail, and decay. The Vow?-why what was it, Who cares for the corpse When the spirit is fled? Then I said, "Let the Dead rise And bury its dead, |