IN Pisa's baptistry the uttered word, Sent upward winged with music from the ground, Works in the dome a miracle of sound Most delicate, and all the air is stirred With its vibrations; till, like some sweet bird, Invisible, that circles round and round, Singing o'erhead, then seeks the heaven's profound, It flees away and is no longer heard. Thus, too, it is with word, or deed, or song, Caught up and echoed through time's ampler hall; It charms a while the listeners in the throng, But, with the days men never can recall, It faints, and fades, and vanishes erelong In the vast Silence that receiveth all. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MODERN PARAPHRASE OF SHAKESPEARE'S SONNET 29 by GEORGE SANTAYANA A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 12. A RENUNCIATION by THOMAS CAMPION TO THE VIRGINIAN VOYAGE [1611] by MICHAEL DRAYTON LITTLE BROWN BABY by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR SUNKEN GOLD by EUGENE JACOB LEE-HAMILTON THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 27. HEART'S COMPASS by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE SAILOR BOY by ALFRED TENNYSON |