Page:Songs of the Affections.pdf/13

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Pass'd one by one, and Melody and Mirth Left me a dreamer by a silent hearth.

But, with the fulness of a heart that burn'd For the deep sympathies of mind, I turn'd From that unanswering spot, and fondly sought In all wild scenes with thrilling murmurs fraught, In every still small voice and sound of power, And flute-note of the wind through cave and bower, A perilous delight!—for then first woke My life's lone passion, the mysterious quest Of secret knowledge; and each tone that broke From the wood-arches or the fountain's breast, Making my quick soul vibrate as a lyre, But minister'd to that strange inborn fire.

Midst the bright silence of the mountain-dells, In noontide-hours or golden summer-eves, My thoughts have burst forth as a gale that swells Into a rushing blast, and from the leaves