In silence which no weighted sound could plumb I sat before the pulpit, while a son Of canonized Ignatius deftly spun A sermon with quick fingers and a thumb; And seated there among the deaf and dumb, It seemed to me, remembering Babylon Of the many living languages, that none Became so much that stilly state to come, For at the benediction music pealed A chant of mighty chords, and suddenly The cleric to his only hearer sang As sang a lark one distant morn to me O'er the deaf and tongueless lying in their field, While the Irish bells of Limerick loudly rang. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SATIRES OF CIRCUMSTANCE: 2. IN CHURCH by THOMAS HARDY GOOD AND BAD LUCK by HEINRICH HEINE THE HIGHWAYMAN by ALFRED NOYES TO THE UNKNOWN EROS: BOOK 2: 7. TO THE BODY by COVENTRY KERSEY DIGHTON PATMORE IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: EPILOGUE by ALFRED TENNYSON AT THE FUNERAL OF A MINOR POET by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 44. ALLAH-AL-RAKIB by EDWIN ARNOLD THE STEAM-ENGINE: CANTO 6. ON THE CORK PACKET, 1837 by T. BAKER |