Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE LOST CHORD by ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER

Poem Explanation

First Line: SEATED ONE DAY AT THE ORGAN
Last Line: I SHALL HEAR THAT GRAND AMEN.
Subject(s): HEAVEN; MEMORY; MUSIC & MUSICIANS; ORGANS (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS); PARADISE;

Seated one day at the organ,
I was weary and ill at ease,
And my fingers wandered idly
Over the noisy keys.
I do not know what I was playing,
Or what I was dreaming then,
But I struck one chord of music,
Like the sound of a great Amen.
It flooded the crimson twilight,
Like the close of an angel's psalm,
And it lay on my fevered spirit,
With a touch of infinite calm.
It quieted pain and sorrow,
Like love overcoming strife;
It seemed the harmonious echo
From our discordant life.
It linked all perplexed meanings
Into one perfect peace,
And trembled away into silence,
As if it were loath to cease.
I have sought, but I seek it vainly,
That one lost chord divine,
That came from the soul of the organ,
And entered into mine.
It may be that Death's bright angel
Will speak in that chord again;
It may be that only in heaven
I shall hear that grand Amen.



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