"Let there be light." LIGHT to the darken'd mind Bear like the sun the world's wide circle round, Bright messengers that speak without a sound! Sight on the spirit-blind Shall fall where'er ye pass; your living ray Shall change the night of ages into day; God speed ye on your way! In closet and in hall, Too long alone your message hath been spoken; The spell of gold that bound ye there is broken, Go forth and shine on all! The world's inheritance, the legacy Bequeathed by Genius to the race are ye, Be like the sunlight, free! A mighty power ye wield! Ye wake grim centuries from their repose, And bid their hoarded treasuries unclose, The spoils of time to yield. Ye hold the gift of immortality; Bard, sage, and seer, whose fame shall never die, Live through your ministry. Noiseless upon your path, Freighted with love, romance, and song, ye speed; Moving the world in custom and in creed, Waking its love or wrath. Tyrants, that blench not on the battle-plain, Quail at your silent coming, and in vain Would bind the riven chain. Shrines that embalm great souls Where yet the illustrious dead high converse hold, As gods spake through their oracles of old! Upon your mystic scrolls There lives a spell to guide our destiny; The fire by night, the pillar'd cloud by day, Upon our upward way. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET; OXFORD, 1916 by GEORGE SANTAYANA WINGED MAN by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 1. EMBARKATION by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER MY LADY'S PLEASURE by ROBERT GRAHAM DIVINATION BY A DAFFADILL by ROBERT HERRICK NEW YORK AT NIGHT by AMY LOWELL COMMEMORATIVE OF A NAVAL VICTORY by HERMAN MELVILLE ODE (MUSIC-MAKERS) by ARTHUR WILLIAM EDGAR O'SHAUGHNESSY THE ANGEL IN THE HOUSE: BOOK 1. CANTO 2. PRELUDE: LOVE AT LARGE by COVENTRY KERSEY DIGHTON PATMORE |